Parents- Help Your Kids Be Healthy for Life!

Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. According to a survey done in 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. Think of some popular snacks that you see advertised for children in today’s media.  A good amount of these are probably not positive contributors to a healthy weight.  Most of these will probably be high sugar, high fat and little nutrients. In today’s busy society, meal preparation and family dinners have decreased while packaged and fast food popularity has increased. This has increased prevalence in obesity, heart disease and diabetes among our population.

Here are five easy tips to improve your family’s eating behaviors in the long run:

1. Shop Smart- make sure you are reading labels of the foods you are buying and look out for those hidden unhealthy ingredients that food companies try to hide. Instead, try and find products with healthy mono and poly unsaturated fats listed in the ingredients and snacks that are low in sugar. In addition, try and bring home fewer high-calorie snacks to reduce temptation for the whole family!

2. Make it Healthy- When cooking, try to use extra virgin olive oil or canola oil. Find some substitutes for saturated fat ingredients such as non-fat sour cream instead of regular, bananas instead of butter, nuts instead of coconut. Also try to limit additives such as salt or sugar. Make sure to always taste food first before adding any type of topping.

3. Eat Breakfast- Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day and it couldn’t be more true! Children do better in school when they eat breakfast because they are more alert and are not focused on when lunch is. Also, skipping breakfast ca lead to overeating for the next meal! Some quick easy breakfasts to make in the morning include oatmeal, high-fiber cereal, smoothies that have non-fat vanilla yogurt, fruit and soy milk(can make them the night before). Try and add some protein in there such as eggs, milk, peanut butter or lean meats to make your breakfast even better!

4. Add Vegetables, Fruits and Fiber to your diet- Whole vegetables, fruits and grains provide the most vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and fiber than any other processed counterparts they have. Adding fiber to your diet can give you a long feeling of fullness after eating which leads to eating less throughout the day.  In addition, fiber has been shown to decrease risk of chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease.  Some easy ways to add fruits, veggies and whole grains to your diet include eating cut up fruits and vegetables for snacks, adding vegetables to an omlet, buy 100 percent whole wheat bread or pizza crust, add beans or nuts to a salad or even simply buying whole fruits instead of drinking fruit juice! These simple steps can add the proper serving of fruits, vegetables and whole grains into your diet everyday.

5. Stay Away from sugary drinks- While it is widely known that kids and adults should definitely be staying away from high-calorie and high-sugar sodas, what a lot of parents are not aware of is that a lot of sugar is contained in the fruit juices that their kids love. Many knock-off “fruit juices” do not have any natural sugar from fruits but simply added sugar..same as sodas! Instead of having your family drink these fruit juices, try to drink low-fat milk or simply water at dinner, dilute your fruit juice with some water to keep the flavor but decrease the serving of added sugar, try to fine 100% juice with only natural ingredients and finally try adding lemon or lime to water to give it a sweeter taste!

Using the five simple steps that are listed above, I know that families could definitely improve their overall health and prevent the risk of their children developing childhood obesity.  It is these simple steps that parents can teach their kids very early on that healthy eating can be fun and easy and it is so important to develop these healthy eating habits early.

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Journal Article: http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/1370163879?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=13158

 

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