CommunityNews By: Robin Gericke
Family Health And Fitness Day
A
t the beginning of the year, it seems as though everyone has a resolution to eat healthier and exercise more. But as the months progress, we become caught up in all the other activities and put off our resolution until it is long forgotten. Then next year, it goes on the list again. Saturday, September 28, is Family Health and Fitness Day. What a great day for us to remember our resolution and come up with a plan to help us succeed.
The Habit of Health It’s really important to form healthy habits at an early age so that we have a healthy lifestyle which leads to a long and healthy life. If children develop the habit of eating not just because they are hungry but because they are sad, angry, or perhaps even happy, food becomes more than fuel for their bodies but a “crutch”. When that habit is combined with lack of exercise it can lead to obesity. Kentucky is the seventh most ‘obese’ state in the country and that’s an embarrassing
and costly statistic. The rate of obesity for adults is 30.5 percent. Twenty-one percent of children are obese in Kentucky and over 12 million children are obese throughout the country. Obesity and being overweight is caused by not having energy balance. Let’s compare this to a car. You put gas in a car and, to use it up, you have to drive. So not having balanced energy is when we keep filling up with the fuel for our bodies, but don’t drive to use that fuel.While a gas tank will only fill up with as much as it can hold, our bodies will take in as much as we eat. If we do not use the energy from food through being active and exercising, the fuel gets stored away in the form of fat.This is why it is important for children to learn healthy habits at a young age so they can apply those habits and not eat so much they become obese.
Plan ahead Part of the healthy balance between the amount of food (fuel) we eat and exercise (calories we burn) is planning, which plays a large part in healthy eating. With busy family schedules its very easy hit the drive through because we didn’t plan a meal in advance. Remember that cooking wholesome meals is not hard when you have everything you need in the house. Plan a menu for the week and grocery shop for the things you will need. If there is a night when you will be busy and don’t have time to cook, you might be able to pull down the crock pot and make a one dish meal. For most of these meals, you throw everything in the crock pot in the morning and let it cook all day. When
12 a September2010
www.paducahparenting.com