Marc Wellness International Blog

What’s for breakfast, what’s for lunch and what’s for dinner? Stop and have a think for a moment, think about what you ate all day yesterday. Out of all the food you ate in the entire day, what was the ratio between - how much junk food you ate, compared to how much healthy food you ate?

Some people may believe that eating junk food or supplying a meal of junk food for the family, is a cheaper option then healthy food.

I stumbled across an article today called Battle of the bulge is a fight for life, featured in The Advertiser (Victoria)  where Bendigo Community Health Services manager of healthy communities Kaye Graves said “People were putting themselves at risk of grave health concerns by making poor dietary choices.”

“Fresh food is best and takeaway is always more expensive than fresh food” she said.

The article continued and stated that “A study by Deakin University in conjunction with the Department of Human Services found 50 per cent of Victorians aged between four and 12 had more than two serves of junk food in their lunchbox on a daily basis.”

Wow that is half of the kids between four - 12 years old having more than 2 servings of junk food in their lunchbox each day! So if you calculate that junk food daily by seven days in a week, how much junk food are kids consuming on a regular basis per week.

It is important to realise that it is in the daily food and exercise choices we make, that determine our health status for life. If children develop healthy lifestyle habits such as healthy eating and daily activity/exercise from an early age, they are going to grow up with healthy lifestyle habits. It is the lifestyle habits we learn as kids, that determine our choices for life.

To read the article “Battle of the buldge is a fight for life” click here

We came across this article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald newspaper (page 4) which has alarming information for parents regarding Liver Disease and why children are developing this disease today.
With the increase of childhood obesity also comes the increase risk of fatty liver disease in children. Within the article it states that “Doctors say they are seeing children as young as nine with the condition, which develops when there is so mich fat in the liver that it can’t process it”. Can you believe it! As young as nine years old developing liver disease. Then Dr Avi Lemberg said “There’s probably a significant proportion of the population out there with fatty liver disease and they don’t know it”

You have got to check out this article for more information about fatty liver disease some of the symptoms, statistics and what doctors recommend. Click here: Liver disease stalks growing numbers

It’s only one day till school holidays begin (although for some school’s it has already begun!). I remember growing up as a kid and counting down the last days of school until summer holidays! I loved Christmas holidays during summer.

With the increase of technology in our fast paced soceity we have today, many kids are more likely to want to hang out at home and play with their xbox, playstation or watch TV. Whilst these activities may be fun, it is also important that kids spend time during the summer holidays having fun outside with their friends being active.

Here are some Fun Holiday Activities kids can play this summer! 

- Sports and Games: backyard cricket, beach volleyball, handball, shooting hoops in a basketball ring, bike riding, swimming at the pool or beach, surfing, snorkelling, bowling, skateboarding, frisbee, tip, ball games.

- Join Together: Get together with another family and enjoy games and a picnic at the park. Bring along some tennis balls and a cricket bat and have a game of cricket or play a game of mini-olympics. Join together and form countries in your teams and choose different sports or events you like from the olympics such as atheletics - shot put (use a tennis ball instead of a real shot put), discus (use a frisbee instead of a real discus), relays (run from one spot to another and tip the next person in line).

- Join a local kids club or sports camp. Kids Club and Sports Camps are great for kids during the school holiday period, as they interact socially with other children and learn a variety of different activities and skills.  When selecting a sports camp ensure to select a sport that your child is interested in, so they will be excited about attending the camp.

SUN CARE REMINDER: It does get hot in the summer, so when your kids are going outside they need to wear a hat and sunscreen. It is also important that they stay hydrated by drinking lots of water. A good idea is to have a water bottle with their favourite cartoon character on it (filled with water) which they can carry around with them especially when they go outdoors to play.