Health and Nutrition for Kids and Teens

The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast is hosted by Jenn Trepeck, discussing wellness and weight loss for real life, clearing up the myths, misinformation, bad science & marketing surrounding our nutrition knowledge and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store. 

On today’s episode, Jenn dives into one of the most requested topics - health and nutrition for kids and teens. This episode is pointed toward families with kids ten to seventeen who are either starting to feel uncomfortable with their body, curious about health and nutrition, or told by a doctor they need to do something to improve their health. Jenn discusses how to give kids confidence, teach them appropriate portion sizes, create positive habits, and empower them to make good choices most of the time.

IN THIS EPISODE:

●   [3:07] Jenn discusses the kids and family program that she offers.

●   [7:20] What can be the challenges in getting kids to eat healthily? 

●   [9:49] How do we start empowering children and teach them that new ways of eating are a process?

●   [10:24] Helping kids and teens understand what the goal is. Why is their health important to them? 

●   [14:28] Helping kids understand food groups and teaching them how and why to eat healthy.

●   [18:28] Jenn talks about portion sizes in ways appropriate for the age of the child.

●   [21:30] The use of the phrases “more or less (fewer).”

●   [25:00] Understanding what hunger and fullness feel like. 

●   [26:30] What does it look like when kids aren’t in control of their food choices?

●   [30:30] Jenn dives into what movement/activity could look like for kids.

●   [34:01] Creating habits around what we do most of the time.

●   [38:22] What does peer pressure look like around building your wellness community? What are internal pressure and external pressure?

●   [41:04] What are the signs and symptoms of stress?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

●   It's about empowering children to understand their food choices. Ask them what they are willing to do and what they aren’t willing to do. The goal is to cultivate confidence. 

●   Energizers vs. energy zappers - having kids understand food groups - what is protein, fiber, and fat? What are quality carbohydrates? 

●   “Fridge First” helps us increase the quality of food we get each day. Food can be cooked in various ways and taste differently in each way. Encourage trying foods prepared in different ways. 

●   “Most of the time” - Eating a certain way, getting protein, fat, and carbs in, and having the family eat a certain way - most of the time. There will be exceptions to the rules, which results in a healthy relationship with food. 

●   All you can do is all you can do. And all you can do is enough. Don’t add to the challenges; just focus on how you can make it happen. 

●   We often don't have to focus on the food; we need to focus on all these other things - exercise, fresh air, stress, homework etc. 

●   Keep moving forward and keep getting better. We learn and we grow as we go!

QUOTES: 

●   “It doesn't matter to my client who is 11 years old and who isn't necessarily doing the grocery shopping. It's about empowering her to understand the food choices and understand the impact of the food choices so she can make the choice for herself vs. everybody else trying to control it all and her choosing something, and everybody saying, “are you sure” that’s not helpful.” - Jenn Trepeck

●   “Especially for kids and teens, it’s about teaching them the tools that will last forever, that they can do forever.” - Jenn Trepeck

●   “Part of this whole process is increased awareness. When we go back to energy, when we go back to the checklist of the things we want to tackle in a day, we can see where things are happening or where things aren't happening and why that’s the case, and we can start to draw the connections.” - Jenn Trepeck

RESOURCES:

Become A Member of Salad with a Side of Fries

Jenn’s Free Menu Plan

A Salad With a Side of Fries

A Salad With a Side of Fries Instagram

Jenn's Saffron Extract Supplement, US/Canadian Listeners

Jenn's Saffron Extract Supplement, Global Listeners