For more than a week I have been thinking about those two chimpanzees that recently appeared in the news as part of a story about calorie-restriction diets, a new fad among the intensely health-conscious. Calorie-restricted dieters limit their intake of overall calories, choosing to receive nutrition from only the healthiest of foods. One chimp had been on the calorie-restricted diet. He was energetic and nimble and his skin was firm and his eyes were bright. The other chimp had eaten a normal American diet. He was arthritic and hunched over, lethargic and wrinkled.

There are very few words that sound less appealing to me than “calorie-restricted diet,” but the healthy chimp looked so good, and the other so bad, that I started to wonder if the health benefits of a calorie-restricted diet would outweigh the emotional distress caused by years of a vague, gnawing hunger.

I also started to read about the latest research that shows that calorie-restriction probably staves off diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. Exactly how many calories did I need to restrict?

I pondered these question over a few Mallomars — hey, you can only get them part of the year — and decided that the real issue was not whether I was going to go on a calorie-restricted diet, but rather whether it was time to re-evaluate the eating habits I am instilling in my children.

I don’t mean to say that I’m considering restricting my children’s calories. It’s just that until now I haven’t given as much thought to what my children eat as compared to other parents I know.

Don’t get me wrong — I serve healthy meals that include a protein, vegetable, and starch. My gang likes healthy staples such as oatmeal, fish, eggs, pasta, yogurt, and broccoli. They eat loads of fruit. But they also eat their fair share of junk. Oreos, potato chips, Fritos, ice cream, Twix bars, jelly beans, Cracker Jacks, Mint Milanos, licorice, Fruit-Roll Ups — you get the idea. They eat junk in moderation, yes. But my idea of moderation might be someone else’s idea of indulgence.

My friends with bigger children — especially those with chubby girls — spend plenty of time worrying about their children’s weight. They limit their children’s intake of sweets, and clear the junk out of the house. They watch their children’s portions, especially carbohydrates. I often justify my relaxed attitude toward my children’s diet by their body-types. Some of them, in fact, could be walking advertisements for the Calorie Restriction Society.

But the truth is that while plenty of children may be thin, very few 40-year-olds aren’t trying to be a few pounds thinner. My children may be skinny now but good eating habits — such as why a mango is a better choice than a Mallomar — are learned in their early years.

“I see parents who are obsessed with their children’s diet,” a nutritionist on the Upper East Side told me. “Often they have battled with their own weight, and they want to know how to handle their children who seem inclined to be heavy-set. I try to tell them that they need to stay focused on the health of their child, not the thinness of their child. This is New York City after all. They’re going to figure out that whole thin thing pretty quickly anyway.”

Parents are unsure of how much, if anything, should be said to a heavy child. “I always worry that if I say something, she’ll turn out to be anorexic,” a mother of two daughters said. “And that’ll serve me right. When is the right time to help my child begin to be aware of the fact that she can’t eat every single thing she wants, even if that means another serving of ravioli or lamb chops?”

The American Heart Association recommends several ways of improving children’s eating habits without having to have a conversation about weight. Get active, especially as a family. Go on bike rides and hikes, and limit television time. Set realistic goals such as one hour of physical activity a day, or two desserts per week other than fruit. Don’t reward children with food, and involve your children in planning and cooking meals. Dinnertime is family time. Insist on healthy food choices for your children at their school, and model healthy eating and exercise habits for your children.

“I always remind parents that children, especially young children, need a certain amount of fat in their diet, and that going to any extreme is a bad idea,” the nutritionist said. “Teach your children to make healthy choices. Chocolate and ice cream and pudding are definitely better treats nutritionally speaking than Gushers or Swedish fish, for example. Don’t make fast food restaurants a regular stop. Serve your children small portions. Insist that your children sit down and eat, even if it’s just for 15 minutes. Serve your children small portions. This is one of the biggest problems today. That and the fact that kids, especially city kids, just don’t get nearly as much exercise as they should.”

sarasberman@aol.com