Take a good look at this picture. Does it look familiar? It’s very sad to see a child indulging in junk food watching television. Parents are held responsible for this behavior.

It amazes me how many children are overweight today. Is it because parents are working long hours and some are even working two jobs to try to make ends meet? Absolutely! Our lifestyles today are very complex. The stay at home Mom is not home anymore….she is working and not available to her children like our mothers were when we were growing up.

Our children are suffering today; a parent isn’t always accessible to them when they come home from school. Many children today are “latch key” kids. Which means, I can eat whatever I want and do whatever I want because no one is home to tell me otherwise. This is sad, but true.

Children who are inactive and are overeaters will face many health issues as they grow older. They are at risk for heart disease and diabetes, just to name a few.

As a parent, you need to get involved with your child to make sure they are active. Help them find an activity that they enjoy. Take time out in your day to engage in an activity together; such as cleaning their bedroom, taking the dog for a walk, bowling, start an exercise program together, etc.

Our children are literally starving today! We have let them become picky eaters and pretty much “caved in” to letting them decide what they want to eat – not good!

So what can a parent do to change these bad eating habits? First of all, get rid of all the junk food in your house and replace these items with wholesome, healthy foods; such as, cheese sticks, carrots, celery sticks with peanut butter, apples, grapes, milk, etc.

Instill in your child a desire for wholesome foods; it’s up to you to make taste pleasant. Sliced turkey makes an excellent sandwich on whole grain bread. A protein drink when on the run also fills the bill. If you instill a desire for low-fat foods in your child, when tempted with high-fat foods, such as hot dogs, they will run to the low-fat choice.

Many teenagers never eat a genuine salad. Milk is replaced by the “shake” that comes with fries; the only problem is its lack of calcium and protein from the milk it was supposed to replace. We are mislead often because we assume that the item listed as “shake” is really a milk shake. Unfortunately, it is frequently made with an artificial product and contains no milk. Often even the “shake” is replaced by some nutritionless soda drink.

Also, it might help to make an appointment to see a nutritionist to work out a healthy eating plan for your child.

Additionally, the best way to make sure of complete nutrition is to use the good side of food technology and provide sensible supplementation. It is just about impossible to make sure the children get everything in their diet.

It is vital for your child to consume supplements on a daily basis. I highly recommend a healthy meal replacement shake as a snack along with a multi-vitamin/mineral> and vitamin C as well. Our children need to take vitamins daily to build good health!

There is another most important reason for optimum nutrition; degenerative disease. We now know many of the roles of early nutrition in heart disease, cancer, stroke, diverticular disease, osteoporosis and others. There is a significant influence. Of course, studies continue in these areas because nutrition research is never finished. Currently much research is focused on finding just how much of each of the key nutrients is needed for the protective effect. We cannot wait for the “perfect number.” These nutrients are totally safe used sensibly, and they can help us avoid much distress for the future. There is just no point in taking a chance. Supplementation can’t do any harm, has the potential to do much good.

Begin today to take charge of the health of your child. It can pay off in massive dividends for the child both now and in the future.

Information obtained from A Better Health Series, Optimal Nutrition for Healthy Children, Dr. Bruce B. Miller and comments were made from Health & Wellness Haven.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 2:36 pm and is filed under CHILDRENS HEALTH, Uncategorized, Weight Loss, health, minerals, nutrition, vitamins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.