Teaching children about healthy eating

While I think it is a fabulous idea to encourage children to eat healthily, I do not think that adults should tell children hat some foods are really bad.For example, my mum always says to my little sister when she eats chocolate or something like that "Amy you have to stop eating so much shit all the time." I hate it when mum says this to Amy as I do not want Amy to think that any type of food is 'shit'.

Perhaps mum has a point and Amy does not eat enough healthy foods but I do not think this is the correct way to tell a child about eating a balanced diet. I think it is important that children are taught about having a balanced diet. I do not think certain foods should be described as bad, or 'shit', but instead perhaps describes as sometimes foods, that need to be eaten along with lots of healthy and nutritious foods.

Sometimes I worry that healthy eating is stressed too much in schools and by parents these days and wonder if this could have anything to do with why eating disorders are becoming more common. In some schools, children are even taught how to count calories and read nutritional values on the backs of food packets and I definetely do not agree with this.

Children are extremely vulunerable and could easily become scared of 'unhealthy foods', if they are told that they are bad for them in the wrong way which Idefinetely do not think is healthy for a child. What is your opinion on this? Have any of you had similar experiences to the ones I have been talking about which you feel may have contributed to your eating disorder?