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| Parenting |
 Never to Young for HealthBy Debi Stagg The word is out. The message is clear. As a society, we are getting fatter. Our lifestyles are getting more sedentary because of TV, computers, and video games. Our bodies are getting weaker and more susceptible to disease because of fast food and additives. It’s a grim outlook that we have all heard. Television, magazines, and doctors are constantly telling the public about the problem. All we have to do is walk down the street and we see the problem en mass. It’s a visual disease that can’t be missed. So, like any disease, we fight it. Health clubs are on every corner, dietary supplements are flooding the market, vegetarian cooking classes are booked solid. People want to be healthy. Great! I want to be healthy, too. I want to be able to run and keep up with my kids, instead of wheezing and yelling for them to slow down. I want to eat food that makes me feel like Superman, instead of like super glue. I want to avoid any disease that is bred from fat and lack exercise. Everybody wants this. That is, all adults want this, and probably most teenagers, too. However, younger children don’t seem to understand what it is all about. Has anybody explained it to them? And why not? We press upon them how important reading is at a young age. We teach them the rules of crossing the road safely. We are no longer shy about speaking openly and positively about their private parts. These are all things that they need to learn to grow into confident, strong people. But somehow the rules on how to take care of our bodies are put off until they are older; something they will probably have to figure out for themselves like we did. An active, healthy lifestyle is not something that can be assumed a young child has, especially with all the bad examples that are around. Being parents makes us responsible for every aspect of our children’s lives, and this is just one more very important thing to teach them. They learn from us, so you think, “They see me eating well and exercising. They know it is important.” But think about it: how many times have you gone to the gym, and left the kids in daycare without explaining to them what you were going to do? How often have you gone for a family dinner, and opted for ‘salad, no dressing,’ while you let the kids scarf down french fries covered in gravy? When was the last time you stuck the kids in front of the TV so you could get half an hour on the treadmill? They learn that being healthy is for adults, not for kids. How do you go about teaching your youngsters about healthy choices? By explaining to them the difference between healthy and unhealthy, the same as you would explain anything else. Saying, “Eat your vegetables, they are good for you,” doesn’t mean much to a six-year-old. She/he probably thinks, “Yuck. Now I have to eat some gross food my Mom likes. I’d rather have french fries.” But explaining, for example, “Pasta is a carbohydrate. It gives us energy to run harder when we play soccer,” gives your child something to think about when they can’t catch the opposing team. Giving examples that your children can relate to helps them understand the importance of different food choices. Don’t worry about using words like ‘carbohydrates’ and ‘protein;’ only adults think kids can’t handle them. Use opportune times to teach, like when your daughter goes bike riding: “We drink water to keep us hydrated. If we don’t stay hydrated when we play hard, we get tired faster and our head gets fuzzy. Pop doesn’t hydrate us as well.” Exercising is the same. Explaining that exercise keeps our heart strong and our bodies fit lays the groundwork for an active life. Of course, like anything we teach our kids, leading by example is always the best way. However, we should take the time to include our young children in our quest to be healthy and active. Take long walks together, go biking, play basketball at the park. You can even give them a set of light weights to ‘pump iron’ along side you (please be careful!). Take your kids grocery shopping and discuss how to choose healthy food. Get them to help you cook and relate what is on their plate to the Canadian Food Guide. It’s not hard, but it is important. Get the whole family active. Written by Debi Stagg, stay-at-home mom, mother to Donovan & Kyle, loving wife to Terry, dear sister to four other siblings & friend to all. Debi may be reached by email at staggcan@telusplanet.net |