Latest / 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids. / Kid's Guide to Eating Healthy w/Author and Health Coach Susan Neal

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Kid's Guide to Eating Healthy w/Author and Health Coach Susan Neal · 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids.

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of the Five Minute Parenting Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Karen Ferguson, wife, mom, grandmom, and children's book author with a background in K-8 education and a passion for equipping parents to raise confident and God-confident kids.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, we'll cover parenting practices from both a practical view and a biblical view.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal is to help you raise kids with a positive, godly self-image so they can become all they were created to be.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: I know you're busy, so we'll keep it short.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take just five minutes and dive in.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of Five Minute Parenting.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Karen, your show host, and today we're talking with Susan Neal, the author of Eat God's Food, a Kid's Guide to Healthy Eating.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Susan is an RN, author, speaker, and certified health and wellness coach whose background in nursing and health services led her to seek new ways to educate and coach people to overcome health challenges.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Her passion and mission is to improve the health of Americans.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Eat God's Food is written specifically for the health needs of children, preparing them for a lifetime of eating and living the way God intended.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: In this book, you'll find healthy activities and cooking adventures to ensure kids not only learn but have fun too.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: You and your child will learn together through fun yet educational activities.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: What a fantastic book.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Susan, welcome to the show.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for having me.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thrilled to be here.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you bet.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm excited to talk about your book and just how we can help our kids and grandkids eat healthier and be healthier.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to jump right in with the first question.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Why did you choose to write a children's picture book about healthy eating?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, when I started on this venture of trying to improve the health of Americans about a decade ago, the Center for Disease Control statistic was there was 40% of Americans who were obese, and 60% suffered from chronic diseases.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now, today, a decade later, the statistic has increased to 42% suffers from obesity.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, you know, okay, I write lots of adult healthy living books like 12 Ways to Age Gracefully or Seven Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: But I wanted to affect the minds of children because they are so smart.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: They understand that uh you, you know, that they can just pick things up so quickly.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I created this children's book.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: So then they could be equipped with understanding what God's foods were and how his foods are so much better than the typical American junk food.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's a good point.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Kids pick up things very quickly.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So a great time to start, never too young.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so you you had mentioned, I read, that nearly one in four children are overweight or have obesity, which is horrible.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, a seriously serious health problem that puts children at risk.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: What type of health problems are associated with obesity?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, with that 20% obesity rate for children.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, then you have the potential for them getting diabetes, asthma, and anxiety.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: But in addition to that, they may be bullied because of their condition, which just breaks my heart.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: So then they are, you know, predispensed to um depression and um a low self-esteem because of it.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's true.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Very significant.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: I know children unfortunately can be cruel sometimes, and so that really puts them at a risk of that for sure.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so obesity rates can be decreased through a change in diet.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Just share a little bit about that.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: So uh my sister is a great example of this.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I wrote my book, Seven Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates, based on her story.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: And uh even today, she still struggles and she'll get to the point when she goes to the doctor and she'll be in a uh okay, you're a pre-diabetic state.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you know, just a couple more marks with that hemoglobin A1C or the glucose level and your diabetic.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: So she pulls out my book and she reads it, she goes on the the eating gods food kind of diet, and then six months later, when they do her blood test, oh, you're no longer pre-diabetic.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: That is yes, the answer is yes.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: You can you if you have gotten type two diabetes within the past just couple years, if you change your diet and exercise, it's highly likely that you can reverse it because God made our bodies to heal if we give it the right building blocks.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say, is this more of a uh a current message?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because I had always heard you could never reverse it.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Once you had it, you could never reverse it.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Type one diabetes, you cannot reverse.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that is a genetic um immune-related disorder.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and you can never reverse that.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Usually you get type one diabetes by the time you're an adult or young adult in your early 20s, but type two diabetes, which is really on the rise, is the one that you can reverse if it's only been a couple years that you've had it.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, this really shows the power of God's food.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, speaking of that, I love your title, eat God's food.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, what do you mean by that?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: What is God's food?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you look at your plant, if it came off of the farm or off of the ranch, and you can look at it and you know it's a carrot or it's you know it's a green bean, eat it.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: If it's been shredded up, put into a specific shape, maybe even changed in color, and you have no idea what this item, what food it came from, don't eat it.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: That is processed food.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: There is no nutritional value in it, it can sit on the grocery store shelf for months and it doesn't go bad because there's no nutritional value.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Not good for the body, no.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so physical activity, let's switch gears to that because that is a big part of a healthy lifestyle.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how as a parent can you promote that most effectively?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: So is being um physically active with your children.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: So even now, like if they're if they're really young, just going on a walk with the stroller.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then as they become a preschooler, let's go on a walk together, go outside, kick balls with them, throw the ball, teach them to swim, go swimming together.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, after they've learned how to ride a bicycle, ride bicycles around the neighborhood.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: So be physically active as a family, go on family hikes.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good point.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when I was young, it was always go outside and play.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I love this idea of actually doing it as a family.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, our kids learn best by example.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, that's that's a special thing to experience that with them too.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what are these benefits of res of a regular regular physical activity for kids?
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, you know, you're going to not have the things that go along with obesity, which would be, you know, less um, they have better self-esteem, less depression.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, their blood sugars should be normal, they're gonna be growing more.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: And um, it's just uh a part of it for the child's entire well-being.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Susan, thank you for being here.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: These are great things to keep in mind as parents and grandparents, and I just want to encourage listeners, be sure to check out the show notes.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: We will have links to Susan's website and to purchase this book because this book is a great tool to help our kids develop that healthy relationship with food, and it's a great resource for us too.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: So be sure to check it out.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful cover, too.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: So colorful.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Susan, thank you again for being here today and sharing.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And listeners, thank you for joining us.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to come back next week for another episode of Five Minute Parenting.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And until then, have a blessed week.