Summer vacation is rolling and parents often take this as cue to also relax with routines and foregoing the usuals. Kids are allowed to sleep as late as they want or eat whatever food they can grab from the fridge or the cupboard. But according to the American Dietetic Association, eating well should be constantly encouraged even during the summer lull.
It’s still important for kids to eat the right food. Parents must be more conscientious about this in fact, because there usually is a lack of activity and other things to do. Children are often just lazying around playing video games, watching television or sitting in front of the computer. It’s so tempting to snack while doing all of these.
Parents must still keep an active involvement, making sure that even when the kids are “enjoying” the summer, their eating habits during the school season remain the same.
It must also be a good idea to involve kids at this point with shopping and even cooking process. One parent I know actually enrolled her children in a summer cooking coarse so that, not only would they have something to do during this time, they can also learn about the nutritional value and process of the food they eat.
Daily menu planning must still be done and to help parents do this, there is a site called Kids Eat Right to help them. This has been set up by the American Dietetic Association in their thrust to remove obesity and other nutrition problems with today’s children.
Tags: american dietetic association, cupboard, eating habits, lull, menu planning, nutrition problems, nutritional value, obesity, parents, playing video games, shopping, snack, summer vacation, thrust, watching television
