Healthy Portions - Part 1

All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied. Ecc 6:7
 
I think marketing geniuses from fast food restaurants “bit” into this particular verse. They seem to understand that, for the average American, bigger is better, and Super Size means more bang for our buck. However, do our children really benefit from the 1040 calories contained in the Carl’s Jr Guacamole Bacon Burger? 
 
Due to the increase in childhood obesity, even the NFL has launched a new game – Play 60 – seeking to get kids out of the GAmeBoy chair and into the game outside. According to pediatric health experts, our kids are suffering from a not-so-healthy “recipe” of increased junk food, bad snacks, oversized portions and sedentary living. Let’s consider some of these factors as we seek to “order up” a proper diet. 
 
Snacking: Boys (ages 14-18) can need up to 3,100 calories a day. That number would become my actual weight if I consumed those calories for very long. Of course, this calorie figure also assumes that your 14-18 year old son burns off much of what he ingests through physical activity during the day. To get all those calories, some nutritionists recommend three reasonably sized meals supplemented by two or three healthy snacks. Snacking can actually reduce the expectation that meal portions have to account for all the calories needed to keep a “starving” kid alive.
Check out this article to discover Ten Tips for Healthier Snacking from the Mayo Clinic:
 
Portions: Who decided how much food to put on a restaurant plate? When we moved back to the U.S.A., we were stunned by the size of the average entrée, which is sufficient to feed some entire tribal villages. Though dietary balance is critical, the amount of food on a plate also greatly determines the health benefit or detriment. Baylor College of Medicine confirmed in a study that kids (and adults!) who are given larger portions eat more food and struggle more with weight related issues. Sometimes parents find it difficult to discern how much food accurately reflects a reasonable “portion.” For a guide to portions, reference this helpful article online: http://recipes.kaboose.com/portions.html
 
Appetites: Biblically speaking, our appetites extend far beyond our bellies. From the early years, we see a “hunger” in our kids for attention, affection, and approval. We watch them groan for the latest toy, and “devour” what is under the Christmas tree. Appetites in life for the “junk food” of this world are to be curbed. Through exercising self-control we learn to regulate our appetites through moderation and healthy limits. Learning to say “No” to a marketing campaign on TV can have a positive effect on being able to say “No” at the dinner table. That extra plate of food might look good at the moment, but waiting a few minutes might give your stomach sufficient time to send the “I’m full” signal up to the brain. The same might hold true for that new cell phone as well. By teaching our children to curb their relational or material “hunger”, we help them learn to regulate appetites of the nutritional kind as well. 
 
For a fun family discussion, talk about what it means to “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt 5:6).   Here are a few questions to put on the table:
1.      What are the “meals” that give nutrition to our spiritual lives?
2.      How can we “snack” in a spiritual way that keeps us going during the day?
3.      Why is it important to exercise self-control as we deal with our appetites for things in this world?