When the family doesn't work together...

How can a child learn healthy eating habits when his/her parents aren't modeling the desired behaviors? I see many parents who are distressed about their child's diet and weight but seem unwilling to make appropriate changes themselves. That type of attitude will never work. The entire family needs to make changes. You can't expect a child not to eat chips when he sees his father sitting in front of the TV with an open bag. I find this with my own family. My husband and I took our children out for lunch last weekend and I ordered grilled cheese (made without any butter or oil) and sliced cucumber (instead of fries) for the children. My husband then proceeded to order a bacon cheeseburger with fries. What?? I knew exactly what would happen. My children wound up eating most of my husband's food. It is very difficult to teach your children to eat well when some members of the family are not. This is especially difficult when one sibling is heavy and the other is thin. Parents routinely tell me that they can't expect their thin child to forgo dessert simply because their other child is heavy. I strongly urge these parents to treat both siblings the same way. It is not fair to allow one child to eat things that the other is not allowed. It sets up bad feelings for everybody involved. Besides, nobody should be eating unhealthy foods on a regular basis. When starting a child on a weight loss program, the entire family must be prepared to make changes.
More tomorrow...