Daddy Saturday by Justin Batt

Author:Justin Batt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2019-03-29T17:15:33+00:00

Model Behavior

I discovered I had food allergies later in life, and it’s caused me to have a restrictive diet. I avoid gluten, dairy, soy, and a variety of other foods that basically represent all of the fun food groups. Breakfast is typically the most difficult meal for me, so I often make smoothies. Mason is my most observant child and he watches my every move. I noticed him checking out my smoothies in the morning and he began asking me questions about why I never have pancakes and what I like to put in my smoothies. Eventually, he asked if he could have a smoothie of his own and I hooked him up with an almond milk, frozen blueberry, banana, and frozen spinach smoothie! Not a bad breakfast for a six-year-old, and it’s become an incredible way to hide all sorts of green things in his diet. Guess what happened next? The rest of my kids also started asking for smoothies in the morning. They don’t have smoothies every day, and they certainly get their share of chocolate chip pancakes and donuts from the grandparents, but overall I was able to shape my kids’ diets by allowing them to catch the positive behavior from my diet.

It’s imperative as fathers we begin allowing our children to catch us in the act of a healthy diet. The largest social experiment in the history of the human world is currently taking place. Outside of fatherlessness, childhood diabetes and the digital dilemma are the two biggest issues we must solve to save the next generation. In the U.S., the percentage of children and adolescents affected by obesity has more than tripled since the 1970s. Data from 2015–2016 show that nearly one in five school-age children and young adults (6–19 years old) in the U.S. has obesity.3 Let me be blunt: this is unacceptable! If you look at the rate of childhood obesity and the overall health of our children, it starts with the example we’re setting for them in our microwavable, fast-food, couch-potato society. As fathers we must model the behaviors we desire in our children if we are going to change the next generation and solve the diabetes dilemma.

Imagine the following two scenarios and tell me which one has the better chance of establishing a healthy child who grows into a healthy adult.

Scenario 1: After a long day of work, a dad comes home, sits down to a dinner of processed food, and then proceeds to watch television for a couple of hours while cracking open a few beers.

Scenario 2: After exercising early in the morning and a long day of work, a dad comes home, sits down to a healthy dinner of organic foods, reads books with his children and independently for a few hours while drinking water.

Your kids will catch the behaviors you most often engage in, and diet and exercise are two of the most important behaviors they will model after you.

You may think I’m being a bit dogmatic on

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