A while ago I was giving a food and nutrition presentation when a very concerned mother came up afterwards asking advice on what to do with her son who ate 2 litres of ice cream every night after dinner and was putting on weight. I suggested gently that perhaps she could consider not buying so much, and when it’s gone  - it’s gone. The woman, who was no fool but was doing a pretty good job of convincing me she was, thought for a moment and then said “ you mean accidentally-on-purpose run out of it?” “That’s is exactly what I mean – a never ending supply of chocolate biscuits or ice cream can lead to never ending consumption”.

Sometimes the answer is so obvious it is steering us in the face  - fill your pantry and fridge with what you are happy for them to eat. I don’t mean to be condescending by telling you this story but sometimes we need to be reminded as parents it’s ok not to be popular with our kids. Whilst there will be a bit of whingeing about running out– they’ll get over it! Make sure there is plenty of the food you want them to eat.

Tags: children, Cooking tips for teens, food, Nutrition messages for teens, teenagers, weight

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 5:43 pm and is filed under Parenting tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.