Built to Last

Yesterday we looked at character training as a tool to build children that will last. As was previously stated, there are other important tenets involved in building children that will last.

Today I am sharing my friend with you. She is the contributor/author of today’s article. Please receive Mrs Lorraine Rainford. She desires to see Jamaicans live healthier so that we can live out our pledge to advance the welfare of the whole human race. This desire resulted in her being trained by the Integrative Institute of Nutrition in New York to be an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. Here, she explored different pathways to healthy eating and wellness and is Inspired to help mothers and wives make better food choices for themselves and their families, within the ambit of what is available in our country.

Here she goes!

“Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”
3 John 1:2‭-‬4 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/3jn.1.2-4.NASB

Being in good health simply means giving the body the key nutrients it needs; the carbohydrates the proteins and the fats in the right amount at the right times.

This also means providing all the essential vitamins and minerals. For growing children- and this also means teens-, these micronutrients are necessary for optimal growth and development.

These essential vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, protein, B12, help to build strong bones and healthy tissue and muscle and can only be had from food.

A good diet can protect your children from everyday illnesses and improve their ability to retain knowledge. What is more is, it has a striking impact on their health throughout adolescence and adulthood.

Consuming nutritious foods help children and teens grow and develop, to do well academically. It encourages a healthy emotional life; causing them to feel good about themselves.
Foods that are rich in essential nutrients, even help to prevent child and teen issues such as eating disorders, obesity, dental cavities and iron deficiency anemia.

As stewards of these our precious gifts, we need to do our absolute best, with the resources we have, to provide all they need to prosper, in every area of their lives. They cannot do that without good health.

Fruits, vegetables ( including callaloo or other dark green leafy vegetables) WATER, Omega 3 oils, complex carbohydrates like yellow yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, corn on the cob, fish caught in the sea and/or rivers should be included in the diet daily.

If as adults, we struggle, to prepare and consume enough of these foods, then our children will too, and they will suffer for it. Experts have said that this is the first generation that will die before their parents. Already we can see more and more children that are obese or overweight, that are diabetic and hypertensive. Children with acid reflux who lack fibre and who miss meals regularly.

A steady diet of sugar laden drinks and packaged foods and hormone-fed protein, will compromise your child’s immune system and can predispose him to being labelled hyperactive or cause her to suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). This kind of diet can also lead to our daughters experiencing irregular periods and an inability to get pregnant when that time comes.

There is not enough space in this blog to share the unfortunate side effects of a poor diet. But I must mention that the lack of physical exercise compounds a diet lacking in the essential nutrients.

Let us encourage our children to play outside again. Playing football, cricket, “stucky” and climbing trees. Go for walks in your neighbourhood together or access one of the hundreds of exercise videos on YouTube after dinner.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 NASB
In this case, teaching children to be discriminate in their food choices from an early age, will put the foundation in place for a body and mind that will always be up to the tasks ahead.

Mrs. Rainford can be reached at lorrainerainfordis@coachlorr.com.jm