Healthy Eating
Let's Kick The Junk Food Habit
It's true that it's hard to dictate to your children what they should eat when all of their friends are living off packets of reconstituted snacks and fast food. Even if you try to get your kids off to a good start in the morning with breakfast at home, half of the cereals on sale are so full of sugar and salt that they too are adding to the junk food total for the day.
There's no easy answer, but the start must be to try to keep healthy food at your own table. Healthy food is generally food that has been processed very little – it should closely resemble how it grew or was raised. You'll be surprised how few aisles you need to shop in at your local supermarket if you stick to 'ingredients' for cooking, not prepared foods. It will be cheaper too. Get in the habit of reading the labels on food – look at the ingredients – do you recognise most of them or do they sound like a chemistry lesson?
If you are really a junk food household, you need a strategy for changing to healthier eating styles. It will involve the introduction of new foods and probably more cooking. Before starting to try to eliminate junk foods, make sure that you know what your healthy options for food are. Also remember that it might take a little time for new tastes to develop. People are creatures of habit, but it is possible to change.
Healthy eaters usually avoid eating junk food not because they are trying to be healthy, but because they find it genuinely unappealing. If you must eat junk food, eat it occasionally as a treat rather than routinely. When you do decide to eat junk food, pick the best of what is available. For example, some fast food is grilled and not fried and usually contains less calories.