by Pria Pondering

Created on: October 06, 2008   Last Updated: October 14, 2008

For me, raising a healthy eater began as soon as I learned I was expecting my son almost 11 years a go when I decided to raise him as a vegetarian, as I had been my whole life.
That included a vegetarian pregnancy.
My healthy son was born 8 lbs, 1oz, 21" and is expected to be 6' 3". I tried to breast-feed and managed to do so for 2 months. I am currently expecting a daughter in four months and plan on learning as much as I can about the breast-feeding process and get support when needed to breastfeed longer this time.

When my son was ready for solids, I tried to make as much home-made food as possible for him; and made sure to not get him too accustomed to sugar as an ingredient. He must have been the only child in the world that enjoyed a combination of rice cereal, yogurt, tofu, and flax oil! Plain yogurt is now one of his favorite snacks and is still fine with adding flax oil to it.

I have also had my son on a regular and structured sleep schedule since he was four months old, which I believe has helped his eating habits. Although he started out as a grazer, picking at small amounts frequently since breastfeeding, he now seems to eat better than the friends I have seen his age. He is the only one that finishes his food. I have made sure to explain to him from the outset about what is healthy and what is not. He understands about trans-fats and points out questionable ingredients to me, such as corn syrup. He did not have soda pop until he was five years old, when his overweight kindergarten teacher offered it to him as a prize for a classroom task. Now, I try to make certain that the pop he consumes at home is either a mixture of a juice and seltzer water, or a healthy version of the pop from Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage. For instance, he has liked Root Beer, but can not tell the difference from the regular sugar-laden brand common at grocery stores versus the brands from health food stores.

One of the ways my son and I enjoy spending time together is through cooking and baking. He is expected to cook once a week and I am gradually building his repertoire of healthy foods he can make, such as a low-fat, healthy version of macaroni and cheese casserole. We don't normally purchase cookies and other sugary snacks.
Instead, we make them from scratch, trying to use whole ingredients and sometimes spiked with healthy additives, such as wheat germ. My son is proud of the end result and considers it tastier than anything bought at the store.

Through education and communication about his diet when away from home, I've tried to ensure he has had increasing practice with critical thinking skills in making the healthiest dietary choices while at school and visiting friends.

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