The Secret to Being a Weight Control Guru for Your Kids
Behaviors are learned and the first place human beings learn them is with their parents. Children are always watching and copying the adults around them; consequently, adults need to be aware of what they are doing and how they are influencing their children. One of the primary behaviors adults inspire in children is the choices they make about food: the way that the parents eat is the way that the children are going to eat. Needless to say, parents are their children’s first weight control gurus—for better or for worse.
Every family has a food culture. Some families eat dinner together every night of the week at 6 pm. Some families have rituals around how they cook their food. Some families eat gluten free all the time and some families stock up on junk food. Just like all other aspects of culture, food cultures are handed down from parents to children. Children learn to eat and prepare food a certain way from their parents and then they in turn pass this information on to their children. This is how healthy or unhealthy eating patterns cycle from generation to generation.
The powerful influence of the family food culture means that parents need to become the health gurus of their family food culture so that they can pass the secrets of weight control onto their children. Parents need to ensure that children are learning how to nourish their bodies properly by setting positive examples. Parents who cook with super foods (green veggies, lean proteins, fruits, nuts, spices, low gluten), avoid fast foods, and have healthy attitudes about food in general will create a healthy food culture.
Healthy family food cultures also encourage regular exercise as a means both weight control and fun. Parents need to show their kids that they enjoy walking, running, and other outdoor activity. If parents spend all their time sedentary, chances are that children will too.
In closing, a word of warning about healthy family food cultures: never take anything to the extreme. Being rigid and shameful around food and exercise is just as damaging to the psyche as eating junk food every day is to the body. Be flexible. Leave room for sweet treats and French fries. Weight control isn’t about perfection through complete denial; it is about healthy consistency with the occasional treat.
Obesity may be on its way to global pandemic status, but you have the power to stop it in your own life by practicing the fundamentals of mindful weight control. To learn more about strengthening your willpower for weight loss purposes, visit: http://lifecoachtoquitsmoking.com/