We really are trying. We listen to what teachers and parents say and to the programs we see on TV or the Internet. We want to be healthy, and want to make the right food choices. We are trying to eat more fruits and vegetables and to drink good drinks like water, milk, and 100% fruit juice. We try not to drink sports drinks, pop, or flavored drinks because they have a lot of sugar, which means a lot of calories.
It’s hard to eat better if our parents don’t care because they buy and make most of the food we eat. So it’s important for us to learn everything we can about good food choices and to talk to our parents about what we would like them to buy and fix. If we volunteer to help them shop, make the food, and clean up afterwards, they will be more willing to listen and help us make healthy meals.
We know breakfast is important, and that our bodies need some fuel to start the day. Sometimes it’s hard to stop for breakfast when we are late or want to hurry to meet our friends. We have to get up earlier to make time for breakfast.
We know that fruits and veggies have vitamins, minerals, and fiber that we need to grow and keep our bodies strong. Some kids don’t like vegetables, but they can be delicious. The trick is to try different types prepared in different ways. Don’t like green beans? Try topping them with crunchy almonds or dipping in ketchup. We can look up recipes on the Internet or ask our parents or siblings to do it for us, until we find something that sounds good and is easy to make.
Most of us eat the same fruit all the time – apples, bananas, grapes, and watermelon. But there are lots of other kind of fruit and we should try to find new ones we like. If we go to the store or farmer’s market with our Mom or Dad, we can see what looks good and ask them to buy just one so that we can try it. Grocery stores sometimes have prepackaged, single serving fruit that we can throw into our bags for lunch.
It’s really important that we get to choose. If our Mom or Dad buys and prepares healthy food, we kids want to decide which foods we will eat and how much to eat. That way, we can stop eating when we are full and won’t be forced to eat food we don’t like. I guess it’s ok if they insist we take one taste of something they’ve fixed that we don’t want. We might be surprised and it might taste good.
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