Five Ways to Host a Healthy Easter

When you think of Easter, do you groan at the thought of the kids gorging themselves on handfuls of candy? If you look around the Easter dinner table and feel saddened by how overweight your family is, it’s time to establish healthy traditions for holidays. While you might be tempted to lecture your family, it will help more if you set an example by making healthy choices as you plan the holiday.

Fill Easter baskets mostly with presents. Choose spring-themed gifts that will get the kids moving, like chinese jumpropes, sets of jacks, sidewalk chalk, or a football. Try to think of gifts that will encourage the kids to be active or at least to stay away from the television and computer.

Select only a few pieces of candy for each basket. Don’t forego all candy, but instead invest in a few indulgent treats like a small solid chocolate Easter bunny and a small amount of Jelly Belly jelly beans, which are more flavorful than traditional jelly beans. Don't let the kids down the candy all at once; have them guess at jelly bean flavors and tell you about the inside of the special chocololates, teaching them to savor treats.

Serve a low-cal menu. Serve a lean ham, topped with slices of pineapple secured with cloves. Identify and remove from the menu the least healthy of the traditional Easter menu items such as twice-baked potatoes, dinner rolls, and that high-fat, high-calorie green bean casserole dish. Replace those items with a fresh vegetable, a salad, sliced fresh fruit, and a small baked potatoes. Don't serve something dastardly for dessert like cheesecake, but instead serve something like berries with whipped cream.

Plan out fun but active things to do during the celebration. Hide eggs outside in your yard, and encourage an all-out egg hunt. If the weather is accomodating, walk to a park or around the neighborhood. Get the kids playing something fun like hide and go seek or running through an obstacle course.

Buy an egg dyeing kit. Eat the hard boiled eggs plain, without fattening them up with mayonaise. Plus, who doesn’t like to color eggs?

Remember, the best gift you can give your family is the gift of health.