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Back to a Healthy School Year for the Entire Family
By Patrice Powers-Barker, OSU Extension, Lucas County
The Truth Contributor
To best help our children learn and grow and find success,
there are many roles that parents as well as the community
need to guide and encourage our students of all ages. When
it comes to nutrition, this is the time of year to reap the
benefits of a good start to the entire day by eating a
balanced breakfast of foods from at least three of the five
food groups: fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy and grains.
A good breakfast starts the day off for the body and the
brain. In addition, other research shows the academic
benefits for older children who regularly eat meals with
their families.
It is not easy to monitor schoolwork and homework, encourage
our children to make wise choices and serve healthy, well
balanced meals with busy schedules. Parents and caregivers
have hard work but two national groups joined together to
create a booklet called “weigh in” to help adults talk with
children about weight and health.
The following suggestions are geared towards parents of
children ages seven through 11 but these topics are
applicable for families with children of all ages. In fact,
the suggestions will also be applicable for most adults!
Some key messages in the guide include:
·
Be positive and supportive. Encouragement can go much
farther than criticism.
·
Be realistic by focusing on small steps that your family can
take to make healthy changes. Trying to run a marathon
tomorrow may not be realistic but getting up and jogging in
place during a television commercial is possible.
·
Keep the conversation open. Healthy habits are just that,
habits. Habits take time to form. Keep the conversation
open with your family about what’s working, what challenges
they are facing and what they would suggest for realistic
steps.
·
Normalize the issue. To have discussions about weight,
especially if someone is overweight can often be
challenging. Keep the focus on health and not appearances.
Being overweight and underweight can cause health problems.
Communicating about weight as a health concern, as well as
the benefits of healthy eating and exercise habits keeps it
in the context of wellness. This isn’t about critiquing
someone’s body size or shape. It’s about supporting healthy
individuals and healthy families.
There are some specific activities that families can do to
encourage and motivate one another for healthier lifestyles.
Increase the number of minutes being active in a day. Being active can benefit
everyone in the family. Recommendations for adults is two
and a half hours a week of physical activity and 60 minutes
a day for children. All physical activity counts towards
that number so youth can count time spent in physical
education class. Use time together as a family to find a
favorite physical activity.
Increase the amount of outdoor play and limit screen time. Screen time is most often
sitting down time. Screen time includes computers,
televisions, mobile devices, etc. We all use screens and we
all need to be realistic about the time we spend on our
screens. Put is down and get up!
Create family play time.
What does your family like to do for fun that includes
getting up and moving? Although play time sounds like it’s
for young children, have you checked out the Toledo Museum
of Art’s exhibit on Playtime? It’s only there through
September 6th but it is for all ages. Check it
out.
Increase the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat. Once again, a message
for everyone! Most Americans need to eat more fruits and
vegetables and a greater variety of them. What’s a new
fruit or vegetable your family has tried?
Limit the number of sweets (foods and beverages) you eat a
week.
As you make the commitment to eat more of some foods like
fruits and vegetables, pare down some other options like
high calorie drinks and desserts. In addition to watching
sugar intake, use the food nutrition facts label to help
limit other items like fats and sodium.
Increase the number of meals that the family sits down and
eats together
Research shows that families who eat together regularly eat
more balanced meals with foods from the five food groups,
children communicate better with their parents and get
better grades in school. Figure out what works best for
your family and make it a habit.
Shop for healthy foods together
It’s much easier to prepare a family meal and eat together
if you have healthy ingredients on hand. Let the children
choose a new fruit or vegetable while shopping. Let them
help write out the grocery list and practice their math
skills by estimating the cost of the groceries.
Prepare family meals together
Get everyone involved.
Even the youngest children can be in the kitchen whether
they are playing with a bowl and spoon or old enough to wash
their hands and help with some easy recipes. Challenge one
another to try new recipes. Try children’s cookbooks as a
way to search out healthy, easy and fast ideas.
Ohio State University Extension, Lucas County is promoting a
six week email wellness challenge called “Be Your Own Health
Champion” from Sept 1 through October 11, 2015. It is free
and open to any adult with an email account. If you are
interested in receiving two emails a week to encourage,
motive and support you in achieving your health goals, email
Patrice today at
powers-barker.1@osu.edu
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