Understanding Nutrition, Environment, Health and Wellness

Nutrition, exercise and environment are all closely linked to lack of energy & concentration, short attention span, foggy headed, not getting it, hyperactivity, disease & sickness. A strong comparison can be made between our level of health & wellness and our level of learning ability.

Research has shown that there are people who have successfully coped and sometimes reversed these conditions. So take hope, we'll look at some of the research and life experiences of other families. It starts with understanding what is needed for our bodies to function properly. Next the hard part, applying it, and changing old, strongly entrenched routines and habits.

We're probably still following most of the habits we learned from our parents as a child. One study shows that our " food preferences are generally shaped between ages 2 and 3 ."

Doesn't that show us how important it is to teach our children new ways while they're still young? Doing so will help promote a life of enthusiastic learning because we all have the energy and thinking faculties to do it.

After reviewing the need for giving our level of health more attention, we'll be looking at these topics:

Health and Behavioural Challenges
Health and Wellness Guidelines and Principles
How our Body Works

My research keeps revealing to me that what we choose to eat or not eat has an unbelievable impact on almost every known health challenge out there. We know that is true with our automobiles. The quality of gas has a direct bearing on the function of the car. We also know we need more than gas, there's a lot of fluids in our cars - windshield, radiator, oil, etc. Are we taking better care of our cars than our bodies?

We need to understand what our body needs to function well. Without this knowledge, it's going to be very difficult to develop healthy habits (which I’m sure you agree is hard enough). Eat your vegies. No you can’t have a cookie before supper. Do we sound like our mother now?

I’ve found that explaining the WHY, along with Mom’s rules, makes compliance much less painful. I had to smile when my oldest began explaining the health reasons to her little sister. Now she sounds like her mother. It constantly astounds me to see how much toddlers can grasp about our bodies and health, if we just tell them.

I know you’d agree that we don’t want our learning sessions having more challenges than they need to? So what can we do? First we have to realize that taking control of our own wellness, and our family’s, is our personal responsibility. We can’t automatically expect our family doctor, or any person, to be responsible for our family’s health. Others are here to help us, but they may not have had time to keep up with and sort all the information out there that affects our unique family.

Others might give us valuable principles to live by, but most of us don’t abide by them consistently (or at all). Let’s become resolved to make some changes, even small ones; they make a difference. No matter how long we’ve been trying to be healthy in our habits, it seems we all need reminders. We’re so bombarded by commercials, grocery store displays, and the lifestyles of our friends and neighbours, that it’s a constant challenge, even more so for our impressionable children.

You can’t teach what you don’t know. Ask questions, research and gather wellness information, reason on it, and consistently apply it. I can’t overstate the need for developing our reasoning ability. Professionals and other health researchers do not always agree with each other. Knowledge in the field of health is often expanded, and sometimes goes in opposite directions at the same time. Can you see the logical reason for what you want to do?

What do we need to do as our children’s educators? We need to teach our children:

- how our bodies work,

- what our bodies need to work,

- how to give it to them,

- how to develop life-long healthy habits, and

- how to keep researching if we haven’t found all the answers and level of health we desire.

I can think of no greater challenge to learning than the health and wellness of the student and teacher. It’s very hard to motivate others with the thrill of learning when we hardly want to get out of bed or lack a zest for life ourselves. I really don’t think students and teachers inherently want to be lazy. I’ve seen time and again, people that seemed lazy or grumpy, turn into enthusiastic life livers! Time and again previously challenged students and teachers have completely turned the corner in their personal learning curve by developing greater wellness.

My family has been studying wellness for decades, and this is one legacy I’m more than happy they shared with me. It’s much easier (and cheaper) to maintain wellness than reverse sickness. Out of all the course subjects you can share with your children, please make this number one. Why? If your children learn how to maintain wellness and establish good habits in youth, they will have the energy and desire to learn all the other topics out there. No twisting of the arm will be necessary.

To help you out, I’m assembling some of the health nuggets we’ve come across. If links to the pages aren’t up yet, and you’d like to get the information now, send me an email , and I’ll send it to you directly. I’ve put the research under two categories:

Health and Behavioural Challenges - Take a look at specific challenges to learning that too many children are facing: ADHD, Asthma, Autism, Cancer, Cystic Fibrosis, Down Syndrome, Food and Environmental Allergies, Head Lice and Leukemia.

Health and Wellness Guidelines and Principles - These principles can be applied to everyone to reach or maintain a level of wellness. Along with the principles, I’m including practical ways you can apply and teach them.

How Our Body Works - We'll take a look at what the various body systems do, and what tools and building blocks they need to do it.