Parenthood these days requires lot of juggling between many tasks such as cooking, laundry, cleaning the home, pick and drop from school, kid's extracurricular activities, groceries shopping, volunteering and the list goes on. There never seems to be enough time and being a responsible parent has become a lot harder now than couple of generations back.
In today's fast-paced and stressful environment most parents are unable to find time to do the due diligence that is required to keep our precious children in pristine health. The old saying “We are what we eat” hold truer now than ever before. According to latest research reports coming out of esteemed medical journals, it will be the first time in 200 years that the life expectancy (on average) of the current generation (our kids) will be 5 years shorter than the previous one. In addition, this generation will face far more health challenges as compared to the earlier ones. We continue to see the rise in the rates of childhood obesity, ADD, Juvenile diabetes, autism, various food allergies, skin issues, periodic bouts of cold and flu, asthma, and a host of other acute and chronic conditions that the children and adults alike are being diagnosed with these days.
Being a parent of two energetic kids myself, I am deeply alarmed by the quality (and variety) of processed / denatured food that is being marketed to children these days. When I was growing up, we did not had access to the amount of junk and processed food that is currently available in the grocery stores.
Parent's must set the example:
So how do we ensure that our children will have a healthy and generally illness free life? It is quite simple actually! It starts with us the parents. Children do learn a lot from watching their parents. If they see us eating and snacking on unhealthy foods, drinking caffeinated drinks, consuming alcohol beverages, sleeping late at night, they will grow up considering it is quite normal and are likely to adapt that lifestyle. On the other hand, if we follow a lifestyle that promotes healthy living habits, we can become a great example for our children.
Fruits and Veggies are the Key to children's health!
The more variety of fruits and vegetables children eat, the better their quality of health will be growing up. In the summer season, there are so many fruits and colorful vegetables available, especially in the farmer's market. Buy whatever the kids are going to eat. If they hesitate, bribe them or make a deal with them. Use any trick that will work to add more of these foods in their diet. In our family, we typically buy loads of fruits and vegetables as we juice and makes smoothies daily. When we have to buy snacks, we buy those that are organically grown, NON GMO and least processed. I also keep an eye on the list of ingredients and if I find that there is a long list of ingredients (especially those I can't pronounce) organic or not, I avoid it. In the beginning of our transition period, it did require a lot of commitment and patience but after a while it became a routine. The key here is to eat foods that are in season and available in their whole / natural state to get the most nutrition out of them. Once a while we do let the kids indulge in less than ideal treats but these occasions are quite rare.
As a family, we have realized that having good health is a journey and not a destination. We stopped going for seasonal flu shots few years back. Does our kids catch cold? Occasionally yes! Though the severity of the symptoms is much lesser mainly because of the high overall nutritional content of the diet. When the children do develop the cold and flu symptoms, we use time tested home remedies of natural herbs, oil massages, fresh juices, warm broths, vitamin C rich fruits & vegetables, clean water and ample rest to allow their bodies to gently get rid of the accumulated toxins the way nature always intended.
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