They neither drink nor offer soda as an alternative. She was raised on diluted fruit juice. Between meals, water has always been the drink of choice. They knew two important facts from the outset of raising their daughter: (1) water is the best between-meal choice for protecting teeth and (2) if children have not been offered water when they were younger, it will be more difficult, as they grow up, to fit in the recommended daily allowance of one liter.

        Both parents are walkers. This simple act was something that we were able to incorporate into all our sightseeing trips, just as they do at home. We strolled around the Stanford and UC Berkeley campuses, San Francisco’s hills and downtown, and Muir Woods.

        During the whole week, there was not one fast food meal or package of potato chips. They recognize that children who develop a taste for salty food will be most likely to continue the same diet as they grow up, which puts them at risk for high blood pressure.

        When choosing food for meals, there was a dialogue between mom and daughter concerning the daily intake of fruit and vegetables. The twelve-year-old was able to recall which ones she had consumed, including salad, so that she could eat her full complement of five to seven servings daily.

        When we went shopping and Katie suggested something like cookies or another sweet, the answer was always yes. Then mom and dad showed cunning forethought as they purchased individually packaged items rather than boxes or bags of them. They also made sure that all the nutritious foods were consumed first.