Today we’re going to talk about getting little ones to eat, but not too much, and the right things. There are so many theories about how to get our kiddos to eat veggies, fruits, fish, beans, but the answer to how to get kids to eat healthy foods is really naturally built into them. All we have to do as parents is to let the natural process do it’s thing. And what is that natural process? Simply put, it’s hunger.

Today’s topic is a hot-button one and I know I am going to get a lot of feedback from listeners. Yet, the research and scientific evidence is imploring me to cover this topic again because it is really important to your child’s health and well-being. Yep, I’m talking about the importance of free play

Just about every parent I have worked with for the last 10 years has had a love-hate relationship with screens and their children. Almost all the parents I work with know that too much screen time is not a good thing. And almost all of them feel guilty about how much time their kiddos are in front of screens while simultaneously feeling that screens are necessary to calm, soothe, distract, and manage children today. Those are a lot of emotions to have about a tool that is meant to improve our lives.

So let’s take a look at what the research is telling us and try to find that equilibrium that meets the needs of the modern family while simultaneously supporting the proper growth and development of our little ones with free play.

Recently, while reading my pediatric professional journals, I came across an interesting article. The article was about helping parents understand food trends and decipher food labels to make truly healthy choices for their toddlers. While the paper was focused on very young children, the information they shared is really applicable to children and teens of all ages. For this reason, I thought I would use this article as a basis for todays show.

Understanding nutrition is not as easy as it may appear. Everyday on commercials, on television, on Instagram, on Facebook, on the radio, just about everywhere, we hear nutrition information about calories, fat, sugar, carbohydrates, macros, eating for your body type, veganism, vegetarianism, keto, intermittent fasting, etc., etc., etc. Everyone seems to be an expert and has cracked the code on how to eat well and stay lean. Yet, obesity rates continue to climb, especially in our youth population. Diseases related to poor nutrition are claiming more lives every year. And people are feeling less and less confident about how to manage their own diet and nutrition within the constraints of modern life. Then, adding the responsibility of choosing meals and snacks for our little ones can feel overwhelming.

So, let’s start talking about how to navigate food trends and food labels to make sound, scientifically based decisions for your modern family while providing the best nutrition for your kiddos.