Anyone who’s raised a family knows how crazy it can get. In the midst of on-the-fly family life, it can be extremely tempting to let healthy habits slide. So how do we tackle this? Awhile back, I interviewed Dr. Stephen Cook, a medicine and pediatrics doctor at the University of Rochester Medical Center who has conducted research on childhood and adolescent obesity since 2001 and launched a community-wide initiative to help train pediatricians in best practices for measuring and addressing obesity in kids. His insight gives us practical ways to build healthy habits that our children can carry into adulthood.
Not a Cut-And-Dry Issue
With fast food drive-throughs seemingly on every corner and phones and tablets at our kids’ fingertips, the solution isn’t always easy. It seems simple–Eat less, move more. But studies tell us that boxing the issue into a catchy slogan may shut out important social, environmental and biological factors that lead to obesity. “There’s a very complex biology between the brain and sensations of fullness and hunger and hormones,” Dr. Cook explained. “Once excess weight gets put on, for many people, the body’s metabolism holds on to that. The environment has an effect on our biology, and it becomes hard to measure those things really well.”
A Family-Based Approach
Building healthy habits in our kids begins with–no surprise–US! Action and involvement from whole families has proven to be the most effective approach. “It shows a much better effect in terms of benefiting the child and benefiting the parents,” Dr. Cook explained. “We’re engineering behavioral change that’s in the home at the family level, not just at the individual level.” Additionally, getting whole families on-board with making specific, incremental lifestyle changes requires an emphasis on health–not image or appearance, said Dr. Cook.
Small Steps Yield Success
When it comes to our own weight loss–we parents want big results, and we want them now. That’s not surprising, considering we’re immersed in a fitness culture of trendy detoxes, 7 day cleanses, and survive-on-one-food-group diets. But according to Dr. Cook, this perception of what’s appropriate change could sabotage our efforts to achieve a healthy lifestyle for ourselves and our families by increasing frustration when our efforts don’t deliver as we hope they will. Dr. Cook said that focusing on just one unhealthy habit, such as forgoing sugary drinks for water, may be the only action needed to see results.
“I’ve seen families identify one small factor, and change that without changing anything else, and see kids’ weight improve a lot,” he said. He advises parents to practice healthy habits that they want role modeled to their kids, and to begin doing this early–even before they form their family. “What you role model to your kids becomes a habit; It becomes their natural environment,” he said.
Put Down the Screens!
A huge factor in all of this–no surprise–is our reliance on technology and screens. Dr. Cook said that when we role model this to kids, it sets up a sedentary pattern in their behavior that they could sustain through childhood. He recommends no exposure to screens for the first two years of a child’s life, if possible. He suggests that families strategize on ways to slow down and simplify their daily lives, pointing to other countries with slower-paced, less technologically-dependent cultures. “You don’t see nearly as many of these obesity-related types of diseases or mental health problems in these countries.”
7 Tips for Success
Not sure where to begin? Try these simple steps to help build healthy habits:
1. Provide a wide variety of healthy foods and make it easy to access healthy snacks. Encourage a positive, adventurous attitude toward healthy foods from an early age.
2. Involve your kids in the process of both choosing and preparing meals. Your local farmer’s market is a great place to educate kids about whole foods and the energy they provide.
3. Plan ahead. Plan a menu for the week and purchase your groceries ahead of time. For busy weeks, prepackage and freeze meals ahead of time. Have a “go-to” healthy menu list that you can refer to over and over again.
4. Establish set meal and snack times. Eat together as a family when possible, and discourage eating while watching TV.
5. Practice moderation. Avoid labeling foods “good” or “bad.” Use a scale and measuring cups to measure out sensible portions.
6. Squeeze activity into your busy day using short increments of time, if needed. Hold a mini-competition in your backyard. Walk or bike instead of driving. Park at the back of the lot. Every minute adds up!
7. Schedule special family time around a fun, non-sedentary activity such as a family bike ride or hike. Sign up to run a 5k together. Step out of your comfort zone!
