What do we want for our children?
Parents want many things for their children. Good health would be the most important of all.
Some diseases are inherited; parents cannot control the genes they pass on to their children
In other cases, the disease is the result of a lack of understanding. The importance of helping our children develop good nutritional habits is often overlooked. Teaching children to live a healthy lifestyle is especially challenging today. Why, I’m thinking of plain old television just for starters.
How does television rob children of the opportunity to be healthy? My first thought is advertising. What are children sitting in front of the television bombarded with? There is advertisement after advertisement that tempts our children to eat and drink garbage. Even today’s cereals are covered in sugar. So much so that they can often feel like they are eating sweets.
Drinks like soda are the drink of choice in our children’s minds. It has to be sweet to be good. Today, high fructose corn syrup is recognized as contributing to obesity. One of the products most used today in processed foods. Substitute sugar to make things taste sweet. Read the labels and you will find this in so many things our children drink and eat. Actually, it is not only children, we adults also consume these products.
Nutritionists will see high fructose corn syrup Intake as a key factor in the reason for the obesity we see today. Our bodies and the bodies of our children process this sweetener differently than traditional sugar. In fact, it causes the liver to send more fat into the system.
I am not advocating eating a lot of sugar, rather in the case of beverages, I would suggest drinking something natural that does not contain sugar. There are rooibos teas, herbal teas, herbal teas, and green, black, and white teas. Great drinks, no sugar and many healthy perks to drink. Enjoy them as a hot drink or add ice if that’s your mood.
Herbal teas and infusions have vitamins and minerals that are beneficial. Does this sound like a healthier option to you? It does to me. Herbal teas have the added benefit of being caffeine free.
When is the right time to introduce your kids to a healthier lifestyle?? Should we do it when they are in high school, after years of consuming foods that are not nutritious? Maybe we should wait a little longer when our kids are in college to educate them on nutrition. We can email them all kinds of information about healthier options for them. Do you think they would be interested then?
Come on, you know when the time is right. When you can still hold them in your arms and rock them to sleep. Before you have the excitement of seeing them, take that first step.
That is the moment, those precious years that we carry with them. Those are the years when we can encourage our children to develop a taste for healthy things.
Children learn well by example. The old cliche “Do what I say, not what I do” does not have the same force as it did when I was young.
Throw all those sodas, all those fruit drinks that have high fructose corn syrup down the sink. Get a taste for something healthier, something quick and easy to make at home, and something you can carry in a thermos or sports bottle.
Focus on becoming a healthier adult. Then it becomes easier to encourage healthy children to follow in your footsteps.