Kidstuff Kidstuff
By Paul L. Marz, M.D.
There are times that you might wish your child was a plant. Then you could just set out a little fresh water, sunlight and lots of good garbage and nature would produce a good strong tree, able to withstand the blasts that life can bring.
If this is your image, we only need to change it a bit. You see, people are more like a factory than a plant. I am sure you have heard the saying, "You are what you eat." In the growing adolescent, this image can help explain why this is true.
Picture that little factory sitting on a hillside; a stream of trucks and pipes bringing in raw materials and sending out lots of products. The factory prospers and consistently grows larger and more imposing. This is a pretty picture and, I hope, the in-flow balances well with the out-flow.
However, when too much product goes out for too long, only an empty shell will remain. When extra loads of supplies are coming in faster than needed, the storehouses overflow.
Thus it us in children with weight issues. One more analogy. When the raw materials arriving at the factory are of poor quality (read that junk food) the factory's product suffers.
Your growing adolescent is just such a factory. In fact, it is worse with the added stress of the high growth rate during this stage of life. (Factories also can suffer from over-expansion.)
The growth rate in adolescence is second only to the newborn period of life. During this stage, your little child morphs into a budding adult with the changing challenges and goals that go along with this miraculous transformation. This requires lots of nutritional support to accomplish.
The American diet is the most abundant in the world, so how can there be a problem with supply? Unfortunately, many publications only outline the problem of the poor nutritional status in our children. This article will address a few quick fix solutions.
Fast food is fast, but most of it supplies energy in the form of fat. It is missing out on the iron and vitamins and other nutrients needed to build one's body. Taking one key ingredient, low iron levels have been shown to lower cognitive and physical function of our children, yet few seem to care.
As our population ages, the issues with osteoporosis have received more press. To build healthy bones early, make sure your adolescent has enough calcium in the diet, over 1000mg per day. Studies show that exercise and avoiding carbonated beverages result in stronger bones and fewer fractures. Growing children need to maximize bone building as this is what they'll have to last a lifetime. Add exercise to strengthen those growing bones for a more healthy future.
What is it that you can do at home?
Growing children need a steady source of supplies to grow and learn and keep pace with life and living. Get a copy of the food pyramid and really read it. Put it out for the kids to see, too. Let it become your guide to making correct food choices. Drop a lot of the high fat items and choose low fat when ever possible. Increase fruits and vegetables along with whole grain products. Teach yourself and your children to make sound choices even when flooded with bright attractive packages.
Teens have a habit of believing that they are always right. So if they don't feel like eating, or are too busy, they just skip the meal. Often, dieting kids feel that missing meals will help them lose weight. Studies show that this bad habit will actually cause them to gain weight as they will compensate by over-eating later. Breakfast seems to be the most common meal missed, even when it's been proven to negatively affect classroom performance.
So the take-home point is: Eat a balanced moderate meal three times per day. Skipping meals to lose weight will only make things worse.
Snacking is a major pastime in this culture. Next time you are in the store, just take a peek at the choices. You would think you are in an action movie. Snacks can and do provide a significant part of the growing child's diet. Make these action choices:
Fresh Fruit or vegetables with low-fat yogurt dip
String cheese
Cheese and crackers
Low-fat frozen yogurt
Calcium fortified juices or cereal bars
Vegetarian pizza
Avoid high sugar, high-fat prepared type snacks. These types of products will quench any hunger, but also can suppress a healthy appetite for the balanced appropriate meal at dinner time.
I have used the word "avoid" too much in this article. So let's think positive. Make a list of what is acceptable/desirable/healthy/preferred. Pick your word. Then take this list everywhere: shopping, traveling, dining out, wherever...and re-train your eating habits. This is the only body you will get. Give it exercise and healthy foods so it will last.