By Michael Walton, Myvoicedc Contributor

Happy Holidays myvoicedc.com! As we all prepare for this exciting holiday season lets give our children the gift of a healthier home for 2009. My good friends at Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and I have some tools to share with you, that can help you prepare and build a fit environment for your family.

A key step in any great endeavor is that of self motivation and empowerment. When it comes to our youth there are few more rewarding things than watching them take initiative in determining the outcome of their futures. One of the best things that we can do as adults is to teach them the way and then provide them with the proper tools to stand on their own feet. With that being said I would like to introduce you to The Kids Movement “empowerME” campaign. This campaign is a for kids, by kids movement that inspires all children to make healthy behavior changes and to become leaders and advocates for healthy eating and physical activity. To date, more than 1 million youth across the country have engaged by making a commitment to eat better and become more physically active. In addition to working to engage 2 million kids (. .only 1 million to go!) by 2010, the campaign encourages kids to use their own voices to motivate each other, get educated and get activated. Please visit www.empowerme2b.org to have your child become a part of the movement!

In addition to empowering your children, here are five simple steps you can take to help create a healthier home.

• Limit screen time to 1-2 hours a day - Television, video games, internet. .. There seem to be countless opportunities for kids to be stationary zombies in front of a screen. Make a plan of what your children would like to watch and stick to it. Also, you just may want to make them aware that these changes will occur so that you’re not ‘the bad guy’. See the link for additional tips (http://www.healthiergeneration.org/parents.aspx?id=1890)

• Get 8 hours of sleep - Healthy bodies need time to recover!

• Eat fruits and vegetables with every meal - Ok, so sometimes we have to almost trick our kids into making this happen but believe it or not there are things you can try that make fruits and vegetables more appealing. Take Fruit Pops, and Vegetable Dippers for example. Also, try letting your children choose the fruits and vegetables that they like. See the link for additional tips (http://www.healthiergeneration.org/parents.aspx?id=1864)

• Be active 60 minutes a day - Generally, kids love to play so this one may require more effort on the part of the parent to make sure to carve out time for them to do so. Sports, kick ball games, I’ve even seen video games that offer a workout. But beware, busy does not equal active. To make sure you’re children are engaging in activities that increase their heart rate see the following link (http://www.healthiergeneration.org/parents.aspx?id=1880)

• Drink water, low-fat milk or 100% juice instead of soda (not even diet soda) - Trust me, these alternatives go a long way in making a healthier home.

As a part of this series we’ll also be bringing you experiences directly from the youth. First we have commentary from 10 year old Dawson Mackay. He is a Youth Advisory Board member for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. These are his comments as it relates to fitness in the home:
“Some of the things I do at home to stay healthy are eating healthy foods, such as 4-5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day, and limiting my screen time to 1 hour a day. I have fruit and breakfast and always have a fruit in my lunch. We eat lots of vegetables at dinner. Tonight we’re having soup! My parents help me keep track of how much TV I watch so if I watch a 2 hour movie I know I can’t watch TV or play video games the next day. I play outside for at least 2 ½ hours a day. On weekends, my family and I try to be outside most of the time doing things like biking and hiking.”

Thank you to Dawson for his commentary and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation for providing the outstanding tips. Next post we will discuss how to eat healthy when going out to eat. Stay tuned and stay focused, I have my eye on you! . Happy Holidays!!