Are Parents Killing Their Kids With Their Own Bad Habits?
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Are Parents Killing Their Kids With Their Own Bad Habits?
Gail Gupton is a grandmother of twelve. She has developed a way to change Out-Of-Control children to kids who behave properly. If you have a child who back-talks, who’s sarcastic, unruly, disrespectful, or disobedient, help is available at http://www.TheBehaviorSolution.com
Obesity in America is a huge problem today. Where our children are concerned, it can shorten their lives; and seriously affect them mentally, physically, and socially.
Through news reports and research we know that childhood obesity has been rising at an astonishing and frighteningly fast rate. There are more obese children now than ever before. As parents, we are the culprit. Our own careless eating habits have spilled over into our children’s lives.
We are their role models!!
What do you want to do about it?
Don’t expect your children to eat healthy if you’re not going to follow suite. It will not hurt us, as adults, to adjust our own eating habits to include healthy snacks.
There are a few pointers to think about:
Small children are normally energetic and often require snacks in-between meals. It is most important to choose healthy snacks for your children.
Vegetable snacks like carrot sticks and celery boats are a good and fun alternative to chips and “junk food” snacks. They may balk at first, but the crunchy sounds can be kind of fun.
Substitute fruit for candies and sugar snacks. Fruit is naturally sweet, digests well, and contains the vitamins and minerals active children require. Apple chunks and grapes make great finger food.
Research has proven that sugar produces hyperactivity in many young children. Sugar is habit forming and will sow the seeds for problems later in life. Dental problems are one of the negative effects of sugar that can be embarrassing and costly in the future.
Replace soda drinks with flavored water (or just water alone). Natural fruit drinks are good substitutes. Make them yourself with a good juicer or blender because bottled fruit drinks often contain corn syrup and higher calories. You can freeze cubes of fruit juice then take them out to thaw or use as a cooler.
Avoiding the sugar can avoid temper tantrums and serious eating problems.
What about breakfast cereals? This is perhaps the biggest problem in a child’s diet. Hurry, hurry, hurry. It’s easy to just pour it into a bowl and gobble it down. But this is a quick hunger fix, not a healthy breakfast. Pre-sweetened cereals have unnecessary amounts of sugar, laying the groundwork for sugar addiction and obesity.
When my children were small and running late for school, they grabbed an egg sandwich on the way out the door. At least it was full of protein.
Today, it’s better to choose a healthy cereal bar or fiber cereal sweetened with an alternative for your child’s quick breakfast. Add an additional piece of fruit or chopped fruit in the cereal. Your child will acquire the taste. Don’t take “NO” for an answer. If you don’t buy the unhealthy food, your child won’t be able to eat it.
Commercials influence us. They also influence our children. Visuals are very dynamic. How many times have you salivated over a yummy looking fat juicy hamburger commercial only to find the real thing doesn’t even resemble what you saw on TV?
We see it, we want it. But children can’t differentiate the value of a repeated marketing commercial or grocery store box with funny characters. As parents, that’s our job to keep it away from them.
Because fast food habits begin when children are quite small, it becomes their lifestyle. It’s quick and easy to avoid having to cook for them. Children need nutrition.
Having birthday parties at a hamburger, pizza, or fried chicken facility only contributes to the problem of obesity, not only in our own children, but in those of our friends and neighbors. How would you like it if your neighbor fed your kids poison?
Eating habits begin in the highchair. It’s very important to start them out right. But if we didn’t it’s never too late to change. Lay a good foundation. Become the role model you were meant to be.
Fill the refrigerator and pantry with good tasting, healthy food and the family will start to manifest a good healthy lifestyle.
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