AN APPLE A DAY – Jill Wheaton says making small, healthy eating changes now can lead to huge rewards later in life. Matt Molloy/The Beacon

The Beacon fitness feature has come to an end.

After looking at living a healthy lifestyle through recreation, we will now look at how we must eat healthy to complete the healthy living package.

Jill Wheaton, regional dietician with Central Health, is one of the more passionate professionals you will ever meet when it comes to proper diets. Surprisingly enough, Wheaton said eating properly begins earlier than most of us would ever guess.

"It starts on day one when you choose whether or not to breastfeed your child. We know that breastfed babies are healthier babies. We're seeing lower obesity rates in breastfed children, less diabetes incidents...there are so many benefits to breastfeeding," said Wheaton. "As you go through life and you don't eat healthy as a child, and if your child ends up obese or overweight as a teenager, there's an 85 per cent chance they're going to remain that way. Obesity is one side effect of not eating healthy, and you're also looking at cardiovascular disease, heart disease, stroke, and the big one we're seeing now is Type 2 diabetes."

That's right, Type 2 diabetes - it isn't a typo. Society usually connects Type 2 diabetes to seniors, but suddenly, kids in this province are suffering from the disease, and at an astonishingly young age.

"We're seeing diabetes in children in Newfoundland as young as seven, and we've never seen that before," said Wheaton. "Type 2 diabetes is the type that your grandfather got years ago...we've never seen it this young before. It's definitely lifestyle and diet that's causing Type 2 diabetes."

Wheaton added that this is the first generation of children that are being overfed and undernourished because they're getting a lot of extra fats, sodium and calories that they don't need.

"Some children are overweight, which doesn't mean they're eating too much, or are too inactive, it's a combination of a lot of things. At the end of the day, at the end of the year, you end up with a child who's overweight, but undernourished because they're not eating the vegetables and fruits they need, nor are they eating the whole grain bread, so they're not getting the proper vitamins and minerals their bodies need," said Wheaton. "The basis of eating food is to nourish our bodies, and provide the vitamins and nutrients our bodies need to grow, to be healthy and be strong to fight off disease. I know we eat to feel full and to be satisfied, and we eat because we like the flavour of food, but the basis of why we need to eat is to get those nutrients, and a lot of children are not getting those."

More than meets the eye

So, you're a parent who wants to protect your child from such diseases. You see a lot of foods on television that are quick and easy to make, and surprisingly enough, the companies claim it's healthy and perfect to feed young children. When it comes to packaged foods, make sure you do the research yourself.

"Every company is trying to make money, and they're going to make things look good. As parents, most of us are in a hurry, we're always rushed, and we want things that are easy. However, with convenience comes sodium, a lot of trans fats, and a lot of things children don't need," said Wheaton. "For children, I would definitely look for a couple of main things on the package. I would look for products that are lower in fat, particularly trans fats, and I would like for the percent daily value to be zero, or definitely less than five per cent. When you're looking at sodium, you want to have products with 10 per cent or less, and that's very hard to find in a packaged meal. I also like to have products with fibre, especially if there's a cracker or other grain involved. Also, look for the words whole grain because that's what you should be looking for. Just because something is high in fibre doesn't necessarily mean its whole grain because there's a lot of artificially made fibres added to foods now."

To ensure our children grow up to lead a full, healthy life, Wheaton said it's important they eat complete meals on a daily basis. Of course, this starts in the morning with a breakfast, which can be as simple as a bowl of cereal.

"Try to think of Canada's Food Guide and the four different food groups, and try to get something in from the four different groups," said Wheaton. "For breakfast, cereal could come from the grains group, the milk in the cereal would be from the milk alternatives group, you could chop up a banana to put in your cereal, and a handful of nuts...so you have four things from the four food groups. That is a complete balanced breakfast and completely appropriate for a child."

Also, for people that are always on the go, Wheaton said a typical breakfast can also make a quick, easy, healthy snack. You can put dry cereal in a bag with nuts; you can drink a glass of milk instead of putting it in your cereal, and have the piece of fruit by itself.

"It's easy, it's packable, and it's not a processed food," said Wheaton. "It's not one of those peel off meat and cheese products that's highly processed and loaded with sodium."

Be patient

However, all parents know all too well how hard it is to get a child to eat something different, something that's healthy. Wheaton feels it's important not to give up too easily, and sometimes small changes can lead to big differences.

"You have to remember that if you want your kid to eat broccoli and you refuse to eat it yourself, your attitude is going to carry through to what a child is going to learn. We always encourage eating as a family, and we encourage variety at the table so your child can choose to eat whatever's on the table," she said. "If they choose to not eat broccoli, maybe they'll choose to eat some carrot, or have some potato. However, don't stop offering broccoli because they never chose to eat it. They say you have to offer kids something 10-15 times before they finally accept it. You can do a half and half to introduce them to something slowly. For example, instead of going straight from white to whole grain sandwiches, have one side white and the other whole wheat. Your taste buds have a memory, so it takes time getting used to new foods. It's just a matter of making things familiar and making it a regular thing."

As you get older, of course, your body needs more of certain nutrients and less of others. According to Wheaton, if you're the mother of a 16-year-old boy who plays hockey, soccer, basketball and volleyball, you may need to add an extra serving of fruit, for example, and not necessarily extras of everything else.

"If you're a very active teenage boy and you need eight servings of fruits and vegetables a day, you may need an extra apple or banana, an extra slice of bread, or a bigger bowl of cereal," she said. "It doesn't mean you need double portions of everything, or you have to go for a big greasy burger."

Canada's Food Guide can be found by visiting http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php, or enter Canada Food Guide in a search engine.