You can sneak in modifications, and children won't even realize they're practicing more healthful eating habits, says New York nutritionist Joy Bauer, the mother of three children, ages 15, 12 and 9, and author of Your Inner Skinny.
For example, she says, you can tempt them to drink more water and fewer soft drinks by using fun water bottles, or buying naturally flavored seltzer water or plain seltzer water and adding a shot of cranberry juice or orange juice. Or you can invest in a home seltzer machine and make your own, she says: "My kids love the bubbles."
The theme of USA TODAY's seventh annual Weight-Loss Challenge is to help dieters lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks. Two-thirds of adults in the USA weigh too much, and about a third of children are too heavy. Nutrition experts say many families would benefit from some simple changes that could lead to weight loss and better health.
Bauer suggests families:
•Think low-fat. Buy low-fat 1% or skim milk, low-fat cream cheese and reduced-fat cheese instead of the full-fat versions. With cheese, get the same color and type the kids like so they don't notice the difference.
•Make substitutions. Use lower-fat ground turkey instead of high-fat ground beef in recipes for tacos, meat loaf, chili and other dishes.
•Push veggies. Place a bowl of vegetables such as broccoli, snap peas, cucumbers or carrot sticks on the table before meals. "The kids will dive in and the vegetables will be gone before you know it," she says. "You are taking the edge off their hunger, and then you can serve more vegetables at the meal."
•Shop alone. Go to the grocery when kids are at other activities so they don't try to sway you to buy extra junk food, and pack their lunches for school so they are eating healthier choices.
Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian in Chicago and author of The Flexitarian Diet, suggests parents work with their children to create "a dinner deck" — 10 favorite quick and healthful dinners written on index cards. Each card should list the ingredients for the recipe on one side and directions for making it on the other.
Parents should keep the deck with them so they can stop at the grocery store and get what they need quickly without forgetting any ingredients. No more dashing out at the last minute to get high-calorie takeout.
Blatner says parents should try to serve meals that are 50% vegetables and fruit with smaller amounts of lean protein such as chicken and fish and whole grains such as whole-wheat pasta and brown rice.
There's one change many parents need to make that will be more noticeable to kids: Get rid of most high-calorie, low-nutrition candies, soda, cookies, chips and ice cream. Instead:
•Buy wisely. Consider low-fat vanilla yogurt with berries, whole-grain fig cookies and fat-free chocolate pudding.
•Find tasty trade-offs. Choose individual servings of desserts such as 100-calorie frozen fudge bars if your child loves ice cream. Or better yet, just go out for an occasional ice cream cone.
•Make your own treats. One quick and easy snack is homemade trail mix made with 1 to 2 tablespoons of dark chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons of dried fruit, half a cup of whole-grain cereal and 2 tablespoons of chopped nuts or sesame seeds. "This mix looks like a treat because of the chips, and it is really good for them," says Elizabeth Ward, a registered dietitian in Boston, mother of three girls and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feeding Your Baby and Toddler.
•Let kids help. Have children spread hummus or peanut butter on crackers, apples, carrots and celery, Ward says. She suggests getting kids involved in making meals.
"Every week, I try a new dinner recipe with my girls. That way, they learn basic kitchen survival skills, and we don't get into a recipe rut."
suggests using cards with easy-to-make healthy recipes.
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