Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

Balanced diet

My mommy feeds me well. She tells me to watch out for what my daddy will feed me, too. 😉

Mommy is half the size of my daddy. And I am a little girl who doesn’t want to be a big big girl. Just a big girl.

I know how to ask, “Is this healthy food mommy?”

And, “Daddy, does this taste good?”

Daddy knows good taste but doesn’t always eat healthy. Mommy always wants me to eat healthy, but sometimes she will let me eat fun food – ice cream!

So, what’s the right balance for food? How do you decide?

These guys in Colorado call it the 5-2-1-0 challenge.

They recommend 5 fruits and vegetable portions each day.

They say no more than 2 hours in front of a screen. 2 hours? I get about 23 minutes to watch something on Netflix on the way to school and maybe 30 minutes on mini-tablet each evening. That’s it for me.

1 hour of physical activity daily. Running, skipping, climbing, chasing, being chased … got this covered.

Zero sugary drinks each day. I am good here as well.

I might need to count my veggies and fruits each day but I think I am good.

I am not worried. I have a mommy to keep me balanced. And a daddy to make it fun from time to time.

What do you think is the right balance? How do you decide?

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.