Commentary: Local experts weigh in on keeping children healthy amid COVID constraints

Prior to COVID-19, there were many institutions in place to help keep children healthy and in shape.

Schools provided balanced nutritional opportunities, physical education, recess and sports programs. When children got home from school, they went outside and played with their neighborhood friends until it was time for dinner. The problem is those institutions have been a bit unreliable over the past couple of years.

Throughout 2020, schools were mostly closed and parents were forced to balance work and homeschooling. Efforts to control the amount of screen time kids received was thwarted by the fact that school and homework now took place on screens for large swaths of the day.

Parents, burnt out by being both employee and teacher as well as feeling the general stress of life during a pandemic, had little energy left to play with their children or make home-cooked meals. Children who once played with their neighborhood friends after school now stayed inside, playing video games after being warned not to play with others out of fear of spreading the virus.

All this led to lax standards of physical fitness and nutrition for both parents and children.

Now, two years later and still in the midst of a pandemic, many of these habits have unfortunately continued. As a parent, and without being an authoritarian, how do you convince your kids that eating better and exercising more is the thing to do after they’ve spent so long doing the opposite?

I spoke with a couple of Fort Knox experts to get some ideas.

“We as parents can’t make our kids eat healthy or get active,” said Ireland Army Health Clinic dietician Laura Bottoms. “When we try to force these behaviors, often the opposite outcomes occur.”

Bottoms said she believes kids who wish to please their parents will do what they are asked begrudgingly but learn to despise the requested habit; stubborn/strong-willed kids will simply not do as asked and often become more sedentary, demand more junk food or refuse to eat more healthy offerings. Either way, parents lose.

As an alternative, Bottoms suggests parents focus on modeling desired behaviors.

“If you want your kids to eat vegetables, make vegetables appealing, readily available and enjoy them in front of and with your kids,” said Bottoms. “If you want them to turn off screens, put down your phone, quit checking emails, and demonstrate that moving can be fun.”

Fort Knox Army Wellness Center director Brent Newell said screens, while definitely a concern, have also offered solutions to helping children be more active.

“Because of the extremely high dopamine hit that screens give kids, finding things they’re already interested in becomes more important,” said Newell. “[Traditional] exercise feels like a chore. As long as you make it feel like a game, it gets them moving and they completely forget it’s exercise. Because they’re already used to playing games on screens, translate that into real life so it becomes more interesting.”

Newell suggests building an obstacle, or role play and turn video games they enjoy into real-world events.

“It doesn’t really matter what it is as long as it gets them to smile and laugh.”

Bottoms, being a mother of a 7-year-old boy, has some similar suggestions for play.

“My son loves video games, including Fortnite, and it’s one of the active play games we often play in real life,” said Bottoms. “We hide his Nerf guns and ammo around the house and yard — if it’s nice out — and pretend that we are characters from his game. It’s a great time!”

Bottoms said she also likes to play Floor’s Lava: a game that involves a timed obstacle course of stepping stones that helps improve balance and coordination, and can be played either inside or outdoors. Another game they enjoy is TRICKS. Each participant gets to take turns challenging the other to do some sort of physical requirement. Fail to do the challenge, get a letter. The first person to spell TRICKS loses.

A rainy day option may include kid yoga.

Newell said while parents can certainly get the children involved in traditional exercises and weight training, it’s not necessary if the child isn’t interested.

“As adults, our mentality is we need to go to a controlled environment, like a gym, to do controlled exercises that are supposed to translate into organic human movement to make up for our sedentary lifestyles,” said Newell. “If a child is doing organic human movement already — jumping, running and throwing — it’s going to elicit the exact same physical response.”

Now that they’re available again, at least for now, Bottoms also recommends getting children involved in organized sports and activities. Dance, gymnastics, baseball, soccer, basketball and martial arts are all examples as well as family-friendly activities offered by Fort Knox Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. She also has her son enrolled in an activity-oriented after school program that bridges the gap from when he gets out of school and she gets off work.

In terms of nutrition, Bottoms said she doesn’t consider any food to be off limits.

“We don’t need to teach kids about calories, fat, carbs, good vs bad; instead, we should be teaching them how to eat at regular intervals, how to balance meals, and to listen to our bodies,” said Bottoms. “I encourage families to aim to include at least three food groups-plus at each meal. So even if dinner is some Dino nuggets, serve it with some oven roasted potatoes, vegetables and a side of fruit.”

Bottoms said parent should make healthy choices available and accessible. Keep cut up fruits and vegetables in clear containers at eye level in the fridge so that when kids look for snacks, they are visible reminders. For pantry snacks, have a snack box where there is a variety of options — some traditionally healthy, and some less so.

“This way we don’t villainize any specific food, but we are teaching kids about balance; a good quality snack generally has a balance of carbs, fat and protein to improve satiety,” said Bottoms. “Choice architecture matters. If it’s in our face and easy, we are more likely to choose it than if it takes extra work.”

Newell said he believes parents shouldn’t focus too much on traditional metrics for weight when it comes to children.

“There is a natural gain-weight and lean-out with children as they grow. Parents should get concerned only when children still look overweight even after growth spurts or for prolonged periods,” said Newell.

“Children should be out playing instead of concerning themselves with getting enveloped into the body image matrix adults are into.”

Bottoms agrees that there’s not really a need to focus on weight.

“If we support them in maintaining our human ability to regulate our intake through listening to our hunger cues and respecting our fullness cues,” said Bottoms, “the child will grow into the person they were always meant to be.”