With our CrossFit Kids 5 week block just
around the corner (5th November –see me for details if you would
like to book your kids in) I thought I’d do a child-focused blog. Training and
good nutrition are extremely important for today’s children given that our
society is becoming more and more sedentary and time in front of a screen
rather than playing outside is the norm. If we can teach and instill good
habits from an early age, we help set them up for a healthier and happier life.
I
definitely don’t have all the answers for raising a child – I didn’t even hold
a baby until I had my own so take from this what you will! I’m a firm believer
that there are many different ways to raise a child. You need to do what feels
right for you. That being said I am in no way preaching, just sharing my
experience. From talking to many of my clients that have children there seems
to be a common problem with trying to get children to eat healthy options.
I never made a fuss about what my daughter
ate as she was growing up, I’d put good food in front of her and if she was
hungry she’d eat the lot and ask for more. If she wasn’t, she’d pick and eat
what she needed on that day. As a young child she tried to convince me that she
had two stomachs – one for healthy food and one for junk food and that at times
the “good food” tummy was full whilst her “junk food” tummy would be completely
empty which was the cause of her hunger!
I decided to educate her on different
macronutrients from an early age so she knew how to balance a meal. She not
only knew what protein, carbohydrate and fat was but could also look at a plate
of food and know whether the macronutrients were balanced or what to add to
balance them. I’m not saying that this is the way to do it for everyone but it’s
certainly something that worked for us. She would grab her own snack and be
quite proud of herself - she was quite a
headstrong child from early on so being responsible for making some of her own
decisions kept the peace!
She’s a kid like any other and will still
eat rubbish from time to time but more often than not will choose a healthier
option, mainly because she is aware of how different foods make her feel and
behave and how it effects her training (she’s a super keen gymnast, she’s
passionate about a sport for which she trains 14 hours a week which certainly
helps too!).
When my daughter was younger she, like any
other child, went through times where she “didn’t want to go to bed” or
“couldn’t sleep”. This just happened to coincide with times that she had eaten
“treats” or food that was pretty high in sugar which caused her to be a bit of
a brat and extremely moody. We did an experiment together – one night she ate
whatever sugar she wanted … as expected it was pretty rough getting to sleep
and not a great sleep, she was angry at me and had some fantastic tantrums. The
next night she had no sugar and slept like a baby. She woke up and was actually
blown away, she said “wow Mum, I feel so much better without sugar – that will
definitely be a sometimes food for me and never before bed”. This wasn’t a magic
cure for bedtime but it certainly made life a whole lot easier.
I think I was pretty lucky that she was
able to feel and see the difference eating foods high in sugar had on the way
she was feeling. She’s now 11 and recently watched “That Sugar Film” (her choice), she went to
school the next day and asked whether it would be possible to have a viewing
for the entire school as she felt it would help some of the kids have a better
understanding of foods labeled as “health foods” and what good food actually
is. The old saying “knowledge is power” is certainly a concept that has worked
well with my child.
Px
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