Ban bad habits early
In the U.S. alone, one in three children is overweight and 15% are classified as obese, according to the American Obesity Association. So what can you do to stop your children becoming another statistic?
Portion size
If you think that portions of food are bigger than they used to be, you are absolutely right! Dinner plates are about 2 inches bigger in diameter than they were 20 years ago. Research has shown that a predictor of how much food a child eats is how much is on the plate, so make sure the portion sizes are child-appropriate. Encourage your children to take small bites, and chew the food until it’s mushy enough to swallow. Even better, allow children to serve themselves and teach them to put single-portion sizes on the plate. This practice is an important part of raising a healthy eater.
Car journeys
Keeping your children occupied during a long car trip very often involves giving them snacks and drinks for the journey. Food isn’t the only side-tracker! Using food to keep children occupied will only encourage them to eat when not hungry. How about popping in a children’s CD for a sing along, or a playing a game like “spot the mail box or the red car”.
If they have to eat and drink something because it’s nearly lunch time, keep it simple with carrot sticks, dried apricots, wholemeal bread sticks, apple wedges, raisins, unsweetened apple juice and water.
Eating out
Just because you eat out, doesn’t mean the children should eat the same as the parents. Select “children’s options” which are more often on the menu these days, and think about sharing with your children!
Children drinking a sugar soda is now seen as standard, and while one soda would be a real treat, two would mean 400 calories. There are 200 calories in12 fluid ounces of cola and about 12 spoonfuls of sugar!
Eating all the wrong foods at celebrations such as birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, fairgrounds and other family outings.
These events usually involve an excessive amount of sweets, ice-cream, chocolate and cola, but do children really need to eat more than one “treat” on these outings?
Start out by making them aware that they can only have one special treat to eat while out. No arguments! For Easter, they only need one chocolate egg which they should eat a small piece of over the four-day period. At Halloween, collect the sweets, but share them out over the coming weeks with others who visit the home. Limit the time children are out collecting, and try to make Halloween more about carving a pumpkin than candy collections.
Limit ice cream to real dairy ice cream. No vegetable fat is allowed in dairy ice cream. But most ice creams are not called that.
Eating in front of the TV
Many children now eat in front of the TV. They fail to notice what they are eating and exactly how much, and they are less likely to respond to their own body’s signal for hunger. Also, it has been shown that children who eat dinner at the table with their parents will eat a healthier meal, and consume less saturated fat. Family meal times may be the only time to get together. Cherish the time!
Snacking on foods with high GI
GI foods were first talked about in the Hidden Nasties article, but what is the glycemic index (GI)? It is simply a measure of how high blood sugar levels rise after consuming carbohydrates from various food sources.
So how does it work? In simple terms, it’s not really about ‘calories’, its more about GI numbering. The GI runs from 0 – 100 and the higher the number, the faster the rise in blood sugar. Foods with a low GI value will slowly release sugar into the blood and provide you with a steady supply of energy and give you the feeling of fullness for longer – making you less likely to continuously snack.
Snacking is sometimes essential if your child is really peckish, so instead of giving your child high GI foods like bagels (72), rice cakes (82) or rice krispies (82), be smart and try to combine low-GI foods.
Snack foods can be a tricky situation though, and there is nothing wrong with snacking per se, provided you only buy healthy snacks.
Physical activity
Children should be physically active every day. At least one hour a day is acceptable. If your child is not walking, bicycling, dancing, playing football, basketball, games, swimming or similar for at least an hour a day, be concerned that he or she is not getting enough physical activity. Watching TV and playing on the computer for a short period each day is okay, but try to ensure your child gets active for around an hour each day as well.