If the Kids Are Eating, It's Mostly Junk Food. What Can Be Done?

The holidays have passed. Candies, cakes, and sweets took a significant place in the festive, daily menu of those joyful days.
So, how do we return to a healthy routine? How do we get back on track? 
Let's organize for a moment and try to provide some essential tips, practical advice, that will help every family return to a healthy diet with proper nutrition, including family meals. Most importantly - tasty, healthy, and enjoyable.

First of all, in my role, I encounter mothers who tell me daily about their children's poor nutrition. The kids don't eat. Or they only eat sweets. And if they do eat, it's only junk food of various kinds. It's a cycle that's very hard to break. Not to mention the wide-ranging impacts over time on the brain, body, and even mental functioning of young children who aren't getting the nutritional values they need.

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In my childhood, my father was afflicted with the terrible Crohn's disease, which, during active periods, manifested in severe stomach pains, frequent vomiting, and daily, unbearable symptoms.
My father was often hospitalized. He drastically lost weight and was weak and frail. Eventually, he was summoned for a conversation with one of the senior doctors at the hospital, a talk no one wants to have, where it was unanimously stated: There are two options: either adopt proper nutritional habits, stick to a sport routine, and quit smoking immediately,
or the path is short to the worst-case scenario...

I remember the following days as if it were yesterday; my father chose to live.
To live rightly and heal the whole family with him.
He was discharged home, opened the fridge and freezer, cabinets, and pantry, and began removing quantities of junk food that could have supplied the major fast-food chains for several days.

I remember my younger siblings and I were very angry. We refused to accept the "dramatic change" in our daily menu.

But my dad was determined to make an immediate and thorough change. Subsequently, he signed us all up for a gym membership and even quit smoking.
But what I can say was a supreme pleasure is the new menu at home. So varied and delicious - casseroles and salads, legumes, and vegetables. A real pleasure for the palate.

Today, I am proud to say that our extended family and my own family have undergone a kind of life transformation; we are all simply addicted to vegetables, fruits, and legumes.
My kids love the fresh salad, the rich soups, and the assorted fruits so much that I can only thank my father for the blessed change made in our lives. Otherwise, who knows what we would be eating every day...

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And to the key question:
How do we actually accustom children to eat properly and healthily?

The advice is plentiful. I'll choose the advice and tips that worked wonders in our home.

I must start by saying that much of what is written here I learned from dietitians and nutritionists, from research and articles.
I took my role as a cook in a children's center (which is supervised with an emphasis on its nutrition) as a project and mission. With Hashem's help, I made a serious transformation, if only to make healthy foods enjoyable for children from the stage of first tastings to independent eating.

Firstly, as a start and gradually, we began to reduce processed food from the daily menu at home. This includes sweetened drinks and sugar-laden snacks.

My husband and I sat down and built an organized menu containing three significant categories daily:
1. Proteins. 2. Carbohydrates. 3. Vegetables.

Proteins: Meat/Fish/Chicken, Eggs/Cheese

Carbohydrates: Whole grain pasta/Whole grain couscous/Bulgur.

Vegetable addition: Fresh salad/Cooked vegetable mix/Beet salad/Carrot salad.

Twice a week, a rich legume soup served before the meal: Bean soup/Lentil soup/Barley soup/Chickpea soup

Once a week, soy can even be included.

Sweetened drinks such as: Raspberry juice/Juices, can easily be replaced with a rich pitcher of tea, real lemonade, or fresh orange juice.

Sweets of various kinds can also be replaced with fresh fruits, homemade cookies based on tahini or *halva*, and sometimes even high-quality chocolate squares.

And now,
Where to start?
How can we instill proper eating habits in our children? How will we succeed in incorporating a routine and menu of healthy foods of various kinds?

Well, practical advice will be offered with Hashem's help in the next column.