Kids Are What They Eat

It’s never too late for parents to encourage healthy eating habits in children.

By Andrea Frank Henkart, MA, CNC – A modified excerpt from Isagenix For Healthy Moms and Kids  in recognition of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

Most kids today live in a fast-food world from which they can’t escape. The teacher gives out candy for good behavior, the coach throws celebratory pizza and soda parties, the doctor offers lollipops if they don’t cry, and parents-in-a-rush often prefer the convenience of a drive-thru. A study from the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation showed that 34 percent of all food advertisements targeting kids are for candy and snacks. Of the nearly 9,000 ads reviewed during the five months covered by the study, none were for fruits or vegetables. Health in America has fallen by the wayside.

The American national dishes are hamburgers, hot dogs, apple pie, donuts, and macaroni and cheese. We might as well confess: we are a junk food nation. Just look at any fast-food restaurant. You will find entire families consuming large amounts of pizza, burgers, fries, ice cream, and extra large sodas all laden with trans-fats, preservatives, excessive sugar, and empty carbohydrates. Then parents wonder why their kids can’t sit still or end up sitting comatose, lost in a food stupor. When it comes to children’s nutrition, junk-in-equals-junk-out does not really apply, as much of the junk food your kids eat actually sticks in their body.

Tragically, we are facing one of the worst epidemics in the world today. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American society has become “obesogenic.” This word first appeared in 1996 and refers to conditions that lead people to become excessively fat. This obesogenic trend is becoming worse in developed countries, especially among young people who eat too much of the wrong things and don’t get enough exercise.

To help you understand how serious this is, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry stated, “Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion. Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise.”

The obesity epidemic has even filtered down to the playpen. Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children age 2 to 5 years and adolescents aged 12 to 19 years. It has more than tripled for children aged 6 to 11 years. At present, approximately eleven million children over 6 years of age are considered obese.

Pediatricians and gastroenterologists continue to link this worldwide obesity epidemic to an increasing number of children with a wide range of health problems that were previously linked to adult disease. In other words, overweight kids equal sick kids. Some of the health problems include high blood pressure, elevated blood cholesterol levels, Type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and psychological issues that include low self-esteem, body image, and depression. The childhood obesity epidemic is so severe, former Surgeon General, Richard Carmona, said, “Because of the increasing rates of obesity, unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity, we may see the first generation that will be less healthy and have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.”

James O. Hill, executive director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, disagrees with the statement that kids will die early. Instead, he said, “What’s going to happen is that they’re going to live 30, 40 or 50 years with debilitating chronic diseases. What happens to adults, we’re beginning to see starting in children. We have 13-year-olds with (Type 2) diabetes, and 20-year-olds with cardiovascular disease. Now we’ve got very good drugs and procedures to keep people alive, but they’re going to live the majority of their lives with debilitating chronic diseases, and for many people that’s a lot scarier than dying early.”

While this may be terribly frightening, the good news is that the trend is reversible. Identifying the problem and its cause is just the first step. Some parents refuse to admit that their kid has a problem. They shrug off their kid’s extra weight as baby-fat; unwilling to admit that there may be a health issue brewing, like a time bomb waiting to explode. The world needs to wake up from its collective “coka-coma” and take action. It’s not difficult as long as parents are willing to accept their responsibility for teaching their children healthy lifestyles. You don’t have to create models of eating perfection, or prevent a piece of candy or a cookie from ever passing their lips, but childhood eating habits do need to be changed and teen diets adjusted to accommodate their specific nutritional needs.

Parents need to take a good look at what their kids are eating and more to the point, what they are not eating. A diet lacking in all the essential vitamins, minerals and important nutrients may create a road to poor health. Numerous studies have shown that when you provide your kids with wholesome food, they continue to crave good nutrition for the rest of their lives. They take their cues from the adults around them and learn by imitation and identification, as well as discussion. It is never too late to start demonstrating good eating and lifestyle habits. Your kids may learn valuable skills and develop nutritional habits that can last them a lifetime.

Parents, learn more about how you can incorporate Isagenix products into your child’s diet by purchasing Andrea’s book, Isagenix For Healthy Moms and Kids. Also, for a great list of Isagenix products suggested for children, see “Healthy snacks kids can really sink their teeth into” on IsaFYI.