I recently read a forum post from a desperate dad. The title of his entry was, “My Son Is Fat!” Pretty strong language, huh?

He was shocked with this realization and needed help. His son was 11 at the time and fairly heavy for his age and height. He wondered out loud how this could have happened.

He admitted something later on in the post. He mentioned that he and his wife hadn’t been feeding him healthy foods and neither was the school.

The pediatrician was concerned but here’s what really bothered the dad. He was afraid his son would get picked on when he entered junior high the very next year.

Does any of this relate to you and your child?

How To Know For Sure If Your Child Is Overweight

Doctors use BMI measurements to figure out if a child is overweight. Body Mass Index is a calculation that uses height and weight coupled with age to determine if your child is overweight.

Your pediatrician will likely do this test but you can do it in your own home. KidsHealth.org has a free BMI calculator and it’s very easy to use.

Just fill in all the information and click on the “calculate BMI” button. You will see the results below the button.

What You Can Do If Your Child Is Overweight

Your pediatrician will give you some suggestions, but there are some simple things you can do to make some changes.

The dad I was talking about earlier started realizing how his child became overweight in the first place. The family’s food choices weren’t very good and were likely contributing to the issue. I gathered that both mom and dad were a little overweight too.

The Western diet is chalk full of fatty foods and tons of processed foods which have zero nutritional value. Just try eating chips every day for a week and see how much weight you gain.

The constant build up of unhealthy foods, fats and sugar will put the weight on in no time. It’s even been found that artificial sweeteners contribute to obesity, but that’s a story for another day.

Start buying and eating healthier foods now. I’ve made that switch to healthier foods a time or two in my life and I know what will happen. You lose fat/weight in as little as one week. It’s quite amazing how the body heals itself once you fuel it with healthy foods.

One thing the dad didn’t talk about much was exercise. It has been all but forgotten in our culture today. Yes, we hear about people running a half marathon every month and we see in shape people all the time.

If we really open our eyes we’ll also see the exact opposite. With all the kids in my neighborhood did you know there are only two families whose kids really stay active outside?

What’s everybody else doing? They’re doing what their parents are doing or a variation of it. They’re watching TV, playing video games or playing on the computer.

All it takes is 20-30 minutes per day of fun family activities indoors or out and that combined with a healthier diet will help your child with being overweight.

I really don’t want you to feel like the dad I read about. The last thing you want is your child teased at school or anywhere else.

Is your child overweight? Are there any kids close to you who are overweight? What are you doing to help them?

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Throughout this blog I’ve given you lots of exercise activities for your children but let me give you a few more ideas and solutions for getting kids to exercise.

Did you know there could be activities in your hometown which could keep kids active?

Here are some activities I’ve talked about before which might interest you:

• Take a walking tour of your city or town
• Visit a historical site
• Visit your local recreation center
• Swim at a public pool
• Attend a nearby festival or carnival

Trust me, we’ve done many if not all these activities and you wouldn’t believe the amount of exercise you and your kids can get. We recently visited a Civil War historical site and we did so much walking in an hour we were all exhausted!

Try These Ideas For Getting Kids To Exercise

There are easy ways to find out information about your city. Here are some searches you can do on the Internet to find even more ways to exercise with your kids.

• Your city’s Chamber of Commerce Web site
• Your city’s Parks & Recreation Web site
• Your city’s Convention & Visitors Bureau Web site
• Visit www.Citysearch.com and search for your city
• In your favorite search engine, type in “your city fun activities”
• In your favorite search engine, type in “your city things to do”

Getting Kids To Exercise Despite Challenges

With a little preparation, you can be sure to keep your kids active every day of the week. There are some challenges, though.

If both parents work, it can be difficult to spend time every day exercising with your kids. But some of these can easily be done in the home during evenings. Or an after-dinner family walk is always an easy activity.

There will be days when you’re too tired to exercise with your kids and that’s okay. It’s not something you should feel guilty about. Give yourself grace, take a break, and plan a fun activity with them again soon.

If you see resistance from your kids, talk to them about the importance of being active and explain to them that there are a lot of fun things to do other than watching television. You don’t want to overload them with activities but let them know that it is a priority that your family becomes healthier by being active.

Tell them all the health benefits to exercising, just like you told them the benefits to eating healthy. But don’t just tell them. Show them that you want to be active too. Join in the fun and exercise with them.

Your main goal is to get your kids in shape by getting them to move. It should be fun and easy for both you and the child. If you start to feel discouraged or you’re not motivated to put forward the effort, read through these steps again to remember why it is so important that your kids are healthy.

Children can only be completely healthy if they take care of their bodies through exercise. And as their parent you have the greatest role of leading and guiding them in the right direction.

You need to be the one making wise, healthy decisions for your child so that when they reach the age to make their own decisions, they will also be wise and healthy. Such knowledge can pass down through the generations.

You see? Getting kids to exercise doesn’t have to be difficult or strenuous because with a little planning you can literally have dozens of activities lined up each week.

Unfortunately, free play for kids is often denied in today’s hectic world of school, extracurricular activities, after-school childcare, and after-school clubs.

Children’s time is largely scheduled, hardly any time for kids to engage in unscheduled, free play time.

How Important Is Free Play For Kids?

According to research, it’s very important! The childhood obesity epidemic is telling us something; but also, children’s cognitive, social, psychological and emotional development are all said to be affected by free play (or the lack of it). Play is also an opportunity for parents to engage with their children without interruption. (This can be really fun for adults!)

The American Academy of Pediatrics put out a recent report about the importance of play in children’s development. Here are some of the ways children benefit from free play:

• Creativity is employed as children imagine scenarios and act out as characters. This prepares them for adult scenarios, much the same way that baby animals’ play is actually preparation for adulthood.
• Children learn about their strengths and abilities during free play, which may boost confidence. They discover areas of interest and things they care about.
• Playing is an effective way for children to learn how to work together in groups, to give and take, and to resolve conflicts. Free play also encourages decision making, an essential life skill.

How Can Parents Implement More Free Play For Kids?

Parents can help their kids be free from the hurried, hyper-scheduled lifestyle that is so prevalent today. Here are some ideas on how to do that.

• Give your kids “real” toys, like wooden blocks and dolls that are not patterned after a preconceived character. Doll houses, cars, trucks, stuffed animals, and other toys that encourage imagination help toward encouraging free play.
• Parents may want to rethink their ideas of “success” for their children. Academic preparedness and performance and excelling in multiple areas are not the only measures of success, the AAP reminds us. Creativity, philosophical intelligence, imagination, negotiation, and artistic integrity are also measures of success and character.
• Let your kids play outside without an agenda. Sometimes, it takes an agenda to get them out there – say, collecting leaves or something – but once outside, try to pry yourselves loose from an agenda and just enjoy playing.
• Invite other kids to play, too. Although “play dates” are scheduled, it’s non-scheduled time you’re scheduling in! Arrange to meet at a park, at one another’s house, or other area where free play can take place.

I’m a big fan of free play for kids and I hope I’ve given you lots of good reasons to consider it more. What do you do for free play at your house?

Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Physical fitness for kids can be a cure for boredom. When a lot of children are bored, they tend to turn on the television or play a video game. As their parent, encourage them to change that habit. In fact, as their parent you should make them change that habit.

After all, you set the rules in the house. You know whether or not your child is getting enough exercise. If they’re not, it’s your responsibility to ensure they do.

Fifty years ago I could probably end the chapter here. Then again, 50 years ago childhood obesity wasn’t an issue. But I say that because after telling parents in the 1960s why their child needs to exercise, they would have simply opened the back door
and shooed the kids outside until dinnertime. Such is not the case today.

Most parents don’t feel safe letting their children run amok in the neighborhood for hours on end. Whether they fear kidnapping, injury, being a nuisance to the neighbors, or something else, it’s just not a common practice anymore.

Physical Fitness For Kids Takes A Touch of Effort From You

So instead of just talking to you about the importance of your children exercising, I’m going to tell you how to do it. It will require a little effort on your part, but the payoff is much more valuable. Not only will your child be healthier and happier, you’ll also get to spend quality time with them and in some cases teach them something positive.

You are your child’s greatest role model and they look to you for everything. If you are practicing good exercise habits, they will likely follow in your footsteps. The same is true if you aren’t exercising at all. In other words, don’t be a “do as I say, not as I do” parent. Join in the fun and exercise with your kids!

One day my two-year-old daughter and I were dancing to fun 80s music in our living room. I decided to show her a great break-dancing move I use to do when I was younger. I nearly broke my neck but she loved it and immediately tried mimicking me. She loves dancing with her Daddy and doesn’t care if I look like a fool.

If you haven’t seen my daughter dance yet then you need to see her toddler exercise video.

Parents Can Help Get Them Excited About Physical Fitness For Kids

Kids are more likely to exercise if they know they get to do it with their parents. Even if they don’t realize it, most kids would rather exercise with their parents than watch TV with them. Why? Because during exercise they can interact and have quality time with the people they love the most.

Talking about exercise with a child may not prove to be very valuable. The word “exercise” sounds dull and painful. You don’t want kids to only associate the word with weight lifting and machines. So instead of saying, “Tommy, today we’re going to exercise” you should say something like, “Tommy, I have a fun activity planned for us today. I think you’ll really enjoy it.”

Exercise shouldn’t be a chore for kids. There shouldn’t be a written schedule that has your kids exercising every day from 3:00-3:30 p.m. If a child’s been involved in a physical activity for 20 minutes and they’re ready to stop, let them.

Don’t be too strict with them. Some days they may exercise 45 minutes and other days it may only be 15 minutes. The purpose is not to watch the clock, but to just make sure they’re active and enjoying themselves every day.

Leave a comment down below and tell me how you’re doing in the department of physical fitness for kids.

Image: imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Despite the fact that childhood obesity rates are at nearly 20%, exercise is no longer a priority in most American school systems so I suggest taking fitness for kids into your own hands.

With budget cuts and limited school time, when a program has to be cut back (or eliminated altogether) it’s often physical
education or recess. Exercising the mind or trying to obtain high test scores for funding takes priority over exercising the body.

Fitness For Kids – Parents Can Help

Children need 30 minutes to an hour of physical activity every day. Not just twice a week or once every other week … EVERY DAY. If your child isn’t getting the right amount of exercise each day at school you have one of two choices. You can either fight the school system or make sure they exercise when they’re with you.

Even if they go to a school that has a great physical education program, you may need to make sure they’re getting exercise at home too. Oftentimes, kids can slack and avoid exercise if they’re not being personally monitored. In other words, don’t depend on the school system, or even the government, to make your kids active and healthy. It is your responsibility.

In previous blog posts I’ve discussed diet in detail and the importance of eating right. While diet is a key contributor when it comes to kids losing weight and being healthy, exercise is its Siamese twin.

It must parallel a healthy eating plan to give your kids the ultimate health. Like diet, exercise improves your child’s physical health, as well as their attitude, wellbeing, and perspective of themselves.

Benefits Of Fitness For Kids

When your child exercises, the increase in heart rate pumps blood and oxygen throughout the body, strengthening their brain, lungs, and other organs. The blood flow lowers the buildup of plaque in arteries. More oxygen in their cardiovascular systems
also enhances energy levels.

Exercise can also alter your child’s mood as it stimulates several brain chemicals that make people happier. With weight loss your child will also feel more confident in themselves and what they can accomplish.

Exercise boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the “good” kind, and helps prevent chronic diseases like high blood pressure, type II diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer.

The proof is in the pudding so to speak and as parents we can make sure our kids get going in the right direction. We want to raise them to become independent adults who are healthy and ready to take on life.

What better way to get them healthy than to take fitness for kids seriously especially when they won’t get it anywhere else.

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Before shopping you need to know how to read food labels.

Nutrition labels are a guide to help you know exactly what you’re consuming.

They give you information on the daily recommended value for a 2,000 calorie diet.

You can determine if your child requires more or less than 2,000 calories a day.

How To Read Food Labels – Take Time To Read The Chart

Let’s take a look at a couple food labels together. Refer to the two food label charts below. One is for Mini Chips Ahoy! and the other is for Nilla Wafers.

The top of each chart tells you how much is in a serving size and how many servings there are in the container. It’s important to know this information first. People tend to look at the calories without noticing the serving size. They eat more than a serving and think they’ve eaten fewer calories.

The Chips Ahoy serving size is 31 grams or five cookies. Interestingly, the Nilla Wafers label says a serving size is 30 grams but it doesn’t tell you how many wafers that is. You can guess it’s around five wafers, but you have to be careful with labels that don’t give you the easiest information.

Next you look at the calories. There are 150 calories per serving for the Chips Ahoy or 410 calories for the whole bag. Nillas have 140 calories per serving. Typically, 40 calories or less is low, 100 calories is moderate, and 400 or more calories is high.

Immediately after that the label tells you how many of those calories are from fat. You can see that almost half of the Chips Ahoy calories are fat.

The next section lists the nutrients and their percentage values. Anything 5% or less is considered low and anything 20% or more is considered high.

The Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium numbers should be low, as too much of these can cause chronic diseases. If your child ate the entire Chips Ahoy bag (15 mini cookies), they would have consumed 31% of the daily recommended value, nearly a third of the fat
they need for a day.

And if they are young and require less than 2,000 calories per day, that would be a larger percentage. In other words, your child might be consuming half the fat they need for a day just with this small bag of cookies. Also remember that the main fat listed here, saturated fat, is a bad fat.

Total Carbohydrates, Dietary Fiber, Sugars and Protein are all listed next. These are all needed, but they should be watched carefully. Are the carbs or sugars too high? Is there a good amount of protein and fiber? The Nilla Wafers have 21 grams of carbs and 11 grams of sugar, but hardly any fiber or protein.

The next nutrients listed are the most important. They are the ones you need the most each day. The vitamins usually included are Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Iron.

If a product has an additional nutrient, it will be listed. You can see that these two products have very little of the beneficial nutrients. The few vitamins they do have come from enriched flour, which is actually not nutritional at all.

The bottom of the label lists a footnote about the Percent Daily Values being based on a 2,000 calorie diet. It tells you how many grams you need of each nutrient listed on the label if you are following a 2,000 calorie diet. Kids needing less calories will need fewer grams per each nutrient.

How To Read Food Labels – The Ingredients Are Important Too

Although not always with the label, each food product lists ingredients. We already talked about the bad ingredients you should look for. Now that you have a trained eye, which ingredients do you see on these labels that your child shouldn’t eat?

Mini Chips Ahoy!
Ingredients: ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE, MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, DEXTROSE, COCOA BUTTER, SOY LECITHIN – AN EMULSIFIER, VANILLIN – AN ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MILK), SUGAR, SOYBEAN OIL, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT, BAKING SODA, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CARAMEL COLOR.

Nilla Wafers
Ingredients: UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, SOYBEAN OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, WHEY (FROM MILK), EGGS, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA AND/OR CALCIUM PHOSPHATE), EMULSIFIERS (MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, SOY LECITHIN). CONTAINS: WHEAT, MILK, EGG, SOY.

Most people don’t have to know how to read food labels to know these two food items aren’t healthy. But I chose these items to show you just what you’re consuming when you eat them. It’s a lot of empty calories and fat.

Now that you know how to read labels, you can examine the products you buy and decide if they’re worth buying again.

This knowledge will also come in handy if you want to buy something but you’re not sure if it’s healthy. Yogurt is a good example. You may think all yogurts are healthy, but some have really high sugar content and some include aspartame in their list of ingredients.

I hope with all this information you now feel confident to provide healthy foods for your family. This information is not meant to make your lives more complicated, but it should instead be a helpful tool for you.

Get your children involved as much as possible. Take them around the supermarket and tell them what foods are nutritional and which ones are not. Show them how to read food labels and pinpoint the harmful ingredients so they’ll know what to look for.

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

By Jessica Covington, Founder of ClickAClass

So, let me guess: you have young kids and the springtime weather is inspiring you to get out and reclaim your pre-baby body but you’re not sure how to do it. Am I close?

I’m cheering for you – and for your whole family! The good things you do for your health will benefit your kids and spouse, too. So, step 1 is giving yourself a generous pat on the back for feeling the inspiration to get moving.

One of the easier ways to begin your journey is to join a group that’s already established. Stroller Strides has locations in several states, and their M.O. is to walk with stroller-bound kids and do some toning along the way.

Oh Baby Fitness (my Atlanta-area favorite) offers lots of different kinds of classes, including stroller walks plus water aerobics, yoga and more – many of which include babies. They have the advantage of providing experienced instructors as well, who are specially trained in perinatal fitness.

But what if you don’t have one of these near you – or you can’t get to the class times offered? You might know my motto – it’s how I founded ClickAClass.com and its parent company: if you don’t see what you want, make it yourself! Here are three easy steps to creating your own walking workout for moms and kids (with a bonus sample workout!).

First, gather your team. Meet them on the playground, at the grocery store or anywhere you frequent. “How old is yours?” is the new “Come here often?” in this crowd. Carry “mommy cards” – business cards with just your personal information on them – for when you meet someone and feel enough “click” to exchange information.

If you don’t already know some others, start a Facebook group or a MeetUp – social media makes it so easy to spread the word and meet real-world people. (And of course, put your online group information on the mommy cards!)

Next, set up a few walks. Start with one a week for three weeks. Aim for 45 minutes on each walk. I’ve found that’s about the level of commitment that new moms can handle, and veteran moms will be okay with it, too.

Announce it in whatever communication mode you choose. Start and end at a local park, unless all the participants live very close to each other. To map out your path, use Map My Run, which can also help you find other walkers and track your activity. Another idea is to find a park with a nice paved trail.

Have a plan in place. If you’re in the city, plan to stop every 3-4 blocks for toning; in parks and more suburban spots, gauge it by your path. Aim for a toning stop about every 10 minutes or so after a quick warm-up.

Your plan will depend on the age of the kids involved. Very young ones will stay in the stroller, of course, but toddlers and preschoolers will want to get involved! Consider this another cheer for healthy moms, because kids are always watching and emulating what we do. If yours wants to hop down and move around, you’re doing something right.

On your toning stops, be sure to include a few exercises each for upper and lower body parts. Resistance bands are a fun, portable, inexpensive way to use resistance training; you could also use light handweights, but you don’t necessarily need any equipment.

Follow the childrens’ lead sometimes – watch how they move around and try to imitate them. They love it, and it’s a much harder full-body workout than you’d ever imagine! (A research study once pitted a professional athlete against a 9-month old baby; after about an hour of trying to copy the baby’s every move, the athlete was toast!)

With that in mind, here’s a sample workout for the hopping-down crowd – kiddos can get down and copy Mommy at each toning stop:

Minutes and Activities

0-5 – Brisk walking warmup

5-10 – Light dynamic stretching: arm swings (open wide and cross over chest), torso rotations (feet planted, swing arms to left side, then right; alternate and repeat), jumping jacks, high-knee marches/runs alternating front kicks (kick left leg straight out front, reaching to it with right hand; alternate and repeat).

10-20 – Fast walking – just short of a run. Focus on keeping abs tight and hips tucked under.

20-25 – Upper body: wall or bench pushups, kiss-lifts (mom holds child by armpits with mom’s elbows glued to her sides, lifting child slowly in a bicep curl for a little kiss)

25-35 – Brisk walking and isometric toning: grip stroller handles on the sides, with palms facing each other and pull outward while still walking forward. Hold for a count of 10, release for 10 and repeat twice. Then place hands with right palm up and left down; pull up with right while resisting with left (the stroller wheels stay on the ground, moving forward). Hold 10, release 10 and repeat; switch sides.

35-40 – Lower body: chair squats (feet hip-width apart, push hips back as if to sit; arms reach high overhead). Do 15 at a moderate pace, then 5 that are held for 10 counts each. Then try frog jumps (keeping chest up, bend knees to touch fingertips to the ground; leap up, reaching for the sky and jumping as high as possible; land in starting position and repeat 10 times). If frog jumps are too much, simply jump from the chair position instead.

40-45 – Moderate walk 2-3 minutes, 2-3 minutes repeating easy version of warmup exercises.

That’s it! Now you have the initial tools to start your own group of family fitness enthusiasts, and there’s no better time to do it than now.

Note: as with any new exercise routine, participants (especially pregnant and postpartum) should get a doctor’s clearance first. Women who’ve given birth in the last 6 weeks or who are pregnant should avoid twisting motions of the torso and certain other strenuous movements.

Copyright 2012, Jessica Covington and FIT-ology Wellness. All rights reserved, use with permission only.

About the author:
Jessica Covington is an Atlanta mom of 2 and the Chief Potato Kicker at ClickAClass.com and FIT-ology Wellness. She’s on a mission to kick every potato off the couch, one class and one family at a time. Her most recent proud-mommy moment was when her 5-year old said he’d like to go run around a track for his special day with her.

Let me give you a few healthy meal plans for kids to help you get started.

These plans are well-balanced and include all the types of foods they need for a day.

If your children consistently eat this way they are guaranteed to lose weight and be healthier.

These meal plans are simple enough to show you how easy it can be to feed your child good food.

I’ll include three meals and two snacks but of course your child doesn’t have to eat that often if they aren’t hungry.

Easy and Healthy Meal Plans For Kids

DAY ONE
Breakfast
Oatmeal
1-2 Eggs
Strawberries

Snack #1
Cashews
Carrot sticks

Lunch
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread. Use avocado as spread instead of mayonnaise. Add cheese, tomato and lettuce to sandwich.
Celery sticks with peanut butter
Grapes

Snack #2
Sunflower seeds
Peach with cottage cheese

Dinner
Grilled chicken breast
Green beans
Mashed red potatoes

DAY TWO
Breakfast
Whole grain cereal
Banana
Almonds

Snack #1
Yogurt
Raspberries
Lunch
Peanut butter & jelly sandwich (all natural ingredients)
Cucumber slices
Pear

Snack #2
Organic crackers with cheese

Dinner
Grilled fish
Peas
Brown rice

Gradual Move Towards These Healthy Meal Plans For Kids

Hopefully now you’re excited to start feeding your kids healthy meals. As I’ve stated
before, make sure the changes in their diets are gradual.

Yes, you should start buying more healthy foods and less junk. And you shouldn’t put it off any longer. But don’t
immediately deprive your child of everything he loves.

Slowly incorporate new foods into his diet and see what he thinks of them. Tell him he must try everything you give him. He will probably be reluctant, but don’t give up. Your child’s health is very important.

Before I end this post, there are a few more things you need to learn. First, you must know about caloric intake. Exactly how many calories does a child need a day? It varies with age and sex. Here’s a chart to help you.

Ages 2-3
1,000-1,400 calories/day

Ages 4-8
1,400-1,600 calories/day

Girls 9-13
1,600-2,000 calories/day

Boys 9-13
1,800-2,000 calories/day

Girls 14+
2,000 calories/day

Boys 14+
2,200-2,400 calories/day

Counting calories every day doesn’t seem like a fun thing to do but once you get these meal plans down and work with them for a few weeks you’ll automatically know how much to give your child.

Try these healthy meal plans for kids for a few weeks and come back here to leave any comments or questions because we can help each other.

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I would say most families are looking to get on the path towards more healthy eating for kids. We really do lead busy lives and do the best we can but we’re always thinking about being more healthy in the back of our minds.

We don’t get much help either. It’s really sad when organizations claiming to provide healthy kids recipes offer stuff like chicken fingers, sausage meals, pepperoni pizza and cheeseburgers. Are they for real? I think they are.

Many suggested kids meals out there contain an enormous amount of carbs too. TV advertising for kids everyday consists of foods packed with carbs. I’m not anti-carb though.

Healthy Eating For Kids – What To Do About Carbs

Carbs are typically the food item consumed most often. They should consist of about half of the calories a child eats a day. Carbohydrates are necessary for energy, but too many bad carb choices cause weight gain.

Bad examples would be muffins, bagels, pastries, white bread, soft drinks, sugary cereals, crackers, cookies, and chips.

Healthy substitutes should replace these bad ones. Here are healthy options for your kids.

• Whole grain cereal with at least 5 grams of fiber per serving (but make sure the
  sugar content is low)
• Whole grain wheat bread (stone ground, preferably)
• Oatmeal (whole grain or organic, nothing enriched)
• Red potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Brown rice
• Whole wheat pastas
• Organic snacks that use whole wheat flour
• Organic macaroni and cheese
• Fruits
• Vegetables

Healthy Eating For Kids – Fruits and Veggies Are The Best

Your child needs lots of fruits and vegetables in their diet. There is a greater selection of fruits and vegetables than any
other type of food so you should be able to find several options your child enjoys eating.

Strive to include a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal. You’ve learned that protein can be found in many foods other than meat. These other sources are not only healthier, they also digest better and help your child feel better.

Healthy fats are also important to help the brain and other organs function properly. Make sure to feed your child fats that will help them and not harm them.

Carbohydrates shouldn’t necessarily be reduced, but they should be replaced with healthy, whole grain carbs.

The good thing about kids is that you don’t have to prepare gourmet meals for them. They like simple foods that don’t require a lot of preparation or ingredients.

There is a wide variety of healthy foods which will give your kids many choices, all healthy and delicious.

With a well-stocked pantry, each day you should be able to offer them something different to eat. But, since kids are repetitive by nature, they often enjoy eating the same foods over and over.

With these healthy selections, it won’t hurt them to have a particular meal or snack several times a week.

Forget about the breaded chicken fingers and instead opt-in to better healthy eating for kids solutions.

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Protein for kids is a very important part of their diet. An easy way to figure out how much protein your child needs is to divide their weight in half. So if your child weighs 50 pounds, they need about 25 grams of protein a day.

Some parents go overboard with protein. Children today tend to eat more red meat and pork than is healthy and necessary. Steaks and hamburgers should be an occasional treat instead of an everyday occurrence.

There are much better options. As far as meat, it’s better to serve them grilled chicken or fish.

In previous blog posts I’ve mentioned chicken nuggets should be an item removed from your freezer. From personal experience, I know that with picky eaters, chicken nuggets are staple foods.

So, if you choose to buy this item, buy an organic brand instead. The ingredients are much safer and both you and your child can be happy. Make sure that any chicken your child eats is free range with no hormones or preservatives.

It’s common for people to think the only way their child will get enough protein is through meat. That is completely untrue. There are other great sources of protein that can be included in meals or as snacks. Here are some you should buy today.

Examples of Healthy Protein For Kids

• Peanut or almond butter
• Cashews
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Peanuts
• Sunflower seeds
• Beans
• Lentils
• Cheese
• Milk
• Yogurt
• Cottage Cheese
• Avocados
• Eggs (preferably organic)

It is easy to give your children healthy proteins without beef or pork every day.

Healthy Fats For Kids

Children need fat for brain growth so don’t put your child on a low-fat diet. But, not just any fat is good. There are some good, healthy fats your children need. Here are healthy options for Monounsaturated fats, Polyunsaturated fats, and Omega-3 fatty acids that you should feed your kids.

• Nuts (listed above)
• Seeds (listed above)
• Peanut or almond butter
• Avocados
• Fish (not fish fingers from a box)
• Fish Oil
• Olives
• Flaxseeds (grind and add to foods like oatmeal, cereal, and shakes)
• Coconut Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Saturated fats and Trans fats should be eaten a lot less (if at all). Those fats are found in
the following foods:

• Animal products (poultry, beef, pork, seafood, dairy products, eggs, butter, and
  lard)
• Vegetable Oil
• Processed baked goods (cookies, cakes, crackers)
• Fried food
• Margarine
• Crisco or other shortening

Now you have a really good list of healthy fats and healthy protein for kids so the next time you go to the grocery store, boost their health with something from this list.

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