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Happy, Healthy Holidays

Dear Dr. Dellasega,

With the holidays coming up, I’m really concerned about all the high-sugar snacks my sweet-toothed daughter, Amy, will be tempted by. My big extended family is likely to encourage her to eat whatever she wants, even if it’s only dessert. How do I encourage healthy eating habits without nagging her or making her think I’m concerned about her weight?

Pat

Dear Pat,

You’re wise to be thinking now about something that challenges all of us — how to have a healthy intake during the holidays when every situation we find ourselves in encourages the opposite. With girls, it’s even more sensitive, because a criticism of eating habits can easily be interpreted as a criticism of her looks or body.

Day-to-day intake is really the key here. While one or two times of indulgence aren’t healthy, they won’t be as damaging to Amy as consistently unhealthy habits. If she’s eating a lot of sugar-filled foods, she won’t be hungry for ones that are good for her.

A friend of mine recently dealt with this situation. Her daughter, like Amy, loved sweet foods, and couldn’t even be tempted to eat the family’s regular meals with the reward of dessert. After many bitter battles, peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread became an acceptable compromise — but still no dessert.

You see the importance of establishing healthy eating patterns now. It’s a time when your daughter’s body is growing and creating bone structure that will be there for a lifetime, so getting proper nutrients is the priority. Still, you don’t want to have arguments over everything she eats, or focus excessively on food.

Chances are, Amy is already hearing about the dangers of too much sugar and fat in school, but if not, you can find some fun information geared especially for kids and share it with her. Tell her how you plan your own intake so you get a balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat each day, avoiding a discussion of calories, which suggests you want her to diet.

Sit down and figure out a simple meal plan for every day that involves compromise on both your parts. Give her points for each food she eats that is healthy, and at the end of the day, if she has enough points, allow her to have one high-sugar snack she wants. Talk ahead of time so she knows both you and she may eat differently for one or two days during the holidays, but then role model getting back on track promptly with a more nutritional intake. And, if her cravings continue or seem extreme, you might schedule a check-up with your pediatrician to make sure there’s nothing medically wrong.

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