One of my nephews sneered at broccoli until my sister started calling it a "tree" -- all of a sudden, broccoli was interesting.

Sometimes, parents have to resort to little tricks to get their picky eaters to try new foods. The food pyramid folks realize this and now, there's a special pyramid designed just for preschoolers. Not only does this new pyramid outline the proper amounts of foods kids need, it also aims to help parents with the little picky eaters in the house.

In addition to helpful tools like a growth chart, sample meal plans and kitchen activities for preschoolers, the MyPyramid for Preschoolers site gives tips for breaking the picky-eating problem. Some suggestions:

• Set a good example by eating healthfully
• Offer a variety of foods ... and keep offering them
• Start with small portions.
  

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Want to know an easy way to eat well? Follow the food pyramid at every meal.

For a lot of people it's tough figuring out what kinds of food to eat as well as how much. But for vegetarians, it can be even harder as a major staple of their diet -- protein derived from eating meat -- is removed from the list of foods they can eat.

If you're a new veggie and you're wondering what exactly you need to consume each day to maintain a healthy diet, this vegetarian food pyramid is a great place to start. Obviously, it's pretty similar to a traditional food pyramid (and shouldn't be confused with a vegan food pyramid) but offers examples of what you should eat to replace meat in your diet.

This article goes into a bit of depth explaining how the pyramid works. Basically, you should eat the foods at the top (vegetable fats and oils, sweets and salts) sparingly, and munch on more of each of the subsequent levels. Staples like whole-grain bread, cereal, rice and pasta are at the bottom of the pyramid, so you should include lots of these in your meals and snacks each day.

Remember though that everyone is different and while the pyramid is a useful general guide, it may be a good idea to chat with a nutritionist about your own personal dietary needs.

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Milk does a kid's body good, according to a Penn State study concerning American children and their consumption of the dairy drink. Yet the only youngsters reportedly drinking enough milk are 2 and 3 year olds. All others are falling short on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's My Pyramid dairy recommendations which suggest two cups of milk for 1 to 3 year olds, two to three cups for 4 to 8 year olds, and three to four cups for 9 to 18 year olds.

Also noteworthy per the same study, published in the online Journal of Pediatrics, is that children are consuming more of the highest fat varieties of cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and dairy-based toppings. It's not smart to make up for missed calcium from milk by stocking up on high-fat dairy sources, says one researcher who notes these additional calories will only add to the current problem of childhood obesity. So stick to good old fashioned milk for your kids -- and make it low-fat while you're at it.

Although physicians once recommended that children receive whole milk during the first year of life, that recommendation has changed. Doctors now recommend baby formula if the child is not nursing. And for the second year of life, reduced-fat or fat-free milk is appropriate.

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Mark over at Mark's Daily Apple recently posted a picture of his carb pyramid -- meaning he illustrated what kind of carbs he eats and how often. I really like the idea so I did my own. As you can see, I am no artist, but this should get across my carb intake in a typical week.

I think I'm doing pretty well -- I avoid the bad carbs, but I'm human so I haven't cut them out altogether. I stick to whole wheat carbs, except when I go for sushi -- my favourite place doesn't offer the choice of brown rice. And I try to get most of my carb intake from fruits and veggies.

What does your carb pyramid look like?

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With new studies appearing daily on the effects of this diet or that food, it gets hard to know exactly what constitutes a healthy diet. This month's Scientific American has an excellent article by Marion Nestle, renowned nutrition professor and author of What to Eat. Her answer to the good eating dilemma is pretty straightforward: "eat less, move more, eat a largely plant-based diet, and avoid eating too much junk food," and as she says, we've known this for a while now. But she also includes a discussion of how studies of single nutrients and the influence of the food industry on research and consumer behavior have muddied the waters considerably.

One great sidebar is her take on the newest food pyramid. She notes that the vague color scheme and absence of clear-cut advice on foods to avoid makes the pyramid, well, pretty unhelpful. Why is this pyramid so much more flawed than the 1992 version? Nestle and others suspect the influence of the food lobbies, who prefer the that government doesn't tell consumers to stay away from their products. In other words, what is good for the bottom line of food companies is pretty sucky for the rest of us.

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About 2 years ago the government came up with a new food pyramid, but it hasn't been promoted anywhere but online since it was first released. All that is about to change, as the new design prepares to hit a grocery store near you.

But if you haven't seen it already, you might be a little surprised to see that it doesn't tell you what to eat or how much. It's really just a logo, intended to promote the idea of balanced eating and to encourage and remind people to visit the website www.mypyramid.gov. Once online, enter some general info about yourself (age, sex, physical activity) and then you'll get a personalized idea of how much you should be eating, and of what. Sort of your own personal food pyramid.

I think the old one was much easier and more convenient, but other than sweets being on the top I don't know how many people really knew what went where and followed it everyday -- so maybe this more complicated but personalized version is better.

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