HEALTHY EATING

I have heard a lot of parents saying things like, “my child doesn’t like fruits”, or “my child doesn’t eat vegetables”. And I wonder why, when these are the things the children should be eating. Could it be that we don’t have the time to chop the vegetables or the patience to cut the fruits and make them creative enough for the children to eat?

It is important to note that healthy eating can stabilize children’s energy, sharpen their minds, and even out their moods. By encouraging healthy eating habits now, you can make a huge impact on your children’s lifelong relationship with food and give them the best opportunity to grow into healthy, confident adults.

Children develop a natural preference for the foods they enjoy the most, and the foods most served them, so the challenge is to make healthy choices appealing.

Children love cookies and sweets so you can ensure that your children’s diet is as nutritious and wholesome as possible, even while allowing for some of their favorite treats.

The childhood impulse to imitate is strong, so it’s important you act as a role model for your kids. It’s no good asking your child to eat fruit and vegetables while you eat biscuits, chocolates and juice all day. By eating fruits and vegetables and not overindulging in the less nutritious stuff, you'll be sending the right message. Another way to be a good role model is to serve appropriate portions and not overeat.

Tips to promote healthy childhood eating

• Have regular family meals. Knowing dinner is served at approximately the same time every night and that the entire family will be sitting down together is comforting and enhances appetite. Breakfast is another great time for a family meal, especially since children who eat breakfast tend to do better in school.

• Cook more meals at home. Eating home cooked meals is healthier for the whole family and sets a great example for children about the importance of food. Restaurant meals tend to have more fat, sugar, and salt. Save dining out for special occasions.

• Get children involved. Children enjoy helping adults to shop for food stuffs, selecting what goes in their lunch box, and preparing dinner. It's also a chance for you to teach them about the nutritional values of different foods, and (for older children) how to read food labels.

• Make a variety of healthy snacks available instead of empty calorie snacks. Keep plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grain snacks, and healthy beverages (water, milk, pure fruit juice) around and easily accessible so children become used to reaching for healthy snacks instead of empty calorie snacks like juice, chips, or cookies.

• Limit fat intake. By avoiding fried foods and choosing healthier cooking methods, such as broiling, grilling, roasting, and steaming. Choose low-fat or nonfat dairy products.

• Limit portion sizes. Don’t insist your child cleans the plate, and never use food as a reward or bribe.

LIMIT SUGAR AND SALT

One of the biggest challenges for parents is to limit the amount of sugar and salt in their children’s diets. Most parents prefer to give their children 2 packets of juice to water. Water is an essential part of a child’s nutrition, so parents should cut down on the juice boxes and encourage the children to drink plenty of water.

It is recommended that sugar intake for children be limited to 3 teaspoons (12 grams) a day. Cutting back on candy and cookies is only part of the solution. Large amounts of added sugar can also be hidden in foods such as bread, ketchup, and fast food.

• Don’t ban sweets entirely. Having a no sweets rule is an invitation for cravings and overindulging when given the chance.

• Give recipes a makeover. Many recipes taste just as good with less sugar.

• Avoid sugary drinks. One 12-oz soda(that is 1 and a half cups of juice) has about 10 teaspoons of sugar in it, more than three times the daily recommended limit for children! Try adding a splash of fruit juice to sparkling water instead.

• Cut down on processed foods, such as white bread and cakes, which cause blood sugar to go up and down, and can leave kids tired and sapped of energy.

• Create your own popsicles and frozen treats. Freeze 100% fruit juice in an ice-cube tray with plastic spoons as popsicle handles. Or try freezing grapes, berries, banana pieces, or peach slices, then topping with a little chocolate sauce or whipped cream for an amazing treat.

I look forward to great results as our children begin to eat healthy! A healthy lifestyle begins with a proper diet. Healthy eating is important for the proper formation of bones, teeth, muscle and a healthy heart. Diet can affect growth and development in small children as well as teens. Childhood obesity is on the rise, and by promoting a healthy diet, children can maintain a healthy weight and stay healthy as they grow into young adults.

I will be listing out the different food types and their nutritional values in the next post!

Thanks a lot Vivian for inspiring this write up!

TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN TO LOVE

Valentine is here again! What plans do you have for your children? We have spent valentine with our spouses these past valentines, why don’t we include our children this year? Use this opportunity amongst others to teach them about love. Let them understand the importance of sharing and showing love properly. Teaching children to love others is not accomplished merely by instruction. The best results come when parents model the values of love and involve their children in projects of love. Your gestures of love towards them and towards others influence your children deeply. Your job as a parent is to make your children conscious of love, its importance and its power. They need to have love stirred up within them. This isn’t your task for just when they are little children, it continues even when they are teenagers and adults themselves.

If our children, who are our future, do not learn about love they will be unable to show it to others and then we would face a future world that is cold and heartless. It is the ability to love that makes us human. Love dwells in each and every one of us and it is our job as parents to make sure that our children learn how to love. Children have the responsibility to love and serve others now, not just when they grow up.

If our children do not learn to love they will lose the ability to feel and show love, which is one of the most precious gifts that God has given us.

Learning to love will help children avoid many of the pitfalls that come as they grow. It can make them a better person; give them the confidence to do what is right and help make the world a better place.

For this valentine, give gifts to your children and encourage them to give gifts to others.

I plan to go to an orphanage with my family. As part of teaching my children to share gifts with the less privileged and also as part of teaching them how to treat the less privileged (with love and respect).

Wishing you all the best in this season of love, and remember, showing of love should not be limited to this one day in the year but should be a life style for us and our children.

Happy valentine!

VALUES WE SHOULD TEACH OUR CHILDREN

1. HONESTY: The best way to teach your child to be truthful is to be truthful yourself. Don’t tell your child to tell your landlord that you are not at home when you are, or let them hear you telling your friend that you are in Lagos when you are in Abuja. Also don’t over react when your child lies; instead help them find a way to tell the truth. When you discover they have done something, instead of asking “why did you break the glass”? You could ask, “What happened that the glass got broken?" That way the child has no opportunity to lie.

Your child takes cues from you, so it’s important you avoid any form of deception. Let your child hear you being truthful with other adults. It might not be convenient, it might not be comfortable, but you always feel good after telling the truth.

2. JUSTICE: Insist your child makes amends. Teach your child to identify and express her feelings and to understand why she behaved in a certain way, and then encourage her to take actions to remedy a wrong. Saying “I’m sorry” is easy for a child and lets a child off the hook without forcing her to think. But having a child make amends conveys a much stronger message. Help your child think of a way to compensate if they have behaved badly towards another. Perhaps they could replace a playmates toy they damaged with one of theirs. By encouraging your child to make such gestures, you emphasize the importance of treating people fairly.

3. DETERMINATION: Encourage your child to take on a challenge. Determination is a value you can encourage from a very young age. The easiest way to do this is by avoiding excessive praise, and by providing children with honest feedback, delivered in a gentle, supportive fashion. Another way to help children develop determination is to encourage them to do things that don’t come easily- and to praise them for their initiative. My daughter is shy in front of a crowd,(she calls it stage fright), so I encourage her to do presentations in front of everyone in the house. I also include her in competitions that involve her standing before a crowd. We are not yet there, but we are making progress. Congratulate children when they manage to do things that are difficult for them, this encourages them and makes them determined to keep trying.

4. CONSIDERATION: Teach children to think about other people’s feelings. Engage your child in problem-solving exercises; this helps them learn the value of consideration. Over time, they see that words or actions can make another person smile or feel better and that when they are kind to someone else, that person is nice to them. This feedback encourages other genuine acts of consideration.

5. LOVE: Be generous with your affection. We as parents tend to think that children are naturally loving and generous with their affection. This is true, but for loving sentiments to last, it has to be reciprocated. Let your child see you demonstrate love and affection for the people in your life. Talk to them about how much you love and appreciate their grandparents, aunt, uncles. And of course, don’t let a day pass without showing your child how much you love her. The more hugs and kisses you give, the more hugs and kisses you get. The more you say ‘I love you”, the more your house is filled with love. Even when the hassle of the day catches up with me, my daughter remembers to always say “I love you” with a hug and a kiss, that makes my day.

Remember that you cannot give what you don’t have, so if these values are lacking in your life, it will be hard to instill or teach them to your children. If you need to improve yourself as a parent please do so for the sake of our children who deserve the best of us.

Till next time, Excellence is our aim!