With summer's end just weeks away, it is good time to start building a plan for eating right. Experts from The Johns Hopkins Children's Center are especially urging parents to talk to their children, even kindergartners, about making wise menu choices.

"Bad food choices in grade school can escalate into unhealthy eating habits by middle and high school that are hard to break," says pediatric nutritionist Tiffani Hays, of John Hopkins. She advises:

-- There are no "bad" or forbidden foods, but choices have consequences. If having hamburger and fries for lunch, then dinner shouldn't include a lot of fat or sugar calories.

-- Look for ways to celebrate birthdays and holidays other than bringing in cupcakes and sweets for everyone.

-- Orange drinks, chewy fruit snacks or fruit roll-ups do not count as fruits.

-- To help prevent kidney stones -- an alarming trend among children -- try to limit salty snacks such as chips and pretzels and urge your child to drink plenty of water -- not soda or juices.

Making food fast at home

As the laid-back days of summer become a memory it's time to look forward to making fall full of flavorful, yet healthful eating. All too often, the frazzled find themselves falling back on fast food as a way to make it through tight schedules, but dietitian Marjorie Fitch-Hilgenberg, of the University of Arkansas suggests a better way.

"With a little planning, advance preparation and family participation," she says," it's as easy to make a healthy, satisfying dinner than to pick up a pizza -- not to mention faster and cheaper." Fitch-Hilgenberg says even working parents and their highly-scheduled kids can have a meal on the table within 20 minutes by:

-- Planning ahead and having the right supplies on hand. Make more than one meal from ingredients such as baked chicken on Saturday and chicken fajitas later in the week.

-- Preparing ahead begins when food arrives from the grocery story. Slicing meat into thinner pieces before freezing allows the family-in-a-hurry to counter-top grill meat, while assembling a salad and re-heating rice.

-- Extend the keep-it-easy attitude to dessert -- fruit topped with ice cream or yogurt, for example.

Brown bags full of health

A nutritionist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center says that lunch from home may be the better choice -- nutritionally.

"I recommend that sometimes lunches need to be packed," says Mary Pat Alfaro. "Although The Healthy School Lunch Campaign is urging schools to serve more balanced, lower fat meals, a packed lunch means the parents are in control of what children eat, including their portion size."

Alfaro suggests parents should:

-- Make it healthy -- making it balanced does not mean making it boring -- top peanut butter with raisins, apples, bananas or pineapple instead of the usually jelly.

-- Go for variety to get different nutrients and try bagels, English muffins, crackers, pita bread or tortillas paired with a favorite spread or sandwich filling. Find healthy alternatives to snack chips like trail mix, flavored rice cakes, pita chips and homemade tortilla chips.

-- Pack fruit that is easy to eat such as grapes, strawberries, chunks of melon, berries and orange sections.

-- Make it safe by keeping everything -- especially hands -- clean and keeping things cold by using an insulated bag with freezer pack. Using frozen bread slices in the morning will help keep sandwich filling cold until lunch. Freeze juice boxes, water bottles or yogurt cartons and wrap in foil to use as an ice pack.

Diet to avoid kidney stones

Replenishing fluids is not only important to preventing heat-related illnesses like heat exhaustion, but aids in preventing kidney stones. Staying hydrated can help people prevent what many describe as "the worst pain of their lives."

"One of the best ways to prevent kidney stones is to stay hydrated throughout the entire 24-hour period. I recommend my patients have at least six to eight glasses of water a day, and I ask them to make sure that they spread that throughout the entire day. This is important year-round, but especially in the summer months," says Dr. Gary Faerber, of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.

About 13 percent of men and 7 percent of women have kidney stones and they are becoming more common. One of the main reasons for the increasing rate of kidney stones in that the U.S. population tends to be sedentary and more people are becoming overweight. To help avoid kidney stones, Faerber suggests:

-- Drink lemonade. Not the powdery mix, but the real stuff which has been shown to reduce the risk of kidney stones.

-- Ask a physician if you should continue taking calcium supplements. Some studies have shown that foods rich in calcium may help to prevent kidney stones, but taking calcium in pill form may increase the risk.

-- Ask a physician about foods rich in vitamin D. People with highly acidic urine, may need to eat less meat, fish and poultry.

(e-mail: consumerhealth@upi.com)