Day Eighteen: Teach Your Children Well

One out of three children born after the year 2000 will develop onset diabetes before they reach the age of eighteen. A child of age 10 diagnosed with onset diabetes will lose 17-26 years of his or her life. And, yet 1 out of every 3 toys given to a child in the US on any given day comes from a fast food restaurant.

We see it all of the time everywhere we go, and yet it is taboo to discuss. Our children are becoming more & more unhealthy. They are learning our mistakes, and out of all of the sins of the parent that the child might learn, not being able to feed themselves properly is among the worst. Our children learn from us. They eat what we feed them, they exercise when we allow them to. They are victims of our poor choices if we do not teach them early in their life how to eat well. If they are unhealthy as children, that will follow them into their teen and adult years. It has been shown to affect their health, confidence, emotional well-being, sleep, even their grades.

I was a thin child. My children are thin children. This is primarily due to genetics, not due to any epiphany or major influence that I have on them or that my parents had on me. As parents, it is our job to expose our children to healthy foods regardless of their genetic predisposition. I don't think we should force a child to eat something that they don't like. However, if they have enough room for cake, then they have enough room for the green beans first, foregoing one means foregoing another. That means that we have to put green beans on their plate to begin with, and that's where we are going wrong as parents.

Our children also need a childhood, and at times this means integrating foods that they like that lack nutritional density. That's where balance comes in, & it's up to us to find that for them. But, balance doesn't look 50/50 in this case, it's more 80/20 or 90/10. We must cook meals, not only reheat pre-cooked processed foods. We must allow them to help us cook so they can begin to understand colors, textures, and flavors. They will thank us for it when they are older.

Do: Expose your child to a healthy food that they haven't eaten before. Cook a meal with your child, making it tasty & colorful. Make sure that your child gets plenty of consistent playtime, preferably outdoors.

Try: Organic greek yogurt. Make sure that you get "plain", it should be low in sugar. The texture & flavor is similar to sour cream. Pair it with a banana or berries for breakfast.