American Fitness Professionals & Associates

This article is an excerpt from “Eat to be Fit — The Truth About Fat Loss”,
By Michael J. Foley, M.S. with Pat Walsh; published November, 2002,
Living Well Publishing Company, Portland, ME.Introduction

Childhood is the ideal time for good eating and exercise habits to become established as the normal condition of everyday life. Children who are well-nourished and physically fit from their earliest days, have a better chance to succeed in every aspect of their lives, than children who are under-nourished and unable to do their best.  It is often not recognized that children’s lives are challenging and can be very stressful.  They need the benefit of being physically fit just as adults do, to make it through each day with enthusiasm and energy to spare.

Parenting is a huge responsibility for which most people are not well-prepared, or at least, not formally trained.  Raising a child may be one of the most important jobs we will ever have, yet there is no training required to become a parent.  Compare this to the training required to become a licensed driver.  There are driving rules and regulations to learn, weeks of practice, then a written test and driving test to be passed before you are licensed to drive a car.  At first glance, you may think learning how to drive a car well enough to pass a driving test is important because people’s lives may be at stake if you don’t drive well.  

But stop and think about it for a moment:  Someone’s life IS at stake if you don’t know how to be a good parent!  In fact, that someone is very important to you, your own child, or a child you have taken the responsibility to raise.  Unless you have had an exceptionally good, well-balanced childhood experience yourself, you are not likely to know all the things that are important in raising a well-balanced, happy and healthy child.  This subject is too large and far-reaching to cover here.  We will only address childhood fitness, but urge you to learn all you can about the other important aspects of good parenting as well.

Children’s Fitness Requirements:  Adequate Exercise and Good Nutrition

We must begin to give conscious thought and effort to our children’s physical fitness from the very start of their lives.  
Expectant mothers are now aware that smoking, drinking, and of course, illegal drugs can be harmful to their developing child.  It was through an educational campaign that this information became widely available and understood.  The same kind of educational campaign, for the overall physical fitness of children, must begin in this country.  We must address both nutrition and exercise, because fitness levels in children are declining at an alarming rate.  We can no longer  ignore our parental responsibilities in this area.  

Adequate Exercise

Children were much more physically active before the days of television.  Today our children not only have television as a passive activity, but video games as well.  Studies have shown that children spend as much time in passive activities as they do in school. We must counteract the influence of passive activities with a plan for consistent physical activity for our children.

 Physical education is one of the most under-emphasized programs in America’s schools, yet one can hardly argue that being physically fit would give a child as much benefit as any of the other courses required in school.  Effective physical education can improve academic performance, self-discipline, judgment and goal setting.  Children who are physically fit enjoy greater self-esteem, better peer relationships, stress reduction and less risk of depression–the same benefits adults experience.  As parents it is imperative that we promote physical education in school, and encourage our children to participate in organized sports.  There is a huge separation between the children who play competitive sports and those who play for recreation only.  

Today, children’s competitive athletic programs are more advanced than they have ever been, and those involved in sports are better athletes than ever.  Even though children’s athletics are better today than in the past, the majority of children are less fit than ever.  Childhood obesity is increasing as fast as adult obesity.  Most children do not have sufficient muscle strength to pass basic fitness tests, nor do they get enough exercise to develop healthy hearts and lungs.  Inactivity caused by too much television, computer games and lack of direction towards physical exercise, is as much to blame for childhood obesity and lack of physical fitness as poor nutrition.

Good Nutrition

Nutrition is another area where public education is failing.  One need only look at the statistics of overweight and obese people in this country to know that nutrition education is not working.  Even if schools did a magnificent job in educating our children about nutrition, without nutritious meals and snacks at home it would do no good at all.  The messages about food that our children are exposed to through television are also harmful.  Not only are many commercials for sugar-laden cereals and fast foods prevalent on children’s programming, even educational television falls short when it comes to emphasizing good nutrition.  For the most part, schools and the media are just not  delivering effective nutrition education.

What Parents Can Do

The most effective thing we can do as parents is to be good role models for our children.  If we pay attention to what we eat and how we exercise and treat our bodies, our children will learn by our example and do the same.  Children pick up everything from us, good and bad, healthy or unhealthy.

The attention you give to your child’s activities and eating should be positive, not negative.  For example, when a child participates in an organized sport at school, you should praise their participation and performance, and not criticize them  for their mistakes. They will know when they’ve made a mistake or not performed well, and it is the coach’s responsibility to deal with that.  As a parent, you need to be supportive and encouraging above all else.  

The same thing applies to eating.  If you praise them for eating well and explain that they are doing something very good for themselves, it will become a matter of habit and routine for them to eat well.  On the other hand, if they are ridiculed, embarrassed or teased about being overweight and making wrong food choices, they may begin to use food for emotional comfort, eating more of the wrong things and creating a pattern that could lead to a lifetime of being overweight or obese.

It is impossible to present guidelines based on calories and nutrients for children because their activity levels, sizes, growth patterns and nutritional needs are all so different.  The best advice I can give a parent is to be sure you present a well-balanced selection of foods to choose from at each meal.  If given the choice, children will generally choose to eat what their bodies need.  Have plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, yogurt, granola bars, baked (not fried) chips and low fat crackers available for snacks and your child will develop the habit of eating healthy snacks rather than junk food.   Just as with a good adult nutrition plan, children’s snacks should always be nutritious and not contain empty calories or extra fat.  If your child appears to be gaining weight and/or is listless without any apparent cause, lack of adequate or appropriate nutrition could be the problem, and you should consult a health care professional who specializes in nutrition.

It’s Never Too Late for You and Your Child

Normally, children do not need to be on a formal exercise program.  Their nutrition requirements do not need to be as regimented as those for adults, as long as they are physically active and eating a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats.  Children do not need to be weighed often either, as weight is not a component of physical fitness, and children are constantly growing.  As a parent, you can tell by looking at your child if they are accumulating excessive fat; and, if so, you need to begin a conscious effort to see that their physical activity is increased and that they are avoiding non-nutritious, high-calorie and/or high fat foods.

If you are learning about nutrition and exercise for the first time in your life, remember that it is never too late to begin a fitness program for yourself, and it is never too early to start helping your child develop healthy eating and exercise habits.   You will find that it is worth the effort because the health benefits and joy they will find by being active and fully participating in their daily activities will last their lifetime.
Michael J. Foley,  mfoley2000@hotmail.com
Pat Walsh, kwalsh1@maine.rr.com