Information on a new vaccine available to girls to help combat cervical cancer
Tips on what to use and avoid for babies at bath time
Child fare
Here's an ironic statistic: more than half the adult population in the UK is overweight or obese and at the same time the number of women with eating disorders has soared to 170,000.
However, it's not just adults who risk developing negative attitudes about food and eating. Shocking statistics published by the British Medical Journal today reveal that one in five children under four is overweight and one in ten is obese.
And in 1998 'The Health Survey for England' found that the number of children who were obese had trebled in the last 20 years.
Meanwhile in 1999, The Schools Health Education Unit published a report that found 60% of 14-15-year-old girls and 28% of 14-15-year-old boys questioned wanted to lose weight even though only 13% were clinically overweight.
So, while we battle with our own physical anxieties isn't it time we thought about the messages we are passing on to our children? After all, a recent study by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in America found that boys and girls, aged 9-14, were more likely to worry about their body shape and to diet frequently if their parents did.
Somewhere along the line we've started to believe there are good and bad foods, when what we should be teaching our children is that there are only good and bad diets. The simple fact is that children need to eat nutritious foods to grow and develop healthily. But, because busy schedules and habits such as eating on the run and ordering takeaway consume our lives, healthy eating often gets short shrift.
That's why it is essential that the concept of a balanced diet - currently being taught within the National Curriculum in schools - is reinforced at home.
Here are some simple ways to teach your children to eat healthily.
- Ditch the 'naughty but nice' attitude. Thanks to those old cream cake adverts a whole generation has grown up attaching guilt and sin to certain foods. Whether or not you buy into this belief, it's important not to project ideas about what foods are 'good' or 'bad' onto our kids as this could make them feel anxious and worried about what they eat. A negative association with food can cause eating problems later in life.
- Limit high fat snacks. Watch the amount of high fat foods and snacks your children eat. Gently warn them about the long-term dangers of obesity. Being obese will increase their chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis and some types of cancer.
- Practice what you preach. Make a point to always feed your children fresh vegetables (frozen ones are just as good if you're short on time) and limit the servings of processed, freezer-based, convenience meals. A balanced meal should be based on starchy carbohydrates (potatoes, pasta, rice or bread) with a small portion of protein (lean meat, eggs, tofu or nuts), dairy (yoghurt, cheese or milk) and a large portion of vegetables.
- Don't use food as a reward. Try to disassociate food with good behaviour. If you make a habit of telling your kids they can have a chocolate as long as they're good, or you'll take them to McDonald's as a special treat, they may start relying on food to feel valued. Find other ways of reinforcing good behaviour, such as reading to kids or giving older children books or taking them to the cinema.
1 | 2 | next
printer friendly
send to a friend
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Horoscopes| Message Boards | Quizzes | Newsletters | Join
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB
