William Sears - Eat Healthy, Feel Great

Text copyright 2002 by William Sears, Martha Sears, and Christie Watts Kelly

Illustrations copyright 2002 by Rene Andriani

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Little, Brown and Company

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First eBook Edition: November 2009

ISBN: 978-0-316-09231-9

To our grandchildren, as they learn to love the food that makes them healthy

W. S. and M. S.

To La Leche League International, and the moms in the Memphis chapter, for always pointing the way to good nutrition

C. W. K.

For my wonderful husband, Vince, top-notch dad and green-light chef

R. A.

Parents and caregivers will find it helpful to read these notes and preview this book before sharing it with a child. The text and illustrations reflect a responsive parenting style known as attachment parenting (see About Attachment Parenting on ).

• Model wise nutritional choices. Refuse to purchase junk food or to bring it home. If its not there, in moments of craving, you and your children will choose a healthier alternative.
• Shape young tastes. You have a golden opportunity to influence your childs lifelong eating habits, and the earlier you start, the easier it will be. If freshly prepared, unsalted, unsweetened foods are the norm in your household, your child will shun canned, artificial tastes.
• Preprogram children to expect only healthy treats, such as individual packages of string cheese or all-natural rolled-fruit snacks. Just say no at the checkout counter to tantrums and candy. If you give in even once, youll have a battle the next time.
• Be creative in the way you present healthy foods. Kids love to dip it and smother it. Dips such as mild guacamole or hummus and toppings such as yogurt (instead of sour cream) or cheese sauce boost nutrition while making your childs veggies and complex carbohydrates more palatable. Kids love the novelty of dining from a nibble trayan ice-cube tray or muffin pan filled with assorted healthy foods and dips. But be sure they stand still or sit down; its not safe for young children to eat while walking or moving about, and it can get messy.
• Use caution with chokable foods, including cherries with pits, hard candy, mouthfuls of raisins, stringy foods, whole grapes, meat chunks, nuts, globs of peanut butter, popcorn, whole olives, and raw fruits and vegetables that are not shredded, sliced wafer thin, or steamed. Hot dogs are frequently fed to children, but they are neither nutritious nor safethey are full of nitrites and sodium, and are perfectly sized to lodge in the windpipe. If you do serve hot dogs, slice them lengthwise in long noodle-like strips and try a nitrite-free or veggie version.
• Water your child. Just as your plants need water, your child must have plenty of fresh water for bodily systems to run smoothly. Start the water habit earlyit should be the first thing offered after breast milk or formulabefore giving your child juice. If your childs palate has already been trained to expect sweetened beverages, start by switching to only 100 percent fruit juice with no added sugar or artificial colors. Next, gradually water it down in stages until the juice is mostly water. Dont offer your child punch-type drinks made of water, sugar, artificial flavors, and dyes.
• Use creative language when denying your child junk food. The words not a grow food or not a green-light food are easier for a child to swallow than plain old no.
• Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but sometimes a sleepy child and a hurried parent means breakfast gets put on the back burner. A breakfast smoothie is an effective and easy way to get protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and fiber, and can be more palatable for those who wake up without much of an appetite (see recipe on ).
• Dont shy away from spending more money on nutritious foods for your familywhole-grain crackers and breads, no-sugar-added 100 percent fruit juices, and organically grown produce. Your pocketbook will thank you in the long run with lower doctor bills.
• For vegetarian families and families with food allergies we have included a variety of food sources when discussing categories of nutrients. Omit any foods that your family doesnt eat as you read aloud.

W hen you were a little baby, the only food you needed was special milk.

But as you grew bigger and busier, you started needing other good foods, too.

Now you need foods that make you grow stronger, help you think better, and give you more energy to play.

These are green-light foods. A green light means go, and you can go ahead and eat all you want.

Some foods are okay to eat sometimes, but they wont keep you feeling great the way green-light foods do.

These are yellow-light foods. A yellow light means slow down, and these foods will make you slow down if you eat too many.

And some foods dont do anything to help your body.

Instead, they can hurt your body and make you feel too full to eat your green-light foods.

These are red-light foods.

A red light means stop, and you should stop eating these foods.

FOOD ALLERGIES: MORE RED LIGHTS

• Some kids are allergic to foods such as cows milk, corn, or peanuts. That means they get sicksneezy or itchy or an upset tummyfrom eating foods that are usually healthy to eat. Kids with allergies are just like other kidsexcept they have more red-light foods. Do you or your family have any red-light foods that arent shown here?

Ingredients in yellow-light and red-light foods can trick you.

They make the foods look good and taste good, but they are still bad for you.

Food dyes are supposed to make food look yummy, but your body says, Yuck, those dont help me grow! Food dyes are in foods like candy and sweet drinks.

Hydrogenated oil makes you want to eat more and more. But if you eat too much it can hurt your heart. Hydrogenated oil is hiding in many packaged foods like cookies and chips.