Childhood Obesity – Could It Be Addiction?

 

Warning:  This product can be highly addictive and may lead to childhood obesity, hardening of the arteries, juvenile diabetes, heart attack, stroke or possibly death.

Can you imagine if this label, similar to the labels that tobacco companies were legislated to put on their products 20 years ago, were on most products at fast food outlets?  Ridiculous? Far fetched?  Not based in science?  Think again.  Check out http://childhoodobesitynews.com. 

A recently released brain scan study from Yale University clearly indicates that when adolescent compulsive eaters are shown pictures of the foods they crave, ie: high fat, sugar drenched, sodium laden foods (yep – that’s what they sell us at fast food places) their brains light up similarly to those of drug addicts shown pictures of their drugs of choice.

For those who find a way to fit activity into their lives and make good food choices, all in the name of good healthy and hopefully longevity, it is easy to say to those who are already overweight, “Just move more and eat less.”  That may very well be the math and science that is the foundation of health and wellness, but it excludes the psychological side of addiction.  And that is exactly what we are asking children who are obese to deal with.  If your child became addicted to drugs or alcohol and they wanted help you would get them professional help.  Addiction is addiction is addiction – no matter how you say it.

The food marketing gurus are no dopes.  They know that once they get a customer onto the  product they are promoting they just might have a customer for life.  And that customer will tell their friends and family and so on.  It’s like the principle of compound interest – a no brainer if you play your cards right.

I’ve been addicted to tobacco and I have an “addictive personality”, meaning that it is really easy for me to become addicted.  I got off it, with help.  I can understand the addiction to sugar.  If it’s around, I eat it.  Marketing and sales people say “Find out who your customer is, what they want, and then give it to them.” And so they do.  They fill our lives with loud and brightly lit ads designed to make our mouths water, to make us crave the very product we are seeing, just as the brain scan study at Yale University indicated.  Soooo –  who introduced your kids to fast food?

It’s like the ultimate back-end sale – you get hooked with a couple of $5 meals and then you pay forever.

5 Great Fitness Activity Games for Kids 2-6

Image by Mish Mish via Flickr

Exercise for children should be fun.  In fact it should be fun for everyone because that is how you make the habit stick.  Human nature is to do what we like the best over and over again. Let’s beat the childhood obesity epidemic and provide fitness activities that are fun for our kids.

Here are 5 great exercise and fun based games for kids of all ages, but 2-6 year-olds really get a kick out of them.

1. Red Light, Green Light – this is a wonderful fitness activity game for the littlest in the gang.  It teaches them to listen to a leader’s voice and respond accordingly, instantly.  Some people call it the stop and go game because it teaches kids to respond quickly to those words.  Either one will work.  You could do one of each on different days.  Gather all the children together in a safe play area where there is plenty of room for them to run.  You, the leader, yell out either “green light” of “go” and they run around like crazy until you yell “red light” or “stop”. Children who don’t respond correctly are asked to sit out.  The last one standing is the winner…if you want to make it competitive.  If you have mostly 2 or 3 year-olds I would suggest you just make it about listening and being active rather than winning.

1. Tag – the two-year-olds in the group might not be able to keep up with the older kids so if you have a mix of ages I suggest you conspire with the older ones so they can make it fun for the wee ones. I generally don’t make it a win-lose scenario.  Just let them run and have fun. The rules haven’t changed since you played it.  Everyone is active; lots of quick stops and starts and direction changes…and laughing.  Take part, be active with them and the little ones will quickly catch on.
2. Follow the Leader – depending on the leader this game can teach a myriad of skills without the children even knowing there is a lesson.  Just let them try to follow the leader, doing what they do to the best of their ability.  You might want to be the fitness activity leader first to give them some ideas of what the leader can do…hopping, jumping, skipping, running, backwards movement, sideways, lead a train and run all around, make certain noises while moving.  Just be silly, move and have fun.
3. Jumping Rope – this isn’t the kind of jumping rope you may be thinking of.  Put about a cup of dried beans or peas in an old sock and tie a knot in it.  To this knot tie a length of light rope or strong string about 8-12 feet long.  Now swing this around you in a circular motion and have the young athletes jump over the rope when it gets to them.  The two and three-year-olds will just be learning to jump so go really slow for them until they get the hang of it.  Encourage the older ones to help the younger ones in the spirit of cooperation rather than competition.  No winners or losers, just have fun.
4. Soccer – you don’t need a soccer pitch for this.  Your back yard or the outfield of a baseball diamond will do.  The littlest fit kids will just be getting good at running so for them you have to stop the ball in front of them and just encourage them to kick it.  I set up a goal of some sort…it’s usually a pile of jackets and a carriage or a light standard and something else.  You begin to teach about direction and passing to the older athletes.  This is an amazing game for kids’ fitness…great cardio. Just keep it really positive for the little ones with lots of opportunity for success and wild and crazy cheering.  Since they are the littlest and the slowest runners they can easily get frustrated.  If they get to whining and wailing I just put them in goal and give them a very important job!  Again, no competition.

If you play each of these games for 5 minutes only you will have completed 25 minutes pretty high cardio exercise …for the kids and you. Yep, you play too.  And if you go to a park there has to be at least 5 minutes of the slides and swings and other playground equipment…there’s your 30 minutes for the day.

Snazzy Snacks

Snazzy snack

At my daycare I provide a healthy morning and afternoon snack as well as lunch.  A typical snack plate can be seen here on this blogpost. I am sort of like a dog with a bone when it comes to kids and healthy eating, obesity and fitness, healthy snacks for kids, etc.  Each snack is accompanied by water or a 100% juice drink…not punches, cocktails or sugar added juices.  Snack almost always begins with the fruit component.  This example also has a couple of veggie sticks and a dab of roasted eggplant dip.  There is usually a whole grain of some sort.  It may be a small muffin or cookie for the treat portion.  It may be a Triscuit cracker with a small piece of cheese or a graham cracker with a bit of peanut butter. I aim for every snack to somehow include, fruit, whole grain, fat and protein. Most treats are home made such as muffins, cookies or my secret recipe granola bars.  Do the kids get sugar?  Yes.  It is difficult to have baked goods made in the average kitchen without sugar, but I always reduce the amount of sugar and fat in recipes. The point is I fill the kids up with whole foods and the bit of refined sugar they get is in the treat at the end.  As I mentioned before, I make my own granola bars but if I were to buy them I would buy Kashi bars or something like that.  I’m not a fan of most of the granola bars you find in the grocery store.  Most of them are just glorified cookies with various marketing and packaging ploys to make you feel like you are getting something healthy.  Have you ever noticed that they are close to the cookies in the store? Is it any wonder we have a childhood obesity epidemic around the world?

 

Grand Opening of the Fit Kids’ Sandbox

It’s April 7, 2011 and the sandbox is officially open for the season according to all my outdoorsy fit kids.  Yesterday we were stuck in snow with the tricycles and ride-em toys and today the sun shone and we shed layers and all the vehicles ran smoothly.

While my one-year-olds were busy playing basketball in an empty garbage can this morning the oldest child here today, who is 5, took it upon herself to officially open the sandbox for the season.

For the one-year-olds it was the first time they had been exposed to a sandbox. Although it is not necessarily considered a fitness activity, just getting to it for my little ones is a balancing act. They have to walk on uneven ground past the boat and my travelling son’s car, both of which have been covered for the winter, on a narrow path and up a hill and then into the sandbox.  All of this was a great challenge and adventure for my youngest, who has only been walking for a month or so.

For the 16-month-old the hills are becoming easier…in fact he is looking for hills and slopes to tackle. He quite enjoys the momentum he gets going downhill.  But for his pal, a 13- month- old girl, the challenges of slopes and uneven ground are a little greater.  Given the nature of this property and the places I take them, their physical fitness and stability will be above average for their age in no time.  And they are doing all this in boots, so when we switch to shoes when everything dries up they will be off and running.

When people arrive here with children that I refer to as “mall or sidewalk children” it is so obvious.  They can’t handle uneven ground, or slopes and hills, or bridges over little creeks, or climbing up on big rocks, all of which is normal here.  The kids who are here are physically active wherever we are on the property during all four seasons.

Fit Kids Through Play

Image via Wikipedia

FIT KIDS THROUGH PLAY

I am one of those daycare providers who is a bit fanatical about healthy food and old fashioned outdoor playtime.  Here, we go out for playtime (exercise for the children) in most any weather, except lightening and -20 Celsius or colder. The children who come here are fit kids, coordinated kids who learn to walk on uneven surfaces, active kids who learn to jump off a dock and climb up onto and swing on a big, old tire hung from a pine tree.

Today, we awoke to find that spring was just teasing us and winter had returned.  There was just enough snow to hinder the operation of push toys for the one-year-olds and make the tricycles impossible to peddle for the older kids.

What was a great puddle to play in yesterday was filled with wet snow this morning.  Needless to say there wasn’t a lot of running around or tag or hide and seek today.  It was perhaps their last day to create anything out of wet snow and their favourite creation seemed to be “cooking up tasty snow meals” and using the old tree stump for a work surface.  This is conveniently located beside yesterday’s puddle.  The depression that was a puddle yesterday became the serving platter for today’s “healthy snack”.  Between the puddle that became a serving platter, the stump that was a work surface and the two tricycles stuck in the snow they had a very efficient kitchen work triangle.

The creek which is running in places was like a magnet for all but the youngest.  She has yet to discover it.  The 15- month- old is drawn to it like a moth to light. That ought to be “fun” in the coming weeks.

By the afternoon the snow was all gone and it looked a lot more like spring again.  Tomorrow will be a new and different day outside, no doubt, and we will be back out there getting fit through play…and they won’t even know it.

Little Kid’s Workouts

Many parents try their best to keep their little children active, other than just playing. But sometimes a little change of pace is in order, for everybody.  To maximize a healthy living strategy I like to have a few alternative kid activities on hand for those days when it just isn’t great weather to be out in.  It has always worked for me, especially when they are pushing each other’s buttons, to start a fitness activity and make it a game.  Kids love to play “Simon Says”.  Let them take turns being “Simon”.  I usually go first to set some examples that are suitable for all ages and before you know it they are having a blast without even realizing they are doing exercises. Before they are 2 they can stretch up high and slither like a snake.  Learning to jump is always a challenge for children that age but they get the hang of it before you know it.

Another fit kid activity option is to buy a couple of different kids’ fitness or dance videos or DVD’s.  Just do 5 or 10 minutes at a time and then they can go back to whatever activity they were doing.  Sneak in these 5 or 10 minute healthy activity periods throughout the day.

The next time they get a little out of sorts on one of these indoor days try a healthy food activity. You can cut up a variety of fruits and veggies and you can all try to make faces on your plates.

And last but most important I think, do all this with them. Give some examples to help them get started.  They’ll think they have a fabulous parent who has fun with them, and they do, but you are really setting habits to have fit and healthy kids.

Don’t let your children be part of the childhood obesity epidemic in any way.

Spring Back Into Winter – Now What To Do?

Microscopic shot of a snowflake

Spring Back Into Winter – Now What Do They Do Outside?

You have decided to do what it takes to get both you and your children leading a healthier lifestyle.  You have committed to setting the example.  You’ve spent time outside in the winter when the snow was lots of fun.  Then sometime early in March the quality of the daylight changed and you knew spring was in the air.  You were teased with warm temperatures and lots of melting snow.

The kids were ready for serious puddle hunting…and jumping.  You even bought yourself some rubber boots so you could take part (remember this is about doing stuff with them).  And then the weather changes back to winter.  It’s below freezing night and day and there isn’t a lot of snow anywhere.  At least not enough to slide down many hills because grass is showing in places.  And yet it is still difficult to push the stroller through what remnant piles of snow do exist.

So what do you do?  Remember those awesome “white ice” puddles you used to love to crunch through when you were a kid? Well get out there and go on an adventure walk through the streets in search of white ice.  You will have the most luck in older neighbourhoods where the streets are more weathered and worn and have “puddle pockets.”

The toddlers can run during their quest and you may be pushing stroller or have a baby in a backpack.  Or you might just be one of the kids.

Just get out and do it and don’t forget to note where the best spring puddles might be because any day now that is going to be your quest.

Spring Means New Beginnings

Image via Wikipedia

Here it is March in Central Ontario.  The maple bushes are busy with taps dripping into hundreds of buckets.  Maple Syrup producers pray for cold nights and sunny days with above freezing temps.  And the then the sugar shacks go into high gear producing the maple syrup.

If you have never taken your family on an outing to a sugar bush then consider it for a weekend activity this spring.  It’s fun and informative and the kids always enjoy it.  Take advantage of being in the maple bush to get some exercise with your kids.

This could be your fresh start at a new beginning for your family.  Healthy and fit kids are created by parents who are or who strive to be healthy and fit.

The way to turn around the childhood obesity epidemic worldwide is for parents to care enough to do something.  Get up and move, put the healthy foods in your homes and set the example.

Make your fresh start something you will all enjoy taking part in.  Take pictures because you will be creating a family memory you will be proud of.