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Tips for parents

If you want your children to brush their teeth twice a day, you should, too.

If you want them to drink milk with their meals, put down the soda can.

Don’t smoke or use other tobacco products.

Nutrition tips for families

Make half your grains whole: Choose whole-grain foods, such as whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice and low-fat popcorn more often.

Vary your veggies: Go dark green and orange with your vegetables. Eat spinach, broccoli, carrots and sweet potatoes.

Focus on fruits: Eat them at meals and at snack time, too. Choose fresh, frozen, canned or dried, and go easy on the fruit juice.

Get your calcium-rich foods: To build strong bones, serve low-fat and fat-free milk and other milk products several times a day.

Go lean with protein: Eat lean or low-fat meat, chicken, turkey and fish. Also, eat more dry beans and peas.

Change your oil: We all need oil. Get yours from fish, nuts and liquid oils such as corn, soybean, canola and olive oil.

Watch your sugar intake: Choose foods and beverages that do not have sugar and caloric sweeteners as one of the first ingredients. Added sugars contribute calories with few, if any, nutrients.

Source: Ohio Dental Association