April 8, 2006

You know readers, there’s a very popular nursery rhyme that goes:
‘Early to bed, early to rise,
Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’.
Yet these days if someone does admit to sleeping early, they’re thought of being ‘uncool’. In the same manner, the TV tells us that the coolest things to eat are snacks like chips with carbonated drinks or burgers with fries. Now given that I too love those same chips or burgers, I’d be the last person on Earth to tell you not to eat those but what happens when you overdose on these is that a person gets fat and unhealthy and unfortunately that is exactly what most of us are getting (don’t you sometimes wish that a double fudge chocolate cake could help you lose weight… sigh! I do. )

Year after year more and more kids are becoming victims (yes! Victims) of this trend and do you know what the consequences are? Let me tell you. You’re more susceptible to diseases, to heart problems, depression, cholesterol problems and the worst one for last — no one picks you to play with them (because, admit it, you can’t run fast enough for any sport) and thus you make very few friends since sports play such an important factor amongst kids’ friendships. You’ll also notice one more thing. Unhealthy people are also more likely to be the last in class and are slower to grasp things that others learn quickly and easily. That is why it is very important to cultivate a healthy lifestyle from the start only. This does not mean you give up your Playstation, junk food, snacks, chats, etc. but it does mean you take extra care of ensuring that you’re getting more of the good stuff than the bad one.

So how do we get on the path towards becoming healthy, wealthy and wise? It’s as simple as sleeping on time for at least eight hours, eating right, being active in sports and activities and taking care of your body. How to do that?

The first site I would recommend you to visit is http://kidshealth.org/ kid/. It’s filled with information about everything you can think about relating to your health from bacteria to general illnesses, how to stay healthy and games like ‘who needs more sleep— animals or kids’. You’ll spend countless hours getting entertained and learning about a healthy lifestyle. Be sure to watch the movie on how the body works. It’s bodacious (did I detect a few groans?).

Another amazing website I found was http://www.cyh.com/ Health

Topics/HealthTopicCategories.aspx?&p=152. This website is a very comprehensive guide on everyday topics like how to look after your ears, eyes and teeth, the nose, sleeping, about things to watch out for at school, what food you should eat (always eat the rainbow says Ryan at http://www.healthykidschallenge.com/kids_healthyme.php) and many more amazing topics explained so easily that even a six-year-old will understand them. Plus, it has a very nice ‘Fun and Games’ section that you can access for hours of healthy fun.

One more website you can visit is http://www.healthykids.com/. However, be sure to involve mom on this site because most of the things will be too hard to understand on your own but it will teach you both (you and mom) the best time to sleep, how to get healthy bodies and even give your mom some amazing recipes that she can cook for you.

Now I have also heard kids say that they don’t get time away from school, homework, madrassah, tuitions, etc. so they can’t exercise. Well if that’s your excuse, here are some ideas you can try to keep fit and which you can do during commercial breaks on your favourite TV shows. They are:

Captain Push ‘n Crunch – Can you be ‘Captain Push ‘n Crunch’? Challenge yourselves to do as many push ups as you can during one commercial. For the next commercial, challenge yourselves to do as many crunches as you can. Continue to alternate between push-ups and crunches for the remainder of the commercial break.

Step to it — During the commercial break, walk up and down the stairs once before returning back to the TV.

Happy Hearts — When the commercials begin, get out of your seats and try to sustain activity for the entire commercial break. Try marching or jogging on the spot, jumping jacks, or stepping side to side.

All this physical activity will help you reduce stress, will strengthen the heart and lungs, increase energy levels, will help you maintain a healthy body weight, will help you to do better in school, and improve your outlook on life.

Starting on the path of healthiness is not easy. Maintaining it is even tougher, but once you make up your mind that you will do it, then trust me, nothing can stop you from getting healthier and because of which wealthier and wiser. Also remember my favourite bunny that follows these ideas fully (eats good food, sleeps on time and exercises a lot). I’ll give you a hint *pulls out carrot…crunch crunch...eeep! So what’s up doc?* i

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