Even though parents know they should be helping their child to make healthier food choices, it’s easier said than done. A poll carried out earlier this year found that nearly all parents agree that it’s important for a child to have a healthy diet while growing up, but just a third of parents who have children aged between four and 18 feel they are doing a good job in helping their child to make healthier food choices.

Just over half of those parents polled think their children generally eat healthily but just one in six think their children have a diet that is very nutritious. Around a quarter of parents are concerned their child’s diet is only somewhat healthy or isn’t healthy at all.

Challenges faced by parents include price and convenience, and often children can be picky eaters. Although most parents understand they should be providing healthy well-balanced meals for their children, work schedules and their child’s activities can get in the way and it can be even worse if different children have different food preferences. This can make it a frustrating experience for any parent trying to prepare a healthy meal.

Most parents have also experienced that sinking feeling when they have spent time and money on preparing a healthy meal only to have it rejected outright by their child. Adverts on the TV don’t help matters and “pester power” can influence an adult to make less than healthy purchases when grocery shopping with a child in tow. Despite this, one in five of those parents polled doesn’t think it’s important to limit their child’s intake of fast food and junk food while another 16% don’t believe it is that important to limit sugary drinks.

Generally, parents of teenagers were less concerned about their child’s eating habits compared to parents of younger children. The problem with this attitude is that as a child grows up it becomes more difficult to influence their food choices and to promote healthier habits. Many convenience foods are high in sugar and salt and childhood obesity and other health issues such as diabetes are a growing problem amongst kids.

Yet, another hurdle faced by parents who are trying to provide healthy foods for their children is that often it is quite difficult to tell which foods are actually good for them. Packaging often contains words such as low-fat, sugar-free or organic, or all natural but these words don’t necessarily mean the contents are healthy and nutritious.

Some parents find it a struggle to find healthy foods in their local grocery store, especially in low-income neighborhoods and where prices are more important factors. Other parents need help with making the right food choices when shopping, as well as with meal preparation, or even just reading the labels to identify which package foods are healthier than others.

Pediatric dentists do far more than just provide dental care and frequently assist parents who would like their child to eat more healthily. Dietary advice is usually an important part of any pediatric dental office, especially as poor food choices can greatly influence a child’s dental health. It’s not uncommon for dentists to suggest that they take a look at a child’s diet if a child happens to have had a few cavities just recently. This can be especially important if the child in question is known to look after their dental health and brushes and flosses regularly and attends regular checkups.

By analyzing a child’s diet, a dentist can easily tell if there are any foods that could be causing problems and can offer parents and children advice on how to eat more healthily. This can be particularly useful for parents who are confused about which foods are healthiest for their kid’s teeth and it's also a good way for children to learn how to eat more healthily as sometimes the advice can be easier to accept from someone who isn’t their parent.

Foods that can cause problems include sugary drinks such as fruit juices, energy drinks, and sodas. Unfortunately, these drinks are highly popular with kids, but these beverages contain empty calories that can cause dental and health problems. While one solution is to switch to diet soda, these drinks can be equally as bad for dental health even if they are better for waistlines.

The problem with diet drinks is that sugar is replaced with some forms of acid, such as citric acid which will erode children’s teeth enamel. Instead, encourage your child to drink plain water, preferably just tap water rather than mineral water which may not contain any fluoride. Most public water systems in the US are fluoridated and fluoride is invaluable for helping to harden children’s teeth.

Other foods that can cause problems are those that are eaten as snacks as these frequently tend to be sugary or carbohydrate-rich and although these provide plenty of energy, they also provide fuel for decay-causing bacteria.

Choosing healthier foods for your child shouldn’t mean cutting out everything that they love, but rather keeping these as an occasional treat while trying to retrain their taste buds and shape their eating habits to include healthier options that contain less sugar. Childhood is the perfect time to develop healthy eating habits, especially if your child is old enough to understand the importance of choosing healthier foods.

One thing to do is to practice what you preach and to make sure that the whole family makes healthier food choices and that your kitchen cupboards and fridge are stocked with these options. Good choices include hard cheese, low-fat and sugar-free yogurt and hummus to have with fresh veggies, as well as plenty of fruit.

Making time for the family to try out new recipes is a good way to introduce new ingredients and even if you haven’t cooked before, there are plenty of easy online recipes and videos, and it’s something you can do as a family. Teaching kids how to cook is an important way to ensure they can prepare healthy meals for themselves and hopefully one day they’ll be passing on these habits to their kids.