Be a Health & Fitness Role Model to Your Kids

A Filipino endocrinologist specializing in obese children once said that he would have more success with his young patients if not for their parents. I laughed out loud when I heard this because I know it is true. Let me give you just two examples that I have personally encountered.

Once, I had a client who complained to me that her overweight seven-year old son would not stop eating potato chips and other junk food. I asked her, “Who buys him the junk food?” She looked surprised for an instant and then very sheepishly said, “Me!” I told her that if she stopped buying those kinds of snacks, it would be the first step in fighting her child’s overweight problem. Not just the salty snacks but also the sweets. She didn’t look too happy with this advice and later on in the counseling session, I found out why. She and her husband were also “addicted” to the stuff.

Another time, I was a guest on a TV show for mothers. The topic was how to prevent obesity in kids. The producers of the show had arranged for me to talk to a young mother with an overweight two-year old.

So there I was, counseling this earnest young mom who was desperate because her toddler was growing bigger by the day and there was the child, sitting down beside her with one hand inside a bag of potato chips while the yaya was holding a soft drink bottle and giving him sips in between.

I almost fell off my chair when the mother said to me that she didn’t know why her child was getting to be so fat. When I pointed out that it was precisely stuff like junk food and soft drinks that was making her child obese, she said she couldn’t do anything about it because the kid would throw tantrums if he didn’t have his favorite snacks. Oh, and he would also kick and scream if she didn’t give him chocolate cake or ice cream for dessert every day.

I was totally frustrated when she concluded our interview by saying that she didn’t believe it was the food she was giving him that was making him fat but that it was probably his genes because his father was also overweight. In fact, she said, “All my in-laws are overweight.”

I didn’t make a dent in her argument when I asked if her husband and his family also ate the same way and she answered in the affirmative. There was obviously a couple of deep parenting issues involved here. She did not have the courage to go against the eating style of her husband and in-laws and she did not have the will to deal with her toddler’s tantrums. It was easier to just give in and blame his obesity on “genes”. Oh well, I just hope there were other mothers watching the show who had more discernment and who learned a thing or two about how to prevent obesity in their family.

These two mothers are exactly what that child obesity specialist was talking about. One of the reasons why kids become overweight is because of the eating habits of the parents. Not to mention the exercise habits too.

Studies indicate that if one parent is overweight, the child has a 40 percent chance of becoming overweight too. If both parents are overweight, then those percentages rise to 70 percent. The child with normal weight parents only has a seven-percent chance of becoming obese.

Science does confirm that people are born with the tendency to be overweight, normal weight or underweight. But just because you have fat genes does not mean that you will be fat. Your lifestyle – what you eat and how much exercise you get – will be the greater determining factors.

Your lifestyle will set the example for the lifestyle of your children. A U.S. study found that even before the age of two, children were already eating French fries, candy, soft drinks, and salty snacks. These children were not born wanting or desiring these types of food. It was their parents who introduced to these eating patterns. The sad part is, according to dietician Jodie Shield who has written two books on child nutrition, a child’s food preferences are generally shaped between ages 2 and 3. Thus, a child with unhealthy eating habits grows up to be an adult who prefers sweets instead of fruits.

The moral of the story here is that if you want your kids to be fit and healthy, you’ve got to start with yourself. Children listen to what you do, not what you say. If you eat junk food, your kids will do the same. If you are a couch potato, chances are your kids will be too. Maybe not right away because most kids are innately active throughout their childhood (thank goodness for Mother Nature) but they will usually follow in your footsteps by the time they are in their twenties.

Here is a practical tip that works (if you are willing to make it work). Do not allow highly processed, high-calorie, low-nutrient food in your house. Both you and your kids will be healthier and slimmer if you do this. I admit that the stuff tastes good but we can’t let our appetites and taste buds destroy our health and the health of our children.

However, total deprivation just leads to bingeing and an even greater desire for whatever is forbidden so I have found that the best compromise is to have a special day of the week set aside (usually a Saturday or Sunday) as junk food or fast food day. This is one way to have your cake and eat it too. My kids were easy to train since I did this from the time they were born. My husband is another story because, after all, another woman raised him!

Continue reading here: Pros and Cons of Super Slow Training

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