Raising healthy children so they can live to grow old
Raising healthy children so they can live to grow old
by Dr. Rhonda Johnson
Nearly one in three kids or teens in the United States is overweight or obese. Conditions that were once only seen in middle-aged adults are now much more common in children – high blood pressure, fatty infiltration of the liver, gallstones, arthritis and diabetes. If current trends continue, today’s youth could be the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents.
It’s time to take action to reverse these trends in our children’s lives – let’s start at home.
Healthy lifestyles and healthy eating habits begin at home. Making small changes at home can lead to a long, healthy life for your family. Here are some tips:
- Eat more fruits and vegetables: One of the easiest changes to make is to serve some kind of fruit and/or vegetable at every meal. Fruits and vegetables are rich in important vitamins and fiber. They can be fresh, frozen or canned. Avoid adding fat (butter) and salt to your vegetables and watch out for extra sugar in canned and frozen fruits. Aim for at least 5 fruits and veggies a day.
- Eat together as a family: Create family mealtime and keep this tradition. Eat together as often as possible and involve children in meal time preparation, serving and cleanup.
- Limit “fast foods” and avoid “convenience foods” when possible: I know that it is tempting to reach for those microwaveable frozen meals and prepared food items. Fast food restaurants are everywhere and those “dollar meals” make eating out affordable. However, just because it’s easy and the food is cheap does not mean it’s good for you and your family.
- Choose healthy snacks: Try to offer healthy alternatives to high-fat, high-in-salt and sugar snacks such as chips, cookies, cakes and candy. Pudding, cheese and crackers, fruit, veggies, low-fat milk, yogurt, instead, are excellent snacks for growing children.
- Be active as a family: Kids need to be physically active for at least one hour each day. Limit TV, video games, cell phone and computer time to not more than two hours daily. Set the example and be the role model for the healthy lifestyle that you want your kids to have.
- Get regular checkups and vaccines: Preventive care is very important to growing up healthy. A physical exam is part of every checkup and is key to finding problems early. Hearing and vision screens are part of some checkup visits.
In general, children should have a checkup according to the following schedule:
| 1st year of life: by 1 month of life then at 2 months, 4 months, 6 month and 9 months |
| 1 year, 15 months, 18 months |
| Once a year between the ages of 2 to 6 years |
| At least once between the ages of 8 to 10 years |
| From 11 years of age, every year until the age of 21 |
Immunizations help protect children against many serious life-threatening diseases. They can be given at many of the routine checkups. Talk to your primary care provider about specific immunizations for you or your child at every doctor visit.
- Keep your children safe: As parents and caregivers, it is our duty and responsibility to keep our kids safe at every age wherever they are – at home, in the car and at play. The basic safety checklist includes:
ü Poison prevention: Keep medications stored safely; keep toxic substances out of reach.
ü Fire prevention: Have working smoke alarms on every level of your residence, keep matches and lighters away from children and never leave a hot stove unattended.
ü Prevention of accidental choking, suffocation and strangulation: Buy age-appropriate toys for your kids; be aware of foods to avoid feeding to young children; keep window blinds and drapery cords away from children.
ü Prevention of drowning: Follow a simple rule – never leave children unsupervised in or near water.
ü Car safety: Always properly restrain your children when riding and never leave kids alone in or around vehicles.
ü At play: Actively supervise kids at playgrounds and use the appropriate helmet and safety gear for bicycling and sports.
ü At school: Talk to school-aged children about what bullying is and how to stand up to it safely. Tell kids bullying is unacceptable. Make sure kids know how to get help. Check in often. Listen to them. Know their friends, ask about school and understand their concerns.
Our kids are counting on us. Let’s try hard to keep our kids healthy so that they can live to grow old. No one article can cover this very important topic. Always seek out information from trusted sources like your family members, trusted advisers or your health care provider. The following Internet sites provide useful and easy-to-understand information:
If you’re a Highmark member, log in to the member website to learn more about keeping your family healthy at www.highmarkbcbs.com.
Dr. Rhonda Johnson is the medical director of health equity and quality services at Highmark Inc., an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. She leads Highmark’s efforts to reduce racial and ethnic health care disparities among Highmark members through clinical interventions and improvements in health literacy, language access and health-plan cultural competency.
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