![Hearing my darling seven-year-old using words like "fat" and "skinny" stings.](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/e/z/o/r/image.related.landscape.380x253.gwlm19.png/1496878725171.jpg)
Top Resources
![Low GI Foods Essential Kids](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/p/d/b/f/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.2ojgy.gjzsl9.png/1444350556147.jpg)
Why low GI matters
Most parents know that too much added sugar in their child’s diet is not good for them but are we overlooking another type of food that is just as harmful for our kids?
![Weet-Bix recipes](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/u/a/7/o/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.2ua59.gjzsl9.png/1444350556147.jpg)
Top 5 recipe ideas to make with Weet-Bix
Muffins, pecan pie, chocolate balls, homemade granola and cookies - cooking with wholegrains doesn't have to be boring.
![Kilojoules galore ... How much do we teach kids about food?](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/2/l/y/m/image.related.landscape.120x80.22lre.gjzsl9.png/1444647476998.jpg)
Dr. Joanna McMillan
Should kids be kilojoule aware?
![running](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/h/i/a/1/image.related.landscape.120x80.1kgpt.gjzsl9.png/1444350556147.jpg)
![hp-back-to-school](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/8/5/4/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.7vtt.gjzsl9.png/1444350556147.jpg)
![Making healthy choices for the whole family.](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/3/k/u/x/f/image.related.landscape.120x80.11r6ty.gjzsl9.png/1444367268169.jpg)
Latest
![One in four Australian children are considered overweight or obese.](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/a/p/2/x/image.related.landscape.300x200.gvs07c.png/1493180253291.jpg)
Fundraising chocolate is not that innocent
Sporting clubs should not be promoting junk food. My daughter should not be marketing for a chocolate company and selling their products to other children.
![Family fun without sugar: it's possible, Shenker says.](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/7/s/u/y/image.related.landscape.300x200.gv7s5a.png/1491539657910.jpg)
Could you raise a sugar-free family?
After eliminating the sweet stuff from her own diet, Dr Sarah Schenker got her husband and two sons in on the act. They're convinced - most of the time, she says:
![The lower the health star rating, the less likely a company will display it.](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/6/3/m/t/image.related.landscape.300x200.gv06v7.png/1490087661650.jpg)
Food companies criticised over use of health star ratings
Food companies are being accused of hiding the unhealthiness of products by keeping the packaging void of health star ratings.
![Bakers Delight adverts. A complaint that a Bakers Delight billboard was "advertising lollies on bread for school ...](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/r/m/e/v/image.related.landscape.300x200.gurfp2.png/1488778673205.jpg)
'Lollies on bread': Complaint about school lunch ad upheld
A complaint about a Bakers Delight billboard "advertising lollies on bread for school lunches" has been upheld.
![Thousands of teens are overindulging in soft drinks](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/h/e/7/3/image.related.landscape.300x200.gum9od.png/1488241512715.jpg)
One in six teenage boys drinks at least 5.2kg of a sugar each year
One in six teenage boys is drinking far too much soft drink but here's what else they're doing that's hurting their health.
![Ten serves of fruit and vegetables a day can help you live longer, a study has found.](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/k/s/1/e/image.related.landscape.300x200.gukrv0.png/1487911834946.jpg)
To live longer, eat 10 servings of fruit and vegies a day
A major UK-based study has found eating 10 helpings of fruit and vegetables a day is better than the minimum recommended five.
![Experts claim eating fruit regularly makes you 10 per cent less likely to be obese.](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/h/s/2/k/image.related.landscape.300x200.guhpor.png/1487792948360.jpg)
Fat chance fruit makes you fat, study says
Fruit has come off the menu for many in the rush to avoid sugar but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater, advise the authors of a new study exploring the relationship between nutrition and obesity.
![Let go of the diet for better health.](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/u/f/0/5/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtuay3.png/1484872123521.jpg)
Taking the diet out of 'diet' books
Diets are ineffective long-term. Thankfully, some experts are taking the diet out of 'diet' books.
![Children with ARFID avoid specific colours, textures, tastes or smells of foods.](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/t/g/g/f/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtspzo.png/1484693329105.jpg)
The children who take picky eating to the extreme
Children with Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder avoid specific colours, textures, tastes or smells of foods, or are afraid of choking or vomiting.
![Cutting out gluten or cutting out other additives?](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/r/y/s/x/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtry5y.png/1484695004398.jpg)
Why the 'gluten-free movement' is less of a fad than we thought
Amy Neiwirth is a Columbus-based artist who makes tiny clay models of popular foods: pizzas, cakes, waffles, even retro TV dinners.
![What happens when parents focus too much on getting kids to eat?](/web/20170613000558im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/j/3/1/g/image.related.landscape.300x200.gtj2zl.png/1482957532646.jpg)
I went overboard policing my kids' diets. Here's why I changed my ways.
I was the food police, imagining that if I could control the food he and my kids ate, I could keep us all healthy and safe.
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