5 Tricks for Better Eating (that really work)

For many of us, these are the first days of summer vacation. Our kids are floating around in bubbles of joy. Which will be popped all too soon by the evil stickpins of boredom … but not quite yet. As a parent, you can do no wrong this week, which is why it’s a good time to think about snacks. As in, how to get your kid to put down the candy bar and pick up the apple.

The first suggestion is always this simple wisdom: Don’t buy the candy bar in the first place. Unfortunately, unless you have a will of steel, deprivation hasn’t worked to get you into swimsuit shape, and it’s not going to work for your kid either. The better strategy, researchers agree, is to make healthy food the easy choice. To my surprise, I got some help in this from my 10-year-old after he happened to see a magazine article about The Google Diet.

As a budding tech geek, he thought there would be nothing cooler than setting up our kitchen to mimic the Internet behemoth. Ironically, he’s a beanpole of a kid, but since his inspiration will ultimately help me look better in a bathing suit, I got on board.

There are five tricks to this approach, all of which are based on behavioral science, as illustrated by this engaging infographic. Much of the research comes from Cornell University, where one of the country’s top experts in this field teaches about marketing and consumer behavior. Brian Wansink is a brilliant writer on eating behavior, nutrition, food psychology, grocery shopping and related topics. (You can see his TED Talk on mindlessly eating well here.)

Trick 1 — Focus on produce.

If you can’t stick a salad bar in the middle of your kitchen, at least be sure it’s prominently displayed in the fridge, bowls on the counter, etc.

Trick 2 — Use a salad plate.

If this is a hard sell, do like Google and post signs reminding yourself and your kids that people eat less off smaller plates.

Trick 3 — Pre-portion meals rather than serving them family style.

If you pack leftovers for lunch, portion them out right after your meal, while you’re not hungry.

Trick 4 — Hide the soda and juice and ESPECIALLY the energy drinks.

Put them way at the back of the fridge, directly behind the expired fish sauce and whatever other questionable containers are lurking on your upper shelves. Offer your kids water (flavored if they prefer). Put cups in a handy spot nearby.

Trick 5 — Stash the candy.

I remember loving this research the first time I heard about it several years ago. We eat fewer sweets if they are in a covered bowl, or in a cupboard that we have to open, or if they’re in a dish you can’t see through, or when we have to actually rise from our chair and walk to them. For your kids, this means put the candy way up or way back in the cabinets.

There are plenty of other strategies you can try too, like limiting desserts to three-bite morsels and putting up red light-green light labels next to unhealthy and healthy snacks. Just be sure to act quickly, before those evil stickpins do their number on the bubbles of joy.