Voices for Healthy Kids

There are not too many kids who are willing to give up sugary cake on their birthday, but that is exactly what my son Austin did when he turned 11. A couple of years earlier I had been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and I called my entire family together and asked them to join me in making healthy changes to help me save my life.

The biggest changes I asked my husband Dan and our three kids Zachary, 10; Samantha, 11; and Austin, 12; to make were to eat healthy fresh foods and increase physical activity every day.

The support they showed me was incredible, as evidenced by Austin’s willingness to pass on having a sugary cake at his 11th birthday party, but it took the work of the whole family and a little creativity to make the changes.

For instance, that big birthday cake became a watermelon decorated on the outside with pictures drawn with markers and candles stuck in the juicy fruit with pumpkin-carving tools. The kids loved it and thought it was a cool way to celebrate Austin’s big day.

My kids are really wonderful, but I’ll bet they’re no different than yours when it comes to picky eating. They were cautious when we asked them to try new foods like kiwis, Brussels sprouts, and spinach, but we tried new things together as a family and we had a few ground rules that helped us all make the healthy choice.

First rule at our table is that every new food gets three chances. We ask the kids to give new foods a chance and to return to something a couple of times to give it a fair shake. Sometimes fruits and vegetables that were pushed aside the first time seem more approachable the second or third time they are presented. I find sometimes simple substitutions make a difference, too. Austin would not eat onions until we asked him to try sweet Vidalia onions. Now he absolutely loves them.

Another rule we follow as a family is that the only dishes that sit at the table with us are vegetables. We are all welcome to as much of the veggie dishes as we can eat and are encouraged to help ourselves to seconds and thirds, but each meal’s serving of meat and starches is dished out at the stove.

Finally, we are a low fast food frequency house. Like all busy families, every once in a great while we bring in the healthiest choices we can from outside, but we really try to focus on making dinner time into family time.

My husband and I often work opposite shifts, but we stagger our schedules so that one of us is almost always home to cook dinner with the children (and it is “with,” not “for”) and eat together as a family.

These changes, which I am so grateful to my family for embracing, have helped our entire family lose more than 200 pounds. Our improved eating and increased physical activity has made a huge difference in everyone’s lives.

Cindy is one of 15 moms featured in the book Be Well: Messages from Moms on Living Healthier Lives. The book, which was created by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, is available as a free resource for parents across America. Visit www.BeWellBook.org to learn more.

Cindy’s son Austin is a member of the Alliance’s empowerME kids’ movement Youth Advisory Board. Austin is one of 25 youth leaders who serve as examples for their peers in the fight against childhood obesity. Learn more about empowerME at www.empowerME2b.org.