Remember the days of packing lunches for the kids for school and rushing out the door with barely time to get breakfast in their bellies? I do and although my girls are teenagers now, I still worry about them getting proper nutrition. Probably more today than a year ago due to the lingering COVID-19 virus. Proper nutrition is so important, now more than ever.
Maybe you have a picky eater, or sugar-junky on your hands (I've got one of those lol). Well it's not uncommon for parents to struggle getting proper nutrition in their children. At least when children our young we have a bit more control over the foods they choose, but as they become teenagers it becomes more difficult.
I've definitely noticed a shift in food consumption over the past 11 months with everyone home for every single meal. I'm sure you find yourself and your children looking through the pantry for something to eat on a daily basis. Most of the times not even hungry, just out of boredom or comfort (this is going to be my next topic). What if there was a simple way to make better healthy choices? One where you could look at a particular food and make an easy health choices. One that didn't label foods as good or bad. Well there is and it's just like driving a car, the traffic light tells us what to do.
I'm going to break it down as simple as possible.
Green means “go” --- grown, not manufactured foods, colorful, low in calories, high in nutrients, usually can be eaten raw
Yellow tells us to “slow down” --- ok to eat daily in moderation --- pasta, rice, bread, eggs, lean meat, chicken, yogurt, nuts, seed, fish, cheese, olive oil
Red means “stop” and think --- make a choice or eat a smaller portion --- low in nutrients, high in calories, fat or sugar --- butter, cookies, candy, fatty meats, pastries, chips and white bread
No good or bad labels here. Just taking the time to stop and think about the choices we are making.
I like to think of one's daily food consumption as a whole and then expand it to the week. With Traffic Light Eating, nothing is 'off the table', we may just need to consume less of it and not as often.
Think of it this way, your child loves to have a dish of ice cream at night for a snack and it's not negotiable (no parent wants to deal with a tantrum after a long day). Help your child look at what they are eating throughout the day so their day is filled with 85-90% green and yellow foods (healthier options). Now the parent can feel more comfortable with the decision being that the rest of their day was filled with nutritious foods.
Encouraging our children to make healthier choices starts with the parents. We are their role models and not just for young kids. Teenagers are watching us with a magnifying glass, waiting for us to slip so they can call us out on it. So we as the adult need to model healthy eating in order to have our children eat healthier. Our children are paying attention to what we eat. The best way to turn healthy eating into a regular habit is by setting a positive example.
Here are few tips to encourage healthy choices:
Don't keep sweets in the house. You will be more willing to eat nutritious foods when they are available.
Have ready to grab snacks - chopped veggies and hummus, fruit and peanut/almond butter, snack bags/containers of nuts, seed, dried fruits
At dinner, talk about your favorite healthy snacks to eat.
Play a game, name a food and let everyone guess if it's green, yellow or red.
Ask your kids, or yourself, how many green lights you went through today.
Be mindful of not labeling foods good or bad, children are very impressionable.
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