Registered Dietitian Casts a Harry Potter Like Spell on Children to Get Them to Eat Healthier

North Palm Beach, FL (PRWEB) July 20, 2007

This Saturday, July 21, 2007, the final installment of the incredibly successful Harry Potter books will be released. And while reading is certainly a wonderful habit for children, Registered Dietitian Jayson Hunter wants to educate parents that with a little "magic" of their own they can instill better eating habits into their kids.

"Childhood obesity rates are at epidemic levels", according to Hunter who points to statistics from The Obesity Society showing one in five American children are overweight. "You might wish Harry Potter could wave his wand and make all the chronic health problems these children are going to experience disappear, but that's not going to happen."

What Hunter is most concerned about is, "The fact most people don't realize tiny changes in the dietary habits of kids can go such a long way." The longtime Registered Dietitian went on to say, "Making one small change per week to the way your child eats will have incredibly positive long-term effects on their health."

Here are Hunter's Top Five Magic Tricks for Healthy Eating Habits:

1) Vegetables are probably the most disliked food amongst children. A great way to introduce vegetables is to first provide sweet tasting ones such as carrots, peas, corn, or sweet potatoes.

You can then introduce these sweet tasting vegetables with other sometimes more bitter vegetables into soups and casseroles. Cooked broccoli and grated carrots or zucchini can be mixed into them without affecting the overall taste of the dish.

2) Get your kids involved in meal preparation by making a homemade pizza. Have them shred vegetables to put on top. Even better mix the vegetables into the sauce you are putting on the pizza. Leave some cut vegetables on the table with some healthy dip for a snack while you are making the pizza. Your kids are more likely to try them out of curiosity if they are just sitting there than if you force them to eat the vegetables.

3 )It takes children sometimes up to 11 occurrences with a food before they will learn to like it so don't rush or push a food. Just keep introducing it in a variety of fun ways without pressure. Make smiley faces with their food using raisins or nuts. Or just do something creative that gets your child attention and makes it fun.

4) Mix foods that you know your child likes with healthy foods that they don't necessarily eat by themselves. For example, fruit is a sweet tasting food that most children enjoy. Introduce fruit with other sweet tasting vegetables to gradually introduce those healthy foods.

5) Don't deny children of their favorite foods completely. For instance, if they love chocolate I recommend a 100% organic snack bar such as Prograde Cravers. They are only 180 calories and are made from very high quality ingredients. But remember, while nutritious, these bars are only to be eaten as snacks and don't take the place of regular healthy meals.

Jayson Hunter, RD, CSCS is a registered dietitian, weight management expert and personal trainer with over 10 years of experience. His programs have helped hundreds of clients lose weight permanently via healthy lifestyle changes.

He is also the Director of Research and Development for Prograde Nutrition. The company only makes its products available via elite fitness experts and facilities. Prograde Nutrition cannot be found in stores anywhere.

Prograde Cravers are available in three delicious flavors: Peanut Butter, Almond Butter and Spirulina.

Customers can obtain Prograde Cravers at http://Prograde-Cravers.com

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