Try a half-and-half meal: buy half the dinner at a fast-food place, and make the other half with food from home. For example, go through the drive-thru, buy everyone's favorite sandwich, skip the fries, bring the food home and serve it with a fruit plate, salad or vegetable dish that you prepare.

You might not need to broach the subject at all. She is already declining desserts and seconds so you don't need to tell her to stop eating but you will need to protect her from misinformation. Most girls her age learn what they know about food from advertisers. They incorrectly believe foods carrying nutrition claims such as "low fat", "sugar-free" or "lite" are always better choices than regular foods, and your daughter may eat these highly-advertised foods thinking they do not count. I find snack foods and drinks marketed to kids her age can be a tremendous source of unnecessary calories.

The real question to ask is: are the treats interfering with mealtime, appetite or causing arguments? I don't worry about the occasional lollipop, because the portion is small. I do worry about larger baked items. A two-year-old requires half the amount of food his 9-year-old sibling needs. Depending on the size of the cookie, it could crowd out the more nutritious food he requires. I don't recommend sneaking treats to the older kids and hiding them from the little one; it might work sometimes, but eventually you'll get caught!

I absolutely agree. Serving fruit and vegetables in recognizable forms is the only way a child will get to experience the food, and it's the only way a child will learn to like it. Parents who sneak foods into the menu have the best of intentions -- they think it makes their child's diet more nutritious. What they don't realize is that many of today's children are well-nourished, but not well-fed.

Age twelve is not too young to make this decision, and it provides her with an ideal opportunity to take on a little more personal responsibility -- very important as she moves into the teen years. There are two major considerations here: what she needs to be a healthy vegetarian, and how she'll get the foods and nutrients she needs in a family that isn't vegetarian.

I think you need to explain to your husband exactly why you are concerned. I suspect rewarding good behavior with food, and congratulating your daughter for cleaning her plate has you worried your husband is teaching her to crave sweets and overeat. You are right; these practices can lead to overeating.

Actually your job is to serve a balanced diet. It is your son's job to eat it. You started off just fine by serving broccoli along with his favorite pasta or bread. The trouble began when you got into a power struggle. The meal was ruined at that point. And that's a shame, because all of us--moms, dads and children--need the pleasure of a family meal a lot more than we need a bite of broccoli.

You don't have to cook everything from scratch--though that could be a good thing--or spend a fortune to feed your family a healthy diet. But at the risk of being overly simplistic, the best way to avoid HFCS is to choose products without it.

Active teens like your son are a pleasure to work with because they have such good appetites and need to eat a lot of food. Your challenge will be to satisfy your son's craving for protein-rich foods without giving him a diet high in saturated fat. Since he eats plenty of meat and milk I suggest the snacks you offer include less animal proteins and more plant-based sources, which are much healthier for his heart.

Both yogurt and fish are wholesome good foods, but for a small number of kids they cause allergies. Ask your pediatrician for guidelines. If food allergies run in your family, you may be advised to hold off on dairy products (including yogurt) until 12 months, and fish until age three.

Years ago, I knew a mom who sent her kids to school with waffle sandwiches. Her kids liked waffles better than bread, and they were easy for her to prepare. She toasted the waffles, put on a few slices of banana and a little peanut butter, drizzled a little honey, made a sandwich and cut it into small squares. Her kids loved it. You could use cream cheese instead of peanut butter.

That's a great question. You can actually eat any wholesome food but you want to avoid foods, vitamins or substances that could harm the baby if consumed in large amounts before you know you are pregnant.

I am actually happy your son did not take to the flavored milk, since adding chocolate and strawberry syrup turns milk into a dessert. For some kids it becomes the only way they’ll drink milk, and then parents get into a struggle about how often to serve it.

I actually don’t routinely recommend supplements unless your child has a specific need. Maybe he’s a vegan or has an iron deficiency. Or, of course, your pediatrician recommends one.

It’s not too late if your child is truly not getting enough fluoride. But you don’t want to go overboard, either.

If your child gets too little fluoride, he won’t get the strengthening of the enamel that can protect against cavities. But if he gets too much, you can do cosmetic damage to the teeth (called fluorosis), so you’ll want to be sure he gets the right amount.

You could use lactose-free milk (such as the brand Lactaid), or your teen could supplement her diet with pills that aid in the digestion of lactose. But this is also where calcium-fortified foods come in really handy.

It’s an expensive way to get nutrition. You can get DHA from other sources. DHA is a fatty acid that is found in breast milk (and marine animals), and it’s linked with brain development and disease prevention. It has been added to formula in the past few years for the purpose of replicating breast milk.

Absolutely. If you like veggies, chances are your kid will like them. Just offer good food, and eat it yourself. That’s all you need to do. I wouldn’t worry about it. If your pediatrician says your child is growing well, you’re okay.

Kids do need some texture in their foods, though, so I would offer foods like apple slices. By the age of 4, your child should experience the texture of cooked vegetables like broccoli. If your child is healthy and sees Mom and Dad eating it, chances are she’ll eat it, too. You do need to offer new foods as many as 10 or 15 times, though, but most parents stop at three.

Yes. Your pediatrician won’t bring it up unless it’s really an issue. So listen carefully. He or she looks at the height and weight chart to get your child’s BMI (body mass index), a measure of fatness. Your pediatrician is looking for a change. For example, if your child is in the 80th percentile for BMI, and suddenly there’s a blip and he’s in the 90th or 95th, something has happened. What’s going on? This is especially important if there are any health issues in the family, such as a history of heart disease.