Kids Health

As we all know by now, many children and young adults are in need of a health overhaul! Here is an excerpt from an article I read:

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NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
NIH News
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) http://www.nichd.nih.gov/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, January 11, 2006

MOST BEHAVIORS PRECEDING MAJOR CAUSES OF PREVENTABLE DEATH HAVE BEGUN BY YOUNG ADULTHOOD

By the time they reach early adulthood, a large proportion of American youth have begun the poor practices contributing to three leading causes of preventable death in the United States: smoking, overweight and obesity, and alcohol abuse. This finding is according to an NIH-funded analysis of the most comprehensive survey of adolescent health behavior undertaken to date.

"Smoking, obesity, and alcohol abuse are leading contributors to preventable death in the United States," said Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the NIH Institute that funded the analysis. "By early adulthood, a large proportion of Americans smoke, are overweight, and drink alcohol to excess."

Principal investigator Kathleen Mullan Harris, Ph.D., and her colleagues of the Carolina Population Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, conducted their analysis using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

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This being said, what can we do to help our children become healthier? Set a good example is the best way I know. Kids won't listen when you tell them to eat their vegetables if you are not eating your vegetables. Exercise, turn off the TV or at least lessen your/their time in front of it. I teach kids every Wednesday how to prepare healthy and delicious foods and they love it! I once had a Mom tell me her son didn't like broccoli which was one of the dishes we were preparing that day and not only did he like it, he had seconds! If they are part of the process, they are more likely to eat it. Let them make mistakes in the kitchen, let them get creative. Let's take a sandwich (we're making a sandwich bar in class this Wednesday.)How about adding shredded carrots, hummus another interesting spread, homemade aioli? Throw it all in! It's fun and anytime you cn can more vegetables to anything, it's a good thing!
See you in class,
Patty