Media Room » Articles » Nutrition for Kids: How to Teach Your Children About Healthy Eating
by Michael Scaccia, MD
You realize that nutrition for kids is important, but you’re not sure how to teach your
child to make better food choices. Now what? Here are a few suggestions to help
educate your child about nutrition and how it relates to their overall health: Learn more
about nutrition yourself. You can’t teach what you don’t know yourself. Find a quality
resource from a qualified and experienced professional that can show you in easy-to-
understand language how to use nutrition and fitness to help your family live happier and
healthier.

Start with a preferred foods list. Write down a list of all of the foods that your child
likes. Then take that list and divide it into foods that are better for them, and foods that
are not so good. Post the list on the refrigerator as a reminder to you and your child to
choose more of the foods that are better, and less of the foods that are not as healthy.

Talk about the consequences of poor nutrition in age-appropriate terms. Explain the
benefits in terms that they can relate to and understand. You can tell kids that obesity will
lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer, but that probably won’t
mean much to them today. Tell them that they can feel better about themselves, climb
stairs without getting out of breath, and play longer, harder, and better.

Start to read labels together. They don’t have to understand all of the information on a
label, but getting them in the habit of looking at every label they see, and simply
comparing calories will help get them thinking about nutrition.

Michael P. Scaccia, MD, FAAP is a physician, child health expert, and author of "The
Ultimate Parent Guide to Fitness and Nutrition". From nutrition to fitness and beyond,
this powerful, step-by-step guide is a must-have for concerned parents of overweight
children. For more information, visit http://www.UltimateParentGuide.com.
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