KidZone
notes for grown-ups
ON THIS PAGE:
First, click here. (Heads Up! info) / Kids Who Want to Play with Food / Kids are Sponges / An Apple a Day... / Even More Resources for Grown-Ups / Did you know? / Breakfast Cereal = Nutrition Façade / A Body in Motion Stays in Motion / Parental Preferences Shape Junk Food Choices for Kids / Bonus Activities Answer Key
First, click here... heads up!
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Say YES to the Kids in Your Life...
Who Want to Play with Food
So your kids come home one day and ask questions about saving animals, childhood obesity, and eco-systems. They're being taught a radically different world-view than your generation, and thinking about their health involves a rather new mind-set for them. They're sometimes much smarter than we are. If you want to support healthy kids with alert brains and active bodies, let them play with food.
Afraid of knives? Show them what to do until they feel confident. Got picky eaters and afraid your kids aren't eating enough calories? Check out the rabbit-hole link below. Not into this plant-powered thing yourself? Got it. Yet, they're taking cues from your actions (and inactions) all the time, especially until age six or seven. Obesity, early menarche, and type-2 diabetes before puberty cannot become our new normal. Hang in there. Cooking with fiber-rich, nutrient-dense, life-promoting WPF might become your new normal!
Kids are Sponges
Until age six, a child's mind is taking in everything. Maria Montessori called this the 'Absorbent Mind'. Experts say: change your food, change your environment. That means surroundings as well as modeling nutritious behaviors are key for kids. Our young people need to be given a chance towards a long and fruit-full life. Just sayin'...
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An Apple a Day...
What's not to love about apples (and fruit in general)? Not only are they packed with fiber, antioxidants, and vitamin C, they're inexpensive and versatile for cooking. Kids want to hang out with grown-ups, doing cool things like getting gooey and gross in the kitchen. Got picky eaters? Check out how to nudge your kids towards WPF.
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Did You Know?
Becoming food educated includes learning about the risks of childhood obesity and early onset type-2 diabetes, and how these can cause serious health issues later in life. Please take a moment and check out the links below. If you smoke and eat junk food, that's your choice... just know that kids follow your lead. Wouldn't we all agree that kids deserve the chance to have a possible hospital-free life?
Breakfast Cereals = Nutrition Façade
Becoming food educated also includes reading labels for things like trans and saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. Learn more about breakfast cereals and labels below. It's time to tell the truth about foods that are heavily marketed to kids such as breakfast candy. Heads up: "fortified with important vitamins and minerals" is a clever façade.
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“My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.”
- Clarence "Bud" Kelland, American Author (died 1964)
A Body in Motion Stays in Motion
(habits today = habits tomorrow)
Newton's law of motion holds true especially for children, who need to rigorously move their body every day. Fitness is almost as important as food for health and longevity. Sports, playing tag, or pretending to be a super hero flying into the unknown universe are recommended. What to do with your kid's video game obsession? Some households have a one-hour-a-day rule. Others have a weekends-only rule.
If YOU are addicted to video games, reality TV, or binge-watching the latest Netflix shows, you might want to re-think these (chronic) habits. Or maybe you do these "sofa activities" with your kids to connect? Instead, please consider food shopping and cooking, playing with a hula-hoop, or dancing to their fav K-Pop bands!