Empower your kids for a healthy future!

For those of you with school aged children are you back in the groove yet? Or perhaps flying by the seat of your pants? Children’s activities, late work hours, family duties can make us all so very frazzled and reactive. What we want to discuss today is to be more proactive with our kids and families! As our kids grow older we give them more independence, more freedom to make decisions but we also want them to make good decisions-right? Since we are all about health here at trumi, we want to challenge you to help them make solid nutrition choices both when you are around and when you are not around.

Let’s discuss school lunch! My 8 year old daughter was packing her lunch the other day to take to school. I peek in her box and see PBJ, turkey stick, yogurt, and applesauce-this is pretty good eh? I realize this is a great opportunity to expand on her lunch options and teach her some other ideas to consider as this is a positive moment. I have learned that if I try to teach only at the negative times (for example; PBJ with sour patch kids, goldfish, cookies and a coke) it does not go over so well. So I tell my daughter what an awesome job she did and let’s think about other lunches she can take throughout the week and make herself. Our kids are growing so fast and are so active that they NEED good, quality nutrition so they can be strong of both body and mind.

So we had a VERY exciting discussion that meals should contain a carbohydrate, a protein and a good fat! She then made a list of what proteins she likes (turkey, fish, hamburger, chicken, tuna etc) and then we discussed what a carbohydrate does for you and where you can get those awesome energy filling carbohydrates. Carbohydrates such as broccoli, snap peas, green beans (yes, this area will take some work) instead of crackers, breads, or cereals will give us both good energy and good nutrients our bodies need to be strong! I broke out the awesome Power Pack Magazine by PowerUp and we went through the incredible colors of vegetables and fruits and spoke about their energy producing capabilities as carbohydrates! Finally, we discussed healthy fats! She listed fats like avocado, butter, nuts and seeds. She then had a list of a variety of items to pack in her lunch or as a snack she takes to school and I had a grocery list and some meal planning ideas! This guideline of your plate having a carbohydrate, a protein and a fat can be applied to snacks, dinners, eating out and gatherings after those ball games, choir concerts or karate graduations! Giving our kids these guidelines empowers them to feel more independent and us as parents to feel confident that they can get the best nutrition possible.

If packing a lunch is not an option for your household, perhaps print off the school menu. Together, you and your child can go through the lunches and pick out a carb/protein/fat for each meal. The child then can keep that in mind when in the lunch line. You could also do this with their school snacks or breakfast! It’s a great habit to get into so you set them up for good health down the road!
If you don’t have a Power Pack magazine by PowerUP you can visit www.powerup4kids.org to find one.

Written by Laura Peters, trumi training Stillwater www.trumi.com