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Food Fight
5 Common Nutritional Mistakes Parents Make
By Lisa B. Samalonis
2. Serving High-Calorie Drinks
Giving children high-calorie drinks is a prescription for obesity. "Fruit juices, sports drinks and chocolate milk drinks have high amounts of sugar and calories," Dr. Salerno says. "Water is the ideal beverage choice because it hydrates and does not add extra calories." Instead of giving a child a fruit drink, offer a piece of fruit or dilute the juice with water by one half, Dr. Salerno says. 
Having a doctor teach a child about good nutrition sometimes works, according to Jeanie Ruban, mother of Sabrina, 3, and Jimmy, 1, from Mountainside, N.J. "At Sabrina's 3-year-old appointment, the doctor said that she should only be drinking water and milk – no juice," Ruban says. "From that day on, Sabrina has not had a sip of juice. Go figure! She used to love her diluted apple juice."
3. Joining the "Clean Plate Club"
"If your child says he's full, listen – don't force him to eat," Dr. Salerno says. The "clean plate club" comes from the "waste not, want not" mentality of past generations. "It's hard to break from the dinner table rules our parents enforced when we were kids," says Joanne Cosgrove, mother of Owen, 3, from Media, Pa. "Also, many times when my son says he's 'full' he's just cleverly saving plenty of room for dessert."
