Guest Post - How do we raise healthy kids in an unhealthy world?

When few weeks ago I wrote a guest post for Kelly, Savvy Suburban, I knew right away that I want a post from her too! She is a lovely mom of 2 boys and her blog is about health, eco friendly living, beauty, fitness and fashion. She writes for various magazines and websites as well. I love her blog, it's very informative, well researched and we can learn a lot from her. She also gives lifestyle tips & trends, matters on health, being green, important information and items that make life a little easier and more fun. So I asked her to write for us a post about how can she manage healthy living with children? She was so kind and came up with this amazing guest post for Be Beauty Smart! I hope you guys will enjoy as much as I do! Thank you so much Kelly!

How do we raise healthy kids in an unhealthy world?

by Kelly at Savvy Suburban

When raising kids, it's not easy finding balance between healthy, eco-friendly living and convenient, care free living. Kids are bombarded by commercials for processed food, exposed to a bevy of junk food at parties, play dates, games and school. I face many struggles in this arena. It’s not easy, but it’s not a losing battle.

I am passionate about living a healthy chemical free life and eating nutritious whole food. This became exponentially more important to me after I became a mom. It seems the minute we enter motherhood we become hyper aware of the anxiety inducing prevalence of BPA, phthalates, pesticides, GMOs, endocrine disrupters, toxic toys… the list goes on and on. We just want to protect our kids and keep them safe and healthy.

My kids, especially my 9 year old, give me grief about buying toothpaste without fluoride, 'fake' oreo cookies from Whole Foods, wearing pajamas that don’t have flame retardant chemicals, etc. They see their friends eating a bunch of junk food and using ‘regular’ chemical laden sunscreen, so I often hear, “all my friends get to!” Or he’ll retort with comments like, “other people drink out of plastic water bottles and use regular sunscreen spray, etc. and they’re fine.” I explain that poor health is achieved over years of not properly caring for your body. It’s not an immediate response, it’s prolonged use over a period of time that will cumulatively cause disease so it’s important to make healthy choices over the course of one’s life.

My husband doesn't object too much but he's not completely on board. He is very skeptical about things and his biggest problem with organic food and healthier products is that they often come with a higher price tag. Fortunately it is extremely important to him that our boys eat healthy,get lots of activity and limit screen time.

So how do we fight outside influences and teach our kids to make healthy lifestyle choices without being maniacal?

1. Lead by example and practice what you preach

The best way for kids to learn to be more environmentally friendly and make healthy choices is by providing a good example. This is true for anything. Kids learn more by what we do than by what we tell them to do. My mom modeled healthy living. I was a picky eater and junk food lover when I was a kid but her way of life clearly made an impression.

2. Do not allow your kids to dictate what they eat

Many parents simply don’t want the battle so they throw in the towel because their kids “just won’t touch a vegetable” or “they don’t like fruit.” The obesity rate among kids and teens is at an all-time high and I think this has a lot to do with it. Don’t take it lying down. It can take more than 10 exposures to a food before a person develops a taste for it so keep trying. I serve fruits and vegetables every day and my kids know that’s part of the deal. And I’ll tell you what, as they have become accustomed to it, it’s hardly a fight. Especially with my 9 year old. It’s habit, part of their daily routine. They love sports so we explain that in order to be a good athlete you need you eat right.

With that said, they do need freedom to make their own choices sometimes. I don’t want to put the “everything causes cancer” fear in them but I want them to be aware. I walk a fine line between supplying them with healthy organic food, chemical free personal care items, BPA and phthalate free products and allowing them to have the ‘bad’ stuff once in a while. We just went shopping for my son’s birthday party and of course I let him pick out a bunch of treats. Moderation is key so I live by my own little 80/20 rule: 80% of the time I live as clean and healthy as possible and about 20% of the time I let things slide a bit. It's doable and makes sense because sometimes you just have to have indulge and other times, it's easy to do what is more convenient.

If there is a healthier option that is just as easy as an unhealthy option, why not do it? I try to be a good role model, stand my ground and lead by doing. I do believe that they will come around and one day appreciate that I went to great lengths to keep them healthy. I think that I’m getting through in some way because my 9 year old rarely fights eating his veggies and he’ll sometimes even decline dessert. The other night he said. “I don’t care that you make us do healthy stuff, you’re a good mom.” I sure loved hearing that!