How do you get your children to eat healthier foods?

[CBC News]

Parents looking for healthy meal choices for their children are likely to find slim pickings on the menus of the top U.S. restaurant chains, according to a report released Monday by a nonprofit public health group.
Nearly every possible combination of the children's meals at Kentucky Fried Chicken , Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box, and Chick-fil-A are too high in calories, the report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest said.
The report looked into the nutritional quality of kids' meals at 13 major restaurant chains. The centre found 93 per cent of 1,474 possible choices at the 13 chains exceed 430 calories — one-third of what the National Institute of Medicine recommends that children ages four through eight should consume in a day.
The report notes that eating out now accounts for a third of children's daily caloric intake, twice the amount consumed away from home 30 years ago.
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How do you get your children to eat healthier foods?


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[karrie]

Well, first of all, I don't stress myself out about the caloric or vitamin content of kids' meals at restaurants, because my kids, unlike this article seems to assert, DON'T EAT IN RESTAURANTS DAILY. Thus, 1/3 of their daily calorie intake is NOT fast food. Fast food is a treat. Eaten on a rare occasion, you don't really need to care how many calories are in it, because you're only eating it ON OCCASION. Balance that with the staples of my typical shopping cart, and, I have no worries about my kids getting healthier foods.

 

[Nuggler]

Well, first of all, I don't stress myself out about the caloric or vitamin content of kids' meals at restaurants, because my kids, unlike this article seems to assert, DON'T EAT IN RESTAURANTS DAILY. Thus, 1/3 of their daily calorie intake is NOT fast food. Fast food is a treat. Eaten on a rare occasion, you don't really need to care how many calories are in it, because you're only eating it ON OCCASION. Balance that with the staples of my typical shopping cart, and, I have no worries about my kids getting healthier foods.

For shame, Karrie.8O
How can you call yourself a good mom when you don't fill your kid's face full of french fries, fried chicken, fried burgers, lots of good saturated artery blockers..................(S) every day.

Where do they get these stats?? 1/3 of meals??? gotta be kidding.

And what a surprise!!!!! 8O All the foods in the restaurants mentioned are TOO HIGH IN CALORIES!!!! No sh*t, Sherlock!!

Thank Gawd we were economically sort of disadvantaged when it came to eating out when the kids were small.........Maybe once a month, if then........The teetering economy way back, did us a favour. Our's had to manage on veggies, taters, and maw's home cookin. Very few deserts.
:idea:

 

[missile]

Use some reverse psychology by telling them carrots and green leafy veggies are terribly bad for them:smile:

 

[Scott Free]

It's easy: If you don't serve children garbage they won't eat garbage.

The real difficulty, the unsaid thing IMO, is what adults really mean when they say they can't get their children to eat healthy is that they can't themselves eat crap and force their children to eat better.

 

[ShintoMale]

Well, first of all, I don't stress myself out about the caloric or vitamin content of kids' meals at restaurants, because my kids, unlike this article seems to assert, DON'T EAT IN RESTAURANTS DAILY. Thus, 1/3 of their daily calorie intake is NOT fast food. Fast food is a treat. Eaten on a rare occasion, you don't really need to care how many calories are in it, because you're only eating it ON OCCASION. Balance that with the staples of my typical shopping cart, and, I have no worries about my kids getting healthier foods.

i usually ignore these whining parents that take thier kids to junk food joints like KFC that only serve junk and complaining about the food. these food makes me sick, feel tired and i wonder how these people eat those crap. fast food is not a treat it is garbage and junk labelled as food and should be regulated like liquor and cigarrettes

 

[Risus]

When I was a kid, my parents told me what to eat. Its pretty simple....

 

[talloola]

Well, I don't have children in the house anymore, but that doesn't matter, what I do will
apply to families.

I 'always' read the labels now, and have learned many things, the amounts of saturated
and trans fats on many labels, now scares me, as I can't believe I used to buy some of those, and actually 'eat' them, sodium content is important too. They stated the other
day that, a can of corn has 400 times the salt as fresh corn, I find that amazing, and
important to be aware of.

When kids are eating at home, they will eat what is there, so if there is junk food in the
house, it is the fault of the parent, not the child.

Even when we get a hamburger now, I order them 'very light' on the sauces, and no bacon
at all on them, ever, if you do that for your kids as well, they benefit. And, there are certain hamburger places that make a burger that isn't 'greasy', and they mix their own
ground beef, and make a better quality lower fat patty.

I just came home from grocery shopping, took a look at safeways 'goodies', and some of the cakes are 60% sat. fat, and very high in trans fat, so I don't buy those any more. I did
buy a package of their apple crisp, had a reading on the label which is acceptable.

I love cake, but now I make my own from scratch, and cut pieces, and freeze them.

 

[Scott Free]

i usually ignore these whining parents that take thier kids to junk food joints like KFC that only serve junk and complaining about the food. these food makes me sick, feel tired and i wonder how these people eat those crap. fast food is not a treat it is garbage and junk labelled as food and should be regulated like liquor and cigarrettes

That's what Hitler thought too.

I already posted this but it bares repeating I think:

"the Nazis conducted the most aggressive antismoking campaign in modern history. Further research revealed that Hitler's government passed a wide range of public health measures, including restrictions on asbestos, radiation, pesticides, and food dyes. Nazi health officials introduced strict occupational health and safety standards, and promoted such foods as whole-grain bread and soybeans."

The Nazi War On Cancer

 

[Scott Free]

The thing about fascism that we don't understand in the west is that it is almost always the peoples idea, or more accurately they think it is, they give it permission, because though they lose some rights they gain a better life - or so they think.

Fascism, corporate or otherwise, is insidious and like the proverbially frog in the pot, it's implementation depends on how quickly the temperature is raised.

 

[ShintoMale]

looks like Robert has the same views as steve milloy auther of junk science dot com a paid corporate lobbyist

 

[karrie]

Fascism, corporate or otherwise, is insidious and like the proverbially frog in the pot, it's implementation depends on how quickly the temperature is raised.

Which Proverb has a frog in it?

 

[Scott Free]

Which Proverb has a frog in it?

That you can boil a frog to death if you slowly turn the heat up but if you turn the heat up too quickly the frog will notice and jump out.

I have no idea if it is true or not but the lesson is one well known in politics.

 

[karrie]

That you can boil a frog to death if you slowly turn the heat up but if you turn the heat up too quickly the frog will notice and jump out.

I have no idea if it is true or not but the lesson is one well known in politics.

Oh, I know the science behind it... just wasn't aware it was in Proverbs. :lol:

 

[Scott Free]

Oh, I know the science behind it... just wasn't aware it was in Proverbs. :lol:

Damn, I knew you had an angle :lol:

 

[Unforgiven]

What?!? 8O
How difficult can it be to feed your kids healthy food from fast food restaurants?
I know it sounds kookoo but do you suppose it would be alright to drop one of the half dozen sports or art programs and spend an evening at home cooking dinner? Sure it sounds like abuse and really it probably is but I suspect it's a good thing to get back to some of those old parenting methods of sitting around the table, eating simple unproccessed food. Maybe even talk to the little sons of bitches.

Of course you could try smoking their weed with them and only stalking the pantry with raw fruits and veggies. Sooner or later, those munchies will take care of the rest.

 

[karrie]

What?!? 8O
How difficult can it be to feed your kids healthy food from fast food restaurants?
I know it sounds kookoo but do you suppose it would be alright to drop one of the half dozen sports or art programs and spend an evening at home cooking dinner? Sure it sounds like abuse and really it probably is but I suspect it's a good thing to get back to some of those old parenting methods of sitting around the table, eating simple unproccessed food. Maybe even talk to the little sons of bitches.

Of course you could try smoking their weed with them and only stalking the pantry with raw fruits and veggies. Sooner or later, those munchies will take care of the rest.

lol.

I get funny looks because my kids aren't in organized sports.

They get up in the morning, they run to the neighbors' house, grab their kids, and they all proceed to run back and forth from one house to the other... ours with the trampoline and dogs to play with... another with swings and hockey nets... another with a pool and basketball net. They rarely have an evening where they are indoors for much more than 2 hours. During the afternoon they get called home to hide in the basement for the heat of the day.

I get to stay home, cook a supper from scratch, visit my husband, eat supper around the table with my kids. It rocks.

But yeah, I get funny looks because my kids 'aren't doing enough'. lol.

edited to add.... and at 7 and 8 I don't THINK they have weed yet. Can't ever be 100% sure, but, I'd say i'm 99%. lol

 

[Nuggler]

lol.

I get funny looks because my kids aren't in organized sports.

They get up in the morning, they run to the neighbors' house, grab their kids, and they all proceed to run back and forth from one house to the other... ours with the trampoline and dogs to play with... another with swings and hockey nets... another with a pool and basketball net. They rarely have an evening where they are indoors for much more than 2 hours. During the afternoon they get called home to hide in the basement for the heat of the day.

I get to stay home, cook a supper from scratch, visit my husband, eat supper around the table with my kids. It rocks.

But yeah, I get funny looks because my kids 'aren't doing enough'. lol.

edited to add.... and at 7 and 8 I don't THINK they have weed yet. Can't ever be 100% sure, but, I'd say i'm 99%. lol

_________________________
Sounds like our place, many years ago, Karrie. Believe it or not, we miss it.

Which is why grandkids were created.............eh;-)

 

[talloola]

My kids were in many many sports and other activities, and we had a sit down dinner
every night, when my husband came in at 4:30, I was a stay at home mom, very organized,
because we had to be at ball parks, hockey rinks, dance halls, music lessons, and we all
thrived on the life we had. My husband was a ball coach, then a hockey coach in the winter, we were in charge of a girls hockey league, and a girls soft ball league, very very
busy, and very very happy, and always together.
Different strokes for different folks, that is what makes the world go around, people and
families should do what makes them all happy, and we did that.