Nutrition: The Most Important Factor For A Successful School Year

In many of our inner-city neighborhoods, parents are raising future Kings and Queens in a desolate wasteland! Where genetics and insufficient physical activity were once the major cause of childhood obesity, this has been replaced with children living in food deserts that pose a serious health threat.

Getting to a grocery store nearby is often a challenge for many due to a lack of resources. Consequently, our children have a greater chance of getting high blood pressure, diabetes and a myriad of other health ailments due to being overweight.

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September will kick off National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month! Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. A recent report by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) proclaimed America's obesity epidemic has hit a new high, reporting that 19.7 percent of American children and adolescents are continuing to put on weight.

I can truly relate to this growing epidemic, as a young lady who was once an obese child. I know what it feels like to be bullied by your peers and not have a boyfriend because of how you look! I can vividly recall going to fabric stores with my mother to pick out various fabrics so my seamstress could make slacks with elasticized waistlines and feeling uncomfortable taking off my clothes for swim class. For those very reasons, I had doctors' notices written all throughout high school to excuse me from P.E. demands.

With parents being in full gear getting their children ready for a new school year, many overlook the most important factor for a successful year: NUTRITION!

So where do we start?

It starts at home with the parents. As parents, you play a vital role in your children’s lives! As role models in your children's lives, creating an environment where making healthy food choices and being active should be rewarded by positivity to show the value and importance of these choices.

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Below are 3 "wynning" realistic tips for you to implement into your homes:

1. What's in your child's lunchbox?

Educate your child about making healthy food choices. How? Involve them in the planning and preparation of their lunches. Make them your sous chef for the week by having them wash off the fruit or cutting up the vegetables, depending on their age.

Eat more salmon. Instead of tuna sandwiches, make a salmon salad for sandwiches. It has a greater amount of Omega 3's. Canned salmon works mixed with reduced-fat mayo or non-fat plain yogurt, raisins, chopped celery, and carrots (plus a little Dijon mustard if your child likes the taste). Serve on whole-grain bread -- which is also brain food.

Soup idea: Add canned salmon to creamy broccoli soup -- plus frozen chopped broccoli for extra nutrition and soft texture. Boxed soups make this an easy meal, and are generally low in fat and calories, Giancoli says. Look for organic boxed soups in the health food section.

Make salmon patties -- using 14 oz. canned salmon, 1 lb. frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained), 1/2 onion (finely chopped), 2 garlic cloves (pressed), 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Combine ingredients. Mix well. Form into small balls. Heat olive oil in pan, and flatten spinach balls with spatula. Cook over medium heat. Serve over brown rice (instant or frozen).

2. Active children are healthy children

Start limiting the time spent in front of the television and get your child active. Spend some time learning your child. Find out what they enjoy doing and make it into a family affair. It might be martial arts, ballet, swimming, or cycling. This will pay off greatly later on in life.

3. Rethink the drink

Cutting back on sugary drinks like soda and sweet tea in your child's diet and your own can help significantly reduce the number of calories they consume daily. Look at healthy alternatives like water infused with their favorite fruit and/or juicing your own juice. My favorite morning juice consists of fresh pineapples, oranges and lime. It's sweet and tangy all at the same time.

You will have the greatest impact on your children so let's work together to make a change! Their lives are in your hands.

Lifestyle specialist and author, Maisha Wynn, gives credence to the mantra "a changed mind is a made-up mind." She heads up Live To Wynn, a Chicago-based company that provides aspirational and practical guidance for women and men who desire to live their lives more abundantly. As a former size 20 who now maintains a size 4 through exercise and healthy eating, Wynn knows firsthand how difficult and rewarding it can be to transform your life. She speaks around the nation and provides uplifting editorial content to various media outlets to promote triumph in the lives of others. Stay connected on Facebook and Instagram with Maisha at @Livetowynn.