HEALTHY BODY HEALTHY MIND

The children of today are the future. Well everyone knows that, and everyone wants a better future. A better future needs a good foundation, and that foundation is health. The best way to maintain your health, and your children’s health, is the way you eat. You have heard this before of course, however it may have not been explained clearly as to how you can impact the diet of your child’s health. Kids may be picky and not want to eat what you encourage them to eat; this is normal though. How to properly introduce foods and make sure your children get a healthy diet inside and outside of the home is what this article will cover.

Picture Courtesy of wix.com

What is being done already?

Numerous government programs have been implemented to change school lunches, however they are not widely adopted. The USDA has a healthier U.S. challenge (1) for schools, that provides incentives for schools that enroll in the program and make the largest strides toward better child health. Myplate was created, replacing the food pyramid, to stress the importance of a balanced meal and give an easy diagram of what a healthy plate should look like. Enforcing the serving of fruits and vegetables is another great stride, however, it is not being implemented properly. Some schools will create separate lines for the energy dense food and the nutrient dense food. Energy dense (2) means higher calories, lower nutrients, and not as healthy; burgers, tacos, nachos, etc. Nutrient dense contain more vitamins and minerals, lower in fat, and less calories; fruits and vegetables. When given the choice, the children will often choose the energy dense food and not want to wait in another line for the more nutritious food as their lunch time is limited and they want to play.

What can we do?

Parents can become more involved with the implementation of these government programs by petitioning for them, and making the school board aware of the benefits. Parents can provide breakfast and lunch for their children instead of relying on the school to ensure their children are eating healthy. Parents eating with their children provides a healthy model in which kids will mimic their parent's behavior toward food (3). Parents should make time to eat with their children, involve them in the cooking process, and help develop a healthy attitude toward healthy food. Cooking can and should be fun. It allows creativity and the feeling of accomplishment which kids love. The right energy and nutrients will better a child’s growth, both mentally and physically. Parents have obstacles of course. The feeling of not enough time, financially unable to provide healthy lunches for school, and of course the battle against marketing that kids are exposed to (1).

What we need to know for the children?

There are always reasons for one’s behavior toward food choice. For buying parents, it is taste, cost, and convenience. For children, it is taste and accessibility. Think about how a school serves lunch. Burgers, pizza, tacos, etc. are served with the option of salads and fruits which are sometimes in a different line. The limited lunches children have will restrict them to the line that serves foods that may taste better. The energy dense food will fill them up better; that is an obvious choice. A way to change this common food choice will be to teach kids of how healthier choices such as fruits and vegetables will make them feel better, grow stronger, and think better. Kids want to play at lunch. What if they knew adding a banana and carrots to their meal will help them run faster and longer than their friends? Informing children of the healthy benefits is not only beneficial for them, but for the parents. Healthier diets result in happier children, lower healthcare costs, and less chance of chronic disease, truly a win, win situation. How else can we encourage a healthier food choice? Model behavior is one easy way. Eat with your kids, enjoy the healthy food in front of them, and over time, they will mimic this behavior. If taste is the deciding factor to not eat something healthy after trying it, do not be afraid of using a low calorie dressing or sprinkle a little cheese. Let your kids help prepare vegetables and fruits. Organizing the foods in an attractive design will give the kids a sense of accomplishment and may make the consumption of the foods more likely and create repeat behavior.

Kid perception on food is reasonable in elementary schools. Surveys have found that they may view red and fried meats as bad because of their fat content (4). Fruits and vegetables are healthy because of vitamins. Sweets are bad because of their high sugar content. This view should be taught as early as possible so that bad behaviors are easier to prevent, instead of break. Unfortunately, this may not be enough to encourage food choice. Just like adults, convenience is a huge factor. The fast food we eat is usually due to constricted time. This is why meal preparations are recommended. Take some control over your child’s meals. Your child can have a balanced meal while having more time to play since they do not have any lines to wait in. If your kid eats school provided food for financial reasons where you receive reduced or free lunch, then encouraging better food choice is critical.

Encouraging schools to enroll in the USDA food challenge is important. Not only does this assist in better health and knowledge for your children, but assist the school in ways that may provide better and updated school supplies through the incentives given. Petitioning and involving school Parent Teacher Associations is a great way to start this movement. Children spend around 40 hours a week at school where parents are not directly influencing their behavior and choices. Along with this, students eat 1-2 meals a day from school provided foods. If schools are to be relied on to provide food to the children, it should be foods that will benefit their future. Maybe schools feel nutrition education is not their responsibility, however kids are predisposed toward learning in a school setting, and so schools have the greatest opportunity. Schools that have tried interventions and were unsuccessful may be linked to outside influences, such as the home environment (5). What parents can do is promote the correct information so that the children are not exposed to contrary beliefs. Understanding there are cultural influences on diet, schools should also keep this in mind. Keeping that in mind merely means not to promote specific foods, but teach about nutrients and food groups that contain such nutrients. Recommending beef for high protein would be insulting to an Indian family is just one example of how cultural influences may interfere with some school based interventions.

This is all a huge concern as nutrition not only prevents chronic diseases, but promotes academic success as well. Children of this generation deserve a non-burdening diet for the future of their growth and education. Recent surveys have shown that calories from fats and added sugars have increased among children and an increase in food high in these nutrients has occurred in school lunches which has contributed to this decline in a good diet. A decline in beneficial nutrients, such as fiber, calcium, and other vitamins, has shown a decline at the same time since the food eaten is energy dense and nutrient poor (1). Sugar sweetened beverages and processed, high calorie foods have become standard in homes due to their low costs and perceived value. You can get a large bag of flavored chips from a name brand for 2-3 dollars while a bag of carrots costs the same. Fresh produce appears at higher costs and requires preparation with a low shelf life. Premade products are easy to cook and advertise a variety of foods, although they really only provide a large amount of a cheap filler topped lightly with the advertised foods. This type of advertising has led to poor diet choices and resulting diet habits. Apart from poor health and education, it has been found that obese children are more likely to be bullied, which can lead to another set of mental health issues and future eating disorders, such as depressive eating. For children that are already obese, the obstacle is not just educating them on health, but reversing their obesity. Numerous trials were ran to compare low calorie diets, low carbohydrate diets, use of drugs, non-diet and other approaches (2). A summary of these findings for the purpose of this article is that a low calorie diet low in sugars while consumption of essential nutrients and vitamins is moderated, results in healthy weight loss. However, a very restricted diet causes relapse and is hard to sustain, making the non-diet approach easier for people to adopt as it gives them the knowledge needed to make a diet that will benefit them without feeling too restricted. Use of drugs may appear to be the easy option, however like any drug, there are undesirable side effects such as leakage and fatty stools.

With the information and resources provided in this article, I hope the readers will find a way to ensure a healthy future for children. If you need more details on the findings from my sources or a way that you can help, please feel free to contact me through the website. Also realize that my citations may show reference to one article, however the information is supported across all of them.

References

1. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Nutrition Guidance for Healthy Children Ages 2 to 11 Years

Ogata, Beth N. et al. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 114, Issue 8, 1257 - 1276

2. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Interventions for the Prevention and Treatment of Pediatric Overweight and Obesity

Hoelscher, Deanna M. et al. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 113, Issue 10, 1375 – 1394

3. Home Food Environment in Relation to Children’s Diet Quality and Weight Status

Couch, Sarah C. et al. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 114, Issue 10, 1569 - 1579.e1

4. Children’s Discourse of Liked, Healthy, and Unhealthy Foods

Frerichs, Leah et al.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 116, Issue 8, 1323 – 1331

5. Adding a Social Marketing Campaign to a School-Based Nutrition Education Program Improves Children’s Dietary Intake: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Blitstein, Jonathan L. et al. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics , Volume 116 , Issue 8 , 1285 - 1294