As parents, my wife and I want the very best for our eleven-year-old son. The very best includes a healthy diet. With so many packaged foods available, it is difficult finding the best meals for our son and ourselves. We can eat out, but restaurant food is made for taste — not always nutrition. How can we as parents make sure that our son eats a healthy diet full of vitamins and protein and not overloaded with fat and sugar?
Past mistakes
My wife and I made plenty of mistakes regarding our son’s diet and still do. When he was younger, we panicked just enough to cave in and give him his favorite foods (pizza, chicken nuggets) just to make sure that he ate something. We figured that we could give him a vitamin or nutrition drink and then get him something healthier to eat next time. Then, we would just cave in again and again.
Now, we understand better, but we regret caving in earlier. He still will not venture out much to something new. He has overcome that somewhat as he approaches his teen years and we have made new rules for eating.
Explanations
Our son knows about our health issues. Mine came mainly from eating too much junk food and drinking too much soda when younger. I would eat fruits and vegetables only when my parents made me. I did not care for many vegetables. I have always liked most fruits, but a good chocolate bar constantly won the debate whenever the opportunity presented itself.
I explained to my son how my poor diet has resulted in acid reflux disease and high triglycerides, both of which I now have to control with pills and better diet. My family history also contains diabetes and heart disease. We do not want him to develop any of these problems, so we discuss healthy eating habits fairly often.
Setting Examples
As with any other parenting strategies, we have to set the example for our son. Again, in this department I often fail, and I have to force myself to eat the foods that I want him to eat. We now make sure that every meal has a fruit and/or vegetable and that he sees us eat it. We pack his lunch ourselves and include at least one (usually two) pieces of fruit – oranges, bananas, or apples – or a vegetable, usually carrot sticks.. He really likes mandarin oranges, and he will eat apples, bananas, and carrots if we tell him to.
My failure comes mostly when we get home from school. I love my sweets, and I normally feel that since I packed a healthy fruit-laden, protein-filled lunch then I can enjoy some candy, chips, or cookies. What can I then say to him when he asks for the same snack? Therefore, I now save one fruit from my lunch for when the kids leave after school to let him see me eat it. Before he has a snack, I check his lunch box to make sure that he has eaten everything that we gave him. He knows that we had better not find out that he gave or threw his fruits away. If that happens, he does not get his favorites for a very long time!
Watch the drinks also
Mainly low-sugar drinks come into our house. If we buy soda, we buy diet soda. Fruit juices can also contain a lot of sugar, so we look for the diet versions of those also. They are worth a little more money. We buy the sweetened drinks much more sparingly. I enjoy using juices and mixed fruits to make my own smoothies.
The lessons do get through
He knows that he must eat his fruit and main lunch before he gets anything else. One day at school, another student had a birthday and brought cupcakes for the class. Our son passed on the cupcake and told the teacher that he had to eat his banana while the class enjoyed the cupcakes. When we found out later, we explained that he could have had the cupcake (special occasion) and then eaten the banana for lunch, but we were proud of him for he remembering and following our rule!
Slow but successful trend
We learned from our mistakes. We make much healthier meals now, and we do not cave into his desires. Sometimes, he just is not hungry. In that case, we save the meal for when he is and give it back to him. The cycle continues until he eats it. If he has eaten healthy enough for a number of days, we will let him enjoy his pizza and fat-free ice cream just as we do for ourselves.
Feeding our son correctly has made us eat healthier ourselves. We feel better physically, and I have lost some weight. We want to make sure that our son grows up with healthy eating habits, but we must teach those habits to him now by setting the example.
More from this contributor:
Keeping Our Eleven-Year-Old Son Active During Fall
Dad’s Perspective: Why Our Son Is More Important Than Income
Setting Strong Positive Examples for Our Son