Healthy food choices last a lifetime

Donya Betancourt, Pediatrician, Sanur, Bali, drdonya@hotmail.com

Teaching your children to make healthy choices about the foods they eat today can benefit them their entire lifetimes. When children are offered a wide variety of healthy foods, you will find that they will select an appropriate diet for themselves.

And when you make changes to your children's daily diets expect to wait weeks or months before seeing positive results, as it will not happen in a matter of days.

Here are some basics for introducing a new food to toddlers and preschoolers:

1. Keep trying.

2. Remember that if your child does not like it the first time, this does not mean he or she will not like it the next time.

3. One of the most important things to remember is to set a good example. If children sees their parents eating healthy food over and over again, it will help in the learning process.

4. Children need a wide variety of choice of foods. And choices should not only include types of food but also portion sizes.

For small children, estimate about a tablespoon-size portion per year of age, so a three-year-old might eat three tablespoons of vegetables or three tablespoons of fruit.

5. Growing is one of the most important things a child does, and restricting calories can restrict growth. Children should not be on low-fat diets before the age of two. Reduction of fat should be phased in slowly after two years of age, and should not be sudden or strict.

6. Children need to be educated about nutrition. Help them experience the fun in sampling new flavors and textures of healthy foods

7. Knowledge and behavior are two separate issues. A second or third grader can show you which foods have sugar and which don't, but having them choose the best foods is a whole different matter.

The older the child, the less control you have over the food they eat, particularly once they begin going to school. But keep in mind that parents still have a lot of control over what is offered to the child. The more soda pop children drink, the less milk they drink and the less calcium they take in. If a normal- weight child is drinking three cans of soda a day, that's going to replace healthy foods. Start him or her drinking milk during meals instead of soda pop, and start to cut sodas out completely as the negatives are too numerous to even consider drinking them.

8. The other thing to keep in mind is that there isn't any one perfect food. Sometimes children will choose foods that are fun to eat. They often like vegetables with one of their favorite dips or sauces, like a sweet and sour sauce. It's more of a health concern if your child won't eat any or hardly eats any fruits or vegetables.

As a parent, sometimes the best you can do is provide an environment that makes it possible for your child to have a nutritious diet, which is most easily accomplished if you buy foods that are nutritious. You can't make your child eat, but you can say to him or her exactly what you would like to see them eat, and you can limit their access to unhealthy or unwanted snacks between meals.