How Can Parents Encourage Healthy Eating in Their Children? Essay Example

With the many available food choices to children at present, it might be almost impossible to think how young children today would be able to make better choices on their food intake. Noticeably, the emergence of media and advertising has created a new sense of indication on how the young generation perceives food and its importance. Good food and good choices of healthy food intake often challenges parents to become more than what they are and to embrace more than what they could. This almost superficial challenge basically insists on how practically distinct the need to become more cautious about food offerings to children is all about; however, commercial marketers seem to not mind on this matter especially if it would mean higher profit sources on their part. Parents are then expected to do something more than telling their children about better food choices (HEC, internet); they are expected to teach the young ones to become more concerned about what they eat in a more distinct way that speaks to their young minds; making the culture of healthy eating  a part of their point of maturity.

The first thing to note in this process is the need to establish a culture of healthy eating at home. Teaching the children to eat good food and make healthier choices is more of a picking a particular lifestyle than a mere command to establish a sense of definition from parents towards the children. As mostly known, children [especially toddlers] learn more effectively through examples. It is most often than not that the lessons they get through examples rather than from lectures that tells them what is good and what is not. Practical options of teaching the children on picking healthier food choices are based on what the parents actually believe. The personal choices that the parents make outline the very choices that their children will make in the future; it is only through this way that the effects of media-advertising on these young ones could be countered. True, helping children develop a more defined a pattern of decision-making when it comes to picking the right food choices for themselves is more of a commitment than a desire to change the attitude of the children towards food intake.

The next step would be the establishment of the commitment to make the right choice. Usually, the reason behind the success of the media-promotions on different food choices is the fact that they appeal to the thinking of the children; and when they do, parents often submit to the pressure, simply buying the food the children want just to make sure they do not do the tantrums or that they do not cry or any particular action that children use as a means of weapon in order to get what they want. In this case, it is safe to say that this is a natural thing, a natural behavior among children. Which means that the final decisions should come from the parents and that they should be stiff enough to handle the pressure. It is only through this manner that the process of establishing a strong culture becomes effective enough to make a mark on the thinking of the children. Young as they are, they know how to appreciate determination; and these are the types of lessons that most likely stick to the thinking of the young generation.

The third step to consider is to establish a routine. Part of the culture-defining process of helping children realize the importance of good food is making a routine-pattern of distinct choices of food that allows individuals to become more convinced that they need to follow  a particular setup of schedule which will set them in full balance. Most often than not, it is the capacity of the parents to set up a routine and stick to it that would determine the success of this procedure. True, it might not be easy enough, nevertheless, with full concentration on what the real goal is and what it would mean in the long run, could keep the parents at bay, allowing them to see things better and to become more effective in the way they handle the different situations that they have to be in full control of. Question is, what is a routine? A routine is basically a repetitive pattern of activities [in this case food menus or food choice options that are to be made available for the family] that individuals involved in the process are likely going to be more accustomed to in the long run. It is almost a process of brain training to which the thinking process of the individuals involved would be fashioned into going through the same pattern of activities over and over again; this way, the process sticks into the mind and becomes a remarkable culture among the people involved (Belot, 2011). The same pattern has been most effective among children through time, and has been noted to be most insistent on how young children are able to embrace a good culture of development that instantiates a determinable course of advancement in the goal of creating good food choices among the young ones.

These three basic steps are only some of the most common sources of competence especially among parents whenever they desire to establish a better course of development and thinking among their children when it comes to making good food choices. With the many exasperating influences coming from their peers and media itself, children ought to take notice of the fact that their parents are making every possible effort to help them make a better choice in their food and in their lives (Belot, 2011). Relatively, the setting up of culture of this particular food choice development is one that should be taken seriously by parents today if they want good improvements in the health of the children in the years to come.

Most likely, it could be noticed that the real essence of the project is directed towards making it a long-time process of improvement; one that is able to make a definite turn on how developed options of good food choices would actually affect the health of the young generation today towards establishing a much better future for them in the years to come (Macera,  2002). The setup of such culture would not only benefit today’s young generation but that of the generations still to come.  With good foundation today, it could be realized how well-defined culture could bring in a better life-choice for the young ones.

References

Belot, M. (et al) (2011). Changing Eating Habits – A Field Experiment in Primary Schools. http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.117864!/fileManager/MicheleBelot_June2013.pdf. (Retrieved on March 30, 2015).

Macera, C. (2002). Promoting healthy eating and physical activity for a healthy nation. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/publications/pdf/pp-ch7.pdf. (Retrieved on March 30, 2015).

Healthy Eating for Children. https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/the_guidelines/n55f_children_brochure.pdf. (Retrieved on March 30, 2015).