It’s not healthy to put children on a calorie restricted diet but it certainly is necessary to watch what they eat and when they’re on the wrong path steer them in the right direction. Many parents will complain about childhood obesity in their house and sedentary lifestyles but parents have full control over the food their children eat and whether or not sitting around and not getting any activity or exercises is allowed to happen.

If your kids have a poor diet without variety and colour they will become unhealthy eaters and fussy about eating healthy foods. Don’t make it an option to not eat vegetables. Don’t purchase the foods that are making them obese and lazy. It’s as simple as that. Try to bring new ways of making vegetables delicious to your table while still making them nutritious. Try to find new activities to get the whole family active. 

Don’t go down the junk food isle at the grocery store if you’re going to be tempted or if they are going to put up a fuss. Simple, right? Simpler snacking is  healthier and will still satisfy your kids even if its met with resistance at first. Buy popcorn instead of chips. Put carrot sticks and dip into their lunches instead of chocolate sandwich cookies. Don’t buy soda pop.

What should you do instead? Go bike riding, get exercise yourself, play family game nights on the Wii and model behaviour you want your kids to adopt.  Sedentary parents almost always equals sedentary children and even if your kids are not overweight they still might have serious health problems looming on the horizon due to poor lifestyle choices. 

Consider family activities, family gym memberships or evening strolls together with the family pet as a start. Today’s gym memberships can be even geared to kids with specially designed equipment and things such as Dance Revolution games on site in the gym and rock climbing walls.

While you do want your kids to have a positive body image and not fall prey to the problem with today’s models and celebrities who try to make every teenage girl think she’s got to be a size zero, you do want to have healthy kids who feel good, are mentally clear and who are active. Food can inhibit not only their body image but their brainpower so start by increasing the nutrition content in the house, increasing physical activity and by leading by example. As parents you have the power to have healthy kids.