I think that a balanced and healthy meal is one that is served with love.

It's that emotional balance and health that really matters.

Everyone has known since forever that kids like sweets, don't like greens (or whatever term is being used in the era in question to refer to 'healthy stuff'). So long as they get fed enough to survive the adulthood (which thankfully is almost always the case in the developed countries most of us are lucky enough to live in), and are given some pointers about sourcing and acting on reliable information for their physical and mental health, they can then take their kale and goji berry smoothie decisions for themselves.

Very few of us, once we reach adulthood, actually do any of the things we were told or shown to do when we were kids, or follow many of the habits modelled for years by those parenting us.

That's my take on vicarious parenting advice, for what it's worth.