Motivate Your Kids to Be Fit
By Nicki Anderson, ediets contributor


As parents, I think we can all agree that when it comes to encouraging kids to make healthy choices, well, it's not the easiest of tasks. So what's a parent to do?

It begins by creating healthy choices without being too obvious about it. After all, for many kids if you say the word healthy, they'll turn up their nose in disgust! It isn't uncommon for kids to push aside healthy options for the "fun" food, which is heavily promoted through television.

I have a number of parents telling me, "If I don't buy the food they like, they won't eat anything!" The reality is if they get hungry enough, trust me, they will eat. You've never heard of a child starving to death because his mother refused to feed him junk food, have you?

Children WILL choose to eat healthy food. It's just a process that takes time and creativity. There are plenty of good foods that your kids can learn to enjoy. It's simply a matter of making gradual changes and allowing their palate to adjust to the changes. In other words, their palate is used to the high sodium and fat levels in food, therefore they will need to adjust to foods that don't contain so much salt and fat. This process takes time.

One simple change I made for my kids was blending them a smoothie with yogurt and fruit instead of giving them a milkshake. Also, I served baked tortilla chips and salsa as opposed to french fries and ketchup. And for a snack, they ate sliced apple with peanut butter instead of boxed snacks high in sugar, fat and calories. Eventually, they get used to it -- trust me!

Keep in mind that the changes you make cannot be dramatic. In other words, don't clean out your cabinets and refrigerator to eliminate all of the junk food -- your kids will flip out and fight you every step of the way.

Below are suggestions to encourage your child to make healthier selections now AND later.

Put your kids in charge of packing their own lunch
The rule in my house was when you entered fifth grade, you were responsible for making your own lunch. Waiting until they were in fifth grade worked because the anticipation of "being in charge" of their own lunch made them really want to do it. And by the time they were in fifth grade, well, I was really sick of doing it! It was a win-win: They felt grown up, and I felt vindicated!

My kids would begin by making a list of what they wanted for their lunches. The first time we did this, there was only one food group listed: sweets. I had to explain that they were allowed to choose one "treat" as part of their lunch. Also, they had to choose a fruit or yogurt and the type of lunch meat. I stay away from loafs. I kept the Food Guide Pyramid on my fridge, and the kids were able to make healthy selections from that.

I hate to break it to you: After four children, I realized that kids don't have the time or the desire to sit down for a five-course meal at lunchtime. Simply half of a sandwich (you'd be surprised how many kids throw out most of their sandwich), a tortilla roll-up or some whole-wheat crackers along with a fruit will most likely satisfy them. I teach my kids to avoid eating to the point of being "full" as that sets the stage for overeating. I just suggest that when they're not hungry anymore, it's time to stop. This is a valuable lesson for children as well as adults.

Teach your kids what constitutes a healthy lunch; if they don't learn now, it's unlikely they'll worry about it later. Their lunch should include a healthy protein, fruit or veggie and healthy carbohydrate. The bulk of the meal should be the whole foods, not the junk. Whole foods are basically those foods that are as close to natural as possible, void of additives, preservatives, sugars and trans fats. You can learn more about healthy choices with eDiets.

Help your child make good choices by teaching them that healthy foods keep their body strong and fast. Kids will respond better to making food choices based on how they'll feel versus "it's bad for you." The minute you start referring to their food as "healthy," to them it becomes "gross."

Take part in preparing/planning family meals
I don't want to catch heat for this; I know dinnertime can be hectic enough without throwing kids into the role of chef. But here's the deal: The more your kids can participate in family meals, the better choices they will be willing to make. Healthy eating is a family project and everyone should get involved. I believe that focusing on healthy living excellence is as important as focusing on academic excellence.

In my home, I would begin each week by printing out a sheet listing the days of the week with about five spaces in between. Each of my kids would pick a day and plan the meal for that day. There were rules, however. It couldn't be fast food, and it couldn't be candy. My son wrote down Snickers milkshakes for his first family meal, so we knew we had to teach our kids how to put together a balanced meal.

A balanced meal must have a nice mix of the basic nutritional requirements: lean protein, fruits or veggies, and healthy carbohydrates. In my house, dessert is a Sunday thing; otherwise, it's cut-up fruit. Again, I would keep the food guide pyramid on my fridge so the kids could see what food groups to pull from. When my kids were really little, we'd plan our meals by color. To this day, my kids refer to healthy eating as "colorful" eating. So however you can teach them to recognize and appreciate a well-balanced meal, the better.

Popular selections at my house include Mexican night, soup and sandwich, boiled dinner (ham, carrots, cabbage and potatoes), Italian chicken (baked chicken with low-sodium spaghetti sauce), salad and hearty grain bread. I have a recipe book that I've kept over the years that includes all the recipes I've collected from online sources or magazines that the whole family has enjoyed. Sometimes my kids would go through that book to pick out meals. Feel free to create one of your own selections and let the children choose from that list or whatever works for you.

Don't worry about this taking a lot of time. The beauty is that it takes about 15 minutes to put the list together and pop it up on the fridge. Additionally, it would help to create my grocery list!

There's great value in teaching your kids that even with limited time and budget, you can still find healthy alternatives. Make it a family affair and everyone will benefit.

Understand the value in being active every day
Because kids' lives have become so structured, it seems their only form of activity comes from organized sports. The problem is that once they are no longer in sports, then what? What foundation has been laid to keep kids active beyond their structured sports lives? For many families, kids tend to spend too much time in front of the television or the computer. Unfortunately, this generation of kids no longer goes outside to play because of safety reasons or lack of motivation.

Teaching your children to be active throughout their life is the best thing you can do for them. Encouraging walking at any opportunity or riding their bike when possible is valuable. If you're active (which is so important for your child), include them in your activity. If your child sees you driving around to seek a closer parking spot, he or she will follow suit. If, however, your child sees you park far away, he or she will learn that walking isn't bad -- it's good. You can even say things like, "I have been so busy this week, I haven't had an opportunity to be as active as I'd like, so this is a good way to get some extra walking in!" The same goes with taking stairs versus the elevator.

Creating ways to include more movement and activity in your family's life will teach them that activity isn't only for the young, it's for every body!

The 80/20 rule
When it comes to creating a healthy environment for your family, it begins with teaching the value of balance and moderation for both exercise and sound nutrition. If kids can learn at a young age that healthy living doesn't mean you can never have dessert or never miss a day of exercise, they will be ahead of the game. I think that as adults, we see diets as an all-or-nothing proposition. In other words, rather than using a healthy diet plan to "adjust" your nutrition, we use a diet as a strict list of "do's and don'ts" and end up walking away from it completely because there was no middle ground.

The 80/20 rule provides a nice base by which you and your family can make healthy choices. If 80 percent of the time you and your family eat well and are active, you've got a 20 percent margin of error. That is manageable for many people, including your kids, but it's up to YOU to set the parameters.

Healthy living means making healthy choices MOST of the time. Forcing ourselves or even our children to live 100 percent healthy 100 percent of the time is pretty unreasonable. Again, that's what derails the best of intentions when trying to lose weight; it's too restrictive and rarely appropriate for lifelong adherence. So if we, as parents, can provide examples for our kids and demonstrate balance with our choices, such as 80/20, then we are giving them valuable tools for the long haul.

As a parent, I understand the challenges we face when it comes to regular exercise and sound nutrition for ourselves as well as our children. Therefore, the best we can do is to be a good role model and provide a healthy environment for our kids.

When it comes to healthy living, there is no such thing as perfection. Just do the best you can do as a parent. You can't ask for more than that! Don't forget that eDiets has many resources from which to choose -- take advantage of them for health's sake. Here's to healthy families!

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