This might seem like a shocking idea to some, but …. I wish there had been some kind of cultural, mainstream "values" sort of idea that encompassed childhood nutrition (where the parents legitimately had nutritional options) when I was growing up.
In the past, I suspect it wasn't something anyone needed to think about simply because the kind of calorie excess that it is common in modern life wasn't quite as possible. You simply fed your kids, made sure they were full, and you were a good parent. Times change.
Few people drop a jaw anymore at the idea of shaming parents who don't properly seat an infant up in a car anymore, for example. Once -- this was a new idea and people got very stubborn and nasty about the idea that they suddenly had to consider it part of their parental duties.
People who continually let your children eat a plate of chicken fingers, cheetos, candy ... whatever else at dinner time that you know they will eat with a minimum of argument .... I'm looking in your direction. Let them scream and squeel and throw tantrums instead, as you give them the one-and-only-option of the more balanced meal the rest of the family is eating. They will NOT let themselves starve. You may get a few unpleasant evenings out of it before you get the idea into their heads and they work it out of their systems.
My advise? DEAL AND SIT THROUGH IT UNTIL THEY START EATING THE VEGGIES.
