This week, Bon Appétit Magazine is holding a “Kid’s Week”-featuring articles and recipes related to kids. They have been posting articles on their blog related to raising “healthy and happy eaters”; Adam Rapoport’s post says not to sweat it if your kid doesn’t eat vegetables and actually promotes a “tub of powder” veggie supplement, Jenny Rosenstrach’s post talks about being secretive about what you are serving and then Emily Fleischaker’s post talks about Karen Le Billion’s experience in France and says that in France, teaching your kids to eat healthy is just as important as teaching them to read.  It was fun for me to read the different perspectives about healthy eating because just last week I wrote a guest post for Avocado Baby and talked about my perspective on starting kids off right with healthy eating.

Having a baby shook my world.  Normally a put-together, A-type personality, I found it hard to get my hair and teeth brushed each day (in fact that later turned into a daily goal).  I don’t know what I thought, did I think my days would be filled with baby tending, sewing and baking?  It was tough and beyond what I imagined.  I learned right away to “pick my battles” a phrase used during healthy eating discussion but also throughout raising your child.  So while my husband and I ate healthy, home cooked meals when my daughter was an infant, the meals were served on paper plates because we couldn’t figure out how to balance being new parents and keeping a clean house.  I chose to breast feed my daughter and when she was ready for solids, it was around the same time I started feeling like I was finally figuring out being a mom and I would often say, “my head is just above water.”

In my guest blog post, I talked about my experience starting my daughter off on a right path of eating.  For my husband and I, eating healthy was a fundamental building block for our daughter.  And I say my husband and I, because establishing the foundation can’t be created by one person and it also needs to be supported by daycare providers, babysitters and grandparents as well.

So I resonate with the opinions in the Fleischaker post and the experience of Le Billion that establishing healthy eating is an education and serves as a building block much like other things you teach your child.  I don’t believe the only way to get your kids to eat vegetables is through smoothies and I really don’t believe in being deceptive about what you are serving your family.  Those are my beliefs and how I’ve decided to raise my daughter.  Just the other night, I stood in the kitchen with my daughter and asked her which leftover she wanted-orzo with peppers or lentil stew.  She chose the stew and she picked avocado from our fruit and vegetable basket as her side.  Some would say I’m lucky that my daughter is such a good eater but I would say I “picked my battles” and chose a path of healthy eating for her.

So how did I arm myself for battle? I have a list of 11 rules and until I wrote the guest post for Avocado Baby, I actually never even had them written down, they were just unwritten rules we lived by that became our foundation for healthy eating.

·      Healthy eating rules need to be a practice by the whole family.  Both parents need to be on board and you must also include care providers-daycare as well as grandparents and babysitters.

·      Offer snacks that are real food-fruit, veggies, nuts, dried fruits, cheese (instead of puffs, yogurt melts and cereal) and be careful about when you offer the foods as to not fill up before mealtime.

·      Avoid using food as entertainment.  While it is tempting to offer food to avoid meltdowns during certain times, children can consume large amounts of “entertainment snacks” while you sit through church, wait for your meal to arrive or during your coffee meeting with a friend. After consuming so many snacks they won’t be hungry to actually eat a real meal.

·      Don’t offer flavored milk, I also avoid all juice except for smoothies.  Milk at meal times and water at all other times.

·      Offer fruits and vegetables in a manner in which you would like your child to enjoy them in the future (do you want your child to always eat fruit or veggies out of squeeze pouch or secretly mixed into food).  Along the same lines, avoid regularly saucing or putting cheese on veggies.

·      When eating at a restaurant share your meal with your child.  Children’s meal options are rarely healthy and sharing forces you to eat healthy too.

·      Give your child their entire meal at once.  It is tempting to give the meat and veggies first and bread and fruit after they eat the first two items but it is important for them to understand the food as a meal and that you expect them to eat what you have provided.  Toddlers are smart and catch on quickly when you show them veggies, etc aren’t preferred foods.

·      Don’t be a short-order cook.  Make the meal and serve it, “this is what is for dinner”-don’t offer alternatives.  If the child doesn’t like what is served that is fine and they can get down from the table after you determine mealtime to be over.  Your child will learn that you as the parent determine what is being served (not them).  Prepare for a “hungry and more willing to try something new” child at the next meal.

·      Avoid “children’s meals”-macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, frozen kids meals, packaged “toddler” meals, etc.  If you continually provide these foods as meals, children will expect them and introducing a cut up chicken breast with plain veggies will likely not go over well.

·      Avoid condiments unless it is dressing for a salad or part of a recipe.

·      Don’t say things like, “She won’t like that, she doesn’t eat broccoli” or “She doesn’t like spicy foods.” Most importantly, don’t say things like “I hate mushrooms” or “That doesn’t look good.”  When you make disparaging comments, your child uses that as a gauge and makes decisions about eating what is presented to them based on how you react.

There are so many different opinions about healthy eating for kids, many people say don’t worry and eventually it will right itself.  That may be true but I decided I didn’t want to be a short order cook and I didn’t want to serve “kids” meals in my house-that’s the battle I picked and I’m happy I did.