Children and High Cholesterol by YoNaturals

A report from the American Academy of Pediatrics that was released today recommends that we should be testing our children’s cholesterol levels between the ages of 2 and 10. We at YoNaturals are asking, how awful has our eating situation gotten to be to require something like this?

As childhood obesity rises (one third of American children are overweight with 17% being obese) something needs to be done.   The pediatricians are saying that parent’s thinking has to change; it is no longer good enough to think “oh, they’ll grow out of it, it’s just puppy fat.”

Lifestyle changes need to happen to help children lose weight and lower their cholesterol in order to avoid heart disease.   Although cholesterol drugs can help reduce levels of LDL cholesterol, lifestyle changes are needed as well. That’s what YoNaturals healthy vending machines offer, a chance to maintain healthy eating while going about your normal everyday business.

In Australia the government has set up the Healthy School Communities Initiative.   This is where schools have received grants in order to plant vegetable gardens, publishing healthy cookbooks, promoting healthy canteen menus and other steps to promote good nutrition.   Catching children at primary school level and getting them eating healthy and being active is important if we wish to stem the international rise of childhood obesity.

In the UK the government released a National School Fruit Scheme which entitles all 4-6 year olds to a free piece of fruit a day through primary schools.   It is also compulsory for every school age child to receive at least 2 hours of physical education at school every week.

At the end of 2007 Laura Bush got behind the Childhood Overweight and Obesity Prevention Initiative that was announced at the HHS Summit in November 2007.

However, we still have television advertising tempting our children towards fast foods and confectionery.   We need to re-train the way they think so that fruits, whole grains and vegetables are seen as treats instead of chips, chocolates and highly processed sugary sweets. YoNaturals can provide healthy, organic and natural foods, but children must also be receptive to eating them. Only proper education can instill these values.

When shopping with children try and get them to read the labels so that they know what they are putting into their bodies.   Explaining what protein, carbohydrates and fats do in the body for example protein helps to build strong bodies, carbohydrates helps to give you lots of energy for ….add in one of the child’s favorite activities.   In my daughter’s case I say that carbohydrates gives her lots of energy so that she can dance for longer and protein gives her strong muscles so that she can hold herself up longer when she’s doing handstands.

If we keep educating our children then, hopefully they will start to choose dried fruit over potato chips and granola bars over chocolate bars when they are at a vending machine.   They may even choose a healthy, all natural organic ready meal over McDonald’s!

If we do not act now then we will have a generation of people that outlive their own children.   Our children will be dying of health disease and diabetic related illnesses and it will be too late for us to fix it.

Contributed by Louanne Cox for YoNaturals

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