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Creative Ways to Get Your Kids to Appreciate Vegetables
If American kids had disposable incomes, they’d probably buy groceries like every day was Halloween – reams of Twizzlers, bushels of candy corn, and pounds of M&M’s, Reese’s, and Kit Kats. Unfortunately, the popular US diet (for adults as well as kids) has its consequences. Namely, 39.6 percent of adults are obese. (Obesity is defined as having a BMI over 30.)
Perhaps even more alarming, about one in three US adolescents or teens is overweight or obese. The health risks associated with excess weight include sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. That’s why it’s important to teach your kids to eat well: so that they grow up to be healthy, active adults. To do so, this might mean coming up with creative ways to inspire your children to appreciate and enjoy that most dreaded of meals: vegetables. Here are some helpful tips to get you started courtesy of guest blogger Jason Kenner.
Farmers Market
If your kids eat at the school cafeteria every day, their idea of “healthy food” might narrow down to neon-colored peas or pineapple chunks smushed into plastic ramekins. To teach them about the bounty and splendor of vegetables, take them to a farmers market. You may not know yourself that these markets offer interesting and unusual veggies. From Kohlrabi, Jerusalem artichokes, and green zebra tomatoes to Romanesco broccoli with its intricate coral-like patterns, the offerings can be as lush and varied as perennials in a plant nursery! Letting your kids pick vegetables out of the booths might prove to be enough of a hands-on experience to get them at least familiar with some of the healthiest foods in the world.
Raised Vegetable Beds
If there aren’t many farmers markets in your area, you might consider planting a raised vegetable bed. All you need is to hammer four planks (preferably cedar, since it’s rot-resistant) into a box. Dig out a square gulch, not too deep, in your backyard and fit the box over it and fill it with manure and fertilizer. Then, poke your finger through the surface to make rows where you plant your seedlings. Each vegetable has its own preference regarding sun, shade, moisture, and the month of the year to put it in the ground, but you’ll get all that down. And when you do, you’ll be feeding your kids heirloom tomatoes all summer long, right out of your garden.
Something else to bear in mind: if your backyard needs some additional modifications, as an added bonus, many kinds of home renovations can also increase the appraisal value of your home. Just make sure you keep those receipts!
Delicious Meals
Parents don’t have loads of free time, so serving your kids gorgeous vegetable medleys may seem preposterous. If so, then try looking up recipes meant to be simple weeknight fare. These might include quesadillas, spaghetti with lentils, tortilla or minestrone soup, or spaghetti squash burrito bowls. Making vegetables a staple of your kids’ diet from a young age may help them eat well for the rest of their lives, a routine that will prove invaluable to their health as they get older.
It’s also essential that your kids are drinking enough water every day. Not only will they avoid the extra sugar that comes with soda and juices, but drinking water removes toxins, prevents dehydration, and regulates body temperature.
Parenting Tricks
Meanwhile, if all these tips fail to lure your kids away from McDonald’s and Arby’s, try good old parenting trickery. Dress up your platter o’ asparagus or broccoli with a dab of butter (which is better for you than you might think) or a fun dip. Make them pick their vegetables out of your raised garden beds so that they can participate in the (suburban) farm-to-table process on their own. Finally, eat vegetables yourself, keep them out as appetizers during meals, and don’t pressure your kids to swallow every wedge of cauliflower on their plates. The less you stress about the importance of eating vegetables, the less they’ll latch onto it as a point of contention, until it’s simply part of your household’s regular diet.
Dr. Teresa Fuller is a pediatrician with an expertise in integrative holistic medicine. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!
10 Horizon-Broadening After-School Activities for Your Kids
After your kids are back from school, they likely have a great deal of free time on their hands. Instead of leaving them to their own devices, you could encourage them to pursue a constructive activity or hobby of some kind. The right sort of activity can not only broaden their horizons but also offer countless hours of fun.
Dr. Teresa Fuller shares 10 activities that are both enjoyable and teach your child something about themselves and the world around them:
Saving the environment
The world’s climate is out of balance, natural disasters are rising, and resources are depleting rapidly. If your family feels strongly about the environment, you could teach your child to be a planet warrior – live more consciously, learn more about the environment, and help restore the balance (by planting trees, recycling, reducing your carbon footprint, and more).
Volunteering
There are several worthy causes out there that could use a helping hand, from assisting the homeless to rehabilitating injured animals and everything in between. Participating in a volunteer program would allow your child to learn valuable lessons (like giving back), pick up useful skills, and make lifelong friends.
Blogging
Blogging (which is modern-day writing) can be surprisingly beneficial. It can teach your child discipline, give them mental clarity, and help them express themselves. Your child could blog about any subject they’re passionate about – like sustainability, science, fashion, food, or games.
Coding
Coding is quickly becoming a must-have skill. Teaching your kids coding can give them a leg-up down the road and expand their career options. Learning how to code isn’t as hard as you might think. Sites like Code Profs offer great coding resources and insights.
Gardening
Gardening is a wonderful way for your child to connect with nature. They can learn more about plants and the environment – and get their required dose of Vitamin D while they’re at it. Gardening is a natural health booster and can help their cognitive development.
Foreign languages
If your child enjoys learning and has a knack for communication, they may enjoy picking up a foreign language. They will also learn more about a foreign culture and history along the way, which can broaden their horizons and teach them about the world. And, again, knowing an extra language is good for their future career.
Meditating
Modern-day life can be stressful and demanding. One of the best ways for people to let off steam, manage their emotions, and stay calm amidst life’s various storms is by meditating. If your child learns how to meditate early in life, it’s going to stand them in good stead when they grow up.
Sports and other physical activities
If your child has a lot of energy to spare, you could channel it into a sport or other physical pastime. Besides keeping them fit physically, sports can also help boost their overall development by teaching them teamwork, decision-making, responsibility, and more. Some example sports are football, baseball, martial arts, and swimming.
Music
Music is a wonderful hobby, and almost all children enjoy it. Besides the fun factor, it can also boost your child’s cognitive development, help keep their stress levels down, and, according to John Hopkins, keeps the brain young. Lessons are easily accessible on the internet these days for free. Some instruments your child may enjoy learning are the guitar, drums, piano, or violin.
Furthering your teen’s entrepreneurial ambitions
If your child enjoys the thought of being a businessman, you could help them to start their own business. Businesses aren’t hard to launch and can teach them practical skills – like math, negotiating, and money management. They can also learn all about what launching a business involves – creating a business plan, setting up a website, marketing, and forming a legal structure (like LLC). Read this ZenBusiness guide on how to start a company for ideas on getting started.
Some easy-to-start businesses are selling T-shirts, doing hair and make-up, offering lawn mowing, pet sitting, babysitting, and selling food. They could also support a worthy cause – like selling eco-friendly products – or do business in a planet-friendly way.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that your child probably has several preferences and ideas of their own – they are their own in-development person. You should sit down and talk to them about what they enjoy and then pick something that would be helpful to their development overall. Whether you’re helping them start a business, learn a new skill like coding, or practice meditation, you can broaden their horizons.
Image via Unsplash
By Jason Kenner of onparparent.com
Reversing the impact of the pandemic on childhood obesity
What if we tackle child obesity like we tackled the COVID 19 pandemic? My interview on KevinMD here
Sleep Smarter Tips by Shawn Stevenson
Get 21 tips on better sleep here: https://themodelhealthshow.com/sleep-problems-tips/