Health: Portion Control - Help for Homeschoolers
By Mimi Rothschild
In an attempt to make us feel that we are getting more for our money, restaurant portions have become enormous in many eateries. In the finer gourmet restaurants however, it may seem that we need to order one of everything on the menu to get enough to eat because the portions are so small. It is no wonder that homeschooling parents and their homeschoolers are confused about how much they are supposed to eat and what the correct portions are.
Homeschoolers are all familiar with the food pyramid. Homeschoolers also need to know that they are to eat the most servings of breads and grains, between 6-11 servings each day, because breads and grains serve as the base of the pyramid. Further, your homeschooler needs to know that everyone needs to eat an equal number of servings of fruits and vegetables, about 3-5 per day, because those are the next two blocks of the pyramid. Homeschooling parents also need to inform their children that they should eat smaller servings of dairy and meats, about 2-4 per day, since those are the next blocks of the pyramid. It is also obvious when looking at the food pyramid that children are to have a minimal amount of fats since fats are the very top of the pyramid forming the point and the smallest section.
Even though homeschooling parents have all of that information regarding servings, no one is clear on what a portion or serving looks like exactly. Therefore, homeschooling parents just tend to go on the assumption that their children should eat until they are full. Children could all lead a healthier lifestyle if they were aware that a portion of meat is a piece about the size of a woman's palm or a regular hamburger. One good scoop of fruit, vegetables, pasta or rice is all that is recommended to eat. One small slice of cut cheese is a small portion indeed, but all that homeschoolers should eat at a time. One dairy serving is only 8 ounces. Most drinking glasses available now are about 12-16 ounces which is double the recommended serving size.
One way to begin reducing the size of the portions that your homeschooler consumes is as follows. If you think that your homeschooler has been eating portions that are too large in comparison with the suggestions above, you can cut your homeschooler's portions in half. In addition to cutting your homeschooler's portions in half, try having your child eat more slowly. If your child eats quickly, your body and stomach tend not to coincide and your child's body doesn't realize that it is full so your child eats more. On the other hand, if your child eats slowly, your child's stomach and body are more in sync and your homeschooler tends to know when they are full.
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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.
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