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3 Healthy Eating Habits for Kids

Summary: A lifetime of healthy eating starts with three simple habits while your children are still young.
Air Date: 8/28/14
Duration: 10
Host: Mike Smith, MD
Guest Bio: Dina Rose, PhD
Dina RoseDina Rose, PhD, is a sociologist, parent educator and feeding expert.

She is the author of It's Not About the Broccoli: Three Habits to Teach Your Kids for a Lifetime of Healthy Eating (Perigee).

Dina's work has been featured on TV, radio, and in both print and online news sources such as: NBC Connecticut News, Martha Stewart Radio, HuffPost Live, Good Parenting Radio, Babble, The Globe & Mail, Mamapedia, Parenting Magazine, and Spirituality & Health.

In addition to writing her blog, It's Not About Nutrition, Dina also writes for the Huffington Post and Psychology Today.
  • Book Title: It's Not About the Broccoli: Three Habits to Teach Your Kids for a Lifetime of Healthy Eating
3 Healthy Eating Habits for Kids
If your life is constantly on the go, it can be a challenge to find extra time to shop, prepare and eat healthy foods.

It also doesn't help if you have picky eaters in your household.

This could lead to caving in to fast food desires, which -- if you routinely allow -- might leave you feeling guilty and looking for a new way to help your kids eat healthy and balanced meals. Pressuring or bribing them to eat healthy foods might lead them to not like it even more, leading to rebellion and constant fighting.

However, teaching proper habits with food can help your kids discover that healthy eating is not a punishment.

What are the three habits to teach kids to eat healthy?

Proportion: The first habit to teach your kids about healthy eating is proportion, or breaking up foods into ratios. For example, eating healthy food more often than non-healthy foods.

Variety: Introducing new foods to your children at every meal can be overwhelming. Instead, try a variety of foods that your children are already familiar with.

Moderation: It's important to help your kids know to eat only when they are hungry and to stop when they are full.

What else can you do to help promote healthy eating in your children?

Dr. Dina Rose joins Dr. Mike to share why healthy eating is crucial for your children and the three habits that can help your children get on the path to healthy eating.
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