There are no two ways about it – if you buy junk food, convenience foods or unhealthy snacks, your kids are going to eat them. You cannot develop a healthy eating plan with cupboards full of rubbish. It won’t work. The temptation will be too great for children to resist, and you may also be tempted to give in to their demands even if there are other options available. If a child wails, begs and argues for chips or chicken nuggets for long enough, chances are that most parents will give in eventually. But the reality is that if you don’t have these foods in your house, you can’t.

All the time I hear stories of parents who are bewildered by the fact that their children will only eat ‘chocolate spread sandwiches’, ‘chips’, ‘chocolate cereals’ or ’spaghetti hoops’. Huh? If you don’t buy these foods, they simply can’t eat them. It’s time to face up to the fact that parents do have the ultimate control over what their children eat in the house, and it is our responsibility to ensure that our children eat well. It’s not gluttony that makes a child fat in most cases, but a poor diet. And that is something that you do have the power to change under your own roof.

So clear out those cupboards and the cook-chill drawers of your freezer. If you don’t feel comfortable throwing out perfectly good food, then run your stocks down as you begin to incorporate a new eating programme. And then don’t be tempted to replace such foods. Many of us make the mistake of hitting the same aisles in the supermarket week on week, like robots, buying exactly the same foods -mega packets of crisps, sweets, chocolate spread, cakes, biscuits, tinned spaghetti, frozen chips and pizzas, ready-prepared burgers, sweetened cereals, fizzy drinks, high-sugar fruit squashes and lots of other unsuitable junk.

So what should you buy?It’s clear that junk foods have no place in our children’s diets. Start with fresh foods -lean meats, fish, lots and lots of fresh fruits and fresh or frozen vegetables, some pulses (such as chickpeas or baked beans), wholemeal bread, cheese, unsweetened cereals, butter, milk, pure fruit juice, eggs, pasta (preferably wholewheat), rice (preferably brown), rice cakes (again preferably brown), yogurt, dried fruit, nuts and seeds. If you are weaning children off an unhealthy diet, you may want to buy a small packet of biscuits or crisps and a few snack-sized bars of chocolate – a bag of oven chips is OK, too. If you have a busy lifestyle and have to resort from time to time to convenience foods, look for good-quality brands with a low salt and saturated fat content. And avoid anything with the word ‘hydrogenated’ on it, as this will contain the most unhealthy fats – trans fats.

Avoid shopping with your children at this stage if you can, as they will undoubtedly persuade you to add other goodies to your trolley, or beg for old favourites. You need a clean slate to do this properly, and that means filling up the house with the type of food you actually want your children to eat.

Many parents will now be baulking at the idea of preparing a freshly cooked meal three times a day. Time is often at a premium, and coming home after a busy day of work to a household of starving kids and then taking an hour to prepare something nutritious may be impossible. There is no doubt that it’s easier just to stick a pizza in the oven and call it a day. But it’s time now to face up to the fact that this type of approach to food teaches our children nothing about nutrition, and fills them with the types of foods that will either make them fat – or have made them fat already.

It needn’t be time-consuming or expensive to prepare and eat fresh foods. In fact, the cost of convenience and junk foods can be exorbitant. If you stick to the basics, you’ll find that your shopping bill actually goes down. If you have a freezer it makes sense to buy special offers when possible, and to make extra quantities of healthy foods for standby meals when you are too busy to cook. And as for time, it’s a fallacy to believe that healthy food has to be cordon bleu with an hour of preparation time. Grilling a chicken breast, baking a potato and putting together a salad takes very little time.

Before we get onto the nitty-gritty of actual meals here are a few premises to remember:

- Stick to the food pyramid when considering your child’s overall daily intake.- Start with vegetables and fruit – if your child is getting over five servings a day, and preferably more, she’ll be filled up with good, nutritious basic foods that will leave her less hungry.- Try to incorporate at least two or three fruits and/or vegetables at every meal and be careful that you provide a balance; remember – don’t neglect the vegetables in favour of fruit.- Next choose a good source of protein – some chicken, fish, beans or lean meats, such as trimmed pork chops, lamb chops or even lean mince.- Try to choose unrefined carbs – brown rice, wholewheat pasta, wholemeal bread, potatoes etc.- Go for water, juice or milk for meals – if water is not popular in your house, then add a few drops of high-fruit squash or pure fruit juice for flavour or a squeeze of fresh lime or lemon juice.- Dessert or pudding does not have to be off the menu – yogurt, fruit, even fruit purees, tinned fruit in fruit juice or dried fruits are fine. Also, the occasional square or two of good-quality 70% cocoa chocolate, biscuit or cake can top off a meal and satisfy a sweet tooth.- Don’t forget the snacks. Children are normally ravenous when they come home from school, and often can’t make it between meals without something to eat and drink. Have healthy snacks to hand and offer them regularly, as this will help to keep blood sugar levels stable, prevent cravings and overeating, and give your children something nutritious in place of the unhealthy snacks they may be eating now.