How to keep a diet diary

A "diet diary" is the first step towards making better, healthier choices for losing or controlling weight.

Keeping track of what a child eats, how much, and how often, gives us good clues about eating patterns and habits. Trying to remember what a child ate last week is much less accurate than writing it down as it happens. You may be surprised at what your child is eating once you start writing it down!

• Remember: include all items eaten or drank, including beverages, snacks, etc.
• Be sure all of the child's caretakers participate in recording his diet, including day care, babysitters, non-custodial parents, visiting grandparents, etc. (You may be surprised what others feed your child.)
• To get an accurate picture, it is important to keep the diet diary for several days (preferably one week.)
• Try and estimate how much of each thing your child eats. Sometimes a child eats a healthy variety of foods but the amount is either too much of one thing or too little of another.

Example:

• breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, toast (1 slice) with strawberry jelly, large glass of 2% milk
• lunch: half peanut butter & jelly sandwich, large glass of 2% milk, half of red apple
• snack: 6 oz Coca-Cola, 2 cups potato chips
• dinner: small baked chicken breast, 8 tater tots, 1/2 cup boiled peas, large slice of chocolate cake