The numbers speak for themselves: We are approaching a 20 percent obesity rate nationally in the schoolage population. To buck this trend for your own family, you as a parent can offer your child the best hope for healthy eating and physical activity habits by being a positive role model.

Smart Food Choices for Grade-Schoolers
Talk to your child about what constitutes healthy eating. What she eats now sets up her habits for life and predicts what she will eat as an adult. Don’t condone fast food or junk food at home. Offer him lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, lean meats and grains. According to the Food Guide Pyramid (issued in 2005 by the United States Department of Agriculture), here is what your child should be eating each day:

• six to 11 servings of grains (bread, rice, pasta
• three to five servings of vegetables
• two to four servings of fruit
• two to three servings of dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese
• two to three servings of meat (meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts)
• small amounts of fats, oils and sweets

Additionally, keep in mind these healthy habits for your school-age child:

• Encourage him to eat breakfast daily
• Offer only skim milk or water to drink
• Eat out only one time weekly
• Pack lunch for your child rather than letting him buy school lunch
• Encourage exercise five days a week

All told, your child should be consuming 1400-1600 calories. To make sure that he is getting all the vitamins and minerals he needs, check www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/ for the most current dietary requirements.

Nutrition for Grade-Schoolers
Calcium is an especially important nutrient to help your child avoid osteoporosis later in life. Kids should get 1,200 – 1,500 milligrams starting in the grade school years.

Along with dairy products, other sources of calcium include:

• canned fish with soft bones such as sardines, anchovies, and salmon
• dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, mustard greens and spinach
• tofu processed with calcium
• calcium fortified juice bread and cereal

Smart Snacking. While it’s a good idea to make sure that your child has three healthy meals a day, because he is growing he will probably want to snack in order to get all the calories he needs. And not all snack food is bad: Get your child into the habit of having an apple, some string cheese, a handful of nuts or small bag of pretzels instead of a high-fat greasy choice like chips.

Vitamins & Supplements. Try to make sure that your child gets all the vitamins he needs from food. If you think that might not be the case, you might give him a vitamin and mineral supplement to be on the safe side, but first talk with your pediatrician.

Exercise Guidelines for Grade schoolers
Lack of exercise adds to the obesity problem in this country. According to the results of a recent fitness test given to school-age children around the country as part of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, in the six- to 12-year-old category, only 64 percent of boys and 50 percent of girls could run/walk a mile in less than 10 minutes.

However, it doesn’t take much to be in good physical shape at this age. A recent Surgeon General report suggests that moderately intense exercise, such as brisk walking for 30 minutes or more, or intense exercise such as jogging or playing basketball for 20 minutes each day is all it takes. Encourage your child to get out there and move around—talking a walk or a jog is also a great way to spend time with your child.

Why Staying Active Is Crucial
Why should you and your child exercise? According to the Surgeon General, exercise:

• Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints
• Helps control weight
• Builds lean muscle and reduces fat
• Prevents or delays the development of high blood pressure and helps reduce blood pressure in some adolescents with hypertension
• Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety

And, through its effects on mental health, physical activity may help increase students’ capacity for learning. A smart decision, indeed!