Here are some ways that parents can establish a lifetime of healthy habits for their family:

Create an Active Environment:

• Make time for the entire family to participate in regular physical activities that everyone enjoys. Try walking, bicycling or rollerblading.
• Plan special active family-outings such as a hiking or ski trip.
• Start an active neighborhood program. Join together with other families for group activities like touch-football, basketball, tag or hide-and-seek.
• Assign active chores to every family member such as vacuuming, washing the car or mowing the lawn. Rotate the schedule of chores to avoid boredom from routine.
• Enroll your child in a structured activity that he or she enjoys, such as tennis, gymnastics, martial arts, etc.
• Instill an interest in your child to try a new sport by joining a team at school or in your community.
• Limit the amount of TV watching.

Create a Healthy Eating Environment:

• Implement the same healthy diet (rich in fruits, vegetables and grains) for your entire family, not just for select individuals.
• Plan times when you prepare foods together. Children enjoy participating and can learn about healthy cooking and food preparation.
• Eat meals together at the dinner table at regular times.
• Avoid rushing to finish meals. Eating too quickly does not allow enough time to digest and to feel a sense of fullness.
• Avoid other activities during mealtimes such as watching TV.
• Avoid foods that are high in calories, fat or sugar.
• Have snack foods available that are low-calorie and nutritious. Fruit, vegetables and yogurt are some examples.
• Avoid serving portions that are too large.
• Avoid forcing your child to eat if he/she is not hungry. If your child shows atypical signs of not eating, consult a healthcare professional.
• Limit the frequency of fast-food eating to no more than once per week.
• Avoid using food as a reward or the lack of food as punishment.

Schools

Outside of the home, children and adolescents spend the majority of their time in school. So, it makes sense that schools provide an environment that promotes healthy nutrition and physical activity habits. Only a few creative programs are being tested in schools across the country.

Overweight and Obesity

Results of a 1999 national survey showed that 16 percent of high school students were overweight (Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than the 85^th percentile and below the 95^th percentile) and nearly 10 percent were obese (BMI more than or equal to the 95^th percentile). Self-reported height and weight was used. The survey, called the Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System (YRBSS), is conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and uses a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9 to 12.

Here are more results from the 1999 YRBSS:

• More male students (17 percent) were overweight than female students (14 percent), and obese (12 percent of males and 8 percent of females).
• More black students (22 percent) were overweight than white students (14 percent).
• More black and Hispanic female students (23 and 18 percent, respectively) were overweight than white female students (12 percent).

Self-Perception of Weight

• When asked to describe their weight, 30 percent of students thought of themselves as overweight.
• More female students (36 percent) than male students (24 percent) considered themselves overweight.
• More Hispanic students (37 percent) than white and black students (29 and 25 percent, respectively) considered themselves overweight.

Weight Loss Attempts

• 43 percent of students reported that they were trying to lose weight.
• More female students (59 percent) than male students (26 percent) reported that they were trying to lose weight.
• More Hispanic students (51 percent) reported that they were trying to lose weight than white students (43 percent) and black students (36 percent).

Methods of Weight Loss:

Exercise

• More than half (58 percent) of students reported the use of exercise (during the 30 days before the survey) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.
• More female students (67 percent) reported the use of exercise for weight loss or maintenance than male students (49 percent). More white female students (70 percent) reported the use of exercise for weight loss or maintenance than black female students (59 percent).

Change of Eating Behaviors

• 40 percent of students reported that they ate less food, fewer calories, or foods low in fat (during the 30 days before the survey) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.
• More female students (56 percent) reported that they ate less food, fewer calories, or foods low in fat than male students (25 percent) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.
• More white students (42 percent) reported that they ate less food, fewer calories, or foods low in fat than black students (34 percent) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.
• More white female students (60 percent) reported that they ate less food, fewer calories, or foods low in fat than Hispanic female students (51 percent) and black female students (43 percent) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.

Fasting

• 13 percent of students reported fasting ("without eating for 24 hours or more" ) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.
• More female students (19 percent) reported fasting than male students (6 percent) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight

Use of Dietary Supplements

• 8 percent of students reported taking diet pills, powders, or liquids without a doctor's advice to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.
• More female students (11 percent) reported taking diet pills, powders, or liquids without a doctor's advice than male students (4 percent) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.
• More white female students (12 percent) reported taking diet pills, powders, or liquids without a doctor's advice than black female students (6.9 percent) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.

Purging / Laxative Use

• 5 percent of students reported vomiting or taking laxatives to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.
• More female students (7 percent) reported vomiting or taking laxatives than male students (2 percent) to lose weight or to avoid gaining weight.
• Find more 1999 YRBSS results from the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and from the CDC's Youth '99 Online Analysis.

Creating a Healthy Eating Environment in Schools

Recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables are not being met by today's youth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "51 percent of children and adolescents eat less than one serving a day of fruit, and 29 percent eat less than one serving a day of vegetables that are not fried."

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), children drink 16 percent less milk now than in the late 1970's, and 16 percent more of carbonated soft drinks. The consumption of non-citrus juices such as grape and apple mixtures increased by 280 percent.

A coalition of five medical associations and the USDA proposed a "Prescription for Change: Ten Keys to Promote Healthy Eating in Schools" to be used for guidance in school nutrition programs. Their prescription is:

1. Students, parents, food service staff, educators and community leaders will be involved in assessing the school's eating environment, developing a shared vision and an action plan to achieve it.
2. Adequate funds will be provided by local, state and federal sources to ensure that the total school environment supports the development of healthy eating patterns.
3. Behavior-focused nutrition education will be integrated into the curriculum from pre-K through grade 12. Staff who provide nutrition education will have appropriate training.
4. School meals will meet the USDA nutrition standards as well as provide sufficient choices, including new foods and foods prepared in new ways, to meet the taste preferences of diverse student populations.
5. All students will have designated lunch periods of sufficient length to enjoy eating healthy foods with friends. These lunch periods will be scheduled as near the middle of the school day as possible.
6. Schools will provide enough serving areas to ensure student access to school meals with a minimum of wait time.
7. Space that is adequate to accommodate all students and pleasant surroundings that reflect the value of the social aspects of eating will be provided.
8. Students, teachers and community volunteers who practice healthy eating will be encouraged to serve as role models in the school dining areas.
9. If foods are sold in addition to National School Lunch Program meals, they will be from the five major food groups of the Food Guide Pyramid. This practice will foster healthy eating patterns.
10. Decisions regarding the sale of foods in addition to the National School Lunch Program meals will be based on nutrition goals, not on profit making.