Keeping Kids Healthy
It’s mid-August and you know what that means—Back to School!
Believe it or not, even in the high-fat high-calorie “convenience” food cafeterias, fast food, vending machine world that our schools have become, parents can protect their children from the daily temptations with a little planning. The school may publish a healthy menu, but realistically children often choose to go through an alternative line and purchase more fattening options such as pizza, burgers and fries. Children are bombarded with marketing messages and are vulnerable to choosing foods that may contribute to long-term weight-control struggles. Take the guess work out of it and make health the only option for your child. With proper planning and some creativity, even the busiest parents can help their children make healthier choices.
According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, about 35 percent of all American children and adolescents are overweight, an alarming 25 percent increase over 10 years ago. Although the problem is a complex one, obesity puts children at an increased risk of high blood pressure, higher cholesterol and blood lipid (fat) levels, and Type II diabetes (your Grandmother’s generation referred to it as "adult-onset”).
Sad reality is that Obesity is making many health conditions that were once “adult” diseases part of childhood. Tragically, we have 17-year olds who should be thinking about trying out for cheerleading, what to wear to homecoming or what colleges they should apply to being rushed to Emergency Rooms because of a heart attack—at 17!
We have to take action. Dr. David L. Katz recently sounded this alarm: “Continuing on the path that we are on, this generation is not expected to live as long as their parents generation.”
We can’t continue on that path. It just isn’t realistic anymore to send your precious child off to school and assume that they going to be able to provide busing, Physical Education, sports teams, music programs, teacher salaries AND serve a healthy and nutritious lunch given their already thinly stretched budgets.
YOU have to ensure that your child gets healthy meal each and every meal. Think about breakfast, lunch and dinner options as you plan your weekly shopping so that you can have nutritious ingredients handy.
Buy whole grain, fiber dense bread and pack sandwiches with tomato, lettuce, lean meat and low-fat cheese.
Beverages also can be packed with sugar and calories. Sodas and juice drinks add hundreds of calories without providing any nutritional value and many of the juice-type beverages parents buy thinking they are a healthy option contain high amounts of fructose corn syrup and only minimal amounts of fruit juice. Buy the mini-bottles of water and pack it in their lunch bag. Encouraging proper water consumption will help set them up for a life of health.
Hold the chips! A lunch doesn’t have to include Doritos to show you care! I put sliced carrots (they actually sell them cut w/ ridges and looking just like Ruffles potato chips!), mini carrots, sliced pickles, peppers and other veggies in my children’s lunch.
Every lunch we pack the kids always has a fresh piece of fruit in it; bananas, a bunch of grapes, watermelon cut with a melon-baller, we peel the oranges, slice the apples wrapping them in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil to prevent browning and to make it so easy to eat they have no excuse NOT to do so! (Kids are tricky, remember take away any potential unhealthy choice!)
Occasionally I will add a treat such a low-fat pudding or healthier home-made cookies. When ever I bake, I use MoreFiber (www.NuNaturals.com ) and Stevia instead of sugar. I have been doing this for about a year and no one has caught me yet! The cookies are just as sweet and so much better for the kids. Email me at Julia at JuliaHavey dot com if you want my recipe!
Finally, the bus. I most often walked to school or rode my bike when I was a kid—and I still grew up to have a weight problem. Today kids are bussed to school, driven in the minivan with Sponge Bob playing in the back seat. Kids have it pretty easy and pretty sedentary today. Many schools don’t offer P.E. anymore and those that do, it’s not nearly enough to fight the environment of fat we life in. Get your kids signed up for sports teams after school, ballet or gymnastics class, get them a shiny new bike and throw away the motorized scooter. Make a rule that the TV or computer games are limited to 30 minutes a day; no, it won’t kill them. A friend of mine doesn’t have a TV in her home. She is the most productive woman I know, she is a doctor and runs two health related businesses on the side, she literally gets more done in a day than most people do in a week. She is also a mother who has raised 3 brilliant children, all of whom are National Merit Scholars and got full-ride scholarships to the colleges of their choice! And she could afford tuition to any of those schools. NO TV! My son would be very upset with me if I dared ban it totally but it has served us well when we limit it. There is a direct correlation between what we DO and what we become, our bodies included.
Here’s what I have for you:
Get your children on Juice Plus+ Garden and Orchard chewables or capsules, unless they are eating 7-9 servings a day (1/2 cup of raw) fresh fruits and vegetables a day, they need to take Juice Plus+.
What it will do for you and for them, is to ensure that they get more of the nutrients found in the whole foods. We need these nutrients to prevent sickness and disease. Make sure you feeding them more fresh fruits and vegetables, and Juice Plus+.
Go to www.JPSupplement.com and get it today so that you can include their chewables in their diet each day!
The source for Obesity solutions
Julia Havey
http://www.JuliaHavey.com