I am posting this blog because recently I’ve been reading or hearing in the news the statistics about children with adult diseases. I am not surprised to hear the latest statistics on diabetes and high blood pressure in kids. It is sad but so much can be done to prevent such problems from occurring to our kids. I visited my daughter’s school last week to attend a PTA meeting after which I decided to have lunch with her and some of her friends. The girls, all in 8th grade, had little or no concept of nutrition or what they were putting in their mouth. Cafeteria food may not be the most balanced meal out there, in my opinion, but still kids can have a decent meal if they choose to or they can bring their own.
However, I don’t blame the cafeteria food or the fast food industry for the problems these kids face. To my point, it all starts at home. I honestly don’t rely on PE in school to keep my kids in shape and really teach them the importance of nutrition, reading labels, and most important portion control. I truly believe in teaching children by example. My plea to everyone out there…homeschoolers and traditional education alike, make physical fitness and nutrition a part of your child’s curriculum. You don’t need special equipment or books to be a good role model for your kids. I’m a fitness instructor and personal trainer certified by AFAA but I work mostly with adults and seniors. I love working with kids because they tend to have more energy, like me. 
 One of my favorite websites is kidshealth.org. This site puts the information in a language kids and parents can understand. Here you will find information about everything and anything about kids health, including a section about fitness and nutrition.
It’s obvious to me that we all want the best for our kids, otherwise we wouldn’t be on this blog getting excited over every little achievement. In fact, use what they learn in their Time4Learning lessons in reading, math, and science to teach them about the nutrition label, bones, muscles, digestive, respiratory and cardiovascular systems, etc.. It’s never too early to make them aware of what part of the body does what and why it’s important to live a healthy lifestyle.
Natalie and I used one of the Kindergarten Math lessons to learn about nutrition: In the lesson she was asked on which day of the week a certain meal was served in the cafeteria…etc. Basically, she had to learn to read a calendar. She was pretty excited when she was able to find her birthday on the calendar–anyway, after the lesson we created our own calendar for the current month and then she asked if we could write in what we were going to eat on each day. Of course I jumped on that idea. I told her that we had to make sure each meal had one from each food group: Grains, Veggi or fruit, Protein, Dairy, etc. We had a great time working on this project, which has become a weekly activity. We only do one week at a time as it is a time consuming project. Ever Sunday we cut cupons and make a menu for the following week. It’s really a lot of fun and great bonding time for us as a family– my older kids have joined in the fun too.
Many of you probably already do this…Kudos to you!
Terie
October 31, 2007 | 7:42 am1
Taylor,
You asked more about PE so here it is…Generally kids get about 40 minutes of PE time 2 or 3 days a week. This PE includes discussion time about nutrition, personal health care such as hygiene – this depends on the grade level. Natalie’s PE may discuss washing hands, where Emily’s will discuss more in depth health concerns among teens…Ugh. Elementary school PE includes playing different ball sports as an introduction to the kids, middle school as well but they actually teach them to play certain games and good sportsmanship, etc.
I spoke with the middle school PE teacher recently and asked about their program. Thankfully, she was honest with me and said that because they have 40 kids in a class it is sometimes difficult to accommodate or even run a successful program in the school. I believe twice a year they do a physical assessment that helps the kids see where they are physically at the beginning of the year and then at the end. Again, the programs are not great because they lack the resources in many schools. It’s all poured into the High Schools, in my opinion.
At home physical activity includes daily chores, weekend gardening, car washing and other “fun” activities like these. Occasional bike riding, playing with the neighborhood kids outdoors, nature trails at the park or in the neighborhood, walking to and from the bus stop, etc..these are the freebies. Structured activities include swimming or using the elliptical or treadmill at the gym 2-3 times per week. That’s the plan, it hasn’t work well yet because we’ve been sick with a cold. We hope we’re in the last run and will be back in the gym on a regular basis.
It really doesn’t take much to include physical activity in our daily lives. Kids do mimic the adults in their lives, therefore, if we become more physically active, they will too. Finally, my favorite of all activities is to put some music on the radio and dance with the kids. We usually end up chasing each other around the house or up the stairs for 10 or 15 minutes. It’s a lot of fun!