Dear Mom, They Are Talking About Me: A Reminder for Parents of their Super Powers

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Do the math. In 2030, our children will be adults, which is when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects that every U.S. state may have adult obesity rates above 44% and thirty-nine states are projected to surpass 50%. With familiar faces put to the statistics, as parents, we must recognize the import of the choices we are making now and accept the responsibility for the lessons we are teaching our children, as they will determine whether, as adults, they fall to the obesity epidemic.


If only it were as easy as making one choice, but a healthy lifestyle is a hundred choices made every day, which provide constant temptation and perpetual chances for redemption; it is limiting television and choosing playing outside over the computer; it is buying healthy foods over junk and learning to prepare them. And most importantly, for parents, it is making sure that you are leading by example.

An unhealthy lifestyle is much like quitting smoking; it is easiest to quit if you never start. Thus parents of newborns have the greatest advantage, because from their child's first bites, they can teach them just how delicious healthy foods can be and create positive habits with salt and sugar; they can establish physical activity as a fundamental part of each day simply by modeling the behavior and establish firm limits and attitudes toward the role of television and other electronic entertainment.
But parents of all ages need to realize the power of their own actions, as children work on the "monkey see, monkey do" principal vs "do as I say don't do as I do." As New York dietician Keith Ayoob stated in a 2010 USA Today article he "never sees children who have better eating habits than their parents" and the same holds true for physical activity, as a study from Oregon State University found that the children of parents who are not home or do not spend time with their children spend an average of an additional thirty minutes per day doing sedentary activities. That may not sound like a big deal, until you realize in one week, it adds up to 3.5 hours or about 196 hours in a year.
The Oregon State study also found that children most likely to engage in active play were those whose parents played with them, but a study from National Jewish Health proved a direct correlation between parent and child activity levels. Researchers asked study parents to take an additional 2,000 steps per day, and on the days that this occurred, their children averaged 2,100 additional steps, but on the days that mom and dad fell short, so, too, did their children. Parents need to realize that their influence will diminish as children age and spend less time with them, so use that time to be active together and teach children that activity is fun.
All of this is not to say that every parent must be an athlete to raise healthy children. Parental support, whether taking children to an activity or watching them participate, provides children with the encouragement that they need to get out and active. With no scientific backing to support the findings, I discovered with my teenage daughter that volunteering together at athletic events, such as a local 10k, or standing on course to cheer, shaped her perception of how enjoyable being active can be.
Thus when parents feel powerless about changing the world in which their children live, what they must remember is that they alone have the single greatest ability to affect positive change within their child, but they must choose to use their super-powers for good.

Super-Power Steps

1. If you are not an active family with eating habits that need improvement, make your first step toward a healthier path involving your children, making buy-in more likely.

2. Start small. To safely introduce exercise to anyone who may not be accustomed to it, you need to start with the basics. Make it your goal to take a walk after dinner each night and increase the length of your walk by 10% each week. (Need inspiration? Check out our post on getting the whole family walking.)

3. Take it easy. One of the easiest ways to improve your family's health is to eat together. Turn the television off, leave the cell phone and computers in another room, and tune in to what your children have to say. With busy schedules, every night may not be possible, but establish a routine and use these nights to try out healthy meals, involving even the smallest chefs in their preparation.

4. Ask for help. Whether you need cooking instruction or inspiration for getting active, there are plenty of resources, so do not let a question mark derail your goals. Ask your pediatrician, fitness instructor, a healthy neighbor, or post a question here!

5. Talk the talk. Being active and healthy is not the same as being "athletic," a word that intimidates many children and adults. So toss out "competition," "sports," or other words that reference specific skills or abilities, if they do not work for your family and focus on fun.

6. Grow your power. Research has shown that a parent's perception of health and their belief in their own ability to make a difference play a large role in determining how healthy their family is, so congratulate yourself on reading this article and make it your goal to spend five minutes per day reading a piece or finding a new recipe. It will turn the wait in the carpool line into a productive and empowering time that will make a positive difference.