Time for Exercise

By now you have certainly heard all the news reports about how fat many children are these days. It’s easy to see the problem if you go just about anywhere. The causes are pretty obvious too.

All too many children eat way too much fast food. A study last year found that at the start of the study, 3.5% of the girls and 6% of the boys ate out and had fried foods 4-7 times a week. The number doubled by the end of the four year study. That number just floored me, because my kids get fast food maybe once a month.

Kids love french fries. We all know that. But that doesn’t mean you have to indulge that preference often.

Another problem is that many people turned to low fat options with their foods, without realizing that the new taste came from a large number of carbohydrates. Guess what? Too many carbohydrates can cause you to gain weight too!

What can you do to help your children avoid obesity, or lose weight if they already have a problem?

Work on their food choices, for a start. At dinnertime, give them a choice between two vegetables. This allows you to still allow your children to choose what they want to eat, while offering healthy options.

Kids can learn to love healthy foods. Mine will beg for things like sugar snap peas. They cost a bit more than other vegetables, but we buy the big bag at Costco, and have a healthy snack or side dish for dinner.

Make sure your healthy food choices are passed on to your kids. They won’t like everything you like, but you will find there are some things you can all agree upon.

Then make time for family activities. You can take a family walk after dinner, go to the park or just play tag. It doesn’t much matter what you do; just get the kids out of the house and playing.

It’s not always going to be easy to push your child to eat healthy. There are many pressures out there, and you are only one person. However, the younger you can build healthy eating and exercising habits, the easier it will be for them to maintain those habits. Also talk to your kids about why they should eat right and exercise… at an appropriate level, of course.