Wellness
Two children out at recess, one is eating a banana wanting to go play on the jungle gym, the other eating a bag of chips and candy bar whining cause he has to go get hot and sweaty, which one portrays the idea of wellness? I am going to tell our textbook definition and also my definition of wellness and give examples how to achieve it. Wellness is achieved through wise choices in areas of our lives, from our health to our nutrition and other areas.
Our textbook Nutrition, Health, and Safety for Young Children, definition for wellness is a positive state of health and well-being (Sorte, Daeschel, Amador, 2011). I go a little farther in stating, my definition for wellness is making the right choices were health, nutrition, and safety are concerned. My opening statement about the children on the playground is a little extreme, but that is the way it happens a lot of time.
In the book, How Children Learn to Be Healthy (Tinsley, 2003)it talks about how most children believe illnesses come from germs and that being around sick people you can catch whatever illness they have. We teach children about germs when they are little and how sucking their thumb can cause them to get sick, because they are putting all those germs in their mouth. We talk about how they don’t need to be around others with sicknesses. In doing this, we give kids a false sense of what wellness is all about. We give them a fear of people who are sick and although some sicknesses are “catchable” most are not.
When children are small, even before they start pre-kindergarten, we need to start as their parents and caregivers giving them the right information needed for them to make the right choices. If it is snack time, we can give them applesauce or maybe small pieces of fruit. As they grow and make choices for themselves, they will be more likely to make those choices. Children learn from example; we adults need to set the best examples we can and teach them that right choices will...