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Tag Archive for healthy eating

How Parents Can Instill Good Eating Habits In Their Kids

Jeff / January 9, 2010 / One comment

What Can Parents Do To Help Their Children With Weight Issues?

Last month we talked about what the causes are of childhood obesity and why this problem is becoming so epidemic. This month, I really want to focus on what parents can do to help their children prevent having weight issues as they grow.

First and foremost, you must start your children on a healthy regimen when they are young. If they aren’t young anymore, don’t worry, you can still make the changes outlined below and have an impact on your child’s life moving forward. The reason to start young is so you can plant the seed in their little minds on what being healthy is and how it can be achieved. So, what are some easy steps you can take right now to get your kids in the right mind set?

1. NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST!
This is extremely important for everyone, not just children. Can you remember the last time you went eight hours without food during the day? Unless it was for religious purposes, you probably can’t think of any instances, right? Well, that is exactly what you are doing every night when you go to sleep. Your eyelids may be closed and your activities stopped, but it doesn’t mean your body stops burning energy. Our bodies are constantly consuming energy and need to be replenished regularly…with healthy supplies! So, after an eight hour fast, you need to wake your little ones with a nutritious breakfast and get their bodies primed for a long day at school or the play yard. (For some good ideas on what to have for breakfast, go to http://www.stop-childhood-obesity.com/healthy-recipes.html)

2. Replace All Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices with Water.
Ever look at the labels on the fruit juices you are giving your children? Take a guess how much sugar is in one serving? A single pouch of Capri Sun can have as much as 26 grams of sugar! That’s two-thirds of what is in a can of soda, which also should be a no-no for kids. When you replace these types of drinks with water, you can cut out nearly 50% of the sugar and carbohydrates that a child may consume in one day! That’s huge! Plus, water keeps us hydrated which helps to reduce our hunger cravings.

3. Limit Pizza, Burgers, Ice Cream, etc. to One Night Per Week.
Now, this is going to be probably more challenging than the other tasks, but it’s very important. What happens to us psychologically as we’re growing up is that we tend to see these ‘junk’ foods as an easy go-to source and tend to associate them with good feelings and quick fixes. In reality, nothing is further from the truth. These so called ‘good’ feelings one gets when consuming junk food is simply a sugar high that stimulates your metabolism. After that high is gone, the body returns to its normal state and the process of trying to get rid of those toxins (and that’s what they are, toxins) begins. This leaves people feeling low and that sub-conscious memory of feeling good that is associated with junk food returns. It’s a vicious cycle, and if it is prevented early, then the battle of breaking the habit later on in life is not an issue.

For now, I think that will be enough to get the process started. I don’t want to burden you with too many ideas and insights right now. However, now is the perfect time to start getting your family on the ‘health train.’ Everyone is talking about eating healthy and exercising more, so why not join them. Then you can have the support of others to get the job done.

If you want more support and advice, please feel free to leave a comment on our blog or in our Healthy Eating Forum.

Category: Health and Fitness / Tags: , , ,

It’s a New Year! Why Not Just Eat Healthy Instead of Diet?!?

Jeff / December 31, 2009 / No comments

Why not try eating healthy foods, instead of dieting? There are a lot of diets out there but some of them simply do not work. Dieting just doesn’t work for everyone, especially children. To prevent childhood obesity, we simply cannot depend on dieting. It is much easier and way more effective to teach kids to eat healthy foods than compute their daily calorie intakes and such. Some adults can handle dieting, but children are still growing. They need all the nutrients and vitamins that they can get.

To prevent childhood obesity, instead of putting them on a diet, we can point them to the right direction by teaching them to eat healthy. Eating healthy foods will not only help prevent obesity, it can also help reduce the risk of diseases that go with eating junk or unhealthy foods. There are a number of diets that work well with adults, but that doesn’t mean that it will work on children. You can’t expect kids to know stuff like protein, or carbohydrates, or calories. If it is edible and tastes good, they eat it. That is why training a kid to eat healthy foods while he’s still young is essential in preventing childhood obesity.

Before worrying about what kind of diet you want to follow, think about your children’s health and the lifestyle that you wish for them to follow. You can begin by finding out which foods are good for you and your kids, and which are not. One thing you need to remember is that the closer a food is to its natural condition; the better it is for your health. Foods such as fresh fruits and berries are awesome as they will satisfy your craving for sweets.

Steaming green, orange, and yellow veggies will help retain its nutritional value as these types of vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals. However, you need to be careful with the sauces that go with salads, because they may be high in calories and fats that are bad for you. We all know that some kids hate to eat foods such as green veggies; the key is to feed it to them at a young age as some vegetables will take some getting used to.

When it comes to pasta or any baked goods, you should go for whole grains. Kids love sugary snacks, but you shouldn’t spoil them with it. As much as possible, you must teach your kids to avoid eating too many sweets. Healthy foods can include lean meats and, of course, fish. Ocean fish are packed with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that are often lacking in our daily consumption. So try serving it to your children two to three times a week. Finally, keep in mind that steaming or baking is way healthier than frying.

Category: Childhood Obesity, Health and Fitness / Tags: , ,

Do You Lead by Example?

Jeff / November 19, 2009 / No comments

So many times these days we see an overweight adult walking around with an overweight child.  Very seldom do we see a thin or athletic parent holding the hand of an overweight youngster.  Why is that?

Well the plain, simple, and easy truth is that children, or any species for that matter, don’t learn through directing.  True, we can learn certain tasks by being told how to accomplish them, such as reading, but even then there is a certain amount of leading occurring.  As humans, we learn more through watching and imitating than any other way.  If you asked the professional sports players how they got so great, their responses would be 99.9% the same: emulating their idols.

If it is true that a professional athlete can learn most of their skill through emulating others, than doesn’t it stand to reason that your child will learn other skills in life the same way?  Of course it does.  That is why it is so important to lead by example rather than tell them how to live and hope for the best.  This means you can’t just tell your child to eat their veggies.  You have to eat them yourself first, and let them see you enjoy them.  This is key!  If you try to swallow some broccoli by forcing yourself to hold back the urge to regurgitate it, do you think that your toddler is going to think it is a fun food to eat?  Probably not.

So what happens if you don’t like eating healthy?  Well, then you are going to have a heck of a time teaching your children to eat healthy.  If you have no desire to change your own thought processes, then you will never be able to encourage your child to think positively about living a healthy lifestyle.  In other words “Good Luck Chuck!”  If however you have realized the importance of your child’s health and future,  you will be willing to change your way of thinking, and thus change both you and your child’s lives for the better.

If you want to change but don’t know how, then you can check out my companion website, Stop Childhood Obesity, or speak to your primary care physician.  Other sources for help are BeverlyMonical.com, or the Mayo Clinic.  Whichever choice you make, be sure it is not a selfish one, but rather a choice dedicated to improving your child’s overall health and well being.

Best of Luck!

Category: Childhood Obesity, Health and Fitness / Tags: , ,