New York Parents Club Founder, Pam Wolf
Greetings New York Parents Club!
I have some news… you are being watched.
Yes, watched…closely and intently.
By your children, that is.
Our children are always watching…looking up to us for guidance and example.
So this week, let’s examine the example we are setting in our homes where healthful eating and exercise are concerned.
Many of you have set personal New Year’s resolutions, vowing to make changes to your diets. Maybe you are working on eating less… passing on salt or sugar…or actually using the gym membership you’ve been paying for each month for years.
What about the health of our children? We live in a world of partially hydrogenated oils, corn syrup solids and candy bars calling from the newsstand entrances of nearly every subway line.
Now remember…they are always watching.
If I’m having Poppycock and egg nog at 9:00 pm (which I don’t recall ever doing, but you get the picture), no matter what holiday or special occasion I am using to justify the indulgence, my four children will be happily partaking; hungry or not.
Likewise, suppose I am skipping dinner each evening in attempt to shed a few pounds. My children could be watching me create anxiety around food….and anxiety in children translates to fear.
So, is it truly “everything in moderation?”
Or more accurately…”everything in moderation except for the list of no-no foods tacked to the refrigerator door fresh from the pages of Skinny Bitch?”
In my home, when one family member is cutting back a little for health reasons, we all trade our ice cream for fresh fruit come dessert time.
Your turn!
What are you doing for yourself, your children and your family to encourage healthy eating and exercise in your household?
What works?
What are some tips for cultivating a healthy lifestyle without emanating food-related anxiety that could drive our children into over-indulgence or restriction?
LET IT OUT,
Pam Wolf
Tags: childhood obesity, children's fitness, healthy diets for kids, Skinny Bitch
This is a battle we are still waging in our house!! I have an energetic 6 year old boy, Nicholas, who has enough energy for our entire family and more and can eat like there’s no tomorrow but yet doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him. We are always teasing him that he has no butt b/c he can’t keep his pants up he’s so skinny (he has his dad’s frame). Nicholas is hungry from the time his feet touch the ground in the morning until the time his head hits the pillow in the evening. My daughter on the other hand was lucky enough to inherit my body type (sorry Maddie!) so she is not as lucky as my son. Maddie is active and loves to play sports… but the food does not disappear as easily on her as if does my son. This makes it very hard in my house because my son always wants snacks..and so therefore my daughter does too (despite the fact that she probably wasn’t hungry until he asked for something to eat). I’ll let them have a “fun..ie: junk” snack after school, but if they are hungry again then it’s a healthy snack (apple, cheese stick or yogurt) If they don’t want it, then their not really hungry. I try to talk about eating to make our bodies healthy and strong and so that our clothes feel comfortable on us. As someone (myself) who has struggled with weight my entire life and overcame an eating disorder after 12years of struggling with it I am always very cautious on what I say to my kids so that I don’t attack their body image. Sometimes i just want to scream “stop eating that or you are going to get FAT”..but I keep the thoughts inside and say, “remember, what good is that for our body”. Everyday this is a battle in our house and I try to always set a good example for them. Time will only tell how well I’ve done.
I am cooking more than ever. Also making it a point to eat as many meals as possible with my son and taking him on weekly lunch dates after school. Barbara Kingsolver’s book ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE got me really thinking about how much (or how little) we know about where our food comes from — particularly on an island like Manhattan where almost nothing grows yet almost everything is available to us. When we are both feeling patient enough, I am taking my son shopping with me and letting him play more of a role in actually buying and even helping to cook the food we eat. Granted, I am definitely a bit of a crunchy hippy mom type when it comes to the foods we eat, and my big struggle is with striking a balance between offering him healthy choices while not getting too rigid about the times when he just needs or wants to be a kid and eat cookies, goldfish, all “white food,” etc. I want him to make healthy food choices for himself, not by making foods “forbidden” but it is honestly so hard for me to relax about it much of the time. I often joke that he will be the kid in college who drinks Mountain Dew and eats Dorritos all the time because he never had them growing up. Ah well, at least I won’t have to WATCH him do it…
I believe we are what we eat, and our attitudes towards what we eat reflects our attitude towards our sense of living.
We all can understand that nutrition is our lifeline and it will have a direct effect on our energy levels our muscle strength our brain function, development ( emotions) etc. This will certainly shape our capacity to enjoy our day to the fullest.
So I relied on a professional to explain the obvious: She started by revealing that our society has been sold many products which we know are not healthy, everything from alcohol,tobacco to processed sugar , animal fat . All these ingredients create a certain physical dependance which in turn create a certain addiction to these products and create a certain lifestyle. And if we consider that they are made readily available and cost effective in our societies …well we all bought into it( for a while). We know what we need to do . We need to discipline ourselves and communicate with our children. Explain to them what these products do in our bodies and the effects they have on us. Most children want to be healthy ,strong,smart etc. They want to be happy they just don’t know how. They need our guidance.
Explain what an indulgence is and keep healthy ones around. Keep healthy foods in the fridge. Don’t keep processed sweets in the house….. just because they have sold us the idea that this is the only meaning of what a treat is doesn’t make it true. Keep good fruits around instead , make them the treat. Make reduced sugar/fat recipes.
Exercise. Turn off the TV and go for walks, go to the park keep them physically entertained. It will help the entire family. It will keep the family busy and make you enjoy that precious time together. We all can do it! We just have to really try and keep a good attitude.( Which with a good nutrition is easier to keep .)Lets just make every day count.
Things can happen in life , but most likely our family habits survive our growing old. I remind my kids everyday that we have to take care of our bodies. That means eating healthy staying hydrated, exercising and looking both ways when we cross the street. I hope they are paying attention.
Thanks for posting, lots of useful information. What you wrote is great advice any way that you look at it.
can you post more often on health? your posts are golden
Obesity is a problem of energy balance, wherein adipose tissue stores accumulate to excess levels when expenditure does not keep up with intake. At present, approximately 65% of american adults are either overweight (=25 kg/m2) or obese (=30 kg/m2), and approximately 15% of american children are similarly categorized (by age-adjusted percentiles of weight for height). This situation reflects the high-energy efficiency of american life, where little physical effort is needed for work and recreation, and where the national diet is abundant in low-cost, energy-dense food. Popular approaches to weight control have been generally unsuccessful, despite constant publicity about the problem and considerable individual efforts at weight loss. The health consequences of obesity (e. , diabetes, cancer, heart disease) are predicted to grow worse. Type 2 diabetes rates are rising in adults and children, and a substantial increase in morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease is expected. Furthermore, obesity has been linked to the development of several types of cancer. Ultimately, resolution of the obesity epidemic at the population level will depend on individual behavioral change that takes place within the larger societal environment. Such changes may be facilitated through better medical therapies. However, technologies and tools to more easily monitor behavior and achieve treatment goals are also needed.
Very interesting. I love the way you write. Do you provide an RSS feed?
I’ve bookmarked this because I found it funny. I would be extremely keen to hear more information on this. Cheers!
Hey…thanks for that. Great post. I’ll be checking back shortly for more updates. Thanks!
Thanks for posting, lots of useful information. What you wrote is great advice any way that you look at it.
I like blogs like this one, I am sure you put an effort on it to keep it up. Nice post, grazie mille .
I feel like I’m often looking for interesting things to read about a variety of subjects, but I manage to include your site among my reads every day because you have interesting entries that I look forward to. Here’s hoping there’s a lot more amazing material coming!
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