LMB, since you mentioned my physique (and nightflys), I thought I'd add my two cents. I modeled for many years, I wasn't always a "big girl." In fact, just this time last year I was 5'9'', 140, and about 8-10% fat by hydro. Pics you see of me now are VERY different (5'9'', 185, 17%). My point in spitting out all those numbers is that the basics of nutrition have been the same for me since I was in about 3rd grade, when I strated running track year-round competitively, irrespective of my weight or body fat. Whether I'm trying to put on size, take it off, lift more weight, run a lil faster, whatever...I STILL eat 6-8 times a day, and still make clean food choices. The cals get shuffled around to suit my needs and goals.
Why do I eat clean and frequently? Because my coches asked my mom to do that for me, and that's what I always knew. Parents and/or coaches, whoever the guiding lights are, play such a crucial role. Leading by example and educating the whys of that example are key.
My son, who is 2, eats the same clean foods as me, 6-8 times a day. Sure, he gets more carb type snacks, but even those are decent (nuts, oats, natural popcorn, etc...). He will come to me and say, "Need some protein mama. Scrambled eggs, please?" It melts my heart to hear the words "amino acid" coming out of a two year old. He will never know any different. It will never be weird for him to eat the way we do; no major adjustments necessary.
As a parent, I am responsible, held accountable, for the health of my son. I put the best in him, and help him to understand why he should want the best for himself. Active healthy parents have a gift to pass on. Too bad we are lacking active and healthy parents. When was the last time you saw an obese child at the mall standing next to an athletic mom or dad? Whether it's stress, work, mental anguish, emotional dispair, etc... people are fatter and lazier. Children are walking representation of who we really are and what we really do.
It's a bad cycle. Instead of paying it forward, parents are indebting it forward.