Working Together For Better Health

Parents and caregivers have the sole responsibility to introduce healthy food choices to young children. Children learn from the meals you offer, the way you serve food, the way you shop, and the examples you set. They develop habits early that, once learned, can last a lifetime, so it's never too early to make a change. It's important to take every opportunity to promote a healthy active lifestyle. Try these ten creative ways to get young children to eat healthier.

1. Prepare Healthy Meals Together

Engaging children in the preparation of kid-friendly healthy dishes is so fun and so very messy, but children are more likely to eat something that they have helped to prepare. So, bring out those bowls, spoons and cups. While kids are helping, it is a good time to introduce portions, simple fractions and units of measure.

When you are finished preparing, show children how to set the table. Don't forget to dine together. Children who eat meals with their families tend to have better diets, not just because meals are planned, but because of the positive examples that are set at the table.

2. Get Creative

Make silly food faces out of fresh fruit and vegetable slices, and come up with amusing, silly names for the healthy foods you prepare. Celery and raisins become "ants on a log," peanut butter and pretzels can be "mud on a stick," and spaghetti with tomato sauce can turn into "wiggly worms."

The golden word is "distraction." The apple wedge is a boat, and their mouth is a river. Peas are a food made out of green. You can become a consummate actor or a verbal Picasso to get them to taste something new.

3. Pack Snacks Together

Children can also benefit from packing snacks for the day, or packing for a picnic. When planning a long-term getaway, encourage them to help with bagging individual portions of fruits, chilled veggies, cheese sticks, crackers, trail mix, water, 100% juice boxes, and other good choices. These are the images they will carry with them throughout their day.

4. Take Children Shopping

Young kids love to play grown-up. On a real excursion to the grocery store, allow the children to pick a new fruit or vegetable to try at home. Let them weigh their choice, bag it, and put it on the conveyor belt. Once home, let them help you present it to the family. Try to avoid flying through each aisle like a secret agent on a mission. Slow down and turn shopping into a learning experience.

5. Plan a Family Taste Test

Slice a variety of apples such as, Fuji, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, and McIntosh. Set out a variety of breads such as Sourdough, Rye, Potato, Whole Wheat, Pita, and Tortilla. After each taste test, compare the various textures and characteristics while you talk about your favorites. A great time to do this without spending a great deal of money is during dinner at a buffet.

6. Show Kids How to Grow Food

Many local growers are happy to share the farming experience with young children if you call ahead of time. Take a trip to your local farmer's market where you will often find fun activities for kids. Children are more likely to eat fruit or vegetables that they have grown and picked themselves. Use a planter, or assign a small piece of your yard to start your own private garden. You can begin with tomatoes and build from there.

7. Sing and Dance to Good Food Songs

Find songs with lyrics that promote healthy eating and an active lifestyle. If you can't find music in your local retail store, there are some great offerings available for young children online. Music CDs like Smart & Tasty, Bon Appetite, Groovin' Foods, or Smart Fruit & Veggie Songs, can be found with a simple internet search. Be prepared to pass the potato, count the bananas, scissor kick your celery sticks, interact with your children, have fun, and basically act like a fool. If you don't have access to music, make up silly, rhyming rhythmic chants about new foods.

8. Explore Healthy Foods Through Books

Find coloring books or read books that introduce fruits and vegetables as characters, or have interesting stories that revolve around healthy foods. Books such as I Will Not Ever Eat a Tomato, Counting Pumpkins, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Food for Thought, and Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z make for some great fun and educational reading. A quick and easy resource for nutrition and health education books for children is found at NeatSolutions.

9. Plan a Craft Activity

Let your child design something artistic such as a paper craft that can be proudly displayed on the refrigerator, pasta art on a plate, or a personalized placemat that can be laminated for repeated use. Some web pages offer free downloadable or printable activities that engage children. Search for your favorites or visit 5aday, Dole, and Nutrition Explorations for some interesting offerings.

10. Play Fun Games That Involve Healthy Eating

Children who have fun with healthy foods are more likely to want to taste them. Instead of "Duck, Duck, Goose," play "Grape, Grape, Juice." Play target practice by tossing play foods into grocery paper bags. Let your children select from their play food and serve you a nutritious meal.

Play verbal "I spy a color" games and board games that promote healthy eating and educate young children about good food choices. The Produce for Better Health Foundation offers "The Fruit and Veggie Race" board game for all ages.

Empower your young children to be agents of change in and away from home. They will not only eat better, they will inspire others to do the same.

May be your child is not ready for Potty Training

A mother writes: "My child is potty training today. We have stuffed her full of drinks and she pees about every 10 to 15 minutes. She has used the potty several times when we take her to it at timed intervals. She does not seem to understand that when she feels the urge, she should go sit on the potty herself. She pees wherever she is sitting (a few times on us) and does not seem to mind. I do not want to 'catch' her pee all day long. What do you suggest we do??"

I get questions like this quite frequently. The answer I have, however, may not be one that many parents want to hear. What you should do is stop potty training.

Yes. Stop. But don't look at it as quitting or as a setback. Think of it more like taking a break.

The reason: Your child is not ready to potty train yet.

There are many signs of readiness and among those are:

Interest and desire, which means that she wants to go to the potty and is not indifferent to peeing on your lap. She should be talking about it and asking questions and showing curiosity about potty "things" like the toilet, underwear, toilet paper and the flush handle.

Longer periods of dryness, which means not giving her excess fluids. If she's staying dry on her own for two to three hours at a time, then her bladder capacity is increasing. In addition, it makes for more opportunities for success and less opportunity for failure if she's not going to the bathroom every 10 to 15 minutes.

Awareness, which means she recognizes when she's wet or poopy first, and then later in time recognizes the urges that come before she's wet and poopy. She also has to be able to connect the urges to the act AND be able to move herself to the bathroom after making that connection.

If you take the process of using the bathroom and break it down into its many steps, you can see why potty training is such a process for a young child's mind and why it takes time and practice to gain mastery.

So, for now, unless you are practicing an alternate method of potty training that is more parent-centered than child-centered and requires you to "catch" your child peeing (like Infant Potty Training) take a break and return to potty training when your child's mind and body is completely ready to take on the task. It will be so much less stressful for both of you if you can wait.

May be your child is not ready for Potty Training

A mother writes: "My child is potty training today. We have stuffed her full of drinks and she pees about every 10 to 15 minutes. She has used the potty several times when we take her to it at timed intervals. She does not seem to understand that when she feels the urge, she should go sit on the potty herself. She pees wherever she is sitting (a few times on us) and does not seem to mind. I do not want to 'catch' her pee all day long. What do you suggest we do??"

I get questions like this quite frequently. The answer I have, however, may not be one that many parents want to hear. What you should do is stop potty training.

Yes. Stop. But don't look at it as quitting or as a setback. Think of it more like taking a break.

The reason: Your child is not ready to potty train yet.

There are many signs of readiness and among those are:

Interest and desire, which means that she wants to go to the potty and is not indifferent to peeing on your lap. She should be talking about it and asking questions and showing curiosity about potty "things" like the toilet, underwear, toilet paper and the flush handle.

Longer periods of dryness, which means not giving her excess fluids. If she's staying dry on her own for two to three hours at a time, then her bladder capacity is increasing. In addition, it makes for more opportunities for success and less opportunity for failure if she's not going to the bathroom every 10 to 15 minutes.

Awareness, which means she recognizes when she's wet or poopy first, and then later in time recognizes the urges that come before she's wet and poopy. She also has to be able to connect the urges to the act AND be able to move herself to the bathroom after making that connection.

If you take the process of using the bathroom and break it down into its many steps, you can see why potty training is such a process for a young child's mind and why it takes time and practice to gain mastery.

So, for now, unless you are practicing an alternate method of potty training that is more parent-centered than child-centered and requires you to "catch" your child peeing (like Infant Potty Training) take a break and return to potty training when your child's mind and body is completely ready to take on the task. It will be so much less stressful for both of you if you can wait.

Dieting Mistakes which are Harmful

"Here are seven dieting mistakes that you might not realize you’re making … could one of these be the key to why your attempts to lose weight aren’t succeeding? read more..."

Dieting Mistakes which are Harmful

"Here are seven dieting mistakes that you might not realize you’re making … could one of these be the key to why your attempts to lose weight aren’t succeeding? read more..."

Requirement of Baby Sleep

Sometime around the time your toddler reaches 18 months, he won't need two naps a day any more. You might find that he's harder to get down for that morning nap or that it's getting shorter and shorter. If so, try moving it 15 minutes later every day and adjusting lunch time so that he's only having an afternoon nap. If your child was sleeping at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., for example, the new nap might end up falling around 12:30-1:30 instead. That single nap will probably only be between 1-2 hours and nighttime sleep will still be about 11-12 hours, bringing the daily total to around 12-14 hours.
Toddler Sleep Requirements at 2 Years
Once your toddler becomes a 2-year-old, his afternoon nap will shorten just slightly to about 1 to 1 1/2 hours and nighttime sleep will slim down to 11 hours. Most 2-year-olds need just 12 1/2 hours of sleep a day.
Your Mileage May Vary
There are some children who will naturally do better on less sleep and of course there are those that will need a lot more to function properly. The same is true of naps. Some children lose that morning nap earlier than others and do just fine. Pay attention to your child's behavior for signs that he's not getting enough sleep. If your child is excessively cranky, seems clumsier than usual, is easily frustrated, has a very hard time getting to sleep or staying to sleep or has a hard time getting up in the morning, chances are he could use some more sleep. An overtired child is not a happy child and over time, will not be a healthy child either.

Requirement of Baby Sleep

Sometime around the time your toddler reaches 18 months, he won't need two naps a day any more. You might find that he's harder to get down for that morning nap or that it's getting shorter and shorter. If so, try moving it 15 minutes later every day and adjusting lunch time so that he's only having an afternoon nap. If your child was sleeping at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., for example, the new nap might end up falling around 12:30-1:30 instead. That single nap will probably only be between 1-2 hours and nighttime sleep will still be about 11-12 hours, bringing the daily total to around 12-14 hours.
Toddler Sleep Requirements at 2 Years
Once your toddler becomes a 2-year-old, his afternoon nap will shorten just slightly to about 1 to 1 1/2 hours and nighttime sleep will slim down to 11 hours. Most 2-year-olds need just 12 1/2 hours of sleep a day.
Your Mileage May Vary
There are some children who will naturally do better on less sleep and of course there are those that will need a lot more to function properly. The same is true of naps. Some children lose that morning nap earlier than others and do just fine. Pay attention to your child's behavior for signs that he's not getting enough sleep. If your child is excessively cranky, seems clumsier than usual, is easily frustrated, has a very hard time getting to sleep or staying to sleep or has a hard time getting up in the morning, chances are he could use some more sleep. An overtired child is not a happy child and over time, will not be a healthy child either.

How much Sleep is Required By Babies

"How much sleep does my toddler need? He just turned a year old and sometimes I feel like he's not getting enough because he's cranky almost all day long and I have a hard time putting him down some nights. I'd guess that he's probably only sleeping about 9 hours total and that's with naps."

My thoughts: This mom is justified in being worried about her toddler's sleep. Nine hours is not enough for most 1-year-olds and his crankiness is a sure sign that he needs more. Other signs you might just attribute to your child's natural temperament can include clumsiness, not wanting to wake in the mornings and frequent frustration with day-to-day tasks. Often additional sleep will bring about drastic changes in your child's moods and motor skills. Learn more

How much Sleep is Required By Babies

"How much sleep does my toddler need? He just turned a year old and sometimes I feel like he's not getting enough because he's cranky almost all day long and I have a hard time putting him down some nights. I'd guess that he's probably only sleeping about 9 hours total and that's with naps."

My thoughts: This mom is justified in being worried about her toddler's sleep. Nine hours is not enough for most 1-year-olds and his crankiness is a sure sign that he needs more. Other signs you might just attribute to your child's natural temperament can include clumsiness, not wanting to wake in the mornings and frequent frustration with day-to-day tasks. Often additional sleep will bring about drastic changes in your child's moods and motor skills. Learn more