Encouraging our teens to eat right and keep active is not just a way to reduce childhood obesity, it is also teaching them good habits about caring for them selves that can last a lifetime.

Teens go off to middle and high school, make friends and everyone eats in the cafeteria. Sometimes they will buy a few candy bars, a soda and call that a meal. It is also an increasingly popular trend to find a way out of gym class and onto the bleachers with friends. This happens more for girls than boys, but some boys do it too. Another area of concern is unhealthy and bad habits that can lead a person down a path of poor health and maybe death. Smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and doing drugs (keep a close eye on prescriptions in your home) has been a time-honored "right of passage" during the teenage years, but we are now much more aware of the long term consequences.

Enough about how we can lose them, lets focus on how we can keep them before any of this happens. Leading by example is always the right way to lead. Make your home a healthy food home and educate them on what you are feeding them and why. Let them know what is good for them and why it is good for them. Also, get them involved in sports or other activities like dance. Keep them active by being active with them. Take family walks together, go to the park each week and toss a ball around or play Frisbee. These will not only be good memories, these actions will form habits and allow them to know that taking care of them selves is important.