Dr. Stephanie Walsh, M.D. Medical Director, Child Wellness at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Photo contributed by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Strong4Life suggests four healthy habits:
1. Make half your plate veggies and fruits.
2. Be active for 60 minutes.
3. Drink more water and limit sugary drinks.
4. Limit screen time to one hour.
For more information, www.strong4life.com.
Graphic courtesy of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
By Michelle C. Brooks
Appeared September 11, 2014 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
September is childhood obesity month and recent CDC reports indicate numbers are improving but nearly 40 percent of Georgia children are overweight or obese. In 2011, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta launched Strong4Life (www.strong4life.com) to help Georgia families adopt healthy habits.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently spoke with Dr. Stephanie Walsh, a pediatrician and medical director for child wellness at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “Success with kids is about behavior,” says Dr. Walsh, also a mother of three boys. “You change your behavior and your weight will find its place.”
Q: What should parents focus on to get kids excited about their health?
A: “Focusing on weight doesn’t help children because they are changing, growing and going through puberty,” says Dr. Walsh. “If you focus on weight you’re missing what’s important - focus on healthy habits."
Strong4life suggests four healthy habits:
- Make half your plate veggies and fruits.
- Be active for 60 minutes.
- Drink more water and limit sugary drinks.
- Limit screen time to one hour.
"Pick one of those habits and achieve it," she says. Or she suggests doing what your family already enjoys but for five more minutes this week. “Set short-term goals with your kids that are achievable.”
Q: What can tired, busy, parents do to get everyone active?
"Even if you took your kids out for 15 minutes, it doesn’t have to be an hour all at once," says Dr. Walsh. “You don’t have to get in the car and drive to the park and stay for a whole hour. There isn’t time for that for a lot of parents, there is 15 minutes before dinner or after dinner." Fifteen minutes for a family walk is a start. "What if they play outside for 30 minutes before homework, it might not work for your family, but some children might focus better if they have that time before homework.” Dr. Walsh says start where you are and build up an hour activity daily.
Q: With television, tablets, video games and portable video games, how should parents manage an hour of screen time? “Screen time is anything with a screen,” says Dr. Walsh. “The key is to have a limit. In homes where the kids have limits, the kids have less screen time than the homes where there are no limits.” Active video games, while not the same as runing and playing outside can increase physical activity she says.
Q: Should parents require that children join the clean plate club?
A: "If you say you have to eat all your dinner before you can have ice cream, then the child may clear his plate and overeat to have dessert. That moves the ice cream up on the priority list as a higher-value food," she says. "Anything where you’re overly restrictive you’re inviting sneaking. Kids eat healthy over the course of the week, not on a daily basis.”