Stay Active & Eat Like a Champion

by Amy Jennermann

Champions: Idolized role models. Champions feel good about who they are and what they do, eat healthy foods, and keep fit. As a parent you have the ability to become a champion and be a positive role model for your child.

Children develop as a result of both nature (the genes that are passed from parent to child) and nurture (the parenting styles and the environment that children grow up in). Nature and nurture shape a child’s physical, emotional and social growth. It is impossible to change a person’s biology, but it is possible to influence a child’s surroundings. As a parent it is important to model positive behaviours for your child. Children must learn how to choose healthy foods, include physical activity daily and develop a healthy relationship with food. A “healthy relationship with food” is the ability to choose and eat healthy foods based on hunger rather than emotions.

Eating to promote health rather than to change the shape of one’s body is “eating like a champion.” Children learn their eating habits from a very early age, and it is now widely accepted that parents and children have roles in fostering a healthy relationship with food. Ellyn Satter MS RD, a Registered Dietitian and childhood feeding expert, defines these roles as the “feeding relationship.” In the past it was thought that children should finish all of the food on their plate and that dessert was a reward for dinner; now professionals agree that this is not the best approach. Children need to be given the freedom to listen to their own bodies to tell them whether they are hungry or not.

Promoting a healthy relationship with food and eating involves children and adults having specific roles:

A Parent’s Role
• Provide nutritious foods at regular times throughout the day, such as three meals and two to three snacks per day.

• Allow children to decide if they are hungry, and never force a child to eat.

A Child’s Role
• Decide how much food to eat from the foods offered at a meal or snack, or whether to eat at all.

Although following the above roles can be challenging at times, rest assured that healthy children will not starve themselves. Eating should be an enjoyable experience rather than a time for parents and children to exhibit power and control. For more information on healthy childhood nutrition check out the Vancouver Island Health Authority’s website at  www.viha.ca/children/preschool/nutrition.htm.  

More Tips to Help Promote Good Eating Behaviour
• Treat “food as food,” rather than using food as a reward for good behaviour.

• Use the terms “everyday foods” and “sometimes foods,” rather than “good” and “bad” food. Every once in a while there is room for treats in a healthy diet.

• Eat with your child in a relaxed environment; this can be at the dinner table, a picnic in the park or at a restaurant. Be creative! Children who have families that eat regular meals together do better in school, have reduced drug use, improved language skills, and eat more healthy foods.

Eating like a champion also embraces fueling one’s body with nutritious foods. Healthy foods are most often found on the outside aisles of the grocery store. It is not necessary to buy expensive pre-packaged products to be healthy. A local farmer’s market can be a great place to buy fresh, healthy foods. A good rule of thumb is “Eat food!” If your grandmother wouldn’t recognize it, then it likely isn’t food or necessary for your good health.

To help families eat in a healthy way, Health Canada has a published food guide: Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide. The food guide is made up of four main food groups:

• Vegetables and Fruit

• Grain Products

• Milk & Alternatives

• Meat & Alternatives

The food guide helps people to include all four food groups into their diet—showing how many servings people of different ages and genders need. Eating a variety of foods is important for growth and health. For more information go to: www.healthcanada.gc.ca/foodguide.

Champions must also be physically fit to succeed at what they do; an active body is a healthier body. Physical activity can be fun and easy to incorporate into one’s life. Health Canada recommends 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity a day for adults and 90 minutes a day for children and youth. Finding an activity that you and your child like doing is the key to making it a life-long habit. Walking to school, riding bikes to the store, puddle jumping, vacuuming (maybe not as fun!) are all examples of physical activities that can easily be incorporated into everyday life. If your children see that you value and love being active, then they will likely adopt that behaviour into their own life. Sixty minutes of physical activity does not have to be done all at once either—squeezing in 10-minute blocks of activity is still beneficial to health.

By promoting healthy behaviours such as healthy eating and physical activity you are not only benefiting your own health, but are helping to shape your healthy child. Children’s minds are being molded, and they are eager to pick up on behaviours from the role model in their life. Be a champion—be a positive role model for your child.

Amy Jennermann is a Dietetic Intern with the Vancouver Island Health Authority.