July 2014 Question #3
Influencing childhood eating patterns is the first step to
improving future generation’s diets. This study focused on preschool-aged
children, who may have a lower capacity for understanding nutrition-related
messages. How would you aim to influence the diets and knowledge of older
children?
posted by Susan @ 1:52 PM
13 comments
13 Comments:
Explaining healthy weight and preventing disease may be other topics to teach to an older population. Preschoolers would not quite understand all the aspects of preventative health. Discussing healthy choices would be important because older children start to make their own decisions when they enter middle/high school. Portion control and healthy food alternatives would be valuable lessons to learn at this age. Again teaching myplate would be beneficial because children at this age still aren't getting enough fruits and vegetables. I would still try to make learning fun but give more educational information.
I think with older children it'll be important to talk to them about nutrition in an overall healthy lifestyle sense. Children in the early teenage years are most susceptible to being influenced, so it's a great time to really push a healthy lifestyle. I'd stay away from the topic of weight loss, but focus more on positive self image and self worth. I think they are at that stage where they can make their own food choices. They can start learning why certain foods are not as good for them and should probably just be a "sometime" food.
I like Haley's idea of starting to look at MyPlate because that will help them visualize their choices, especially in the school setting.
I would try to influence the diets of older children by focusing on their interests and goals. A lot of teenagers are involved in extracurricular activities like sports, so I would explain how healthy nutrition will help them perform better at their sport. If the teenager is more academically-oriented, I would explain how eating healthy will increase their brainpower and ability to concentrate. Since adolescents become more independent and they start making more of their own decisions at that age, I would try to empower them to eat healthy for their future. Adolescents do not like being told what to do and they may ignore advice from adults. Therefore, helping them create their own goals to eat healthy may be more effective for this older age group.
Tina,
I like how you mentioned staying away from the topic of weight loss for teenagers. Our society puts too much pressure on teenagers (and people of all ages) to look a certain way. Teenage girls can especially have poor self-esteem and body issues, which could result in an eating disorder. I agree that promoting positive body image and self-esteem is critical for this age group.
As children start to grow up they start to gain independence and are faced with a lot of different choices to make, so I would try to focus on influencing those choices that they make. As Tina mentioned, adolescents are highly influenced by their peers and advertising so I think it’s important to emphasize that making healthy eating choices is part of an overall healthy lifestyle and is not something that is just temporary or a fad. It would also be good to let them know that they can still do everything that their friends are doing while making healthy choices; they don’t have to miss out on things. I also agree that generally staying away from the issue of weight loss is a great idea because adolescence is a prime age for disordered eating habits to begin. Hopefully by making healthier choices, an overweight child may be able to maintain their weight and grow into it as they get older and taller.
I would use many of same principles that I used with Pre-school children, just at a more advanced level. The message is basically the same, the most optimal diet is one that is balanced, varied and nutritionally complete. I, too, would stay far far far away from weight loss or advocating any kind of calorie restriction. Those are dangerous waters to tread.
Instead, I would focus on the immense benefits of a nutritionally adequate diet such as increased athletic ability, cognition and disease prevention. Many older children are involved in athletics, so I would use that to my advantage as a natural connection to nutrition. Whole grains for energy, protein for muscle building and recovery, milk for strong bones, fruits/ vegetables for vitamins and minerals for everything! At some of the elementary schools within the Bloomington District, I'm pretty sure that I recall seeing posters in the lunch line that pretty much point out what I typed above. I also hate to say this, but it's true, so whatever, when I was working at the schools as part of my rotation, I had a TON of elementary, middle and high schoolers comment on my build ("HIS ARMS ARE HUGE"), and, naturally, I was sure to enlighten a few of them that the way to achieve what they had pointed out is to have a complete diet with all the food groups.
A lot of children are visual learners, so if they can see an athlete or maybe someone they aspire to be (this is where the parents come in...) consuming fruits, vegetables, whole grains, milk and lean proteins sources, they may want to follow suit. Heck, I don't think my 12 year old brother, who is heavily involved in athletics, has had soda or ice cream in two years...he honestly loves vegetables and eats a TON OF PEANUT BUTTER.
Also as Haley said, we still want to make everything fun for the old(er) students, but we want to ensure that we aren't insulting high school students' intelligence either by having them use purple crayons to color in a picture of grapes or by using an activity that would be more suited to a younger population. We want to be educational all the same. Knowing your demographic is just so important. Great question, Susan!
Caroline, that's a great point about adolescent aged children not liking being told what to do. As an R.D. we have to tow a fine line between making it seem like we are demanding lifestyle change and making suggestions for the betterment of their lifestyle. Allowing clients of all ages to create their own goals makes everything more personal and puts the emphasis on the client's particular wants and needs while also allowing the clients to have a personal say in their lifestyle change to meet their own goals.
As several of you have mentioned, it is important not to focus on negative things like calorie restriction. I think it's better to talk about healthy eating strategies and with older children, the nutrients that are provided and the health benefits they supply. I would talk about filling your plate with fruit, vegetables, whole grains, small portions of lean meat and low-fat dairy. I would explain lean meat and low-fat dairy. I would talk about the benefits of drinking water, a calorie free option. I would like to do a grocery store tour with older children and highlight some healthy options.
Start as early as possible, and do what you can to keep coming back to them. I was just talking about something similar with one of the UnityPoint dietitians earlier. It’s important to build a rapport with the kids, get them to trust you, and then you’re more likely to get them over to your side. The strategy used would really depend on what age we’re talking about. But I think getting older kids involved in planting and growing food would be a great way to have an influence on diet. Ideally, they’d also get the chance to cook with it as well. I believe something starts to click with kids if they are involved with food from the seed to the plate. I think they would take pride in the things they are growing, and they’d therefore be more likely to try those homegrown fruits and vegetables that they might not otherwise try. From what I’ve seen and read, Jamie Oliver and those following his model seem to be having a lot of success with it.
I like Arthur's idea about finding a role model the child looks up to who has a healthy eating pattern. Older children might be more willing to try things they see the role model eating. It's even better if that role model can be someone like a parent or sibling who eats with them frequently. If that role model can also get them involved in growing, purchasing and/or preparing healthy food, that may help, too.
Older children are hard. You nearly have to force them or present them with harsh consequeces, I feel. I think the best way is to make it trendy or what the "cool kids" are doing. You won't reach everyone that way but most will identify with their peers this way. I honestly think clubs are the way to go. I would approach a group of students that I felt would be good at beginning a "health" club and facilitate their goals within the school sysem.
I do like the ideas of focusing on the positive aspects of a healthy diet, rather than the negative stuff. However, I do think it is important for young people to understand that food can be dangerous, too. So I think the trick would be to still figure out how to keep them informed on how poor eating can have a negative impact, while keeping the overall message positive.
I really like Arthur's idea about having role models exhibit positive nutrition behaviors. Children are definitely visual learners!
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