Dr. Mom Online

Lately, I’ve been talking a lot about children’s nutrition in our practice as families get ready for Back-to-School.

Parents are concerned about providing the best foods for their kids, and avoiding the worst ones, in an effort to maximize health and performance.

Easier said than done, right?

There are some common challenges I consistently hear from parents:

1) They’re not really sure which foods are healthy! Marketing hype tends to cloud the issue.

2) Their kids (and oftentimes, their spouse!) are not on board with this mission to get healthy.

3) They’re concerned that it’s too expensive to ‘eat healthy’.

4) They’re struggling for ideas to add variety to their family’s meals.

5) They already feel like they’re short on time, and don’t know how they can devote any MORE time to food preparation.

So, what’s the solution? Just give up… give in… and feed our kids the easiest, cheapest, most convenient foods that cause no fuss or resistance from our children? Umm… sorry, Charlie. I understand the financial and time constraints that many families face… but I’ve got to focus on HEALTH here. I’ll let the savvy marketers and conventional food manufacturers take care of the “cheap, easy, convenient” elements! They’re SO good at it! ; )

Trust me, I also understand the “resistance” kids can put up. First, I don’t believe in a militant approach to nutrition… contrary to what you may think! I DO allow our kids to have ‘tasty toxins’ often enough… provided they’ve been respectful of their bodies’ innate genetic requirements for health and have provided ample fuel for optimal function already.

A real life example play out like this:  “You’d like to have {fill in this blank with a more toxic food choice}? Ok, let’s make sure you’ve had enough protein, natural fats, fresh fiber (veggies & fruit) and pure water already today.” Simple. Bodies need fuel to perform and function. The better the fuel, the better the performance and function.

So, no nutrition military here… BUT, I DO wear the Nutritional Pants in our family! One of my most important jobs as a parent is to protect my kids and keep them safe. Conventional foods – and conventional thinking about food – is not safe. It does not ensure a healthy future. We can do better for our children… and it’s not as hard as you may think.

I think that improving the nutrition and health of kids is a two-party job. Parents need to acquire up-to-date and accurate nutrition knowledge AND commit to providing healthier options at home (while providing fewer toxic options). Kids, on the other hand, would be more accepting of mom and dad’s efforts to improve their health if THEY TOO had a better understanding of nutrition and health basics. Knowledge is power!

These are some of the major reasons I made The Healthy School Days Menu. In a simple, straightforward manner, it teaches the entire family what the basic requirements are for proper nutrition, as well as how to create healthy meals and snacks that follow the basic ‘rules’ of healthy physiology.

Although recipes are good, I feel that a basic understanding of Nutrition is far more important. It’s like that old saying about ‘teaching a man to fish…’. Once we learn “how to fish” (i.e. what our bodies need for health, and how to create this in simple meals and snacks), we’re good for life!

That’s why I’ve loved teaching our kids with this menu. They’ve gained the tools and keen strategies for making healthIER choices for life… not necessarily perfect, but definitely healthier! They know what their bodies need and how to provide it. Anybody can follow a recipe – but that doesn’t teach us how to make healthy choices for life. Knowledge first, recipes second! (I provide both, by the way!)

As far as the time and money issues, I have some tips that help. It may not make it perfect… but it’ll help!

I admit, many “healthy” foods do seem to ‘cost’ more. I have two major thoughts on that subject:

1) Consider all the money being spent on toxic, harmful garbage food first – there’s SO much money spent on things like junk food, fast food, convenience foods, packaged processed snack foods, desserts, breakfast cereal, pop, juice drinks, sports & energy drinks, coffee drinks, and so on… even just decreasing spending in one or two of these areas would free up some funds to upgrade basic choices, like the quality of meats, eggs and so on, as well as allow us to invest more in health-promoting foods like vegetables and fruit.

2) Healthy “fuel” is an investment in both current and future health. Every choice does matter, good and bad. Although there is not ONE magical key to guarantee excellent health in the future, nutrition is certainly ONE of the keys. We’ve scientifically moved beyond the age of ignorance where anyone could possibly get away with the argument that what we eat doesn’t really matter all that much! It matters.

The other issue is time.

The two major shifts that have helped ME feel better about the time involved in eating healthier are:

1) See #2 above! When I feel overwhelmed with food selection and preparation, I remind myself that it’s one of the most important and loving things I can do for my family… and myself.

2) Meal planning (utilizing the Circle of Health and 4 Golden Rules of Nutrition that I discuss in The Healthy School Days Menu) have saved my sanity!

I’ll write more about how I introduced the Dr. Mom version of Meal Planning to our family in an upcoming post. It has saved us a ton of money, saved me the headaches of scrambling for meal ideas at the last minute and helped with overall stress reduction. I build in some room for spontaneity, too… ‘cuz that’s just how I am! : )

Anyhow, if Back-to-School nutrition is a concern of yours, and/or you’d like to raise your kids with a better understanding of nutrition and health, you can find out more about The Healthy School Days Menu by CLICKING HERE.

Have some healthy family recipes you’d like to share? Great! Leave a comment with your family favorites!