Lessons we can learn from the Japanese for healthier kids

The verdict is out – Japanese children are expected to live the longest in the world as an able-bodied healthy individual, according to a study published this year. Singapore's children fare pretty well as well, coming in second.

But because we are over-achieving Singaporeans, this is a list we are determined to top. Experts Naomi Moriyama and William Doyle who have studied this extensively, think that it is a combination of lifestyle factors. We break it down for you here; here are 5 fuss-free adjustments you can make to get your child to live longer and healthier.

Serve moderate portions

While a typical Japanese meal consists of several dishes, each of these dishes is moderate in quantity.

Small plates make smaller portions and if you feel compelled to fill up your child’s plate, then maybe it’s time to consider changing to smaller-sized bowls and plates. Most children are taught to finish their food, whether or not they are still hungry, so many eat more than they really want to or need to if you serve large portions.

Smaller portions also mean a larger variety of food, making the meal more satisfying as a whole

Include more nutrient-dense food

Rice, contrary to many popular dietary fads can be healthy because it is more filling than other carbs like pasta or bread which causes you to feel less hungry faster. When eaten together with other superfoods, it balances them out and there is no blood sugar spike.

Shunning heavy food types like dairy, meats and processed quick-fixes, the Japanese instead rely heavily on savoury vegetables such as miso, tofu, herbs, mustard greens and seaweed delicately flavoured with bits of meats for their nutrition. Such foods are wonderfully nutrient rich and also water rich which satiates little tummies more quickly.

Educate your child about his food

Japanese kids have a healthy respect for their food. That is to say, children are taught from a young age where their food comes from, how it is produced and what goes into its preparation. Table manners and farm visits are part of the curriculum. Food becomes an enjoyable social activity with deeper cultural implications.

This displaces the concept of food as a hedonistic indulgence that one has to painfully abstain from in order to reach a certain body ideal. Our love-hate relationship with food as opposed to the Japanese’s holistic understanding of food as it functions in society is a key reason for obesity and unhealthy eating habits.

Inculcate a healthy attitude towards food by consciously explaining to your child how it gets to the table, or perhaps bring him on a visit to one of our agro-farms at Kranji.

Keep the snacks out of the house

Healthy doesn’t necessarily mean you completely eliminate sweet desserts or snacks from your child’s diet. What it does mean is you refrain from stocking up on these snacks so that your kid can’t have easy access to it. This way, you don’t have to deal with your kid’s pleas and tantrums to get his hands on his sugary snack just because he doesn’t get reminded that it’s there.

Japanese children eat snacks only when they are outside, which means they only consume these sugary foods sporadically.

In other words, if you change your purchasing habits, your child will change his eating habits, to his benefit.

Incorporate moderate physical activity into their daily routine

Most Japanese children walk or cycle to school. This means they get about an hour or so of exercise daily.

WHO Guidelines are clear that this one hour of physical activity (which need not be too taxing or strenuous) is instrumental in developing a healthy body as your child’s body develops and matures.

If your child lives near school, walk to school with him, instead of picking him up in a car. If walking to and from school is not possible because of time constraints or logistical issues, work that one hour of physical exercise into his schedule by taking a stroll in the nearby park after dinner.

Written by

Leigh Fan

HealthkidsExerciseNutritiondiethealthylife expectancy