Welcome FlowerChild

How many city children have not seen a real cow or a real pig in their lives? How many kids do not know where milk comes from? Apparently there are many. So many, that the European Commission invested in a website called FARMLAND with games to learn children what life is like on a farm. What do the animals need to live a healthy and happy life? Why do we need to treat animals with respect? And what is the origin of our food? I love initiatives like this. Having respect for our nature, will give us healthier food in return.

Everybody knows how important it is to eat healthy and workout your body. Everybody knows this is crucial for a healthy and therefore happier life. It is a mystery to me why so many people do not live up to this advice.

I am reading figures on diabetes and I am shocked. In the US there are 15.8 million people with diabetes. European figures are not much better; 31 million (8,6 %) people with diabetes. Among these patients there are more and more children and teens. The biggest growth is not in the Type 1 diabetes, which is due to genetic problems. There are more and more kids with Type 2 diabetes, caused by bad eating habits and lack of body training. Why do parents get children, raise children, but are unable to control or teach their kids to be healthy. These facts are an extra stimulation to push the Junior Sportsmarketing division within our company, that stimulates children to workout more in motivating and creative ways. 

Since we live in the south of France (coming from Amsterdam) the quality of the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables has increased considerably. You taste the sun in practically everything you eat. Food in France is very important and at an early age children learn to eat healthy meals. In the schools there are professional cooks and sometimes if you are lucky the cook will learn the children what the fruits of the season are and why it is important to eat them. The fruits of the season and preferably also from the region are healthiest and, because they do not travel far and long, very fresh too. So in Autumn we eat lots of apples, plums and chestnuts.

If children are unwilling to eat fruit (I have experience) you can try out the tips from this Australian website.

Yesterday I used the Wii balance board again after quite some weeks of being in-active. During the summer the whole family used the board intensively and everybody, young and old, enjoyed competing with family members to be the best at hoolahoop or skiing. Today, when I read once more figures on obesity among children (1 in 7 children is obese!!), I had a vision of availability of sports facilities for all children. Obesity has a profound effect on a child’s life. It not only increases the child’s risk of numerous health problems, and it also can create emotional and social problems. Dieting has a negative effect on kids, but changing their exercising habits works best. In our world where more and more services are free of charge thanks to advertising, it should be possible to give away more Wii’s and change a lot of kids’ lives.