Healthy Choices. Healthy Children.
It doesn’t matter whether your children are in preschool or high school; it’s never too early or too late to guide them towards a healthier lifestyle. The choices made today can have long lasting health benefits tomorrow.
Helping Teens Be More Active
Teenagers need about 60 minutes of physical activity a day, but many exercise as little as two times a week— or less— according to scientific studies. Here’s how to get your teen moving:
- Limit T.V. and recreational computer time
- Make family activities active—a group swim, bike ride, or hike. If the activity is competing with your teen’s social life, invite them to bring their friends along
- Act as a role model-be an example for your teen by being physically active
- Assign everyday chores like making the beds, washing the car, gardening, or vacuuming
- Help them join a gym, a sports team, or sign up for a regular activity that interests them
- Teach them about the positive benefits of exercise, and how it can improve their physical fitness and other aspects of their lives including body image, self-esteem and mood.
Remember: Even short 5- or 10- minute activity sessions throughout the day add up and are just as good as 60 minutes at a time.
Getting More Fruit and Vegetables into Your Child’s Diet
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid recommends that children get 3-5 servings of vegetables and 2-4 servings of fruit daily. However, this may not always be easy to do, so here are some tips on how to turn it around:
- Show them how easy it is. Serving sizes for fruits and vegetables are pretty small—a half cup. So it’s not too hard to squeeze those into a regular diet, once you think about it. Suggest that your teen add onions and tomatoes to a burrito or sandwich, a sliced banana on top of cereal, a half-cup of blueberries on top of frozen yogurt, or a sprinkling of vegetables on top of pizza or in spaghetti sauce.
- Get them when they're hungry. Before dinner, when everyone is hungry, is a good time to put out an “appetizer” bowl of carrots, celery, or cherry tomatoes. Pair it with a low-fat dip made with yogurt or fat-free sour cream.
- Be creative. Slip fruit into pancakes, muffins, smoothies, and puddings.
- Making it special. Make a fruit salad for dessert, top it with a spoonful of low-fat yogurt (regular or frozen) or sprinkle SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener on it. Another option: Wedges of fruit served with a low-fat yogurt or low-fat cream cheese dip.
- Making it fun. Cut fruit into shapes and allow younger children to make faces and pictures with them on their plates. Make boats out of melons and allow kids to top them with smaller fruits, like strawberries and grapes.
Think About Drinks
Recent studies are showing a link between sugar-sweetened drinks and weight gain. It’s no wonder why; many beverages like sodas, sports drinks and some juices have a lot of added sugar. Here’s the good news: By cutting back on sugary drinks, you can cut calories and added sugar.
Just one 12 fluid ounce can of regular (non-diet) soda contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar.
What to drink instead of sugary drinks :
- Water—plain or fruit-flavored (no-calorie or low-calorie). For young kids, try using fun-shaped cups or containers.
- Seltzer—plain, pre-flavored, or mixed with unsweetened juice.
- Lemonade or fruit drinks made with no-calorie sweeteners, such as SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, instead of sugar.
- Nonfat or low-fat milk (after age 2 years), which provides calcium, protein and vitamin D. Children 2 to 8 years old should have 2 cups of nonfat/low-fat milk or dairy products per day; children 9 years and older and adults should have 3 cups per day.
- Have low-sugar drinks around. Most of us drink what’s handy. So don’t stock the sugary stuff.
