Fit Kids Raising Physically and Emotionally Strong Kids With Real Food

Introduction In the late 1990s I began working on a book I would never write calledThe Power of Food in the Family.In it, I intended to make the case that food can be a means to strengthen families. Mary Pipher writes in her bookReviving Opheliaabout how our young people move in a world of strangers, no longer nurtured by a cohesive community, and as a result they feel isolated and vulnerable. She is not alone in her observation or concern. As a nutritionist I certainly have heard parallel worries from clients who complain about harried schedules that squeeze family time almost into nonexistence. They tell me they are stressed and worry that their children are unhappy too. I believe that the way a family buys, prepares, and serves food can help alleviate these problems.I am not objective about the power of food and its pleasures. Food is my work, and cooking is my hobby. It's what I do when I want to celebrate, and it's one of the ways I connect with my children, husband, and friends. To a psychologist this might sound misguided, but enjoying food is not synonymous with obsession, emotional bankruptcy, or a means to elicit affection. Food used correctly can make children feel strong and confident. Returning to old-fashioned food basics such as cooking and eating together can be an effective tool to help parents raise healthy, strong, enthusiastic children in a culture that some mental health experts define as toxic because of its emphasis on commercialism and self-gratification. The problem with the book I started was that I couldn't make a good enough case for why families should take a different approach to how they handled food within the family. Everyone readily agrees that good nutrition is important and that food is the conveyor of nutrition. What does it then matter when, where, or how we eat, as long as we eat enough and not too much?In the fall of 1998, the United States Department of Agriculture and the U.S. surgeon general convened a panel of obesity experts to examine and comment on the current status of obesity among our children. The results were shocking: one in five of our children is now considered overweight or obese, up fifty percent in the past twenty years, and all evidence suggests the number is climbing, not stagnant. Because I specialize in family nutrition I was asked to write this book to tell parents how to help their child lose weight. I have written five books related to children and health and I have two daughters, aged eleven and thirteen, which gives me a valuable perspective when writing about children and food. I have also been a practicing nutritionist for over twenty-five years, working with individuals, children, and families to use food to improve health.The one good thing about the obesity crisis is it clearly identifies something has gone very wrong with our food supply, our children's health, and how we as a nation think of food and children. In the past decade as I raised my own children I have seen and had to navigate a food supply that has been altered dramatically since I was a child. Our shelves are filled with empty-calorie food that in many cases is falsely marketed to parents as being nutritious with words likelite, fat free,andcontains real fruit.I am convinced, and many experts agree, that this new food environment is the reason we have a childhood obesity epidemic. The change in our food supply and family food traditions may also explain why some young people feel disconnected from their community. Parents may be surprised to learn that a YMCA parent and teen survey found the top concern among teenagers was not having enough time together with their parents. In a White House report by the Council of Economic Advisers, teens who eat dinner with their parents five times per week were less likely to smoke, drink, use drugs, or be involved in violence or early sexual activity. Kids who ate with their parents hadBehan, Eileen is the author of 'Fit Kids Raising Physically and Emotionally Strong Kids With Real Food' with ISBN 9780671037161 and ISBN 0671037161.