Encourage kids to eat slowly - It takes your body about 20 minutes to signal that it is full. By eating slowly, your children will enjoy the food more and have less of a tendency to overeat. Limit juice and soda - High calorie foods with low activity lifestyles guarantee weight gain. Drinking 400 calories of Coke or orange juice is still a 400 calorie intake. And it's just too easy to fill up with high calorie beverages.
Real fruit is a much better choice.
Don't ban any food - This could result in craving or in your children eating the foods secretly. It's better to limit consumption to a reasonable amount. You know your kids will want them. Plan ahead to have healthy snacks available. Favorites include air-popped popcorn, frozen fruit juice Popsicles, fruit sorbet and dried fruits.