Parents are responsible for what their young children eat most of the time. Breakfast, dinner, sack lunches, snacks, vacations...like it or not, we are in charge.
I found a great website that informs and educates on nutrition and general health. (Full disclosure: my sister is a contributor. But it's still great). www.donediet.org. Check it out.
Here's this week's column.
Poor Nutrition is Scary Stuff, Even for Kids
Ella, my second-grader, has been learning about nutrition at school. She likes to make her own meals so we’ve been reading ingredients and nutrition facts on food labels. Anything high in sugar and fat, we’ve concluded, should generally be avoided.
Last week over breakfast, Sophia, my 4-year-old, said, “Some people eat sugar all the time for all their meals.”
“Do you know what happens to them?” I asked.
Ella responded, “They die.”
It’s no mystery that if one maintains unhealthy dietary habits, they will most likely die sooner than someone who makes healthier choices. We often use fear as a tactic to dissuade our children from trying drugs. But is it alarmist to compare cocaine and Coke, meth with M&M’s?
Food is a unique beast. We need it on a regular basis to sustain us, and our choices are endless. The variety of options in our prosperous nation leaves the uneducated and the unmotivated at a disadvantage.
According to the CDC, obesity in kids ages 6-11 in 2008 was nearly 20 percent, up from 6.5 percent from 1980. For adolescents (12-19 years old) it increased from 5 to 18 percent. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70 percent of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Something must be done.
Since the best way to cure a disease is to prevent it, education is key. Part of that is understanding what happens to your body if you choose to eat junk food and watch TV all day.
Obesity greatly increases the risk of developing type II diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and some forms of cancer. Add to that a high rate of depression, lethargy and joint pains and suddenly preventing this condition warrants more than suggestions.
According to the website www.donediet.org, the most important things our kids can do are: never skip breakfast, limit sodas and juices and partake in regular physical activity. Its advice on junk food? As little as possible.
A little junk food every now and then won’t kill us, and it probably won’t upend our metabolism. But consistent overeating and inactivity can have gradual but serious health effects that often are ignored. It’s an addiction like any other. Addictions by definition are difficult to conquer.
The fear of obesity should be real for children. They need to know their choices now will impact their health in the future. Junk food is not heroin or painkillers, and its effects may not be as shocking. Over the long run, though, it can kill. We’d be doing our children a disservice if we didn’t educate them on this fact.
While the margin for error is greater with food than with drugs, the parallel is there. Fear may not always be the best motivation for children, but when it comes to their health, a small scare won’t kill them.
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