Tuesday, 27 March 2012
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Raising Healthy Kids in an Unhealthy World
How do we keep our kids healthy in a society where 12.5 million of our youth is obese? There are fast food restaurants on every corner and our lives our so hectic we usually don’t get home in time to prepare a healthy meal. Not to mention that it is just easier and cheaper to get fast food or stock our pantry with canned food, and our freezer with frozen foods. We spend so much time in the car going from one activity to another that it seems we can’t even find the time for physical activity.
My son started to have weight issues around the age of 4, and I realized that we had to change our lifestyle or he was going to have a really hard time. He always had feeding issues so I became used to giving him easy to eat processed foods. It soon was the only thing he would eat. I became complacent. I didn’t want to hear him throw tantrums so I gave in. It hit me one day that I actually allowed my toddler to dictate what he was he was going to eat. He has no knowledge of what is healthy for him, so why in the world did I let him control his diet. Needless to say, I woke up fast.
We have come a long way. I no longer allow him to dictate what he’s going to eat. He still has choices, but they’re good choices. However, I do trick him. I know I know sneaky Mommy. He loves a certain fast food restaurants cheeseburger, so I make turkey burgers that I mix with fresh spinach (Did I mention spinach is my favorite mystery veggie? I put it in everything.) I put the turkey cheeseburger on a small bun with ketchup and he is none the wiser. He’s happy and I’m happy because he’s not eating pink slime. I often have him sit up at the kitchen island and help me prepare meals. He enjoys helping and is more eager to eat the meal he helped to make. On our super busy days I prepare a crock pot meal the night before and turn it on in the morning. When we get home we have a nice hot meal waiting for us.
I also make sure that we have at least an hour of activity a night. Sometimes we will turn on some music and dance and sing while we clean up the house. My garage is in the back of our house, so I will race my son around to the front of the house.
I understand that in the chaotic world we live in it is not always practical to live healthy. I will admit at first it was so difficult to change our lifestyle, but I am so glad we did. Living this way has become second nature for us now. It has made us feel better and best of all it has helped me be even more involved in my son’s life. We have such a great time together.
My favorite boy went from being in the 85th percentile in weight to the 53rd percentile. He has more energy and is happier. Let me just say as his Mom I am so relieved that he is healthier and I am thrilled that I made a change for us. I am always looking for new and fun ideas for mealtime and playtime.
How does your family stay healthy? Please share your ideas!
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Comments (15)
We're generally clean eaters, and that's how we stay healthy. Veggies are fresh, meats are lean, fruits are plentiful, grains are whole, and everything is prepared without fats. We do go out to eat every now and again, but even then we still make healthy choices. If it's nice outside, they're also required to go out and play. TV time is limited, if they even get any at all, and video games/computers are saved for special times.
I'm lucky in that my children love vegetables and have no qualms in eating anything most kids would turn their noses up at. When they were younger, though...they didn't have a choice. I make one meal for the whole family, and if it's put on your plate...you eat it!
Good for you! I do worry about my son having problems with lack of exercise, since the temperature doesn't get much above 0 for 4-5 months. Between cold weather and wildfire smoke, he won't be able to go outside an average of 6 months of the year. We have a small house without much running room!
I was just saying that when he is a little older I hope that he can ride a bike in the garage and I want to build a few activities to do in that area. As far as indoor play areas, we are lucky to have a membership to a gym with an indoor kids jungle gym, climbing wall, and water slides! Ironically, McDonalds is really the only indoor play area that is open for kids during the day. Go figure!
@LupusInvictus@xanga - There is no harm in going to the McDonalds during in between meal times (after eating healthy at home) and buying a bottle of water (or something small) and then hanging out and playing there. We've done that before! :)
We stay healthy by eating fresh vegetables at every meal (or frozen ones, not canned though, canned has added salt and frozen ones keep their nutrients), limiting our t.v. time and watching our red meat intake. We also go hormone free with our milk and antibiotic free on our eggs. We can't afford to eat completely organic, but we have looked into what the "garbage" fruits and vegetables are and try to eat those organic (strawberries are the worst for having pesticides).
We also are blessed to have a large, completely enclosed back yard so I often "kick" the kids out to play outside, while they might complain at first, they are in imagination land within a few minutes. :)
My parents never allowed junk in the house - no soda at all, and things like chocolate and candy were kept away from me and regulated until I was about twelve or so, and even after that (when I was allowed to go into the kitchen and grab whatever), there was never enough there for me to pig out on.
I was introduced to foods from a young age - I always loved raw veggies with dips, roast vegetables, fish and healthy meat options, and I was always running around in the garden, pedalling my bike up and down the street or playing football with the kids down the road - my dad even taught himself to rollerblade in his forties so he could go with me!
Obviously it's not always easy, but I think as long as you introduce kids to exercise and healthy eating from a young age, and as long as you make it fun, you'll be fine :) Don't ban them from eating junk, though - there's nothing wrong with it occasionally, as long as they realise it's not a regular thing.
My son is, by everyone else's standards, fat. He was born 7 lbs 5oz. and had a very big appetite. He is now a year and a half and weighs around 30 pounds. We hardly feed him fast food. If we do, it's on a road trip or on a special occasion (like when family comes to visit and we order pizza or something.) He runs and spends tons of time outside every day, and his pediatrician says that despite his being chunky, he's healthy as a horse. I was a chunky kid and my boyfriend was too, and we slimmed out as we got older. I think I will be more concerned about his weight when he gets older. We will continue to eat healthy and encourage him to play outside because we want to build healthy habits, but like we do as adults, we have our cheat moments. It's hard, and eating healthier is expensive, but personally, our family has had a hard time with weight and I want to break that cycle.
This is great. My kids an I play tennis together 3 nights a week. We have fast food night once a month as a reward. I have a toddler, and I take him to gymboree and Mommy and Me swim classes.
Hey thanks for subscrbing me i really look upto this because you always want to eat healthy no matter if kid or adult.
Statistics tell us that those who have weight problems as children will be obese as adults, and these things are plopped right back in the parents lap. I just finished reading a book about baby genetics, and one of the most important things the author brought up was aerobic activities with your child starting at a young age. Incredibly good eating habits by the age of two to three, and aerobic activity that you participate in with the child, be it chasing a ball you've thrown back and forth, to bike riding etc. The rate of diabetes among children is growing among this generation, and this could easily be nipped in the bud.
I'm pretty lucky because keeping my daughter healthy has always been easy. She never really liked candy growing up and she would always pick fruit over junk if she has the choice. She also doesn't like red meat or ice cream. People think that since I am a vegetarian she is one too, but she isn't. She eats chicken and turkey and we have eggs for dinner sometimes. I can hardly get her to sit down sometimes and when she visits her grandparents on their farm she'll run next to the 4 wheeler instead of ride to the barn. Her cousins on the other hand are the exact opposite. I don't think my niece has eaten a piece of fruit in weeks and the only salad I've ever seen her eat was covered in at least a 1/2 cup of ranch dressing.
I'm pretty lucky because keeping my daughter healthy has always been easy. She never really liked candy growing up and she would always pick fruit over junk if she has the choice. She also doesn't like red meat or ice cream. People think that since I am a vegetarian she is one too, but she isn't. She eats chicken and turkey and we have eggs for dinner sometimes. I can hardly get her to sit down sometimes and when she visits her grandparents on their farm she'll run next to the 4 wheeler instead of ride to the barn. Her cousins on the other hand are the exact opposite. I don't think my niece has eaten a piece of fruit in weeks and the only salad I've ever seen her eat was covered in at least a 1/2 cup of ranch dressing.
@Tracy Vetzal Mainwaring@facebook - who said they were denying their children fat?
My children still eat fat. I don't want them eating fast food and junk foods. However, they are able to eat those things in moderation. Everything in moderation.
The other day I saw a couple feeding their 1 yr old taco bell. I was shocked theyd do that to that child. Even though I myself grew up on fast food. My mom was very around and there was always limited food in the house and I was never taught how to cook so why not go to the white castle or mcdonalds nearby. Thank goodness Ive always had a fast matabolism or id be huge! lol. Its a huge problem americans have and its only going to get worse because they keep inventing more and more things to make us more lazy.
We ate homecooked meals growing up and still do,but, ordered out a few times a month. Especially on weekends. My parents never deprived us of soda, junk, or anything either. We're all a healthy weight and fine physically, though, my one sister is a bit thicker than myself but she's just built like our mom (me: 5'4" 116 lbs, younger sister: 5'6" 1/2 150 lbs, baby sister: 5'5" 110 lbs). We love our fruit and seafood just as much as pizza & chips so it balances out.
I have no idea how I will handle other people when I have kids. We're Paleo, and I know we'll have a hard time with people wanting to give our kids grains and sugar all the time.