In Celebration of Children's Health Month

 

Here is a list of tips, links, and events to help you celebrate this month...

 

 

Eat Smart, Move More, and Go Green

This is a North Carolina resource offering tips on how you can eat smart and move more every day.  Here are a few highlights from their 21 tips on how consumers can eat healthier, be more physically active, and more enivronmentaly friendly.  I've added ideas on incorporating kids more into the ideas as well.  You can veiw the whole document at the website:

 

Source: http://nutritioneer.net/2012/04/cooking-with-kids/

1. Prepare more meals at home from fresh foods.  Avoid processed foods and frozen meals as these tend to have a lower nutritional value and a higher ecological footprint.  Involve your child in cooking.  Kids love to do what adults do!  Let them plan a meal and discuss the importance of balancing differenet kinds of foods.  Measuring is an excellent way to teach kids about fractions.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Unplug the TV.  Appliances that are plugged in still use electricity even if they are off.  This brings me to an event.  This Saturday, Oct 6, is Worldwide Day of Play sponsored by Nickelodeon.  First Lady Michelle Obama will flip the switch and all of Nickelodeon's networks will go dark for three hours.  This is to encourage kids to go outside and play.  You could go on a bike ride, a nature walk, or visit one of the Environmental Education Centers across the state found here.

 

3. Create a compost area in your yard.  Food scraps are the largest compenent of solid waste at the landfills!  They take up unneccesary space and place undue burden on the landfill.  You and your child can learn about composting together and then create a household competition in which one loses points everytime a food scrap is thrown in the trash can.  A compost pile is also a great way to teach kids about decomposers while you watch your food turn into soil!  Learn more about composting here.

 

4. ReThink Your Drink. 

 

Amount of Sugar in Typical Beverages
Source: http://epicnutritiontoday.com/is-drinking-soda-really-that-bad/

Before you run for that bottled water, consider this:  It takes 500 years for a plastic bottle to decay in a landfill.

For all the tips, check out the document here.

 

 

 

And don't forget it is walk to school month!  If you live in an area where it is safe to walk with sufficient sidewalks, consider walking your child to school.  



Source: http://www.parents.com/blogs/goodyblog/