Parent Tips: Buying the Right Food for Your Child

With childhood obesity and diabetes on the rise, it may seem impossible to decide what food to feed your child. Every cereal and snack food seems to claim near miracle strength levels of nutritional value, while in the back of your head you are wondering whether that bag of yogurt raisins you gave your child was any better than that handful of crunchy chips he grabbed when you were not looking.

Here are some helpful health tips to choosing the right food for your child.

Health Tip 1: Learn to buy smart and read food labels at the grocery store

Food labels often betray a food's lofty health food claims.

Check juice for its level of sugars, what ingredients it has, and the percentage of vitamins in it. If an apple juice product only has 5% juice, 40 grams of sugar, lists high fructose corn syrup as one of its first ingredients, and only 5% of your Vitamin C for the day, it is no better than some sugary fruit punch.

Check canned foods, lunch meats, and microwavable food for their levels of saturated fat, fat calories, cholesterol, sodium, and the list of ingredients. Often these foods have a ridiculous number of preservatives listed and have extremely high levels of sodium, all contributors to heart disease, obesity, and overall bad health.

Health Tip 2: Do not buy food off of the child menu when you visit the local restaurant

You and your spouse might buy the broiled fish with a side of steamed veggies and brown rice, but your child is busy chomping down on fried chicken fingers, french fries, and a soda. Instead, buy a larger food portion for yourself and share with your child. If your child is old enough to order their own food option, have them order a half-size portion of a healthy adult menu option. You can encourage this further by letting them know that they are too old for the child menu and that choosing a healthy meal is part of being a grown up.

Health Tip 3: Avoid fast food restaurants

Despite some fast food restaurants claiming to have better health food options, the truth of the matter is, once you have entered the fast food restaurant, you will be hard pressed to find anything that is truly healthy on the food restaurant menu. Even if you order all-white-meat nuggets, they are stock full of preservatives and sodium, and most likely you will end up caving in and buying the fries or ice cream sundae for you child, despite your good intentions.

Many of us grew up with trips to the fast food restaurant being a treat of sorts. Instead, if your child really wants fries and a burger, make a trip to the grocery store, buy the ingredients, and make the meal at home together. Let your child choose the toppings to go on the burgers (even if it is something weird like olives, pickles, and bean sprouts), and enjoy the time together.

Health Tip 4: As much as possible, stick to homemade recipes and simple food and avoid processed food

With many parents having to rely on child care, raising a child by themselves, or having both parents working one or two jobs each, it is no wonder that making a homemade meal seems like a luxury of a bygone day. Try to engage the help of your family, friends, or spouse, in preparing meals or cook extra large portions and freeze the leftovers for another day.