Kids need to be constantly reminded about eating the right foods to maintain good health as they’re growing up. Parents have to be on top of their children’s diet to ensure their proper development and avoid problems later on. Health problems linked to how children eat include obesity, asthma, diabetes, hypertension and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
A great way of teaching kids the value of eating natural and healthy foods is by making it fun for them. Fortunately, parents of today can use the apps as their partners in this endeavor as an after school care activity.
Fooducate
This is a mobile app that can be downloaded for free from iTunes. It allows the user to scan foods with a bar code to get details (ingredients), both positive and negative, on how healthy it is. It makes for a fun point and shoot video game that, for sure, your kids will enjoy.
Fizzy’s Lunch Lab Hectic Harvest
For this app, users need to stock the Lunch Lab with the freshest vegetables. They can do this by planting, watering and harvesting crops.
Ideal for kids three years old and above, this app can be used with Android phones, Nook Tablet, Kindle Tablet and iOS devices.
Food N’ Me
This application won the top prize in the Apps for Healthy Kids campaign launched by First Lady Michelle Obama. The app is a game that lets kids choose up to 40 unhealthy foods they eat most often. They then have to guess the amount of sugar, salt and oil in those foods.
The fun part of this game is the part where the users have to put those unhealthy foods into a smashing machine and watch how the food gets pulverized. At the end, the amounts of sugar, salt and oil left in the smashed up food will show. Players who guessed the right amounts get points and advance to the next level. A total of five levels are involved in this app-game.
Nicolas’ Garden
This app was developed by an 8-year-old boy named Nicolas Come who wanted to help other kids eat healthy. It offer kids healthy alternatives by allowing them to look up their favorite foos and get access to healthy recipes.
JiveHealth
This app was one of the 10 semi finalists in the End Childhood Obesity Innovation Challenge. It’s also a game that encourages players to search for health food as a way to move up to the next level. Basically, it teaches kids the importance of making smart food choices while playing the game.
About the guest author:
Michael Liam is a professional blogger that provides information on after school care. She writes for The Learning Experience, a leading after school program with locations nationwide.
Originally posted on June 27, 2013 @ 6:09 am