WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

"If beef is your idea of 'real food for real people', you'd better live real close to a real good hospital." 

                      

 --Dr. Neal D. Barnard, M.D., President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (www.pcrm.org)

Teaching kids to eat better is one of the core competencies of Growing Healthy Kids, Inc., a charitable organization based in Vero Beach, FL.  The goal of Growing Healthy Kids is to teach kids, educate parents and empower communities to prevent obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and certain cancers.   About 1 in 6 (17%) children in the United States has obesity and more than one-third of American adults (36.5%) have obesity.  Obesity is serious and costly.  When kids are overweight and obese, they are more likely to be obese as adults. 

Sweet potato fries are easy to make and kids love them.

September is designated as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.  Consider how to best protect the health – and lives – of  your children. As a parent, knowing the consequences of childhood obesity can help you can make better choices for your family.  Here is what you need to know:

• Children with obesity are at higher risk for having other chronic health conditions and diseases, such as asthma, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, and type 2 diabetes. They also have more risk factors for heart disease like high blood pressure and high cholesterol than their normal weight peers.
• Children with obesity can be bullied and teased more than their normal weight peers. They are also more likely to suffer from social isolation, depression, and lower self-esteem.
• Children with obesity are more likely to have obesity as adults. This can lead to lifelong physical and mental health problems. Adult obesity is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and many types of cancers.
• Children who are obese as teens are likely to live 17-20 less years than children who are at a healthy weight.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many factors can have an impact on childhood obesity, including what kids eat, physical activity behaviors, genetics, metabolism, family and home environment, and community and social factors. For some children and families, obesity may be influenced by the following:

·         too much time spent being inactive

·         lack of sleep

·         lack of places to go in the community to get physical activity

·         easy access to inexpensive, high calorie foods and sugary beverages

·         lack of access to affordable, healthier foods

Nuts and dried fruits, in moderation, make healthy snacks.

Many people tell me they can’t afford to feed their kids healthy foods so they keep buying cheap, highly processed foods, sodas, and fast foods filled with the bad carbs, added sugars and salt.  

The fact is there are many things you can do to help your children maintain -  and get to - a healthy weight.  Here are a few ideas:

• Make water and nut milks the primary drinks at your house.  Limit fruit juice (no dietary fiber, all sugar).  When babies stop nursing, they don’t need cow’s milk.  Milk from cows is for baby cows, not human babies.
• Provide fruits, vegetables, and nuts for healthy snacks.
• If you have a local farmers markets, take your kids shopping there.  Talk with local farmers.  Buy cool vegetables like acorn squash, jicama, and sweet potatoes and learn how to cook them. 
• Plan meals that are mainly fruits, vegetables, legumes (like beans and lentils), and whole grains. A whole-food plant-based way of eating is good for you AND good for the planet.  
• Reduce consumption of animal products, which contain saturated fats (the “bad” fats), especially fried, smoked, and aged foods.  There is plenty of protein in plant foods. 
• If your child’s school does not provide physical education every day, start a conversation with the principal to change it.  Make sure your kids are active for at least an hour every day.  When I was growing up, we played outside until it was dark and our parents had to drag us inside.  Play should be fun.  Playing on a computer is not the same as playing outside.
• Limit screen time to no more than 1 hour a day for kids ages 2-5.  Limit screen time for kids older than age 5. 
• Most importantly, be a great role model for your kids.  Kids look up to us, especially when they think we’re not looking.  If you’ve always got your hand in a bag of potato chips, kids think it is fine for them to do the same.

Please pass the jicama*.

With love and gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

*Jicama is a crunchy tuber that tastes like an apple.  It is great for people with diabetes and prediabetes.  For a delicious snack, use it as a dip for hummus.