Kids Eat Right Month

By Josie Austin, Purdue Dietetic Intern

As school has started and August comes to an end so is Kids Eat Right Month. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Academy Foundation consider Kids Eat Right Month a time to highlight the importance of children’s healthy futures through smart shopping, healthy eating, and active lifestyles. Even though the month is coming to an end it offers many ways to ensure our children’s health throughout the years to come.

Healthy Eating: Snacks are a great way to encourage healthy eating during and after school. One way to do this is to put the focus on whole grains, fruits, and vegetables and to watch for added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium. When it comes to added sugars, it is recommended that they do not make up more than 10% of your daily calories. Added sugars are any sugars that are not naturally found in a food and have been added. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) children consuming too much sugar can have an increased risk of obesity, tooth decay, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and a variety of other diseases. Saturated fat has a similar recommendation to added sugars, in that they should be limited to 10% of the daily calories. Saturated fats are any fats that are solid at room temperature. Saturated fats can contribute to heart disease by promoting fat deposit buildup in the arteries and raising cholesterol levels. Lastly, sodium should be limited in order to reduce the risk of high blood pressure and damaging the heart and kidneys. The sodium recommendations set by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans for sodium vary by age. For children 13 and under sodium should be limited to 1,800 mg or less depending on age and anyone above the age of 14, sodium should be limited to 2,300 mg per day to limit risks of heart and kidney disease. Some typical snacks that kids would like to enjoy like chips, candy, soda, and snack cakes all contain some combination of sodium, added sugar, and saturated fats. Swapping out those kinds of foods with healthier snacks can be a simple way to help your kid eat right.

Some snack ideas include: fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, whole grain crackers, and vegetables like celery and carrots with veggie dip or peanut butter. If you choose a fruit cup or applesauce, consider how much added sugar there is and what the fruit is packed in (preferably its own juice). To take things a step further in encouraging healthy eating with kids is to get them involved in planning and preparing their snacks and meals. Lending a hand during meal and snack preparation can make them more open to trying a variety of foods and give them a hands-on way to understand nutrition. Remember, snacks and meals don’t have to be complicated to be delicious and healthy.

Active Lifestyle: It is recommended for kids to get 60 minutes of vigorous activity a day. What is vigorous activity? Vigorous activity is generally described as an activity that makes one’s heart beat faster and breathing harder. According to the CDC there are a number of benefits for kids that come along with being physically active like improved blood pressure and aerobic fitness, reduced risk of depression, improved attention and memory and stronger bones. Some examples of vigorous activity could include chase during tag or running during sports like basketball, football, and kickball. Other forms of activity that may be more moderate are walking, swimming, and climbing. At the end of the day, any way that you get your body moving is great.

Get the Family Involved: Building a healthy lifestyle for your kids doesn’t have to be a solo act. Share family meals together to further enrich the experience of eating healthful meals. Sharing meals together also deepens family bonding and health. You can get active as a family as well. Consider going on family walks, bike rides, or playing games together to encourage activity for your child and you. Making changes as a family can help build solid foundations for your child to later model their healthy lifestyles after later on.