Balanced meals
I came into the kitchen this evening, a bit behind in fixing dinner, to find two of my kids having themselves a little picnic. They were so pleased by their choices, that they asked me to take a picture.
They said, “Look mom! We are eating from all the food groups.”
Sure enough they had
- bananas
- carrots (I don’t think they realized they got out coleslaw instead of Ranch, but they ate it anyway.)
- pretzels
- string cheese
- and pistachio’s
One of my very early posts was about teaching the food guide pyramid to your kids. When they are hungry, we go over the pyramid and ask simply, “what food group have you neglected today?” to help us determine an appropriate snack.
At meal time, balance is the key. Fruits, vegetables, proteins, and grains should be a part of each meal. We have a poster of the pyramid inside our pantry door. This has been key to teaching balance and variety to my kids. Empowering them to make choices within healthy limits will hopefully teach them to do it even when I’m not around. There are links on my old post to print a free food guide pyramid coloring sheet etc.
Posted: January 28th, 2009 under Ideas and Issues.
Tags: children, empowering, food guide pyramid, habits, healthy, teaching kids nutrition
Comments
Comment from cathy
Time January 29, 2009 at 7:53 am
Um, care to send you kids up here to have a pep talk with my 5 yr old? 
Comment from Cortni
Time January 28, 2009 at 9:11 am
I never thought to hang it up and do it that way but I am going to do it that way from now on! I’m not sure if you still include it, but I bought your lesson plan awhile back and it has a food pyramid poster in it, so that is what I am hanging up. And I would recommend your lesson plan and plates to anyone! My kids love them.
Okay, that wa a shameless plug for you, but I think it’s awesome that you have this site and are trying to increase nutrition awareness for kids. (And no, I don’t know Amy in person). lol