10/25/11 Katie's Healthy Eating Journal: Tuesday

I think it really does matter what we feed our children and how it will affect them later in life.  If you give your kids sweets and white-based starches all the time with little fruits and vegetables what do you think they will prefer later in life?  I was at HallZOOween on Sunday with my family and my husband overhead a mom say rather nastily to her child, "You CANNOT have your candy yet - until you've finished your ice cream."  This child was maybe 2 years old.  Why stuff your child with a bunch of sweets when they are hungry?  What message does that send when they need a little snack?  In a world where we are concerned with the amount of obese children these are not ways to model healthy eating.  Even goldfish stress the importance of how they are whole grains now.  Give your child a fruit, veggies and dip, whole grain crackers, a low-fat cheese, or even a cereal bar.  We need to set good examples for our children at even the youngest age.