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.
I have so many young friends (ages 18-23) that have children! With a healthy lifestyle coaching major in school, it is hard for me to sit by and watch my friends constantly feed their kids McDonald's and candy whenever they want it. I think this possibly happens because the young parents don't know any better themselves for the most part. I never had any ideas to give them to help with their children's eating habits. Now I do! Great blog!:-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that parents should be the one under control of their child's diet. The fact of knowing a child can be so excited in choosing their own lunch, gives me a hope that yes we can still make a difference in changing the problem of obesity. It only takes the time and education of what we give the youth. It amazes me that a child can be so excited in learning what they are eating. My little cousin is the same way. When going into a grocery store, she wants to know what certain foods will help within her body. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great blog!! I agree whole heartedly that parents are the main ones in control of a childs diet. Sometimes when children get a little freedom from their parents while they are at school, they tend to eat unhealthy because often times the healthy choices are limited. It i so great to find out that healthier foods are being incorporated into the diet. This also gives me hope when I have kids that they can be healthy even when I am not around them!
ReplyDeleteGreat concepts, I like how you wrote about how parents have more control than what they believe. Personally, I believe if a child doesn’t believe it’s the parents responsibility to feed them the parent should have them change their mind. Parents have the option of not giving them allowance to buy fast food, and ground them until they realize who is in control in the family. On the shopping side a parent has the option of only filling the refrigerator with healthy foods to force their children to eat healthy and stay away from fast food. Do you think avaiablility and forcing children is the best way to get them to eat healthy? What authority role did the Father play? (Steve Gonzalez)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the parents should be the ones in charge of picking what the child eats. I think that it would make the situation a lot easier if the child thought they were actually picking out the meals for themselves. I have a young nephew who picks out what he wants to eat for lunch from our refrigerator, and when he chooses it, I can tell it makes him feel like a "big boy." Even though it makes him feel grown up, all the foods that are in the fridge have all been "mommy approved." It is a great way to make the child feel like they have somewhat of an authoritative role, when in reality the parents are still picking the meals.
ReplyDeleteI really like this blog because it applies directly to my life. I also have young children at home, go to school and work. It is extremely difficult at times to focus on providing healthy meals and lunches for my children when I am constantly on the go. I found that the best way to enforce a healthy diet is to stock the fridge full of healthy options, and have the kids choose for themselves what they would like to eat. Not only does this help them become independent, but it also helps them understand how to make a healthy meal. The only difficult thing now as a parent becomes making sure that you do not buy unhealthy items, or hide the cookies somewhere else in the house! I find that sometimes it is easier to shop alone and then allow the kids to participate in preparing the food instead of helping me pick it out.
ReplyDeleteThis blog caught my attention for many reasons. Although I am not a parent, I enjoy working with kids, so I like to see how to engage kids to eat fruits and vegetables. I thought it was a great idea how the blogger said to have the child ask questions, and make the child really feel like they are participating in dinner time or cooking! I interned for a childhood obesity clinic, and feel like some of these tips could help them. I liked that the blogger included a picture, as well as her own personal experiences. This made it more interesting to read and also kept my attention. -Allie Goldstein
ReplyDeleteI think you chose an excellent topic to discuss in your blog. This is a topic that applies to not only those who are headed down the health science path but also those who are parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, etc. I enjoyed that you posted a blog on a personal experience that applies to your career. Child obesity is an obvious problem, but I like that you simply stated that if parent’s took an active role in helping their children make healthy food choices, the incidences of child obesity could decrease. Great article attached to your blog and thank you for sharing pertinent information to all health care professionals and all people with young children in their lives.
ReplyDeleteIt is really awesome that these kids are so interested in nutrition! As long as they have access to healthy food, and don't have a kitchen full of junk food, it sounds like these kids will grow up learning to eat a healthy diet. This will hopefully allow them to stick to that habit as they get older and maybe by the time they get to college they will be able to avoid the stereotypical college diet, and maybe even encourage their friends to do the same!
ReplyDeleteThis blog post really caught my attention because at first glance, the title didn't seem as if it would be related to college students. However after reading the first few sentences, I found that I was too quick to judge because in actuality it tended to a specific and very important group of college students. Although I do not have children of my own, I still feel that educating and exposing kids to healthy food alternatives is a pressing matter, especially in today's society. When parents and authority figures step up and take an active role in this process, it really does make a BIG difference! The personal story and article links included in this blog post were informational, although I would have preferred if the author included an actual "list" of tips in the article itself. - Naomi
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