Back to school

Back to school

Back to school diet and healthy lifestyle

Before school starts, we are all focused on buying school supplies. However, we should also focus on something that has a huge impact on our kids’ academic performance, their diet.

This is a very good time to get the children back on a certain routine after the summer’s chaos. It’s time to get our children to eat nutritious foods for a peak academic performance.

Child obesity is becoming an epidemic. This is because they are eating more junk and processed foods and less whole foods. This leads them to ingest more calories without meeting their daily nutritional needs. Moreover, studies show that eating junk food harms their immune system as well as their academic performance. 

Fruits and vegetables as well as whole foods are known to increase the immune function. This means less sick days and better overall health. A healthy diet has been shown to increase athletic performance, focus and concentration and decrease the exacerbation of chronic disease like asthma and diabetes. So when choosing a snack for your kids, let fruits, vegetables and whole foods be your guide. 

The best way to combat obesity is to provide children with whole foods that have a balance between fruits and vegetables, whole grains, seeds and nuts as well as seeds and legumes. These foods are rich in vitamins and nutrients and much lower in calories. Also lean meat, chicken and fish as well as low fat milk and dairy products are good sources of protein.

The key to changing the children’s diet is to change the options of food they can choose from on a daily basis. You can start by changing their snacks and reducing the frequency of junk food consumption and replacing them with healthier options. If you stop bringing junk foods to the house, they will develop the habit of eating healthier better than when these are available at home. Fruits and vegetables are great snacks for children especially in the wake of obesity epidemic.