You are what you eat. This applies to children just as it does to adults. The benefits of making sure that your child eats properly straight from age 0 to 19 are many.
Here is what you can accomplish for your child if you try to bring them up right and teach them to shop well and eat well —
• An emotionally balanced individual who is less likely to suffer from mood swings or depression because the proper nutrition has allowed their brains to develop correctly
• A physically healthier person who is less prone to diseases of all kinds (this is especially true of kids who were breastfed and not fed bottled milk all of their lives.)
• A person who is not likely to develop allergies or other disorders (also the result of being breast fed instead of bottle fed)
• A person who is less prone to obesity (because they have not been exposed to sugar at a young age)
• An individual that has a healthy self-image and does not need to resort to behaviors like bulimia or anorexia (because he or she has not grown up in a household where food is used as emotional blackmail or as a punishment or a reward)
• A calm productive person who does well in school (because a well nourished brain is one that is able to focus and does not develop problems like ADD)
• A richer adult who does not blow money on expensive junk food or impulse purchases at the grocery store (because he or she does not experience cravings)
• A person who can cook healthy nutritious meals and pass good lifestyle habits through to the next generation
Above all you will be raising an individual who is accountable for himself or herself and who is less likely to be a burden on the medical system! Obesity costs Canadians and Americans millions of dollars each year. The system is overloaded with people who think that food comes from a restaurant, box or package. Possibly the best thing you can do is teach your child to buy healthy produce and cook it. Teach them about the evils of too much salt, sugar and fat earlier in life so they do not develop a taste for it.
Furthermore any children that your children have are likely to be healthier as well – good nutrition is a gift that keeps on giving onwards through those who descend from you!