(Food-Beverage-News.Com, June 12, 2012 ) Dallas, Texas – Healthy Eating With Ease asks parents to encourage their children to adopt healthier eating habits especially if they are overweight. This recommendation comes on the heels of reports such as a woman denied custody of her son after he gained 180+ pounds on her watch. This child had already displayed conditions stemming from excessive obesity.
“We should not have to wait for the government to make drastic interventions. Parents have the power and responsibility of influencing their children’s eating behaviors for life,” opined Healthy Eating With Ease founder K. Chatman.
“People are perhaps their most impressionable during childhood. If they can learn good habits early on, eating healthy should not be much of an issue later in life,” Mr. Chatman added.
However, there is a fine line between encouraging children to eat well and forcing them to make drastic changes. Mr. Chatman said parents should take a long-term approach and one based on substitution instead of elimination.
“There are far more subtle ways to train children to choose healthy food. Parents can start by leading by example and looking for ways to improve their own eating habits,” he said.
For example, parents should offer a variety of nutritious and delicious food that can eventually replace the less healthy alternatives. Chatman also tells parents to be more patient with picky eaters since they do not want to remove the joy that comes with eating.
“It may take several rounds of preparing different types of new, healthier alternatives before finding food that a child enjoys,” Mr. Chatman said.
This advice also applies to beverages. It is important for children to reduce their consumption of beverages full of empty calories such as soda. For instance, parents may accomplish this by gradually replacing soda with flavored water that tastes sweet but most importantly contains no carbohydrates and sugar.
Healthy Eating With Ease is a go-to resource for balanced, nutritious dieting information. The site is a must-visit for people trying to improve their health via nutrition or healthy eating.
