Indian Springs Baptist Church Women's Ministry: How To Get Your Kids (or Picky Adults) To Eat Healthy

“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6)

I tell myself that verse often. It pertains to everything in life, including a heatlhy lifestyle. I believe that if I teach them healthy habits now, even if they go to college and eat Captain Crunch and Hershey Bars for breakfast, one day they will come back to their foundation of our teachings in this house.

Why is it important to teach a healthy lifestyle to kids? They are young, their metabolisms are super fast, they run and play all the time. Don't they just burn off all that candy and junk they eat? We have candy and sweets for them for every party. Rewards in all kids programs are all "treat" based, right? Did you know that in 2012, approximately 21-24% of all American children and adolescents are overweight, and another 16-18% are obese. Only 10% of these children have a genetic disorder causing this obesity.

Childhood obesity predisposes to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, liver and renal disease, and reproductive dysfunction. This condition also increases the risk of adult-onset obesity and cardiovascular disease. Obesity leads to diabetes, which is one of the most common chronic diseases in children and adolescents; about 151,000 people below the age of 20 years have diabetes. 1 out of every 5 children in 2012 have high cholesterol. They are checking children for cholesterol and high blood pressure at every 5 year old and above physical.

Let's compare this to the statistics in 1970, where childhood obesity was starting to be recognized with 4% of children under the age of 11 registering as obese and 6% of preteens and teens considered obese. What has changed, what is happening? Our children's diet's are full of sugar, they play on electronic devices for hours everyday, the school day is longer and they must sit most of the day and the list goes on and on. But, there is good news, we as parents and grandparents are in control of a large portion of this epidemic.

For starters, it's the same thing as for adults, throw out all the junk food. If it has sugar and high fructose corn syrup or a list of chemicals and ingredients you can't pronounce that are a mile long, get rid of it. That sentence sounds scary when you are talking about feeding a child or a picky adult but, let me tell you something positive, for every junk item that my kids just love, I have found it's healthy match. Just check the ingredient list. We do the 80 / 20 rule here. We stick to the healthy foods 80% of the time. It's the every day that matters. We have off the limits treats 20% of the time. So, at the end of the year school parties, I will not flip out if they eat ice cream someone else brought in that is laced with high fructose corn syrup, but for my own house everyday, we buy the healthy ice cream or make our own.

Kid Friendly Tips

Drop it down low. That means put healthy items in their reach. Kids want convenience. They want to open up a cabinet and just have it available. I open packages and put them in baskets so they can easily get to it. I cut up fruit and put it on the lower shelves in the fridge. I buy yogurt and cheeses and keep them on the bottom for easy reach. Our fruit basket sits on the end of the counter top so everyone can get to it.
There are healthy alternatives to most kid friendly foods. Check the label, a lot of organic packaged foods use healthy ingredients as well as being organic. If the first ingredient is sugar, don't buy it, find an alternative or make it yourself. We make a lot of things we love ourselves and I control the ingredients.
If it's not there they won't eat it. If you don't buy it, you will be surprised how quickly they find and like other things to eat like heatlhy fruits and veggies. ( to make you feel better, we are still working on veggies here..it's corn and green beans just about only, but it's veggies!!)
Don't tell them what you are doing at first. No joke. Kids get really suspicious of new foods and new ways of doing things. Just go to the store, find healthy alternatives to the foods you normally by, add fresh fruits, make it with in easy reach, and say no more. My kids didn't even know what happened to them.
Be prepared when you make the switch to see different children. They feel better, they sleep better, they do better on school work. On a scary note, my children don't eat sugar on a regular basis now, so if someone gives them a lot of sugary items, I know it based on behavior alone. They are first of all wild, then they have the drop and are dead tired and cranky. Jacob has trouble falling asleep at night if he has anything with sugar in the evenings. We know if they have had it. My parents are believers now too. Just ask my dad, who gave them donut sticks, Reece cups and coke in a confined boat for the day on a recent fishing trip. Needless to say, the next day, he had them eat the heatlhy snacks that I had packed.
Start their day off right with a healthy breakfast. Sugary cereals and breakfast bars with very little protein, is no way to start off any one's day. Change to eggs and bacon or oatmeal or a kashi brand or other low sugar cereal and see the difference for yourselves.
Hydrate them with water instead of sugary filled juices, soft drinks, and sports drinks. I do buy orange juice, but I have a hard time, check the label for just oranges and no added sugar.
Give them the gift of exercise. Set limits on electronics and make them go outside. My children have always loved to play outside. Since the invention of ipads and ipods and video games, outdoor playing at our house slowed down. I have limits and I stick to them and I force them outside like a meanie. We also force sports. Yes, we do. We tell them to pick one thing a season that they like to do that is physical and we make them go and stick to it.
Make sure they get the right amount of sleep for their age. Click here to view that list.
Kid them involved in church activities, spiritual well being is a big piece to the heatlhy lifestyle puzzle.

Great book for ideas..very cheap on amazon.. Eat Clean for Kids

some of our kid friendly foods

healthy cereals

granola bars they like

Food in reach in the cabinet

Food in fridge in their reach..don't put blueberries down here ha ha :D I learned that after they rolled
all over the floor. Some things need to still be handed to them.