Nutrition For Your Child Part 1

STAY-N-WEIGH

Part One: Health and Nutrition for your Child

By Lisa Hassell

After all those holiday treats, this is certainly a popular month for adults to join gyms! But now is also a great time to make a New Year’s Resolution to help your children become healthier, too. As rates of childhood obesity and weight-related diseases in children continue to rise, parents are sometimes left unsure of what to do, how to do it, or even how to find the time to do it.

This is the first of a seven-part Friday Stay-N-Play blog series about child nutrition and wellness. We hope this series will give you good information as well as some tasty and nutritious recipes, fun ideas for your child’s lunchbag, and helpful tips for making your whole family just a bit healthier this year.

THE SCARY STATS

• Nationally, about 10% of children ages 2-5 are overweight.
• According to the 2009North Carolina’s Child Heath Assessment and Monitoring Program (CHAMP), 32% ofNorth Carolina’s 10-17 year-old children are overweight or obese.
• Despite the previous statistic, only 15% of parents describe their children as overweight, indicating that sometimes love really may be blind!
• North Carolinaranks 14th in our country for highest percentage of overweight and obese children ages 10-17.
• Overweight and obese children are more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, asthma, type 2 diabetes, joint problems, musculoskeletal discomfort, fatty liver disease, gallstones, and reflux and heartburn. These problems were once mostly associated with adulthood but are now cropping up in more and more children.
• Overweight and obese children are more likely to experience low self-esteem and depression.

Throughout his life, my own son has consistently been at the very top of the growth charts for both height and weight. Although his doctor isn’t concerned and I know Jacob comes by this naturally, given his dad’s size, I still find myself worrying about his future weight and overall health. I guess worrying is what moms do best, right?!

Fortunately, being healthy is about much more than just a number on a scale. A healthy lifestyle made up of nutritious food and daily physical activity is important no matter your child’s weight. Good food and exercise lead to improvements in muscular and skeletal strength, endurance, energy, vision, memory, and the immune system, leading to fewer illnesses.

Here’s to a happy, healthy new year for you and your family!

COMING UP:

Part 2: Eat the Rainbow

Part 3: Mealtime Matters

Part 4: Snacktime – More Than Just The Munchies

Part 5: Beverages – An Unlikely Suspect

Part 6: Mini Mouths – Creating a Foodie Under 2

Part 7: Favorite Recipes

Lisa Hassell is a stay-at-home mom to a 2-year-old in Indian Trail, NC. She writes for StayNPlay and also has a parenting blog at http://tottalks.wordpress.com.