January 2006

Editor's Note: Practice Discipline!

I don’t wanna practice discipline!

But my naturopath says I gotta.

After years and years at the same weight plateau, the past two years have brought a definite gain and borderline high blood pressure. On his last “home prescription” list, my naturopath drew a little downward arrow – “Reduce portion sizes by one-fourth to one-third.” Next to it he drew a little upward arrow – “Exercise” (underlined). When I got home, I noticed the third, insulting little line – “Practice discipline” (underlined again).

I’ve always eaten a healthy variety of foods, but reducing the portion size makes me hungry mid-morning, mid-afternoon and at night. And I hate exercising. I guess ambling with my geriatric dog three or four times a week and doing seasonal, heavy-duty gardening and taking an occasional weekend hike, bike ride, ski run or kayak trip doesn’t cut it. What the slave driver wants is almost daily, sweaty, aerobic, weight-bearing, boring exercise.

I don’t wanna, but I gotta. So do we all – our children especially.

We’ve heard the statistics: Sixteen percent of children are overweight, and rates of obesity have doubled for children and tripled for teens in the last 20 years (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). These children are at risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other diseases at younger and younger ages. The cause is not a mystery – too much junk food and soda and too much time spent sitting on their rears watching screens and manipulating electronic toys.

We can’t go on as we’ve always done. In the words of Seattle School Board President Brita Butler-Wall, “We’re killing our children.”

So I’ve started with baby steps. A daily walk with my son and my dog. No grazing or eating when I’m not actually hungry. Only one little square of dark chocolate a day. In the New Year – a month away from when I’m writing this – I will buy the exercise video or join the gym, close to home, where I know I’ll be able to go.

As parents of young children, we’re responsible for the disciplined baby steps our children need. The soda taken out of the house and replaced with water, milk and occasionally pure fruit juice. The brown rice and the whole grain bread. The smaller portion sizes. The home-cooked meals or the healthier prepared and restaurant meals. The daily family physical activity time. The limits on screen time.

As parents of adolescents, all we can do is provide the right choices at home, model healthy eating and exercise, and hope our kids develop lifelong good habits. My son, who is built like a string bean, doesn’t exercise unless forced to and doesn’t eat vegetables unless I put them in front of him. My daughter, who isn’t built that way, eats a well-balanced diet and goes to the gym three times a week. We never know what will rub off.

This year, in Seattle’s Child and Puget Sound Parent, we’re providing encouragement with an emphasis on nutrition and physical fitness. In this issue, read about improvements in school lunch programs, many of which can be carried through at home, and find ideas for winter exercise in the “Out & About” section. Next month, read about how schools are weaning themselves from junk food in vending machines and fundraisers. Throughout the year, we’ll focus on physical education programs, walk-to-school efforts, outdoor activities, environmental/nature programs and any useful tips or books that cross our desk.

I know it’s hard. I know it’s more comfortable to stay in the same patterns. I know we’re busy. I know we’re tired. But we have to do something, for our sakes and for our children’s sakes. We just have to.

I’ll end with a paraphrase and quote from The Red Green Show (Monday-Thursday at 10 p.m. on KBTC-TV):

“I’m inactive (original wording: “I’m a man”).
But I can change.
If I have to.
I guess.”

And, “I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.”

Wenda Reed
Editor

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Seattle's Child, a publication of the Washington Post Company
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