Stephanie Madeira, a dietician at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway, wrote a wonderful article that appeared in the Home News Tribune last week about the challenges of feeding healthy foods to our children and, more importantly, setting the right example so they will develop healthy eating habits as they grow up.

I loved this article because it reminded me of my childhood - and how I've been trying to train myself to eat better now. I'm hoping by the time Hendrick realizes that stuffing one's face with chocolate cake at 10 p.m. because it was a stressful day isn't a good idea, I'll have broken the habit.

Growing up in an Italian-American family in Bayonne I could never eat enough. My grandmother was always complaining that I was too skinny. (She also thought I wore too much make-up, but that's another story.) We'd be having a nice conversation over a bowl of chicken soup or a plate of macaroni and she'd stop mid-sentence and, with a look of angst on her face, she'd yell: "Nina! You have to eat more!"

Ms. Madeira's article is not really geared for parents with babies or toddlers who are just learning to eat. (For us, it's really easy to just buy formula or those little jars of mush; not much preparation involved in that.) But this is the time we need to start seriously thinking about what we we're going to serve for dinner when little Sally starts sitting at the table. What do we consider a well-balanced meal? And how often do we prepare them now?

As for snacking, I could see myself being one of those moms who pulls Hendrick off the monkeybars just to see if he wants a cookie. This article has got me thinking about how my behavior will influence my son's eating habits and his perception of food.

It's time to start filling my refrigerator with only the kinds of foods I'd want Hendrick to eat. That way, unless I want to go hungry, I'll have no choice but to send the right message.

Stephanie Madeira's article: HERE