16 Tips for Healthier Kids
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by: healthdoc
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Our children and grandchildren are precious to us and are priceless. Their lives have just begun, and the future is bright. Health is their most valuable asset--especially with so much more life to live. Patterns developed at a young age can be carried forward to a longer future. Positive or negative behaviors have many years to compound their benefits, or health-destroying effects.
Children's Risk Factors for Disease
Today, almost nine million American children age six years and above are obese. Because of the decrease in physical activity and the replacement of nutritious food with junk food, our children are developing risk factors for many adult diseases by their late teens and early twenties. Namely diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, and even cancer.
6 Tips to Help Your Children Get More Physical Activity
Here are some specific tips to help kids be more active:
1. Be a role model for your children. If they see you are physically active and having fun, they are more likely to be active and stay active throughout their lives.
2. Involve the whole family in activities like hiking, biking, dancing, basketball, or roller skating.
3. Focus on fun. You can do a lot of walking during trips to the zoo, park, or miniature-golf course.
4. Include children in household activities like dog-walking, car-washing, or lawn-mowing.
5. Limit your children's TV and computer time. Offer them active options, like joining a local recreation center or after-school program, or taking lessons in a sport they enjoy. A great new concept along these lines is "Exergaming," exercise for kids involving active video games.
6. Encourage your child to be physically active every day and participate with them.
10 Ways to Help Your Children Eat Better Foods
1. Offer your child a wide variety of foods, such as grains, vegetables and fruits, low-fat dairy products, and lean meat or beans.
2. Give your child a snack or two in addition to his or her three daily meals. Serve snacks like dried fruit, low-fat yogurt, and air-popped popcorn. Another healthy snack I recommend for kids is called Juice Plus+ Gummies(R), which contain the whole food-based nutrition of 15 different fruit and vegetable juice powders and sweeteners from all-natural sources.
3. Let your child decide whether and how much to eat. Keep serving new foods even if your child does not eat them at first.
4. Cook with less fat--bake, roast, or poach foods instead of frying.
5. Limit the amount of added sugar in your child's diet. Choose cereals with low or no added sugar. Serve water, low-fat milk, and 100% fruit juices more often than sugar-sweetened sodas and fruit-flavored drinks.
6. Choose and prepare foods with less salt. Keep the salt shaker off the table. Have fruits and vegetables on hand for snacks instead of salty snack foods.
7. Involve your child in planning and preparing meals. Children may be more willing to eat the dishes they help prepare.
8. Have family meals together and serve everyone the same thing.
9. Do not be too strict. In small amounts, sweets or food from fast-food restaurants can still have a place in a healthy diet.
10. Make sure your child eats breakfast. Breakfast provides children with the energy they need to listen and learn in school. Cereal with milk is a great combination for complete protein and a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and other valuable nutrients.
(Adapted from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease info.)
In my practice I've developed a system to rate foods based on nutrient density. A computer analysis of 26 key nutrients is done on every food. The more positive nutrients (like vitamins and minerals) and the least negative nutrients (like cholesterol, fat, sugar) PER CALORIE, the better the score.
For kids, I call the highest-rated foods "NutriHeroes," and the lowest rated foods "NutriZeroes." The kids love this fun way to look at foods. Here are the top 18 NutriHeroes and the worst NutriZeroes:
NutriHeroes :-)
Spinach
Broccoli
Romaine Lettuce
Cantaloupe
Guava
Papaya
Wheat Bran
Wheat Germ
Whole Wheat Bread
Bean Sprouts
Green Peas
Minestrone Soup
Skim Milk
Nonfat Yogurt
Egg Whites
Tuna
Salmon
Halibut
NutriZeroes :-(
Dill Pickles
Potato Chips
Deep Fried Vegetables
Jelly
Cherry Pie
Jello (w/sugar)
Cupcake w/frosting
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brownie w/frosting
Peanut Butter Cup
Peanut Brittle
Chocolate-covered Nuts
Scrambled/Fried Eggs
Heavy Cream
Cheese Quiche
Pepperoni
Pork Hot Dog
Pork Bologna
Making it fun for kids is always important. Then be a good role model for them--you can make all the difference!
About the Author
Dr. Roy Vartabedian is a specialist in disease prevention/health promotion and holds a Doctor of Public Health degree. His New York Times Best-Seller, Nutripoints, has been used in 13 countries in 10 languages worldwide. Check out his nutritional Placemat/Chart for Kids.
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