For six years I
watched a young married couple grow up through their college years with two
children. This couple is great together
and their children are wonderful.
However it was tough for them to make their eating habits become a part
of their top priorities. All college
students know of the hectic lifestyle and it only gets more hectic with two
children, being a full time student, and a full time employee. This got me interested in how they could
teach their children to make healthy decisions.
Childhood obesity
is such a large factor in this country and there are many different steps that
can be taken to prevent it. From my
experience with these two children I have learned that they love to do things
on their own. They love the feeling of being in control and making their own
decisions. They both also actually love to
hear about nutrition. They ask questions all of the time about protein,
carbohydrates, and so on. I have read
and heard many ways to make children eat healthy and one
of them really caught my attention.
Now we all know that parents are the ones in control and the kids need
to know that as well, although it is possible for the parent to be in control
and let the child feel in control as well.
A parent can buy healthy options from the grocery store so the kitchen
is only filled with these options. To make the child feel in control, let them
pick and choose what they want to eat. Not only are they picking healthy choices,
they also want to know what is good about it. These two kids surprised me the
first time I watched them do this. They were very excited to make their own
lunch and they chose whole wheat bread, ham, chunks of cheese, strawberries,
and celery with peanut butter. They loved it and ate it all. It is possible to
change the facts of childhood obesity. Here
is a website that offers five other ways to get a child to eat healthier.
