One of the best things you can do for your children is to help them to create healthy eating habits from an early age.

It is no secret that eating habits have a tremendous effect on continued health, or lack thereof, in later life.  Your children are subjected to unhealthy food and eating influences every day.  It is difficult to protect them from all these unhealthy messages that they are being bombarded with from the television, on billboards, in magazines and on the internet, and in fact in every area of everyday life.

The best thing we can do is educate them about nutritious eating so they are capable of making smart decisions for themselves regarding the food they eat. Additionally, you can set the precedence by offering them only those meals and snacks that will be good for them.  Take the time to let them know why a healthy lifestyle and good nutrition is so important.

One smart way to tackle this is to approach it from the perspective of what they value in their lives. Take a look at where their interests lie and help them to see the critical link between what is important to them and the food they eat.

If your kids really like sports, then you want to inform them about the foods that will help them perform better. You can tell them about all the free radical reducing compounds in vegetables and fruits, and the importance of protein in their diet.

You can also let them know the effect that nutrition has on your overall appearance.   Help them to understand just what benefit a healthy lifestyle and diet will have on their facial skin, hair and general overall look.

Never use food as a form of discipline.  Sending children to their room without any dinner or withholding food with the intent to punish is not a good idea.

Psychologists have determined that this leads to unhealthy beliefs and behaviors.  Your child can suffer later on as a teenager from certain food related manifestations as a result of these practices.  He/she may develop the habit of hoarding food or overeating which can lead to obesity and weight problems in teenager years.  Also it can create an imbalance in nutrition and energy and can cause your child more harm than good.

In these times it is very difficult to have the entire family eat meals together.  It is well worth the effort though to try to arrange everybody's schedule so that you can all have dinner at the same time at least once per week.

Research shows that there is a correlation between this simple act of family members eating together and more positive behaviors during later teen years.  Children who eat with the entire family are also more likely to have a greater knowledge of good nutrition and healthier eating habits.  Supervised eating sessions lead to better manners and encourage interaction in a group setting.

Start with educating yourself as much as you can so you can then convey your knowledge to them. Encourage them in turn to get involved in their own nutrition and investigate for themselves what a healthy lifestyle and diet entail.

There is a wealth of information offered, and it is really not hard to find on the internet. Once you do this, you will feel more confident about teaching your children. What you teach them about proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle can have a lasting and positive influence for the rest of their life.