HEALTHY KIDS CLUB
Our goal here at The Club Fitness & Tanning, is to support a healthy lifestyle for everyone in your family, including kids! On our Healthy Kids Club page we will be giving monthly tips on Healthy Recipes, Healthy Exercises, Fun Family Activities and general health updates and events, all having to do with children. Make sure to check in on a regular basis. Also,if you have questions or areas that you would like to see highlighted on this page please send us an email and we will try to get that in our next issue.
Thank you and stay active!!!
Helping Kids Eat Healthy
If you've followed the news on childhood obesity lately, you know the state of affairs is pretty grim. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the past two decades, and most signs point to the next generation being the first whose life expectancy will be shorter than their parents'. Much of the blame for this trend has deservedly been laid at the feet of the producers and marketers of unhealthy food aimed at our youngest consumers, whose parents face an uphill battle: trying to pit fresh, healthy foods devoid of mascots or sidekicks against superheroes and cartoon animals in a struggle to tempt their children's palates and stomachs.
Since most kids have hummingbird metabolisms that adults can only envy, it's often easy to give them a free pass and let them eat whatever they want. But eventually those metabolisms slow down and the pounds settle in. Also, as physical activity decreases and processed food intake increases annually, kids aren't burning calories the way their parents might have when they were their age. And even if the kids aren't getting fat, they are establishing eating habits they'll take into adulthood. As parents, you can help foster a love for healthy eating and exercise that will last your kids a lifetime—hopefully a long one!
Eating can so often be a classic power struggle where kids try to finally locate their mom and dad's last nerve. (I can remember family dinners with my brother and parents that could teach Hezbollah a thing or two about standoffs.) There are a number of strategies you can use to mitigate this type of deadlock. One is to let your kids help with the selection and preparation of the food. If they picked out the veggies at the farmers' market and helped cook them, they might be less inclined to feed them to the family pet. Another is to frame eating vegetables and healthy food as being its own reward. Otherwise, by offering dessert as a reward for finishing vegetables, you create a system where unhealthy food is a treat and healthy food sucks. With these thoughts in mind, let's take a look at some of the most unhealthy foods being marketed to your kids today, and some healthier alternatives you can offer to replace each of them.
HEALTHY EXERCISE
Jump Rope
Make it a fun afternoon, set up jump rope competitions or see who can jump rope all the way up the driveway. Don't make it a choie make it a fun challenge!
TIP
Get Out And Get Moving! Whether it is hiking, biking, skating or swimmining. Take advantage of our Beautiful Michigan Summers and Move at least 1 hour everyday.
