Making healthy eating choices has never been more important. All chronic illness is on the rise, and at younger ages than ever before. Thankfully, leading scientists and experts have confirmed that the vast majority of these illnesses are preventable and reversible through our lifestyle choices. It’s critical to make better choices in nutrition as adults, but it’s increasingly important to teach our children the same.
Making healthier choices in nutrition is a two-fold process. First, I firmly believe that we need to focus on adding the “good stuff” first – meeting our innate genetic requirements for health. Focus on making most of your meals and snacks from real food (e.g. protein, fats & oils, vegetables, fruit and water) that is closest to its naturally occurring state and as non-toxic as possible. If we made just this one shift, we would make enormous strides in improving our health.
Once you teach a child what “real” food is, and describe it as fuel that makes us work, it’s easier to get that child on board with your mission to create lifetime health and wellness. Kids of all ages can understand that, in order to be healthy, we need to give our bodies the right kind of fuel everyday in order to work properly. Everyday, give your body what it needs. It’s all about adding the “good”. Make it a game, a checklist, a challenge, whatever you need to do in order to help your kids strive for having healthy choices as (or with) every meal and snack.
The second part of the nutrition story is to reduce or eliminate the toxic and nutritionally deficient choices that sabotage our efforts to achieve better health. Adding the good stuff can only get us so far! There are limitations of matter! You would not fill up your high performance race car’s gas tank with premium fuel only to turn around and add windshield fluid to it later in the day! That would be insane. The car might still look the same and work OK for a while, but there will certainly be some problems down the road… especially if we continue to do this.
Some of the biggest nutritional offenders to be aware of are: high fructose corn syrup; artificial sweeteners and other excitotoxins, artificial colors and flavors; trans fats/hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats and oils; sugar, caffeine, and modern soy foods.
Some of the most health-sabotaging foods are the ones that kids tend to eat or drink the most! Things like refined, processed grains – conventional cereal, pasta, bread, pastries, crackers, chips, pretzels, snack foods, pizza, donuts, etc. – conventional dairy, pop, juice drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, snack bars and breakfast bars, candy, fast food, junk food and condiments, dressings and sauces.
We cannot keep feeding this stuff to kids, thinking it has no serious consequences because we don’t necessarily see one right away. The consequences are happening. We contribute to the risk factors for chronic illness every time we make a toxic or deficient lifestyle choice. We also cannot be so naïve to think that we’re in some way ‘depriving’ kids if we don’t provide these toxic foods. What we end up depriving them of (by making these foods a regular part of their diet) is the opportunity for an optimally healthy future.
We can begin to teach our kids how to make healthier choices once we understand the nature of the consequences ourselves. Nutrition matters – science unequivocally proves it. Better choices equal better health.
Better health doesn’t need to be difficult. Begin by teaching your kids that food is their fuel. Fill up with the good stuff everyday, and minimize the bad. This is the sure fire way to improved function and performance… as well as feeling and looking good along the way!
Dr. Colleen Trombley (“Dr Mom Online”) is a leading expert in Natural Health & Wellness. Discover why health-seekers turn to Dr. Mom for practical tips regarding healthy lifestyle, nutrition, exercise, weight loss, parenting, life balance and more. Check out the Healthy School Days Menu for great nutrition tips & ideas!
nutrition and health
