As a dietitian who works regularly with kids, one of the most common struggles I encounter is the very REAL struggle parents have to get their kids to eat healthier.

If parenting weren’t hard enough, trying to convince your five year old to eat that next vegetable or to pick ANYTHING besides chicken nuggets and fries is a real thing. I get it.

But there’s generally ONE cardinal rule that I tell parents over and over, and new research reiterates how important this is. Researchers analyzed diet behaviors in kids and parents over the course of several years and found something so shocking, you might fall out of your chair:

The BIGGEST factor in whether children would make good food choices was whether or not their PARENTS made good food choices. I know. Shocking right?

And that brings me to probably the most important factor that we parents too quickly forget: our children REALLY DO look up to, emulate, model and copy us in the best, and worst and most embarrassing and most awesome ways. And that includes food!

Yes, I know it’s not popular anymore to tell parents that we are to actually PARENT our children, but whether you listen to research, or your counselor, or your pastor, or your nutritionist, we are all going to keep telling you that asking your kids to create a life pattern like eating WITHOUT you doing it first…. is not likely, or even possible.

So how do you get your kids to eat healthier? YOU start eating healthier and model it for them. You’ll thank yourself for it, they’ll thank you for it (when they’re 30 or so), and you’ll all be happier!

If you need help getting your family off to a good nutritious start – let our family help you! Five kids later and we’ve made a few mistakes and discovered a few cool hacks that might just help you find a rhythm that works for good!