Healthy Children ~

Joshua and Dakoda ... having their afternoon snack.
They LOVE celery, carrots, and peanut butter!
Dakoda tries to feed Joshua.
They are such good little boys!

It is very sad that childhood obesity is becoming an epedemic in our country. It is a known fact that 80% of all obese children will become obese adults. We as parents have the responsibility to teach our children how to eat right so that they can be as healthy as possible. What you eat determines your mood and energy levels throughout the day. A healthy breakfast of eggs and blueberries has been proven to help children achieve better grades on tests.

Fact: Children won't let themselves starve, so they will eat what we put in front of them even if it is a challenge to us as parents at first to hear them complain they "don't like it Mommy". Sure, once in a while we all have McDonald's but if that is the typical routine the children will most likely become overweight.

Overweight children are not as active as they could be otherwise and will be more susceptible to diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and heart problems later in life. We certainly won't allow that to happen to our kids! There are many diseases (genetic and otherwise) which we can not prevent, but there are so many that we CAN prevent by simply eating healthy.

Before Dakoda came to live with us, we received a bio on him. The file stated that he was overweight for his age and has been hospitalized twice already in his life. Many things we read worried us for this little boy. He had asthma and needed a nebulizer every day. He was fed portion sizes fit for a grown 200 pound man! He came to us 10 pounds overweight for his age / height so we made some immediate changes to turn his health problems around. The first step was to give him soy milk instead of 2% milk. He loved it! "This is good milk Mommy," he said as he first tried it. The 2nd day we had him, he asked for Pepsi and french fries for lunch. He cried when we told him he would not be aloud to have that anymore (as a meal) but soon learned to appreciate what we were doing for him. He used to gorge food and binge eat. None of that has continued since May. He no longer craves Pepsi and has fries only on occasion. He still loves Oreos, but no longer is aloud to eat the entire bag. Instead, he is allowed to have 2 cookies after a meal - once in a while. He still gets "treats" ... but we have found that the key is to have everything in moderation.

He may be only 3, but he is VERY smart. He has learned how to eat and now treats his little body with respect by not over eating. He stops himself when he is full and says "we can save the rest for later, right?" We are so proud of him! His weight is within in the normal range now and he no longer has asthma. He is a healthy boy now.