Your 8 year old wants you to fry some bread rolls for his lunch-box tomorrow morning. What do you do?

Your 4 year old insists on buying a bag of potato chips every time you take her to the market. How do you stop her without being called a bad mom?

Your kids cringe at the mention of cereal or fruit in their breakfast. All they want is paranthas. Do you oblige them?

Most parents find it difficult to inculcate good eating habits in their children. Moms running after their kids with a bowl of dal in their hands make a common sight in our homes. But if you try you can change this state of affairs. Child obesity is on an all time high these days. So you should definitely try

Tips:

Begin With A Healthy Breakfast: The first meal of the day is also the most important. Explain to your child why it is important to have a healthy breakfast. And also remember to sit down with your children for breakfast and eat what you are serving them. Different kinds of cereals, muesli and oatmeal are available in the market today. Fresh juice, milk, fresh fruit, nuts, eggs, brown bread sandwich etc are all healthy options for your breakfast. Make Saturday and Sunday B/F special so that kids have something to look forward to. Paranthas are OK once a week.

Pack a Healthy Lunch: A healthy lunch doesnt have to be boring. Actually variety is what will work here. Never repeat the same lunch in a week. Try to go slow on the potatoes when you pack lunches. Most moms pack potato subzi with paranthas or rotis or pooris. Just coz they are easy to make doesnt mean you go berserk serving potatoes. Pulav is good as kids like rice. Sometimes you can prepare a vegetable biryani packed with vegetables. Brown bread sandwiches cut out in interesting shapes are also quite fancied. Boiled/scrambled eggs are also healthy options.

Make Sure Your Child Is Not Eating Junk At School: If the school serves lunch, go and check for yourself if the lunch is healthy. Similarly try to encourage the school to stock healthy options in the canteen, if any. Discourage sale of junk/chips etc on the school premises.

Proper Family Meals: When a family sits down to eat together it shares a special feeling of bonding and love. Encourage your family to have the breakfast and dinner together. Involve the kids in planning the dinner. If they so desire, allow them to invite a friend to dinner every now and then. Dont use dinner time to watch TV or argue about things. Make it a peaceful time for everyone to enjoy relax and bond.

Reading Labels: Just telling your child that potato chips are bad wont convince him. Teach your child about different food groups, nutrients and balanced diet. Also teach him/her to read the nutrition labels on different foodstuffs you buy. This will help him in deciding whether that bag of nuts is a better choice than the kurkure pack.

Stock Up On Fruit: Keep your refrigerator stocked up with fresh fruit, salad and vegetables at all the times. If your children need to snack, encourage them to try fruit or salad. Similarly when your child asks for dessert, try to serve freshly cut fruit. Make this a habit and kids will stop complaining. An ice-cream every few days is OK.

Set a Good Example: Follow good eating habits yourself and your child will naturally follow your example. But if you tell your kids to snack on fruit, while you eat the fried namkeen yourself, they wont follow your advice for long.