Most moms and dads want their kids to eat healthy or healthier, but lots of times they are faced with multiple struggles. Juggling hectic school and work schedules often makes it difficult to have a sit-down, home-cooked, nutritious meal.  According to the American Dietetic Association (ADA), “The top concern, shared by more than four-in-10 moms, is that kids are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. Picky eaters and eating too much junk food round out the top three overall concerns of moms.”

The ADA compiled a short list of easy and practical tips for moms and/or dads to try out:

Establish a family mealtime time. Try to have at least one meal a day together. This can help increase a child’s intake of healthier foods because kids tend to eat more fruits, vegetables, and dairy at meals shared with their parents.

Scene: Local restaurant.  Mom is seated at a table with her children.  They peruse the menu.  Mom’s looking for healthy foods, trying to create a meal in line with her plan to eat healthy.  She’s fasted all day, just to be able to eat out, and doesn’t want to blow it all on one meal.  Kids are searching for anything fried, sugary, or fattening.  Anything that the Mom recommends, the kids reject.  The choices begin.  “Pizza!” clamor the children.  “Hot dogs!  Grilled cheese!  Cheese Steaks!”  Mom offers grilled chicken breasts and steamed vegetables, but the kids want no part of it and their choruses ring louder than ever.  Throwing up her hands in defeat, Mom decides that she might as well join them and soon, everyone is chin deep in fried mozzarella appetizers and an overstuffed meat lovers deep dish pizza, served with two pitchers of cola and one of beer for the adults.  Mom’s Diet, and more importantly everyone’s Healthy Eating, blown again.

How many times has this happened to you?  How many mistakes can you spot, both in Mom’s reasoning and, in fact, the entire scenario?  Let’s look.

Who doesn’t love to go out to dinner? But if you’re trying to watch your calories or just trying to eat healthy, eating out can be a weighty ordeal. Giant portion sizes, oil-drenched vegetables, and bottomless bread baskets, dining out and healthy eating don’t always go hand-in-hand.

Now there is a handy new online tool created by the National Restaurant Association (NRA) with partial funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  HealthyDiningFinder.com provides you with nutritional information on restaurants that, in many cases, is not available anywhere else. The website is also meant to encourage chefs and cooks all around the country to create healthy meals that emphasize fresh vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins.

It is very obvious that we are a society of convenience and many of us have developed the habit of eating out on a regular basis.  Whether it is grabbing lunch at the nearest fast food joint or taking the family out to eat after a long day of work, we eat out a lot.  It may not be realistic to think you can completely avoid dining out all together, but I do recommend minimizing the number of times you eat out during the week.  Since it is unrealistic to think you will completely do a 180 with dining out, I would like to provide you with a few tips to doing it in a healthier manner.

- Avoid fried food. Order baked, broiled, or grilled items, in doing so you will cut calories and help protect you from disease.

- Choose fresh over fried. Pick a lettuce side salad or fruit over French fries.

- Ask your server questions. Ordering veggies is highly recommended, but it can be tricky because restaurants like to cook in a lot of butter.  Ask the server what the vegetables are cooked in and how they are prepared (see if you can get them grilled or steamed).