There is a growing obesity epidemic among children in Canada and the US. It is estimated that because of it, this could be the first generation of children that may not outlive their parents! Coupled with the fact that two of the most common adult diseases (heart disease and cancer) may be preventable with simple dietary changes, it is still amazing to see how little parents’ attitudes about nutrition have changed during this time.
You’ve may have heard the excuses before: “Little Johnny just won’t eat vegetables,” or “Kids just naturally prefer sweet foods” or “Obesity just runs in the family, it’s genetic” and finally, my personal favorite: “Well, I ate this way growing up and I turned out just fine!” Yeah right.
For years, I have been trying to help parents understand that proper nutrition starts at home with mom and dad and that ultimately, children will learn their nutritional habits from their parents. These habits will be carried with them well into adulthood, yet most parents resist the fact that they may be responsible for this growing problem.
Let me be perfectly clear: It is not the fancy fast-food marketing, not the vending machines in the schools and it’s usually not genetics. In my experience, poor nutritional habits follow one rule: If mom and dad won’t eat their vegetables, neither will Little Johnny.
Consider the recent study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine: Researchers had 120 children between the ages of two and six take part in a grocery store shopping game, where they were asked to pick anything they wanted from 133 food items including fruits, vegetables, bread, milk, candy, potato chips, soda, desserts and sugary or whole grain cereals. Meanwhile, the children’s parents filled out questionnaires about how often they purchased each of the foods and whether their children accompanied them on shopping trips.
The results showed that the foods selected by the children were virtually identical to those selected by the parents. In other words, the healthier a parent’s shopping choices, the healthier the child’s. This dispels many of the commonly held myths and objections about childhood nutrition.
So what’s a parent to do? Start by selecting healthier foods and snacks for yourself and teach your child by example. Don’t just shove them in the grocery cart and hand them a video game to keep them quiet, have them participate in the process and let them help you select healthier foods to eat. This simple step will pay off in the future.
