No-Brainer
Easy ways to
raise fitter, smarter, happier kids.
By Amy Crelly
It just makes sense: fit kids perform better, not just physically but mentally
too. Now two separate studies point to the academic benefits of raising our
children with healthy habits.
SOUND
BODY, SOUND MIND
After analyzing public school
students’ annual fitness assessments alongside kids’ scores on
standardized academic tests, New York City’s Health Department and
Department of Education reported that the most physically fit students (those
who scored
in the top 5% of their fitness assessments) outscored their less-in-shape
peers (those in the bottom 5%) by an average of 36 percentile points.
Another
recent study seems to have uncovered a link between body mass and brain
mass. When UCLA professor, Paul Thompson, and Cyrus
Raji, of the University
of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, looked at brain scans of people in
their 70s, they found overweight subjects had an average brain loss of
4 percent.
Obese subjects were even worse off. Their brains were 8 percent smaller
on average than those with a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI). (Alzheimer’s
patients exhibit brain shrinkage of about 10 percent.) The bottom line?
The healthy habits we give kids now will benefit them for a lifetime—in
the classroom and everywhere else life takes them.
5 WAYS TO RAISE A FITTER FAMILY
1. Aim for One Green Hour Every Day
Take the kids outside for some unstructured play. Walk to the park. Race
around the backyard. Stroll in the canyon. Bike the long way to the library
and back. Any time spent outdoors benefits kids physically, mentally and
emotionally. You'll find more ideas and incentives, including why outdoor
time is good for moms and dads too, at GreenHour.org.
2.
Try the 2:1 Rule
The average American child spends 20% of his or her waking time watching TV,
not exactly a recipe for physical or mental fitness. If you are concerned
about how much time your kids log in front of the TV, try
this formula for limiting TV time: 2 units of activity earn 1 unit of TV time. For
example:
2 hours
of active play = 1 hour of TV
1 hour of reading
or studying = a 1/2-hour TV program
40 minutes of chores = 20 minutes watching
TV or
surfing the Web
If you have older kids who are set in their sedentary ways,
you'll want to be careful
not to make the other activities seem like punishment. Instead, when you
unveil the new rule (and, perhaps, a tally sheet for each child or member of
the family), explain that you want them to be healthy and experience activities
that are even more fun than zoning out in front of a screen.
3.
Load Up on Omega-3s
Omega-3
fatty acids are so important for kids' health, and a
growing body of scientific evidence shows these "good fats" are a
critical nutrient for kids' growing brains, improving children's
ability to learn and focus,
boosting their mood,
and improving their behavior. Omega-3s also benefit the heart and
cardiovascular system, support healthy vision, and undo damage from the
"bad fats" that are so
prevalent
in our post-industrial diets. Omega 3 fatty acids are found in ground flax
seeds and flaxseed oil, coldwater fish (primarily salmon and tuna), canola
oil, soybeans, walnuts,
wheatgerm, pumpkin seeds, and eggs, but many high-profile pediatricians, including
Dr.
Sears, now recommend DHA fish oil supplements, along with a daily multivitamin,
to ensure kids get all the nutrients they need. Look for "mercury-free" brands.
4.
Rally for The Fourth “R”
Recess. It's a crucial part of healthy learning and development. In fact, a study
published
in the February 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics looked at the influence
of recess on the classroom behavior of 11,000 children (ages 8 and 9), and found
that kids who got more than 15 minutes of recess a day were better behaved in
class
than
their
peers who went with little or no time on the playground. The researchers concluded
that the children whose brains were allowed a rest period were able to focus
better after getting a break.
5.
High-Five!
Our bodies need at least five servings of fruits and veggies every day. If
that sounds like a lot, consider this: Slice a medium-sized banana and ½ cup of berries on their breakfast cereal, and that’s
two servings down before lunch. Send them off with an apple or an orange with
lunch, plus veggies on their sandwiches, and that’s two more. Add a side
salad or a cup of steam veggies (about the same size as a baseball) on their
dinner plates, and you’ve done it. There—that wasn’t so hard,
right?
Amy
Crelly is Editor of Sacramento Parent, and a semi-reformed TV-addict
who plans to try following the 2:1 rule herself. She enjoys writing on topics
related to health
& wellness-almost as much as she loves doing yoga, hiking and working out
at the gym.
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