Add Some Color to A Child’s Life

Children depend on the adults in their lives to meet all their needs, from the basics—food, shelter, and clothing—to the emotional support, responsible adults provide through love and stability.

We—parents, guardians, family members, and by extension, teachers—have the power to make the lives of children better, more vibrant, and meaningful. It’s a responsibility not to be taken lightly.

Furthermore, we serve as examples of acceptable behavior within family and community. How we conduct ourselves helps them to understand and navigate in their present world...ultimately shaping their futures.

In essence, we provide the foundation, and the framework on which they build their own individuality, contributions, and presence in our world.

However, our nurturing efforts would be significantly lacking if we did not include healthy lifestyle choices. Making provisions for the following areas of health, fitness, and well-being are as equally important as a child’s basic needs, as discussed above.

• Proper amount of sleep

• Regular exercise

• Healthy diet

Digressing for a moment...

There has never been a time in history, where providing adequate nutrition has ever posed such a unique set of problems as we see happening now.

Our ancestors may have struggled to provide enough food if poverty, drought, or times of war prevailed. They would have known fear and misery to witness children suffer illness and disease due to malnutrition and starvation.

It is fair to say, they would be ‘shocked’ at the extent of childhood diseases we witness today, due to malnutrition, in the presence of ‘food aplenty’.

Ours is not a shortage problem.

Today, we have an abundance of food, more food than we need, yet today’s children suffer from malnutrition and ill-health because the very foods they consume are not fit to sustain the demands of their growing bodies. Much of what they eat is ‘toxic’ and extremely harmful to their overall health and life expectancy.

Thankfully, we are not without hope.

We can endeavor to add vitality, optimism, and energy in the lives of our children if we...

1. Deem it necessary to do our homework, educate ourselves on matters of adequate nutrition.

2. Provide them with proper, health generating foods; avoiding toxic substances found in processed foods.

In this way we add color and joie-de-vivre in the lives of children. It is no easy task but it’s worth every effort we make.

it’s the right thing to do...