You may remember me mentioning in our Spring Fever Giveaway that one of the items was the Food Fights book. Well, today, I’m going to tell you a little bit about the book. As a parent of 4, I have had my fair share of struggles when it comes to getting my children to eat healthy, good foods. My son eats pretty much any food we give him. My daughters, on the other hand, are extremely picky. I’m not even sure picky can describe it. They drive my husband and me bonkers over food! I don’t always choose the right path for getting them to eat. We have been known to use bribery.  ”Eat you can have some ice cream!” It worked, but it wasn’t right. And it would eventually set the stage for my child only wanting sweets or junk food and I can’t have that!

Not only does food fights give us tips and tricks for getting your child to eat, it also gives great recipes, nutritional info about some of the best foods to eat, weaning your child from bottle to sippy cup, and when to stop the bedtime bottle, etc. Stopping that bedtime meal can be a huge deal and Food Fights gives you ideas on how best to handle it.

This is NOT a weight loss book. It a book designed to help teach us, as parents, how to get our children to eat healthy foods without the fight. And it covers everything from foods that are known to be allergens to constipation! In a small book, everything is covered. And the tips in there have really helped my family. I am learning to pick my battles with my girls. I’m learning to not give up and I’m learning how to get them to eat the foods I put before them!

EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK:

The following excerpts are taken from the new edition of Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed With Insight, Humor and a Bottle of Ketchup (American Academy of Pediatrics, March 2012) by Laura A. Jana, MD, FAAP and Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP. For more information about Food Fights, please visit www.HealthyChildren.org, the official American Academy of Pediatrics web site for parents.

(EXCERPT 1: )

WHAT’S LACKING IN SNACKING

What’s Not Lacking in Snacking

One of the biggest problems with snacks is, quite simply, that they typically

consist of high-calorie, unhealthy foods rather than nutrient-dense,

healthy foods. With fresh fruit all too frequently replaced by juice and

other sugary drinks, more candy, less milk, and the prize for the largest

increase in snack foods over the past 30 years going to chips and crackers,

what’s clearly not lacking in snacking is salt, sugar, and fat.

Smart Snacking

So now that you know what not to serve for snacks, we wanted to make

sure to impress on you the fact that snacking can and still should play an

important role in your child’s daily diet. Simply put, the right approach

to snacking can help keep kids from getting hungry and cranky while

also giving them added energy and (if you plan it right) added nutrients.

By following simple, smart snacking advice like the tips below, you

can ultimately help your child grow better, think better, and stay active

throughout the day and throughout childhood.

• Snacks should not be the exception to the rule that food, in general,

should have nutritional value. Make sure you commit to applying the

same noble goals in choosing your snacks as you (hopefully) do for

your child’s meals.

• Keep finger foods on hand. Finding foods that are quick and easy to

grab and serve is actually quite easy. Simply cut up some fresh fruits

or veggies; keep whole grain crackers, pretzels, or ready-to-eat (and

preferably low-sugar/high-fiber) cereals on hand; and then let your

toddler or older child handle the feeding part independently.

• Don’t be fooled by packaging. Labels on snack foods for kids, along

with sugary children’s cereals, seem to be the most commonly misleading

when it comes to nutrition. Don’t let creative labeling such as

“fruit snacks” or “low-fat” lead you to believe that sugary treats are

necessarily healthy.

• Figure out some “free foods” that your child can eat at any time. It’s

entirely appropriate to agree on some healthy “free foods” (such as

fruits, vegetables, yogurt, or hard-boiled eggs, for example) that your

child can sit down and eat whenever he’s hungry. Remembering that

your ultimate goal is to help your child learn to eat when he’s hungry

and refrain when he’s not, your role is to simply make very sure that

the criteria you use for creating this list is based squarely on the food’s

nutritional value.

• Keep junk food out of sight and out of mind. This means not

only limiting the amount of junk food you buy and allow into your

pantry, but also the amount of television your child is allowed to

watch. With literally thousands of television ads designed specifically

to make your child’s mouth water over unhealthy snacks and cereals,

turning off the television—not just when you’re eating but keeping it

turned off throughout the day—can go a long way toward preventing

unhealthy eating habits

(EXCERPT 2:)

SUPERMARKET SANITY

Carting a whining child through the grocery store has essentially

become a parental rite of passage. After all, a toddler in the grocery store

is like a kid in a literal and figurative candy shop.

You have several choices to consider

carefully when it comes to how to handle your child’s potential

grocery-store whining, begging, pleading, and/or tantrums. Better yet,

we hope to give you a handle on how to avoid this common food fight.

• Keep on Carting. This is the make-no-concessions approach to shopping-

cart meltdowns. While not always easy to institute, it is usually

very effective. All it really takes is the calm certainty that you are not

the only parent who has walked the aisles with a wailing child. Sure,

this is far easier said than done, but there will probably be more than

a few parents who are eyeing you and your tantrum-throwing toddler—

not in judgment, but out of respect for your resolve. What this

resolve ultimately buys you is a shorter-lived problem. If you don’t

give in, your child will learn a whole lot quicker that it’s not worth

whining for Froot Loops, Fruity Pebbles, Fruit Roll-Ups, or any other

type of fruity concoction that will never qualify for placement in the

produce department.

• Steer Clear of Temptation. Have you ever noticed that the overall

layout of most grocery stores is the same? The major food groups, or

“whole” foods such as fruits and vegetables, grains, meats, and dairy

tend to be displayed on the outer edges (or perimeter) of the store,

while the processed foods are typically found in the aisles. Colorful

produce and food that smells good—think bakery and deli—are often

located near the front of the store to entice you to come in. This layout

has definite benefits for the stores since these foods usually have

the highest profit margins, but it also makes your shopping goals a

bit easier: By “shopping the perimeter” on your way in and avoiding

candy-laden checkout lanes on your way out, you can more effectively

steer clear of many temptations and tantrums and come away with

healthier fare.

Negotiate. We don’t want to mislead you—as committed as you

may be to squelching your child’s urge to whine, there may come a

time when you find yourself compromising. And compromise is not

always bad—especially in the instance when you stop to consider

your child’s request and decide that it really isn’t so unreasonable after

all. On the not-such-a-good-idea (but nevertheless a reality) side of

things, you may find yourself giving in when you’ve had a rough day

and just want the whining to stop. While we’re all for the part about

compromise and picking your battles in certain circumstances, be

forewarned that negotiating for the sake of peace and quiet is going

to guarantee you repeat performances, not to mention a cart full of

unhealthy, sugary, processed foods. If you do choose to compromise,

we strongly suggest maintaining some limits and agreeing on terms

before you get in the store. If you are going to indulge your child’s

wishes, be sure to clearly spell out in advance what it is he will be

allowed to get, and then stick to this plan throughout the trip.

• Avoid Running on Empty. As adults, many of us have been cautioned

not to go to the grocery store hungry lest our stomachs weigh

in heavily on our decision-making. In other words, take hunger out

of the shopping equation and you’ll be far better equipped to resist

temptation. At least to a certain extent, some (but not all) of your

child’s in-store demands may be hunger-dependent, so it is worth trying to make sure he’s well fed before going to the grocery store. Plain and simple: Hungry children

tend to be crabby children, and crabby children are not only more

inclined to beg indiscriminately for any and all of the junk so enticingly

laid out before them, but they tend to whine a whole lot louder.

• Say Your Goodbyes. A lot of parents have told us that when their

child starts begging and whining for things he can’t have at the

grocery store, they simply pick him up, turn around, and leave. From

a behavior management standpoint, this sends a clear message and

helps children learn consequences. By all means feel free to do this if

you can’t get past the feeling that a walk down the aisle with a wailing

child is nothing short of a walk of shame. But if you ask us, it’s an

even greater shame to leave without the food you came for in the first

place and it also stands to send your child the message that he gets to

call the shots.

• Go It Alone. You may soon find that, as a parent, a solo trip to the

grocery store is only one stop short of a day at the spa, especially

if your child happens to be going through his whining stage. Rest

assured that it is not a cop-out to find a convenient time (such as

naptime,early morning, or after bedtime—whatever suits your

family’s schedule) and/or somewhere safe to leave your child—at

a friend’s, a babysitter’s, or with your spouse—while you stroll the

aisles at your leisure. If you’re really lucky, you may even find a

friendly neighborhood grocery store where child care is actually

made available to parents while they shop.

Our giveaway was held in conjunction with our Spring Fever Event and the winner has already been notified.

Disclosure: I received 2 complimentary copies of Food Fights as  a part of a Sponsored Post campaign for www.rolemommy.com. One for review and one for givewaway. All opinions are my own.