#7 COACHES, TEACHERS, SCHOOLS AND GRANDPARENTS FEED OUR KIDS TOO MUCH JUNK!
The federal government has many rules and regulations that apply to school lunches. These are designed to make healthy lunches available in school, but in reality, what ends up on a child’s plate isn’t always nutritious. Eating unhealthy lunches for years can take a seriously negative toll on both mental and physical health. Also school lunches are not necessarily tied to coaching and sports. What I see that happens a lot is that teachers, coaches and even grandparents tend to encourage something different such as Gatorade for endurance and candies/junk for performance!
One major risk of unhealthy school lunches is a contribution to obesity and other weight problems in children across the nation. According to the Weight-Control Information Network, about one third of children in the United States are overweight or obese. Even if the government regulates the number of calories in a child’s school lunch, many schools allow children to purchase a la carte foods on top of the lunch that are calorie-rich, highly processed and high in fat, sodium, sugar or all three.
Poor nutrition from schools can go beyond weight gain. A child who eats too much processed foods, sugar, sodium and too few vitamins and minerals will possibly develop a higher risk over time for several chronic health problems. These can include high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, kidney stones, bone loss, and cancer and don’t ignore decay and gum disease. Poor nutrition may also end up making children feel weak, fatigued or nauseous during sports and exercise.
According to one article I read, not getting enough essential nutrients at meals may lower kids’ IQ scores, memory capacities, fine motor skills, social skills and languages skills into early adulthood and beyond.
What I find is really interesting is that finally professional sports are starting to catch on. Everyone knows Tom Brady and that he is still performing at an unbelievable level for a 42 year old. Check out his diet (Paleo type)
https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a19535249/tom-brady-reveals-insane-diet-in-new-book/
SUMMARY- In my opinion, over the next few years we will see many more connections between the bad germs in the mouth and the food that we eat. These bad germs can lead to decay and gum disease and our overall poor health. I feel that it is very important that we feed our children a healthy diet and teach them good habits so when they are older and not as physically active as when they were in school, they will still eat healthy and avoid a lot of diseases and conditions that are caused by a poor diet and thus preventable. As we have discussed many times, there is a huge connection/link between diet and cancer, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, kidney disease and Alzheimer’s. We believe that the Paleo diet works well for most people. DON’T FEED THE BAD BUGS, FLOSS & BRUSH!