Healthwisery

When I was growing up, there was a kind of stigma to bringing a lunch to school. Most kids bought lunch, and there were many times I looked at the food they were eating…fried chicken, French fries and usually a dessert. It didn’t compare well to the bologna sandwich and apple in my lunch bag.

In elementary school it wasn’t quite as bad; my grandmother lived across the street and we often ate lunch there. The only problem came up when she wanted fried liver for lunch. That is one of the few foods I cannot tolerate.

However, the question is, which is better? In some school systems, a move is being made towards healthy lunches, though not all districts, nor even most districts are doing so. One reason is cost. Low fat products such as ninety-three percent fat free beef are not cheap. Lesser cuts, particularly hamburger are much more cost efficient. More meals for less money.

There is a second reason, and it’s one you may run into when deciding to pack a healthy lunch for your child. Kids don’t really want to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. When the healthy foods the schools buy at premium price are dumped in the trash, the schools get the picture.

Packing a lunch can be just as unhealthy, if the wrong foods are put in the bag. Potato chips and snack cakes are not necessarily going to help you in the fight against childhood obesity, even if it is what your child prefers. What’s the solution? Continue reading ‘To Buy Or to Bring – School Lunches?’ »

We all lead by example. Therefore, the best thing you can do to ensure that your child leads a healthy lifestyle it to have one yourself.

If you are fat and out of shape and lead a sedentary lifestyle the chances are very good that your children will follow suit. Obesity is becoming a major problem in the US and in many parts of the world. This is a problem that trickles down from adults. Children see their parent’s bad habits all day long and they eventually adopt similarities.

My daughter, who is now in her twenties, reads labels. Anything with high fructose corn syrup or vegetable oils she will avoid. I never consciously taught her to do this but she saw me do it and now she does it. I also always exercised and took care of my body and guess what? So does she. I never enforced the idea on her in anyway. I just lead by example and it worked.

Educated parents, who are fit and healthy themselves, are always the best teachers. Remember children don’t always listen to what you say, but they follow what you do. Continue reading ‘Get Healthy and Fit and So Will Your Children’ »

There are times when you really have to take a step back and ask what is going on here? We all want our children to grow up to be happy and healthy. So why do we do things that not only do not help them with this goal but may make it harder for them?

On the weekend my daughter brought in something she found in her cupboard. It was from a party she went to around November of last year. It was a bright orange sweet which looked a bit like a snowman in three layers with faces and decoration. Pretty as a picture.

The reverse side was not so pretty. The ingredient panel showed it to be sugar, glucose syrup and six “numbers”. These are artificial additives coloring and preservatives. Included in this were two coloring agents that are banned in the UK but not Australia. The use by date was May 2011!

This is basically chemically colored sugar in suspended animation. There is not only no goodness in it but chemicals that the livers of these young bodies will have to work to remove.

Now you are right in thinking that there is no use putting a stick of celery or carrot in a party bag for children. It is a treat and does not happen that often. However there are two issues to think about. Continue reading ‘Treats For Children – Think About What You Are Giving Your Child As a Treat’ »

My 11 year old son, John, since he was tiny has followed in the footsteps of his dad and adored TV and his games consoles, he has an Xbox, a DS and a PlayStation – he was a gripped by technology. This was OK. At first I didn’t mind his passion for gaming and TV and we do live in an age where this technology is prevalent but it did start to become everything that was important in his life – he didn’t want to do anything other than sit and game. I love my son and I thought that allowing him to have his own way, letting him do exactly, everything he wanted was showing him how much I love him. How wrong can one be…

Recently I really started to regret giving into John and letting him have the consoles in the first instance and then letting play so much on them when he got them – I always remember hearing Sharon Osbourne’s kids saying “Why didn’t you ever say NO to us? Why did you let us have and do everything we want?” Those kids were questioning their parent’s methods of discipline; to me this says it all. I had realised that I had done much the same as Sharon Osbourne (but on a budget). Kids need discipline and routine and I had been an irresponsible parent and let John have and do what he wanted. In the last year he hasn’t wanted to do much other than play with this technology. But it wasn’t his fault – we learn from our parents don’t we. It was definitely all my doing.

For me guilt didn’t help, I felt guilty for having to go to work and for not being there to drop him off to school and pick him up. I think a lot of mums experience these emotions. And do you know I think my son knew it, he isn’t a vindictive or nasty child but like all children he would play on my emotions and try to use this to his advantage especially when it came to getting his way and doing what he wanted to do.

As a result of technology – consoles, internet and TV and with me letting him become this way he was obsessed, gripped, by gadgets and he had become 3 stone overweight. I was so devastated, how could I let this happen. I was messing up my son’s future and health by giving in to his wants. At first I didn’t know how to put it right but I realised that I had to discover a way.

I tried everything and with some tough love things did start to get a little better but the entire house was miserable for weeks. John kept to my new house rules and we would spend more time together doing school work and what a chore he made it – he had a long face and constantly moaned. He did also only spend an hour a day on the consoles and did watch less TV. Instead we got out board games but all I ever heard was “I am fed up”. I felt like I was trying to wean him off a drug. We would go swimming once a week and walks at a weekend which we enjoyed but that really wasn’t enough exercise and it was still apparent that when we were at home we were doing way too much sitting down. I realised that I wasn’t getting it quite right. How could I stimulate and inspire him? How could I motivate & encourage him and reawaken his enthusiasm for other activities? How could I get him moving around at home instead of slouching around the house?

I got onto the internet and I searched long and hard. I puzzled over it for hours, the PC screen began to blur and my eyes ached. I really started to detest technology; it made me feel lethargic and drained. I began to reminisce about my little boy that loved digging in the garden, playing with his cars. Zooming in and out the house he was full of life and energy, his eagerness was such a contrast to now. I walked over to the games console and picked up the wireless control – what could I get that was similar to this that didn’t mean he was sat in front of a screen, what could I get that would get him of his chair and get him jumping around full of life? Then it dawned on me… Continue reading ‘Fat & Obsessed With Technology – How Could I Find a Way to Get My Child’s Weight in Check?’ »

The fact is youth and obesity is a combination that is likely to create an obese, unhealthy adult. Obesity among youth usually develops self esteem and other personality issues.

If you are like most parents you try not to create to big of an issue about it for fear of hurting the feelings of your child when you start to talk about a child diet plan. It is advisable that weight loss plans for teens and youth are talked about to ensure that they accept the fact that a change is needed for their health and well being. It is a good for idea for the whole family to be involved in a weight loss plan for teens to show that the youth is not in this by themselves and it would also provide a perfect venue for family activities.

The following explains a weight loss plan for teens and youth that they whole family can enjoy and experience:

WEEKLY EXERCISES

Schedule weekly activities with your kids to promote physical fitness. Some fun activities to try are hiking, biking, wall climbing, a ball game, tennis or swimming. These will be good for your child or teen and great for your health too!

EAT HEALTHY

To help with youth obesity now is the time to set an example and to encourage your children to make healthier food choices. It is much more tempting to feed your child food that you know they will eat like from a fast food joint than to plan and prepare a healthy meal which includes vegetables. A good way to help your child to eat properly is to get them to help prepare the meal. Learn to be creative when preparing vegetables. Discuss the importance of eating more fruits and vegetables when you are together preparing the family meal. Explain the importance of eating healthy, which also promotes better skin and provides them with more energy. Instead of letting them eat from the selection of unhealthy foods at the school cafeteria make sure you pack them a good nutritious lunch. Continue reading ‘Parents Guide on Youth Obesity’ »

The trend that is being observed is that one child in three is now either overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. This ballooning of obesity in children has been alarmingly growing because with the many cutbacks in physical education and recess at American schools, and children not getting the nutritional guidance, the physical exercise that they desperately need is not being available to kids in schools where they spend most of their day time.

Obesity in children is of great concern as where wills this trend place U.S. health care in the years to come. There are very great chances that overweight adolescents are extremely likely to be obese adults. And this will result in numerous chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and several cancers and to the U. S government this will be a loss in cost of hundreds of billions in medical expenses and lost productivity.
Precautions that need to be take care to avoid this growing national health hazard, for influencing and taking necessary precautionary steps for taking care of health and weight of today’s youth. Continue reading ‘Health Fitness Articles – Obesity in Children on Rise’ »

Teaching kids about health and healthy living involves two key components. The first component is to teach kids about healthy lifestyles. The second component is to model a healthy lifestyle in your own choices and behaviors.

The Fun Way To Eating Healthy

It’s common knowledge that childhood obesity rates are among the highest they’ve ever been. That means that you, as the parent or caregiver, need to provide healthy food choices for your children to select from. You can teach kids to make wise choices at home and when they eat out at restaurants, including fast food places. Emphasize that protein is an essential part of a healthy diet and that poultry, meat, and fish all contain high levels of protein. Teach them that protein works similar to the way fuel works in a train or other vehicle-their bodies need it in order to function properly and keep them going.

Teach kids about healthy choices for side dishes, as well. Carbohydrates are another important part of a child’s diet, but there are both good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates, so they should be taught which are the best carb choices when making their selections. Fruits and vegetables are the best sources. Pasta, rice, and potatoes are good choices, too, but whole grains are the best. A proper serving size for these items is approximately cup. You will need to show children how much that actually is, and the best way to do that is to demonstrate it by serving portions of that size.

Please not that some fats should be included in our diet. Do not get rid of them as a whole. I am not a big fan of sugars, but some sugar is ok just don’t let your children over indulge.

Exercise And Health

In past decades, kids used to play outside until the moon appeared. These days are quite different. More and more parents are looking at the safety concerns when leaving children outside with no supervision. Work days are even more hectic which means that any kids activities need to be scheduled in order for our kids to play. Continue reading ‘Kids and Health – We Have to Teach Them’ »

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The idea of obesity as an epidemic blows my mind. Each year the numbers just keep on rising. And unfortunately it leaves the smaller fit population to lead an example to the kids.

Kids are going to be the only ones to turn around what most Americans have done to our health. And guess who is going to teach them? Well considering that many of the children that have weight issues are most likely picking bad diet and exercise habits up from poorly nutritional and physical parents its up to us.

In fact, 1 in 5 kids today are considered overweight or c. And research shows that the number one factor is parental influence. It’s true that fat parents tend to raise fat kids, unfortunately.

The trick for kids is to learn at a young age. It is so hard for anyone to reverse the teachings and thoughts that have been taught for so long. For example, when I gained weight in college I had to teach myself how to be healthy since I had not had anyone previously to teach me. Continue reading ‘Learning to Weight Train at a Young Age’ »

Some things just flat make sense. One of those is that if you want your young ones to lead a healthy life style, you introduce that lifestyle to them early. A great way to do that is take the young ones with you when you go biking or jogging. That’s where InSTEP and several other companies fit into the picture. They manufacture and distribute the bicycle trailers and jogger strollers that allow you to do that.

The trailers are a stroller on bicycle wheels that hold one or two children and connects via a safety hitch to your bicycle. The strollers are much the same with the exception it has a third wheel where the bicycle hitch would be. With the trailer, you pull it as you ride your bicycle. With the stroller, you push as you jog. Most manufacturers now have conversion kits that allow you to take the same carrier and convert it from a trailer to a jogger or vice versa.

There are several manufacturers offering Bicycle Trailers and Jogger Strollers in today’s health conscious international market place. This article will focus on InSTEP and its sister company Schwinn, both owned by Pacific Cycle Inc. InSTEP, particularly, has been one of the leaders in this market for years. It is common for InSTEP and Schwinn to co-market their products, being under the same ownership. They currently offer: Continue reading ‘InSTEP Bicycle Trailer – Just Makes Sense to Introduce Your Children to a Healthy Life Style Young’ »

The adage about our children being our future remains true today. So that being the case what are we doing about the health of our children? Statistics show that 25% of Australian children are overweight or obese. Figures from the USA are comparable and many European countries like Greece Portugal and Spain are in the same boat.

The figures from Greece are the most interesting as they reveal one of the key reasons we have this problem. Between 1982 and 2002 there had been a trebling in the number of overweight Greek 12 year old children. During this time there had been a move away from the “traditional” Mediterranean diet and an embracing of processed high sugar foods. The traditional diet was based on vegetables fruit, unrefined grains olive oil for cooking with a bit of fish nuts poultry and eggs thrown in. There was not a lot of red meat consumed and virtually no refined sugars. This diet provides lots of nutrition and is not calorie dense.

Contrast this with a diet of hamburgers, soft drinks, biscuits and other processed foods, which make up, a “typical” western diet. This is the exact opposite – calorie dense with not much nutrition. If you then add into the mix that many children are not physically active, spending hours in front of screens, we can see why children like adults are getting heavier.

There is much hand wringing going on about childhood obesity. There is no shortage of opinions on how to “manage the crisis”. As is usually the case, calls are made to ban advertising of “junk foods” and for government to provide “funding” for various programs. Of course this funding goes mainly to program providers, often the same people who are arguing for funding for such programs. Continue reading ‘Childhood Obesity – Teach Children to Cook Real Food to Reduce Childhood Obesity’ »