Give your children building blocks for a healthy lifestyle by
teaching them the importance of good nutrition and regular physical
activity. Eating well and being physically active every day are keys
to your child's health and well-being. Eating too many high calorie
foods and getting too little physical activity can lead to excessive
weight gain and physical health problems, such as type 2 diabetes
and high blood pressure, now being diagnosed in children. Obesity
also is associated with an increased risk of other health problems
such as depression.
You play an important role in helping your child, and the entire
family, learn about healthy eating and regular physical activity.
Parents have the power to set examples. Make healthy eating and
daily physical activity fun, to help children learn good habits to
last a lifetime. This brochure provides some tips on how you can
promote healthy eating habits and encourage active lifestyles in
your family.
Healthy Choices Start With You!
- Help your children develop healthy eating habits at an early
age. Nutritious food is something to enjoy. It helps children
grow strong and gives them energy.
- Set an example for active living by moving with your kids.
Your kids pay attention to you, they really do!
- Teach your children that good health depends on the right
balance between what they eat and how much they move.
It's never too late! Small steps make a big difference.
| Body Mass Index: A Useful Tool
Body Mass Index, or BMI, is used to assess overweight and
risk for overweight. Children's body fatness changes over the
years as they grow, and boys and girls differ as they mature, so
it is important to use a BMI measure specifically designed for
children. Many schools have begun routine BMI measurement for
students as one tool to help identify those at risk of obesity.
If you are concerned about your child's weight, ask your
pediatrician or school clinic about the BMI for children. For
more information on BMI for children, see
www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi.
|
Keys to a Healthy Diet The keys to healthy eating are variety, balance and moderation.
Be sure your family eats a variety of foods, including plenty of
vegetables, fruits and whole grain products. Also include low-fat
and nonfat dairy products, lean meats, poultry, fish and legumes
(lentils and beans). Drink water to quench your thirst, and go easy
on the salt, sugar and saturated fat.
Good nutrition should be part of an overall healthy lifestyle
that also includes regular physical activity. To maintain weight,
both kids and adults must balance the calories they eat with the
calories they burn through physical activity. If you eat more
calories than you use up in physical activity, you gain weight. If
you eat fewer calories than you use up, you lose weight. Make a
commitment to helping your family eat sensibly and move more often.
Here are some tips for healthy eating to help you get
started.
- Try to keep track of your children's meal/snack and physical
activity patterns so you can help them balance the amount and
types of food they eat with the amount of physical activity they
perform.
- Encourage your family to eat at least 5 servings of brightly
colored vegetables and fruits a day. You can start the day with
100% fruit or vegetable juice. Slice fruit on top of cereal.
Serve salad with lunch and an apple as an afternoon snack.
Include vegetables with dinner.
- Leave the candy, soft drinks, chips and cookies at the
store. Substitute them with fruits, vegetables, nuts, and
low-fat or nonfat milk products. Your child will soon learn to
make smart food choices outside your home as well.
- Serve children child-sized portions, and let your child ask
for more if still hungry. Don't force children to clean their
plates. Try measuring food items to learn to estimate the amount
of food on a plate.
See
win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/just_enough.htm for more
information.
- Choose a variety of foods. No single food or food group
supplies all the nutrients in the amounts that you need for good
health. If you plan for pizza one night, balance your meal with
salad, low-fat or nonfat milk and fruit.
Eat Smart!
Sharing meals is an ideal way for the family to spend time
together. Whether you're eating at home or eating out on the go,
it's important to eat smart.
- Be consistent. Establish a family meal routine, and set
times for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Eat together
whenever possible.
- Take charge of the foods your children eat. When you serve a
meal, your child can choose to eat it or not; but don't offer to
substitute an unhealthy alternative when your child refuses to
eat what you've served.
- Restrict children's access to the refrigerator and snack
cupboards.
- Turn off the TV during meals, and limit kids' snacking when
watching TV.
- Serve a vegetable or fruit with every meal and at snack
time.
- Reward your kids with praise and fun activities rather than
with food.
- Involve your children in meal planning and food preparation.
They are more likely to eat what they help to make.
- While shopping and cooking, teach your children about the
food groups and the importance of a balanced diet. Throughout
the day, choose the types and amounts of foods you need from the
five food groups.
- Teach your children how to read food labels and use the
5%-20% guide to Daily Values to make better food choices. See
www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Resources/Nibbles/readit_session.pdf for
more information.
- Limit foods that are high in saturated fat, cholesterol,
sodium, and added sugars, and make sure to get enough fiber and
calcium.
- Use low-fat cooking methods such as baking, roasting and
grilling, and choose healthy fats when you use them, such as
olive or canola oils.
- Serve water, low-fat or nonfat milk with and between meals.
Only children under two years always need to drink whole milk.
- Teach your children how to make wise food choices away from
home - at school cafeterias, restaurants, and vending machines.
Teach them to pay attention to both the quality and quantity of
their food choices. More food is not always better for them;
appropriate portion sizes need to be understood.
Get Moving!
Physical activity is good for children and adults. It strengthens
muscles, bones and joints, and it gives children the opportunity to
gain confidence while having fun. Children need at least 60 minutes
of physical activity every day. Playing hopscotch, tossing a ball
back and forth, and dancing are some good ways for your child to be
active. Some children are good athletes, but all need many
opportunities to be active, including but not limited to sports.
- Be a physically active role model and have fun with your
kids. Adults need at least 30 minutes of daily physical
activity.
- Walk with your child at every available opportunity - if
possible to school or to the store on errands. Take a family
walk after dinner instead of watching TV or playing computer
games.
- Plan active weekends. Include biking, hiking, skating,
walking or playing ball. Take a trip to the park, skating rink,
zoo, or swimming pool.
- Offer to join your child in his/her favorite physical
activity, or enroll your child in a group exercise program.
- Include children in active chores such as dog walking, house
cleaning, car washing, and yard work.
- Limit inactive behavior such as television watching and
computer time. Do physical activity with your kids during
commercials, such as marching in place or stretching. This helps
reinforce the importance of movement in your child's life.
- Avoid using TV as a child sitter or pacifier. Offer active
alternatives to screen time - jumping rope, playing
hide-and-seek or running an errand. Children love when you are
active with them and involve them in what you do.
- Keep TV's out of children's rooms.
- Give your children gifts that encourage physical activity -
active games, sporting equipment, or a Frisbee.
- Take the President's Challenge as a family. You can track
your individual physical activities together and earn awards for
active lifestyles at
www.presidentschallenge.org.
- Talk with your schools about ways to incorporate
noncompetitive physical activity during the day.
Money-Saving Ideas for Better Health
Good nutrition doesn't have to mean expensive grocery bills!
- Plan ahead. Make a list of meal ideas for the coming week.
Keep in mind the days you'll have time to cook from scratch and
the days you'll be pressed for time. Then make a grocery list
and stick to it.
- Buy in-season fruits and vegetables. Use local farmers'
markets when possible - the foods are fresher and tend to cost
less.
- Purchase canned (in water or in their own juice, not heavy
syrup) and frozen fruits and vegetables when fresh ones are not
available or affordable. They're healthy, too, and will last
longer.
- Never shop for food when you're hungry.
- Review store ads and clip coupons before shopping.
- Sign up for your grocer's bonus/discount card for additional
savings.
- Stock up on sale items you can use in a timely manner. Buy
in bulk for quality and value, but serve healthy portions.
- Look for items on the top and bottom shelves at the grocery
store. The most costly brands are often placed at eye-level.
Store brands that may be cheaper and just as good are often
placed higher or lower.
- Assemble snacks at home in small baggies and use foods such
as nuts and seeds, low-fat cheese and fresh veggies and fruits,
rather than buying less healthy and more expensive prepackaged
and processed snacks.
- Use your food budget wisely. For the price of a large bag of
chips and a box of cookies, you can buy a lot of apples,
bananas, carrots, potatoes, peppers and other healthy foods.
A Healthy Week-at-a-Glance
An easy and fun way to keep your family active and eating right
is to create a weekly calendar of healthy lifestyle activities. Use
some of the ideas below to get yourself started on building a
healthy life that works for your family and your schedule.
Monday
Start a daily log of what your family eats and how they keep active;
review it with them at the end of each week.
Tuesday
Go to your local community center and find out what physical
activity or sports programs are available.
Wednesday
Make frozen juice pops instead of buying popsicles . They're
healthier and cheaper!
Thursday
Encourage your family to use safe and accessible stairs as an active
alternative to elevators and escalators.
Friday
Involve your kids in cooking and take a walk after dinner.
Saturday
Take your children food shopping and let them pick out a new fruit
or vegetable to try.
Sunday
Review the coming week's school lunch menu with your kids, and talk
about making healthy meal choices.
Resources for More Information
Nutrition and Physical Activity
Nutrition
Physical Activity
