Promoting Healthy Eating
- Eat meals together with your children whenever possible.
- Provide and make available appropriate, healthy food at home (minimize junk food purchases and high fat desserts).
- Be a positive role model for eating and exercise behaviors.
- Talk with your child about what a “healthy diet” is, and about how it is different from “dieting” (discourage meal skipping, overeating, fasting).
- Limit sedentary activities (e.g. hours of television viewing) and promote physical activities.
- Support physical education and sports programs in your school and community.
- Evaluate the coaching and supervision for you child’s sports activities with an associated high risk for disordered eating (e.g., gymnastics, ballet, etc.).
- Examine your comments to your child about eating habits or appearance (your own or your child’s).
- Take the focus of family activities away from food.
- Emphasize your support of positive risk-taking.