Day 12

Five days a week, I go to work and see people who have made choices through their life that lead them to a hospital bed and scar down their chest. Talk about an incentive to be healthy! When in the hospital gym on the treadmill one evening, a cardiothoracic surgeon asked me why I was running so long. I smiled and told him that although I respected him, there was no way in hell he was ever gonna see me naked. We both laughed, but I still have nightmares about having open heart surgery, where the people I have to work with every day would have to see me naked, makeup-less, and in pain. Did I mention that they would have to see me naked?!

But how do you motivate kids these days to make healthy choices? Especially when they are surrounded by video games, fast food, and it's 30 degrees outside?

I did a paper in college on childhood obestiy, with a focus on the community I live in. I was suprised, saddened, and intrigued by what I found and it has helped motivate me to really try and protect my child from the lifelong battle that obesity can be. I discovered that childhood obesity was as prevalent in middle-to-upper class towns as it was in the inner-most cities, although for different reasons. Inner-city kids have less access to grocery stores and fresh food, as well as a lower overall income in which to pay for that food. I can still remember being in the pediatric rotation of nursing school and watching kids come out of an elementary cafeteria with what seemed like a mound of food on their trays. When I asked the school nurse why these kids seemed to get so much more food than what I remembered from my own school days, she responded that this meal was the only one that most of these kids would get all day. She said, on average, at least 20 parents would call the school on snow days and ask if they could still pick up their school lunch for their kid(s).

Suburbanites don't typically fight these battles, yet have their own. Most homes where I live have households with multiple children and both parents work, and many are also single-parents without huge support systems. Those children have activities and sports, which makes it much harder for parents to have home cooked meals with fresh food, especially after working all day. So parents turn to fast food and/or convenient food many nights of the week. The reality is, it's faster and cheaper to feed your family from the "Dollar Menu" at McDonalds than it is to buy and prepare a healthy, home-cooked meal.

And don't even get me started on breakfast or lunch. Breakfast for many kids is a pop-tart, donut, or sugary cereal. I observed lunchrooms of all ages in my city and was disappointed to see that the school-prepared lunches were disparingly lacking in true nutrition, and kids had plenty of options to buy extras such as cookies, rice krispie treats, ice cream, etc. Peer pressure was apparant as well, with younger kids only wanting to pack "cool" things like Little Debbies and potato chips and the older kids not wanting to pack at all, succumbing to whatever "nutritional" lunch the school provided or worse yet- not eating at all.

Ok, Ok, I am stepping down from my soap box, but I think you get my point. I decided that if I wanted my kid to be healthy both  now and in the future, I was responsible for planting that seed as his parent. My husband and I have always lived a relatively healthy lifestyle, but we have made it a point to talk out loud about it (why we eat wheat bread instead of white, why we drink water instead of pop, etc), teaching and hopefully preventing a scar from ever gaining a place on his chest.

Today I had to really talk myself into going to the gym. It was my swim day, and I had every mental excuse in my head you can think of- it's cold out and I don't want to get in the cold water, I forgot to shave my armpits before I left, etc. But I went. And about 3/4 of the way through a hard session I realized how good I felt- and strong. Talk about endorphins. So I went home and told the 10-year old about it. How sometimes it's the hardest thing just to get started, but the feeling of accomplishment once it's over is great. Later in the day we went to the movies, and as we pulled in the driveway he said, "Mom, I think I'm gonna run around the block before I go inside". Our block is 1/2 mile, and we've been talking about how he needs to build up to 1 mile for his triatholons this summer. So, I told him to pace himself and that it was gonna probably suck a little cuz he hasn't run much (or at all) lately, but that he should just concentrate on moving forward, even if he needed to walk- just don't stop. I stayed in the driveway and timed him, and snapped his picture as he was coming back up the road. He was sweaty, flushed, and winded- but he was smiling. "I made it all the way around without stopping, Mom. You were right- it sucked. But I feel great".

So my Positive Pic on this lazy Sunday is about the power of parenting, the importance of role modeling for your children, and the happiness and pride that results. Show them, teach them- they are listening!