Start by making a poster of the pyramid, as shown here--we used magazine photographs of the various foods--and hang it on the refrigerator door.

Make a dozen or so name labels for each family member and affix them to magnetic tape or old business card magnets. Each day, have the kids place a label on the chart for each serving of a food they ate. Did their diet match the pyramid's recommendations? Set a certain number of healthy-eating days as a goal, then give yourselves a family reward when you reach it.

The Food Guide Pyramid, developed by the US Department of Agriculture, is a simple visual tool designed to help consumers make dietary choices in today's often confusing marketplace. Families can use it to add balance to or moderate their diets.

The pyramid spells out how many servings from each food group you and your family should eat each day. Keep in mind that serving sizes are not simply how much you eat at one sitting, but a specific amount. Also, the amount varies for children depending on their age.

Consider the category of bread, cereal, rice and pasta, which is at the base of the pyramid. You should have six to 11 servings each day, depending on your energy needs and exercise level.

This is not as hard as it sounds, since a serving of, say, bread is only one ounce. So a typical bakery or supermarket bagel, at closer to three ounces, is three servings. Likewise, one serving of cooked cereal, pasta, or rice (a half cup) is about the size of a small scoop of ice cream (for more information on servings, see www.foodfit.com).

Fruits and vegetables share the next level of the pyramid. Two to four servings of fruit and three to five servings of vegetables each day are recommended. Think variety!

Protein-rich foods are next. That's the meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs and nuts group, as well as the milk, yogurt and cheese group. Amounts are important here. It is easy to eat more than you need. A three-ounce serving of meat is the same size as a deck of cards. You should eat two to three servings from these two groups daily.

The tip of the pyramid is for foods you should eat only sparingly, such as fats, oils and sweets, which contribute lots of calories but few vitamins and minerals. They are often found in prepared and processed foods from salad dressings to snacks to soft drinks, so check the ingredients and nutrition labels on the foods you buy.