How to create a healthy eaters, without struggles and battles.

1. Creating Healthy
Eaters
Beverly Pressey, MS,RD,
Mom

2. Learn to Enjoy Eating with your
Children
 Family meals are important
 Family meal defined:
 Everyone present
 NO: TV, telephones, books, magazines, radio
 Any meal of the day, any time of the day

3. Why are Family Meals
Important
 Studies have shown that children who eat
3 or more meals with their family:
 Better nutrition from home meals
 Better food choices away from home
 Better grades in school
 Less likely of abuse alcohol and drugs
 Have greater self esteem

4. Detriments to Family Meals
 Preparation: shopping
 Cooking and clean-up
 Frustration: deciding what to prepare to
keep everyone happy
 Arguing: trying to get your kids to eat

5. Selecting What to Prepare
 It’s your job to decide what to offer at
meals and offer it in an appropriate and
inviting manner.
 By offering food-you have done your job.

6. The Two Food Groups:
 Those the help you grow big and strong or
growing foods
 Those that are fun

7. Growing Foods
 Fruits and Vegetables
 Meats, cheese, nuts, beans, fish, eggs,
tofu
 Whole grain foods
 Unprocessed food

8. Fun Foods
 White flour bread and snack foods
 Fried foods
 High sugar foods: candy, juice
 Most baked goods
 High salt foods

9. Other Adult Responsibilities
 Letting children help prepare meals.
 Require an appropriate level of table
manners.
 Supplying appropriate table setting and
eating environment.
 Offer food regularly, every 1.5-2.5 hours.

10. Not Your Job:
 How much food a child eats.
 What order food is eaten.
 Whether a child eats or not.
 Bribing, rewarding, cajoling or tricking a child to
eat.
THESE ARE YOUR CHILD’S JOB
Don’t be an over achiever!

11. Give your Child Responsibility
 Serve themselves when they are able.
 Chose to eat or not.
 Realize the consequences of their
decisions.

12. Trust your Child, Show them that
You Trust Them.
 Let them keep their natural ability to know
when they are hungry and sated (full).
 0-1years: feed on demand
 1 year-until they move out: Continue to follow
their lead

13. Offering Fun Food
 When and how much is up to you.
 Let the child know that this is fun food so
they will only be allowed a certain amount.
 Always serve a growing food with a fun
food so a child can eat to satiety at every
meal or snack.

14. Children Will Not Over or Under Eat
 IF:
 They are offered regular meals and snacks of
a variety of healthy foods.
 They are not constantly and continuously
encouraged to eat after they have shown they
are finished eating.

15. You Control Timing of Meals and
Snacks
 A hungry child is a motivated eater.
 Motivated eaters:
 Eat
 Are more likely to try new foods

16. If Your Child Chooses Not to Eat
 That is their choice.
 Remind them that there will be no more
food until…
 They will not starve or have any nutritional
deficiencies.

17. You Will Not:
 Become a short order cook.
 Give into begging for food directly after
food was offered.
 Yell, threaten, bribe or punish.

18. “I’m hungry”
 “I would be hungry too if I didn’t eat
anything for dinner.
 “I would be hungry too if I only ate a
cookie for dinner.”

19. Snacks vs. Meals
 Nutrition at snacks and meals should be
equal, because your child doesn’t know
the difference between a meal and a
snack.
 If meals and snacks before dinner are
mostly fun foods, you are now determined
to get your child to eat dinner.

20. Dessert
 Whether a dessert is a fun food or a good
and good for you food, it should be offered
to a child whether they ate or not.

21. milk
 A child 1 or over only needs 2 cups of milk
a day.
 You do not need to serve milk with every
meal.
 Always offer water for thirst after the cup
of milk is gone.

22. protein
 Many young children don’t like meat.
 Children don’t need a large portion of a
protein food at each meal, there is some
protein in all foods except fruits.
 Children ages 1-3 need 16 grams for
protein, they receive 14 grams from 2
cups of milk.

23. Beverly Pressey,MS, RD, Mom
 Consultations, speaking, 1-1 counseling
 Author: Simple and Savvy Strategies for
Creating Healthy Meals
 Contact at:
 PracticalFamilyNutrition.com