Hey, Mom, What's For Dinner?

Mothers get the credit--and much of the blame--for a lot of things. But one area where they wield more power than they may imagine is helping their kids hold the line against unwanted pounds.

Just how powerful that effect can be is illustrated by a recent Pennsylvania State University study that examined the interactions between 173 mothers and their 9-year-old daughters. Researchers found that moms who ate more fruit and vegetables fostered the same habits in their daughters, who were also less likely to be picky eaters than daughters whose moms skimped on healthful produce.

The findings suggest that parents should focus less on trying to modify picky eating behavior "and more on modeling fruit and vegetable consumption for their children," Leann Birch and her co-authors reported in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

While both parents typically influence their children's behavior, "historically, mothers have done more of the child-rearing around food," said Myles Faith, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and an investigator in an ongoing study on preventing childhood obesity. "The home environment can really shape the food preferences and eating patterns of children."

A 1998 British study of 92 mothers and their children, aged 9 to 11 years, found that fruit and vegetable consumption was shaped not just by children's taste preferences but also by their mother's nutritional knowledge, her attitudes about the health benefits of eating more produce and, again, by her own consumption of fruit and vegetables. Here are some ways you can help your children stay lean and fit:

Walk the talk. They may appear to be ignoring you, but your children watch closely and follow your example. So if you put fruit on your breakfast cereal, they will, too. If you exercise, they will, too. And if you plunk down in front of the tube every night and snack mindlessly . . . well, you get the idea.

Go ahead, give your kids some control. Start with the serving spoon. Hand it over as soon as your child can hold it, even if this makes things messy. (That's why they make splash mats.) Kids are the best judges of how much they should eat.

Easy on the portions. Adults typically dish out too much food to kids. A Penn State study found that when 5-year-olds were served a cup of macaroni and cheese for lunch, they typically ate about a third of it. But when they got two cups of macaroni and cheese, they boosted their intake to a half-cup--nearly 40 percent more calories. "It's the parent's responsibility to make sure that the child has access to healthy food, but it's the kid's responsibility to decide how much to eat," said Penn State's Barbara Rolls, lead author of the study.

Make no foods forbidden . That only raises their desirability. So let your kids know that any food or drink is fine in small amounts. Take advantage of the single-serving portions of high-calorie fare: a single-dip ice cream cone, a small bottle of soda, a small bag of cookies, a small bag of M&M's.

Screen the food and drink you bring into the home. "Keep the less-healthy food out of the home to help limit consumption," Faith said. "If it's in the home, it will be eaten."

Ditch the bribes for eating. Make dessert a reward for eating broccoli and you send the message that the broccoli "must not be very good," said Rolls.

Look at the big picture. "If you know that your kid won't eat the chicken breast but will eat the green beans and milk, so be it," said registered dietitian Ann Litt, whose Bethesda practice includes many children and teens. "Over the course of a week, your child will get a healthy diet. No need to micromanage."

But close the kitchen after dinner to thwart grazers who refuse to eat at mealtime knowing they can have their way in the pantry later.

Eat breakfast with your kids . Doing so gives your children a good habit and a good nutritional start to the day. Plus, studies show that kids who eat breakfast perform better in school. "Whenever I find a child who eats breakfast, I ask, 'Who's eating breakfast with you?' and it's usually a parent," Litt said.

Make it simple. Fix elaborate school lunches--or other meals--and you will likely feel wounded when your children trade away their lovingly prepared lunch or only pick at their food. Aim for about 20 to 30 minutes max for meal preparation, Litt said.

If at first you don't succeed . . . Studies suggest that repeated exposures may be needed before a child will like a new food. How many times should you try? "It can take 13, 14, even 15 tries at putting a food in front of a child," said Faith.

But no, those attempts should not be all at the same meal. ·

Share your tips or ask questions about healthy nutrition and activity when Sally Squires hosts the Lean Plate Club online chat, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. today, on www.washingtonpost.com. Can't join live? E-mail leanplateclub@washpost.com anytime. To learn more, and subscribe to our free e-newsletter, visit www.leanplateclub.com