{"id":184,"date":"2017-03-10T08:57:02","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T13:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/lowreyconnection\/?p=184"},"modified":"2017-03-10T08:57:02","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T13:57:02","slug":"a-balanced-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/lowreyconnection\/2017\/03\/10\/a-balanced-day\/","title":{"rendered":"A Balanced Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Balanced Day<\/p>\n

Simple steps toward a well-rounded daily routine.<\/em><\/p>\n

by Joanna Nesbit<\/p>\n

School\u2019s out, and your child arrives home hungry and ready for a break. After giving you a hug, he grabs a bag of chips and goes to play a quick video game before starting homework. Two hours later you realize he\u2019s still parked in front of the TV. Sound familiar?<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t stop our kids from wanting to veg out on technology, fill up on snacks, and text late into the night, but we can take steps to counteract the behaviors. The key is setting limits to ensure that your kids are getting healthy foods, physical activity, and plenty of sleep. Here are a few tips for working balance into your family\u2019s routine.<\/p>\n

Eat Well<\/p>\n

Besides starting the day off right with a good breakfast of protein and healthy carbohydrates, one of the most important things parents can do is make snack time count, says pediatrician Jennifer Shu. Instead of letting kids fill up on crackers or chips, offer them fruit, vegetables, Greek yogurt, string cheese, or dried fruit, like raisins. If your kids don\u2019t like vegetables, double up on the fruit and offer as many colors as possible for vitamin variety.<\/p>\n

Shu also recommends thinking of the dinner plate as half fruits and vegetables, a quarter protein, and a quarter healthy or whole grains, with dairy on the side. Your child\u2019s fist size is a good guideline for portion size. For the child who fills up easily, parcel out food groups to ensure she\u2019s eating vegetables or fruit at some point during the day. If your child is finicky, it can be helpful to view her eating habits over the week to avoid seeing individual meals as a failure. For these kids, it\u2019s useful to offer just two or three items you feel are important to minimize choosing the same food over and over.<\/p>\n

For tweens who might be hitting a growth spurt\u2014or wish they were\u2014encourage them to eat protein over carbs, as well as calcium-rich foods such as plain yogurt, cheese, milk, spinach, or almonds, Shu says. Limit the junk food to one treat a day and one junk meal a week. Perhaps most important, model good eating habits yourself. (Take that bag of cookies to work if you must!)<\/p>\n

Stay Active<\/p>\n

With busy schedules and kids\u2019 extracurricular activities, it\u2019s easy to let physical activity slide. But students should get at least an hour of exercise a day, says Shu. That can involve a structured activity such as soccer or an unstructured activity like walking to school or playing during recess. Because most kids won\u2019t get enough physical activity at school, Shu recommends building activity into your schedule, whether it\u2019s shooting hoops, going for a walk, or heading to the park after dinner. Getting outside is important because children have more room to be active, and fresh air can have a positive impact on moods. But if the weather is particularly nasty, try an indoor activity like a round of Just Dance as a family.<\/p>\n

The best way to help kids want to be active is to make physical activity part of your family culture, says Betsy Brown Braun, child development specialist and author of Just Tell Me What To Say. Sign up for a sport, hit the community swimming pool regularly, or head out for Saturday bike rides. To get kids to adopt exercise habits, it\u2019s important to make fitness a family routine.<\/p>\n

Limit Technology<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable that during their limited free time, children may want to text friends or use smartphone apps. Add in e-readers, tablets, and iPods, and kids\u2019 tech activities can creep well beyond bedtime if left unchecked. The result? Sleepy students in the classroom.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy monitoring pocket-size screens and getting kids off the Xbox; however, it\u2019s important to consider what children are not doing\u2014exercising, sleeping, or studying\u2014when they\u2019re involved with technology. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than two hours a day of screen time, but kids are averaging a whopping seven hours a day. Shocked? Here\u2019s what Shu and Brown Braun suggest for balance in your family:<\/p>\n