Health: Fuel Efficient Fitness
By Mimi Rothschild
Fitness and nutrition go hand in hand. Any home school fitness program, whether in connection with extracurricular sports activities or general health education, should address the subject of fuel efficiency. This involves eating and planning one's diet in a way that best encourages and maintains a peak level of physical performance. Physical performance need not be restricted to sporting events outside the home school. In many cases the best fuel efficiency plan for an athlete or a non-athletic person is, simply put, a balanced diet.
Eating and snacking choices at home and during home school can be made to encourage application of lessons learned during formal coursework. Hydration and low-fat carbohydrate consumption in amounts large enough to replenish what is used during activity is a goal easily incorporated into home school courses, and outside of home school activities. The essential thing for a home school student to remember is that, in general, the more intensive and extensive the physical activity, the more hydration and carbohydrate consumption is needed. In other words, both the very active athletic student and the less active athletic student should aim for a balance of healthy foods, though the former will need to consume more than the latter.
What is important to stress for a home school lesson on fuel efficiency is that at least 60 percent of an athlete's diet should consist of carbohydrates. While carbohydrate-rich diets are being contested in some circles right now, the fact is that for an athletic student, carbohydrates cannot be beat as a source of energy; especially carbs from fruit, vegetables, breads and grains. An athletic home school student may also find more detailed information relevant, and it may not be a bad idea to spend some home school time talking about issues related to exercise. You may also want to clarify time and speed of caloric consumption, also known as metabolism.
In addition to carbohydrates, a home school focus on fuel efficiency must address hydration. Water should be ingested before, during, and after any physical activity. In addition, maintaining activity over time requires at least a half-gallon of water every day. In addition to presenting salient hydration facts for a particular student, home school can encourage the healthy habit of drinking plenty of water by always having a glass within arm's reach. Of course, fruit juices and sports drinks, in moderation, can serve both as hydration and nutrition sources.
Fuel efficiency, physical activity, and balanced eating can be complicated subjects. If you are considering making fitness and nutrition a subject of study for your home school student, look for course material that addresses these need-to-knows on a level that is appropriate for your student's age and grade level.
________________________________________________________________
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, children's rights activist, author, and Founder and C.E.O. of online education company Learning by Grace, Inc. Rothschild and her husband of twenty-eight years reside in suburban Philadelphia with their eight children.
Feeling that “our current system of education has broken its promise,” Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. to provide families with Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children all over the world.
In addition to her twenty years of experience as a homeschool mother, Rothschild has written a number of books dealing with education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Home Education Websites Blog consists of helpful online content and activities for Christian homeschooling families.
Electronic reproduction of this article is permitted if content is published unchanged, appropriate credit is given, and the article title links to corresponding article webpage.
