Feeding Your Kids: Best Practice Guidelines and Strategies to Promote a Lifetime of Healthy Eating Habits Carrie Schroeder McConnell, MA, RD MomTime at Montview October 18, 2013

A little about Carrie Schroeder McConnell… BS in Nutrition from Colorado State University and Dietetic Internship completed at University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic Worked as diabetes educator at a diabetes center - type 1, 2 and gestational diabetes and health educator for worksite wellness company Master’s of Arts in Family Counseling from UCDenver Child Nutrition Experience: The Children’s Hospital - Eating Disorders Clinic, Obesity Clinic and Clinical Trial for Obese Adolescents Head Start (Federally funded preschool for low income families) – Provided nutrition trainings to staff and counseling/classes to families Local Health Department – Provided training to child care centers, preschools and afterschool programs to promote healthy eating and physical activity Taught at Metropolitan State University of Denver for 12 years Doctoral Coursework completed (except dissertation) at UCDenver in Health and Behavioral Sciences. Area of research – Feeding Strategies of Parents of Preschool-Aged Children Currently in process of earning certificate of training in Child and Adolescent Weight Management

Approaches to Nutrition Therapeutic: Treatment of a condition, illness or disease state Best addressed individually because more precise and individualized recommendations are necessary Preventive: Prevent development of chronic diseases and promote general health and well-being Addressed well in the group setting because it “norms” behavior and applies to a larger percentage of the population Diane Moyer – 720-560-3734

Preventive healthy eating should: Make your life easier not more complicated Not be confusing Fit into your lifestyle including schedule and budget Be flexible Not need to be perfect Be long-term

Preventive healthy eating does: Require some advanced thought and planning – at least initially

Feeding Your Kids: Best Practice Guidelines Considered gold standard based on research Can be something your family can works towards Best practices for feeding kids were developed because parental feeding practices are strongly associated with healthy food choices throughout childhood

Division of Feeding Responsibility Parents are responsible for: Deciding what foods are offered Deciding how and where food is offered Deciding when food is offered Kids are responsible for: Deciding what and how much they eat

Parent’s responsibility: Deciding what food is offered Food can be divided into five food groups Aim for a variety and balance of nutrient-dense foods at meals and snack time ChooseMyPlate.gov recommends ½ plate fruit and vegetables ½ plate grains and protein Serving of dairy General guideline – 4 - 5 groups per meal 2 groups per snack

Parent’s responsibility: Deciding what food is offered Regular exposure helps kids learn to like healthy and unfamiliar foods Serving foods regularly Including kids in grocery shopping and/or cooking activities Books/games related to healthy foods

Example of exposure

Parent’s responsibility: Deciding what food is offered Consider your approach to sweets/treats “moderation” Frequency Portion Quality

Parent’s responsibility: Deciding what food is offered Think of all beverages besides water as “food”

Parent’s responsibility: Deciding when food is offered: Develop meal and snack structure Plan enough time to eat ½ hour – 45 minutes for meals 15 - 20 minutes for snacks Plan enough time between meals and snacks such as 2 hours

Parent’s responsibility: Deciding how and where food is offered: Eat meals as a family Opportunities for modeling healthy eating Positive feelings about food Serve family-style meals Create eating environment free from distractions and conducive to a good appetite and safe eating

Kid’s responsibility: Deciding what and how much they eat This means no: “Take three more bites and you are done” “Have a no thank you helping” “Eat your sandwich” This should make mealtimes much easier so why can this be hard?

Tips to make this easier Offer all foods at once Only offer foods you feel comfortable with them eating and in appropriate portions Avoid attaching eating conditions to dessert Can set some limits

Get your child’s school involved in healthy feeding practices Kids eat 1 – 2 meals/snacks at school each day School setting is GREAT opportunity for norming healthy eating Ask about school’s practices and policies about nutrition best practices Exposure to healthy foods and to nutrient-poor foods Availability of and rewarding with low nutrient foods Respect for division of responsibility