Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Weight – It’s A Family Affair

If we could help our kids lead longer, healthier lives, wouldn’t we??? For parents, the answer is a resounding ‘YES‘. As a society, the answer seems to be a tragic ‘NO‘.

The statistics are grim – Our kids will be the first generation with a shorter life span than their parents. Most of this is due to kids not intake healthy, not exercising enough, and many being overweight. One current study estimated only 1% of kids in the U.S. met all suggestions of the USDA food pyramid for children. How do we as parents fight society’s pressure and help our kids take a healthy diet or establish healthy intake habits, maintain a healthy weight and get adequate exercise?

The good news is- parents play a critical role in encouraging a healthy lifestyle. One interesting study showed that educating parents in nutrition was more effective in influencing teens’ weight loss than educating the teens themselves!

We have the power! The following are some things we can do to help our kids become/stay healthy:

Model healthy behavior – Let your kids see you exercise, take healthy, and appreciate your body. Studies show kids are far more likely to be active if their parents are active. Learn about nutrition as a family. Show your kids that breakfast is important by intake a healthy breakfast yourself – sorry, sugar-laden cereals and donuts don‘t count. Eat sweets in moderation: not overindulging and not completely depriving. Focus on maintaining the healthiest body you can, not on unrealistic saint bodies. Your kids won’t believe they are beautiful just the way they are if you don’t believe it about yourself.

Make small changes – Change can be really hard! Trying to change everything at once rarely lasts. Call a family meeting to decide on a reasonable goal, such as replacing a half-hour of television three times per week with physical activity. Once that is in place, add another goal like replacing soda with water or diluted 100% fruit juice, or decreasing fast food meals. And so on.  Small changes are much easier to incorporate as life-long habits and are less likely to meet resistance.  Small successes will encourage further change.

Develop healthy habits – The early healthy habits are established, the easier and more likely they are to remain habits of a lifetime. Children’s tastes are shaped by foods offered. Offer them healthy, not sugary or fat-laden foods. If they initially state ‘no’ to an unhealthy treat, let that answer stand – kids don’t need to take block just because everyone else is. Encourage grandparents and friends to accept this.

Give choices – Reasonable choices give kids needed power and instruct decision-making skills. Let two-year olds select dessert: not an open-ended ‘What would you like for dessert?’ but a more specific ‘Would you like an apple or banana for dessert?’. When dessert is something healthy, the ‘necessity’ of finishing one’s meal before dessert stops being an issue. Grade school kids can help with shopping by choosing between healthy options. They can dish up their own servings and decide when they are full. Studies show kids who select their own portion size take less. Serve younger kids appropriately small servings and let them ask for more if still hungry.

Family support – Sometimes only one child in the family is overweight. Regardless, the entire family needs to be involved in life-style change. It is nearly impossible for a child to change if the environment does not change. Since healthy change will benefit your entire family, it is not ‘unfair’ to anyone.

Dieting – Many experts concur that putting kids on a diet is not healthy and certainly should never be done without the guidance of a pediatrician or nutritionist. Dieting puts proper nutrition at risk. Decreasing junk food, fat and sugar, and increasing exercise is often the ideal way to obtain a healthy weight.

Turn off the television (computer, DVD) – Advertising (including on most kids shows!!!) is designed to get kids to pester parents for products – sugary cereals, candy, toys. We are setting ourselves up for unnecessary battles when we grant a lot of TV. And, research shows more screen time increases the likelihood of kids being overweight, with yet an even greater risk if a screen is in a child’s bedroom. Alternative another activity – even reading uses more calories. And reading together is a great family activity.

Sleep – Research shows kids who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight – not to mention crabby. A set routine and bedtime help ensure kids get enough sleep. Choices such as ‘Which pajamas?’ or ‘Do you want to go to bed now or in 5 minutes?’ might help.

Exercise – Young kids are built for action. Their brains are loaded with pleasure receptors for physical activity. But we often structure their world to be inactive. Our job is to wage opportunities for physical activity, be supportive not critical, and help our kids find activities they enjoy.

Stress – contributes to weight gain. Exercise or listening to music are ways to deal with stress that don‘t involve eating.

Family meals – Studies show kids who regularly ate at home with their family had the healthiest diets. (Studies show family meals also increase language skills, boost grades, and result in kids who are superior adjusted in general.) Having regular mealtimes makes it easier for kids to maintain normal hunger cues.

We, as parents, construct our children’s environment – especially when they are young. We have the power to make that environment a healthy one and instruct healthy habits that will last a lifetime.