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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Parents Teach Kids Nutrition While Introducing Them to the Benefits of Juicing

By now, most of us have heard about the growing epidemic of childhood obesity.  We've all heard about it, but the problem continues.  Why?  Because eating habits aren't changing.  And where does that start for children?  It starts at home, with what their caretakers are purchasing them to eat.

What's in the cabinets?  What is in the refrigerator?  In most cases, obesity in children begins with their parents.  And, in many cases, those children who eat poorly and are significantly overweight, have parents who have poor eating habits as well.

But today, there's also a growing interest in teaching children how to get good nutrition.  I see it all the time with the kids' sports teams I'm involved with.  While there are many who feed their kids whatever they'll eat to "get something in them,"  there's an increasing group of parents who understand input equals output, now and also way in the future.

I'm seeing more and more interest in kids and nutrition -- helping them consume good nutrients.  And one way that parents are doing this is by introducing their kids to juicing benefits.  Parents are making their children healthy breakfast smoothies and the kids just think they're having a great breakfast shake.  (Some do taste better than others, but some fruit smoothies are packed with nutrients and taste fantastic!)


As kids get more used to drinking smoothies and vitamin-rich fruit drinks, parents can introduce them to veggie drinks through tasty combos that give them nutrients that their bodies need without all of the empty calories that fast food provides.  They get the benefits of juicing vegetables, but don't initially give up the more processed foods that they're used to.   They idea being that they eventually swap more nutrient-dense drinks for junk food long-term.

Today, with rising costs of health care, everyone being one or two people removed from someone who has cancer or another significant health concern, and with increased competition among our youth to out-perform others in the sporting arena, nutrition is one area that can make a huge difference in our lives.  And juicing or blending more fruits and vegetables is one thing we can do to begin to feed ourselves right.


For more information about nutrition, visit the nutrition page on my parenting site. 

Want more info on juicing?  Check out Dr. Oz's recent piece on the Healing Properties of Juicing, and this site on juicing and blending.