Message for Parents and Grandparents….Don’t Kill The Kids!
By: Oleda Baker
If you are an overweight parent this is one time you should say to your kids, “Don’t do as I do…do as I say.” Have a loving talk with them explaining that Childhood Obesity is now a very serious American epidemic
…and you are there to help.
It is possible we are setting our children up for a lifetime of illness and a shorter life expectancy. We as parents, and even grandparents, have the most power to help our children see the serious dangers.
You say you are afraid to bring up the subject because you don’t want to offend your child? We should be more afraid NOT to bring up the subject. (They may already be offended by their school mates.) A child whose weight is out of control—by, say, 15 pounds may go on the next year to add even more…you can help.
Overweight or obese children are nearly twice as likely to grow up to be obese adults. And a child who keeps the weight on through adolescence and into adulthood has a good chance of developing serious medical problems, according to the experts. By the time they’re teens, many could have the beginnings of heart disease or diabetes. Early puberty, which is now common among overweight children, has been linked to breast cancer in women later in life. And cancer of the ovaries, uterus, colon, rectum, and prostate are also more common in obese adults.
Studies also show that overweight children ages 6 and older tend to have fewer friends, are less involved with extracurricular activities, are more depressed, and have lower self-esteem than their thinner peers.
Talk about nutrition with your children and what it can do for the cells in their body. Talk about how too many french-fries and soda pop can damage the cells in the body…how they actually change the cells in a negative way. Our body is made up of billions of cells and what we feed these cells relates directly to our weight and health now as well as much later in life. Keep your cells healthy!
Teach them what foods “help grow” beautiful skin and healthy hair. What foods give you extra energy for sports. Talk about how famous athletes drink so much water and how it helps to keep the weight down and helps purify the cells in the body. How some foods help build muscle as opposed to some foods that build fat. Children are not often told these things in this way. “French fries are not good for you” means nothing to them as they have nothing to compare the idea with.
When shopping with them let them read the list of ingredients in the store with you and together decide if it is an OK snack.
For awhile, talk with your children a little everyday about good nutrition and why it’s important. Why is water important to our diet? What are vitamins and why they may be important? What does the food pyramid mean? What is protein and why is it important especially for a young body? How is food digested? They will get used to this type of conversation and hopefully start contributing on their own to the subject.
Scientists differ on the number of cells the human body contains, and It varies from one person to the next, but estimates range between 25 trillion and 100 trillion – yes, trillion.
Wow! So, the number of cells we have working for us is unimaginable. We had better feed them correctly.
One of my favorite sayings: “It’s not the older you get, the sicker you get; rather, the older you get, the healthier you’ve been.”
Until next time,
Love, Oleda
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Biography
Oleda Baker, now 76, began her career as a high fashion model with the prestigious Wilhelmina Model Agency, in New York City. She is the author of ten books on beauty, health and anti-aging and one novel Reluctant Goddess. Oleda is founder and CEO of Oleda and Company, Inc., her 38-year-old anti-aging products company for skin, hair, diet, energy, nutritional supplement products as well as special makeup. www.oleda.com . oleda@oleda.com Oleda is also a visionary artist. Her oil paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the country, the latest one last year at the Museum of Florida Art, DeLand. www.oledaart.com.
Oleda’s new book just released, “BREAKING THE AGE BARRIER Great Looks and Health at Every Age,” is available now and can now be found on www.oleda.com or in most bookstores.
