My Little Guy's Eating Habits

How do we raise our kids to eat well?

Is it by example? Or are their habits for eating innate?

I've been worried about this with my son lately. Up until shortly before my surgery we were big on fast food. We went to breakfast on Sunday mornings at McDonalds, and several times a week we would go to get dinner at McDonalds or some other fast food outlet.

Slowly my own habits had changed; it was done out of necessity and then later in justification through reflection of having to make the changes. Since I have to consider my diet when planning out the day I end up pre-fixing most of my meals and taking them with me. Even if we're eating out I'll have my little plastic container with my cheese/meat wrap. The only food I'll normally have outside my three sub-6 ounce meals is probably what amounts to a total of 1/2 a cup of lightly salted peanuts or a spoon of peanut butter; I found that having some of those helps stave the feeling of "off" that sometimes hit me during the day, especially after I started trying to exercise.

I've weaned off milk and now only have water to drink. It seems like I'm constantly drinking water and still I had test results back saying my kidney function showed I need more water in my diet. Sheesh.

For my anniversary my wife got me a camel pack, the backpack with a tube and water bladder for drinking. It's meant for people who hike or ride bike. I think it's the only way I'll get enough water during the day.

My son is pretty consistent when it comes to what he wants for his meals. He wants a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets for dinner, small french fries, diet soda. Other occasions he likes Macaroni and Cheese. Sometimes he likes pizza or one of those ready-made Lunchables packs.

Lately he's been asking for cereal or a cheese sandwich. Sometimes as a snack, or he'd have it as a post-dinner meal.

At the same time he sometimes won't eat much for lunch or breakfast. He may, for all practical definitions, skip a meal. Just not hungry.

I know that kids, especially young kids, go through periods where they'll eat the same things over and over. I still do that. What I'm worried about is whether he's overeating, or how to curb the bad habits of relying on fast foods for meals. It's not that you can't eat sort-of healthy foods at fast food joints, at least from a weight control viewpoint. A cheeseburger (his favorite meal staple) is only 300 calories at McDonald's. But relatively speaking food from restaurants (and fast food joints) tends to be higher in fat and sodium than stuff made at home.

I'm also worried because when my little guy goes to visit grandparents I get the distinct feeling that he's given more freedom from food restrictions; if he wants candy or more helpings of macaroni and cheese or a hot dog, it's always ready for him whereas we would be more inclined to tell him he's had enough.

Part of me thinks I'm just more focused on it because of my surgery; it's a side effect, when you constantly focus on your own eating habits and issue, to start looking at what other people do and get into and start passing judgement on their habits. I look at how food interacts with other people and how people interact with their food. Are they eating this or eating that much because they're hungry, or because they're looking to that meal as an emotional crutch? Will my little guy be eating like this because it's associated with reward or security or love?

More often than not we impart these views on others without even knowing that is what we're doing. What if that's what I'm allowing or doing to my own son?

This is a constant source of anxiety for me. I don't want to rob my son of a "normal" (or semi-normal) socialization; I don't want to turn him into a food freak unwilling to try new things or constantly worrying about his weight. At the same time I know that I was overweight and had issues with food for my entire life, and as a result was robbed of many of the interactions that Normals take for granted growing up.

I also don't want to make others around me worry about their own habits around me or my little dude. My wife made comments recently that reminded me she is conscious of the fact that I eat less now and it makes her feel unusual with what she's eating even though for me my situation is different and it doesn't bother me that other people are eating more or talking about food. In my perspective it's a social habit that people are conditioned with making them feel self-concious about social eating around people who aren't eating as much as I am.

So what is really normal eating for younger kids? Should I be letting him eat pretty much what he wants as he's hungry and be careful not to encourage him to "clean his plate" or worry about leftovers, or should I be trying to limit how much he takes in and risk making him self-conscious?

I had hoped that the overweight cycle would be broken by my now living by a better example. Maybe it will have some kind of effect. I'm really hoping it will...but there's far more influences in the world my little guy lives in than just his daddy.