Are You Setting a Healthy Example for Your Kids?
January 22, 2012, By Ed Scow 0 comments
There are two things I know about raising kids. First, they are masters of mimicking, and they look up to their parents as their heroes and want to be like us.
The second thing I know is they get smelly. Little kids, big kids, babies, all get smelly.
Speaking in terms of fitness and nutrition, one of the times your body produces fat cells is during puberty, which can lead to difficulties if good lifestyle habits aren't ingrained from a young age.
As parents we have the biggest influences on our kids and their health, or lack thereof. It's not the school system's job, and it really isn't our kids' job to instill those habits.
Our kids look up to us as their heroes in every aspect of their lives—whether it's study habits, placing importance on things like reading, sports or music, or whatever WE like as parents...our kids largely fit into molds of what excites us.
Do you see where I'm going with this? We need to be the best role models we can possibly be for our kids in terms of nutrition to keep them on the path of healthy eating as they grow and age. Notice I said "keep" rather than "get" and I used that word because we all start life loving and craving real foods, and it's only as we age and are allowed to taste the sweetness of manufactured foods, foods that are designed to make our brains go wonky and crave more, that we drift off the path.
So how can we live up to being a food role model for our mushy-brained kids?
Three Simple Solutions
First, it's very important to tell them WHY eating nutritious food like fresh fruits and veggies is important, while also spending a little time on why certain foods/drinks like kids' juices, soda pop and other treats should be limited.
Kids love learning new stuff, especially when it benefits them, and that doesn't change as we age. Tell me how something benefits me and I'll listen; tell me something about how it's important for my cell structure and I'll probably tune you out and start thinking of a "Seinfeld" re-run.
Tell your child that by eating healthy snacks and meals they'll have more energy to do the things they love, and then as they age, you should adapt those messages to their specific activities.
For instance, make sure they know that eating apples (with the skin!) will give them energy to be a better soccer player, and the energy from the apple is better than a piece of candy or processed food because the energy will last longer and won't make them cranky. If they enjoy reading, tell them carrots will make their eyes stronger, while drinking a sugary juice devoid of any real nutrition will make them tired, which will force them to stop reading sooner.
Catch my drift?
Also, spend more time focusing on the positives of the good food rather than on the negatives of the bad stuff. We live for the good and want our kids to be positive and think positive rather than turning into Debbie Downer.
NEXT: TIp Two
