Did you know that children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults? In fact, one study showed that children who became obese as early as the age of 2 were more likely to be obese as adults.  Parents, we must get serious about this.  Think it won’t happen in your family?  More than 1/3 of children and adolescents are overweight. Even worse, individuals who eat fast food one or more times per week are at increased risk of weight gain, overweight, and obesity.  Thinking differently now?

 

This week we are talking about Step 3 in raising healthy kids.  This isn’t rocket science.  If families in WV can make these small changes, we will see a huge impact in our state.  Don’t we owe it to our kids to give these a try?

 

Two weeks ago we talked about Step 1.  Less than 30% of kids in WV report being physically active for at least 60 minutes every day.  Wow!  That’s one step we can make huge improvements in. 

 

Last week we tackled Step 2 - No More Sugary Drinks.  Moms & Dads- these drinks are packing on the pounds for adults and kids.

 

According to the CDC, most youth do not meet the recommendations for fruits and vegetables every day.  In a 2011 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey of US High School Students, 5% of those surveyed said they had not eaten a fruit in the past week and 6% said they had not eaten a vegetable in the past week.  No fruit or vegetable in an entire week!  Step 3 is to make sure our kids eat 5 servings of fruits & vegetables each day.  The crazy part is that we’re not asking them to eat 5 servings of each.  Five in total.

 

So what’s a serving size? A ½ cup of raw vegetables/fruit = 1 serving.  One cup of cooked = 1 serving. 

 

Here’s an even better visual for you. This is 5 servings.  Yep!  That’s it.  If you can encourage your kids to eat just this much each day, you’re well on your way to a healthy lifestyle.

 

Two more tips still to come.  Stay tuned.