Tired of being the main force keeping your child motivated to eat well, stay active and take his or her schoolwork seriously? Ian’s Natural Foods has created the “I’m a SuperFit Kid” program to help kids develop and maintain healthy habits. It rewards participants—ages four through 13—for eating well, taking care of their bodies and learning through arts, sciences and literature.
To get started, kids. Then they can surf the site, which provides tips for healthy living, ideas for indoor and outdoor games and opportunities to win fun prizes by collecting points through various activities. Point-producing activities include swimming lessons, playing an instrument, visiting the dentist, reading books and planting a tree. Prizes such as a hula hoop, a Badminton kit and a scooter (shipped free of charge) can help keep kids on track.
The site also contains a section for parents, which allows you to email a registered dietician with food- or lifestyle-related questions. Help at last!
More Activity Means Better Eating for Teens
The May 2006 Journal of the American Dietetic Association reports that adolescents who participate in sports have healthier eating habits than their peers.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota examined the eating frequency, nutritional intake and physical activity of 4,700 junior-high and high-school students. They discovered a strong correlation between sports and a good diet, concluding that “sport-involved youth generally ate breakfast more frequently and had higher mean protein, calcium, iron and zinc intakes than their non-sport involved peers."
Benefits for Active Teens Go Beyond Physical Fitness
Helping your kids participate in sports and other activities can pay a high dividend. How so? Because, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, physically active teens are less likely to engage in drinking, drugs, violent activity and sex than sedentary teens.
In their 2006 study, over 11,000 male and female teens were divided into cluster groups based on their activity profiles. Categories included those who in addition to participating in athletics, frequently played sports with their parents; those who often participated in school activities, such as sports and clubs; high TV/video viewers; teens who used local recreational centers and skaters/gamers. In addition to answering questions about the types and frequency of their activities, teens responded to questions aimed at gauging self-esteem.
The group of excessive TV/video viewers was at highest risk for low self-esteem and risky behavior. In contrast, active teens were less likely to engage in high-risk behaviors and more likely to feel confident and to earn good grades.
