7 ways to ensure your kids have a healthy relationship with food

Kathy Burnett prepares a snack for her daughters Claudia, center, and Sabina right, after their gymnastics class Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, in Chicago. Burnett says she tries to feed her girls healthy, natural foods rather than commercial packaged products. A study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that many packaged foods and snacks marketed for toddlers contain too much salt and sugar and could potentially contribute to childhood obesity and high blood pressure. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Research shows that about 12 million kids — or one in every six — are obese. So how can new parents prevent their children from forming unhealthy relationships with food?

Videos by Rare

RELATED: Your daily commute is making you fat

Here are seven places to start, including:

  • Only feed the kids when they’re hungry, not to distract them.
  • Create a new food ritual that excites them.
  • Don’t force them to finish everything on their plates.
  • Be a role model through your own healthy eating.

What do you think?

CORRECTION Houston Home Mass Shooting

Nature called, but a group of robbers ended up betraying the complex where they received access to the restroom

Redfin’s top 25 neighborhood list includes so many Chicago neighborhoods