Ten weeks ago we enrolled Ethan in a government-sponsored program called Go4Fun. The objective is to help above-average-weight kids learn healthy eating habits and enjoy a more active lifestyle.Before we started, Ethan only liked eating certain foods - nuggets, fried chicken, hotdos, fries, chips - all unhealthy. And he didn't like to move a lot and instead spent most of his time on either the computer or his iPad. We though the program was ideal for him and he bought in to the idea.
The sessions were held every Thurday 4:30pm to 6:30pm at the Ultimate Family Entertainment centre at Northmead. It's large trampoline and obstacle park. The first hour is spent on classroom discussions about healthy eating, identifying good vs bad food, reading labels, etc. Then the 2nd hour is trampoline play for the kids while the parents stay to discuss parenting things like how to encourage children to eat healthy, what are the triggers for bad eating, how to handle urges, etc etc.
The program was well organised. They had given use books and guide, bags and water bottles for the kids, and reward items every week to encourage the kids. Items like toys to keep them active, fruit/vegetable slicers, and other things.
So for the past 10 weeks we have been going to that program. The kids are actually excited about it and enjoying it a lot. Ethan looked forward to each session and because we always bring Erin and Christian (Ethan's schoolmate who we look after some times), the two kids also look forward to their thursday afternoon play time.
And today marks the end of that 10-week journey and we are very happy with the results. Ethan now eats most food that given him - including fruits, vegetables, and fish. There's less of the arguing and forcing him to eat. He still tries to choose but there's less resistance now when we give him healthy (ie, no yummy) food. He's also learn to minimize screen time and allots time to do physical activities like ball catching, dancing, soccer, and running.
One thing that we didn't accomplish much though was the weight loss. He only lost 300grams over the 10 weeks, but I guess that's something we will achieve long term.
For parents interested, you can enroll your kids at https://go4fun.com.au/. It's free!
