BULLY BUSTER OC partners with “A BALANCED BITE” to create BULLY PROOF DIET
You are what you eat!
Bully Buster OC, an organization founded to spread solutions to Bullying issues, has partnered with a local health expert Cynthia Mckee to help parents learn how to help their kids become bully proof through learning healthy eating habits. Ryan Foland, founder of Bully Buster OC, believes that good nutrition is the bedrock to being “bully proof” because healthy eating stabilizes children’s energy, sharpens their minds, evens out their moods, and makes them less targets to bullies. Unfortunately, kids are bombarded by messages that can counteract the right decisions, making parents’ difficult job even harder. Between peer pressure and the constant television commercials for junk foods, getting children to eat well may seem more futile than fruitful, but Bully Buster OC is here to help! Working with “A Balanced Bite (www.ABalancedBite.com),” Foland and Mckee have developed a unique Bully Buster Menu, with creative meals, an outline of alternatives to typical junk food, a quick guide to eating out, and 5 simple steps that parents can take to instill healthy eating habits in their kids without turning mealtimes into a battle zone. Mckee comments that “Children growing up today are faced with challenges that parents may not realize and certainly may not relate to,” adding that “One way to support your child is through a consistent balanced diet.”
According to the US Government Center for Disease and Control Prevention, most U.S. youth do not meet the recommendations for eating fruits and vegetables or whole grains, and eat more than the recommended maximum daily intake of sodium. Children spend more time in front of the idiot box, computers, and playing video games (eating fast foods), than they do playing in sports and games outside. This makes kids vulnerable to obesity, which is a key factor in making them “bully bait” on and off the playground. Foland, who includes health awareness and nutrition into his Free Bully Buster Workshops, teaches parents eating tips, recipes, and healthy alternatives to empower them break unhealthy patterns.
Bully Buster OC teaches parents to think of exercise as a food group in their kid’s diet. Addressing weight problems in children requires a coordinated plan of physical activity and healthy nutrition. Foland encourages parents to make sure to add physical activity to their child’s daily diet, just as they would ensure to add fruit or veggies. To encourage physical activity, parents should play with their kids (throw around a football, go cycling, skating, or swimming, take family walks and hikes, and help kids find activities they enjoy by showing them different possibilities.) The benefits of lifelong exercise are abundant, and regular exercise is crucial to building self-confidence, motivation, maintaining energy, and giving kids the fuel to make it through the day.
The Bully Buster Menu consists of nutritionally dense, low calorie meals and snack ideas to give parents easy and practical meal ideas to bully proof their child’s diet. Mckee, who designed the Bully Buster Menu, points says that “It is the parent’s responsibility to provide for the child, making healthy snack choices readily available and encouraging children to try new, unfamiliar foods.” She insists that parents must designate a time every week to prepare healthy, ready to grab snacks, showing their child the importance of eating healthy and confirming they are worth the time it takes to do so. Here is a taste of the Bully Buster Menu so parents can start doing this now:
The Bully Buster Breakfast: Top a bowl of old fashion oatmeal with a smiley face: banana slices for eyes, raisins for nose, peach or apple slice for mouth, and sprinkle of cinnamon for freckles.
The Bully Buster Lunch Burrito: Whole grain flower tortilla, fat free re-fried black beans, low fat shredded cheese, lettuce, bell peppers, avocado, and salsa.
Bully Buster Burger Dinner: Whole wheat bun, ground turkey breast (with any spices and shredded low fat cheese worked into the patty), topped with lettuce, tomato, pickle, served with baked sweet potato fries.
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Don’t get bullied by fast food: A Bully Buster fast food and restaurant nutrition guide:
It might be challenging to persuade your youngster to order a salad instead of a cheeseburger, but you can steer them towards healthier options. Mckee suggests these tips when ordering out:
- Avoid sodas – Kids should drink water or milk instead.
- Avoid chicken nuggets – Unhealthy imposters of real chicken.
- Skip the fries – Ask for a fruit substitution
- Order the kid’s meal with some substitutions – Children often love the kid’s meal more for the “fun box and toys” than for the food. Most fast food places now offer healthier replacements for soda and the fries.
- Opt for spaghetti noodles with tomato sauce in a sit-down restaurant, rather than macaroni and cheese.
The 5 Top tips to promote healthy childhood eating are:
- Have regular home cooked family meals.
- Get kids involved in cooking.
- Observe healthy portion sizes, never forcing your child to eat.
- Avoid processed, packaged, restaurant, and fast food
- Make a variety of healthy snacks available.
The Bully Buster OC not only holds Free Workshops every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month at Zen Dojos (www.zendojos.com), but has recently launched a Bully Tutoring program, is developing a Parent’s Resource Guide, and is writing a Children’s Book on Bullying. For more information please visit www.BullyBusterOC.com.
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