Do not neglect feeding children during the summer holidays

The necessity of maintaining children’s nutrition increases in the summer holidays. Disruption of the schedule, high temperatures, and entertainment prevent proper baby feeding and cause children to eat more sweets and unhealthy food.

Do not neglect feeding children during the summer holidays

A long vacation poses many challenges for children. Even those who have participated in fitness and proper nutrition programs in schools, suddenly find themselves without discipline.

Recent years have seen more and more problems related to childhood obesity. Child malnutrition and lack of exercise create a significant increase in the incidence of obesity from an early generation in children and adolescents and increase the incidence of diseases that in the past characterized the elderly such as type 2 diabetes, increased cholesterol level and high blood pressure.

As parents, our mission is significant, both in providing personal role models and in being able to create healthy change in children’s feeding habits and health education. It is our duty as parents to teach our children to live healthy lives, but before that, we need to apply this model to ourselves.

1. Make sure to eat breakfast:

 Breakfast is the most important meal after fasting at night. Balanced eating in the morning prevents eating snacks during the day, contributes to a feeling of satiety and vitality, and affects the ability to focus and think. Get the kids to behave as you do.

The best options for breakfast, if you’re in a hurry, are cereal with milk or a sandwich. Since the bread in the sandwich provides sugar (carbohydrates), it is preferable that what is inside the sandwich provides protein. Therefore, it should be preferred to put food inside the sandwich, such as low-fat cheese up to 5% of any kind, yellow cheese, avocado, chickpeas, eggs, tuna, instead of sweet foods.

Put in the sandwich foods that contain good fats, it is preferable to spread a thin layer and prefer date paste, carob paste, or Halawa instead of other sweet pastes. A similar recommendation can be adopted at the ten o’clock meal in kindergartens and schools and during summer camp.

2. Breakfast alternatives:

You couldn’t eat breakfast? Drink a glass of milk, milk with chocolate powder or yogurt before leaving the house. Fruit also achieves the same purpose, and do not forget to supplement the shortage in the ten o’clock meal, in the kindergarten, in the summer camp, at work or any other activity.

3. High-fiber foods:

 Dietary fiber has many health properties. They facilitate the process of defecation and contribute to the feeling of satiety for a longer period compared to bread without fiber. Research has linked a high-fiber diet to a lower incidence of certain diseases, such as colon cancer. Also, part of the morning cereal is fortified with fiber but if you choose to eat morning cereal you should prefer those that say they are high in fiber and try to avoid sweetened cereals that contain added sugar and/or food dyes.

4. Water, not sweetened syrup:

Sweet drinks are rich in sugar and calories, do not contribute to health, and contribute to weight gain in children. As an example, a can of soft drinks contains 145 calories. If your child used to drink a can a day, seven days a week, 12 months a year, he would gain about 55,000 calories a year and seven to eight kg in weight.

5. Eat the family meal daily:

A family meal gives the family quality time, contributes to strengthening relationships, and allows you to teach and implement wise eating habits. Children may be allowed to participate in the meal preparation but prepare a healthy meal that includes salad, eggs, cheese, whole grains, and the like. Put the food in center bowls and let each person serve the food for themselves. Don’t use mealtime for scolding and keep the atmosphere relaxed and fun.

6. Doing physical activity

Every child of any age needs at least an hour a day of intense physical activity. Encourage your children to do physical activities and also you, go out for a walk, swim or ride a shared bike and go to the playground with the children.

Don’t neglect the feeding of the children during the holidays

Turn healthy cooking into a shared entertainment with kids

When you go to large shopping centers for entertainment, choose to take the stairs instead of the escalator or escalator. Go to the beach, play ball, walk on the beach and turn shared entertainment into an active and fun experience. It has been shown that physical activity in children and adults improves mood and self-esteem, strengthens and refines the body by reducing fat mass and increasing muscle mass, raises the level of vitality, improves social relations between children, and raises the level of quality of life.

7. Maintain sleep:

 It has been scientifically proven that uninterrupted sleep for six hours contributes to the prevention of obesity in adults. Babies need more hours of sleep, which improves alertness and vitality throughout the day. To get good sleep, it is recommended to have a light dinner preferably at a late hour (around seven in the evening), eating late at night hinders and prevents good and continuous sleep.

8. Show interest in your child’s life.

 You, the parents, are the most important ambassadors for the promotion of healthy child nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. Be a role model and remember: You are the ones who create the healthy habits that have the greatest impact on your environment. Start this summer and stay healthy

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