If
I told you that there was a way to eat that would help you to lose fat,
increase your energy, and decrease your chance of illness, would you be
interested in eating this way? If so, would you also want your children to eat
this way? I would hope so, but it never seems to work out that way. All too
often, children are considered to be different than adults and that they should
be allowed to eat differently.
Generally,
this difference is that they get more junk food in their diet while we try to
avoid it. But look at the issues children are starting to deal with more and
more today: obesity, type II diabetes, and ADHD (attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder). These are NOT normal, and while there is a component
of these issues that is genetic, your genes can be expressed in a variety of
ways depending on your environment. The most common environment for children
today is full of one thing: sugar.
Sugar
is of course found in cookies, cakes, and the like, but it is also found in
most breakfast cereals (especially those marketed to children), lunchables,
soda & sports drinks, and in many children’s snack items (ever have a
Yoplait Yogurt? 26g of sugar!). Even the beloved peanut butter & jelly
sandwich is stocked full of sugar. Sugar has become more and more a part of the
Standard American Diet (SAD) and its prevalence affects children and adults
alike. We are all putting on pounds and becoming less and less healthy. So I
ask again, why are we feeding children foods that we KNOW we would avoid?
If
you are unsure of how diet can affect your child’s health, here are some good
articles talking about the effectiveness of dietary interventions on ADHD
I
chose ADHD to highlight because hopefully most people already know that obesity
and diabetes can be eliminated when you remove sugar from the equation. With
ADHD, however, we tend to blame genetics. As you will see in the articles
above, there is a mix of opinions on how much diet intervention can help, but
all agree that it is a great place to start. I am of the opinion that it will
ALWAYS help, even if it does not resolve the issue entirely. I am not saying
that ADHD is without other causes; there are many factors involved that may
need medication and behavioral therapy to be resolved. However, I do think
people are missing a big part of the puzzle if they ignore dietary
factors.
Just
think about how you would function if you ate like a child. You would start
your day with a big bowl of sugary cereal, have a sugar filled yogurt for
snack, have a PB&J sandwich on white bread for lunch, get home and have a
juice drink and an apple (maybe) and you would finish dinner with a big bowl of
ice cream. If you did this your energy levels would be all over the place! You
would be bouncing off the walls for a few hours after, and then you would
crash. Then you would be up again, and then down. Children are no different;
they just have a teacher right in front of them all day reporting that they are
disruptive and unable to focus.
In
fact, they are in need of high quality foods even more than us. Their bodies
are growing, their brains are forming, and their muscles and bones are building
strength. This is when nutrition is most important and yet children’s foods are
of the lowest quality. And quality of food is really what it’s all about. If
you can feed your children foods that are nutrient dense and can be properly
digested, you will be providing them a head start in life unlike most
experience. They will have the opportunity to actually function and grow
NORMALLY.
Let’s
talk about what types of foods children (and you) should be eating. I always
like thinking about food in terms of meals, so we will start with breakfast. I
am a big fan of the veggie omelet. Eggs are full of fat and protein, two things
your children need to grow properly. Their brain depends on fat to develop, and
their bodies depend on protein. Veggies in the mix provide the micronutrients
and phytonutrients that make everything run properly, and help with digestion.
Second up: lunch. Notice that I do not have a snack here. If your children eat
a solid breakfast they will not be nearly as hunger for snacks. If they are at
a time where they are growing rapidly, they will certainly have an increased
appetite, so just let them go back for seconds at their main meals. So back to
lunch, which can be the most difficult meal for children to find healthy
options. If they have cafeteria food, this will be hard, but if you can pack a
lunch you have options. I will defer to a more experienced health advocates on
this one. In the links below, you will find great options for feeding your
children at school.
Once
they get home, they should be good to go. If you only keep healthy foods in the
house, neither you nor your children will be tempted to have poor food choices,
even if a snack is required. Once you reach dinner though, make it a good one.
Have a big salad with every dinner, cook up a nice hunk of meat or fish
(grass-fed or wild if possible), and throw together some steamed, sautéed, or
grilled veggies, and you are good to go. This might be a good place to throw in
some root veggies as well; who doesn’t like sweet potatoes!
While this may be a
total 180 from where you or your children are now in your eating, just remember
that you do not have to overhaul your whole routine right away. Take it one
step at a time and just start introducing new options for meals. Find something
they like for dinner, then move to breakfast, then to lunch. There is always a
process involved, but as long as you are taking steps in the right direction,
you will inevitably find yourself exactly where you want to be.
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