Your Back-To-School Wellness Checklist, by Meredith Deasley!

Come explore these back-to-school essentials for healthy kids, brought to you by ‘Resourceful Mother’ and featured guest author Meredith Deasley! 

September is #ChildrensHealth Month at Nature’s Emporium, and we were fortunate enough to catch up with ‘Resourceful Mother’ Meredith Deasley, author of ‘The Resourceful Mother’s Secrets to Healthy Kids” and the soon-to-be launched “The Resourceful Mother’s Secrets to Emotional Health”, as she shared her Back-To-School wellness checklist with us. We hope you enjoy this excellent exclusive, and put it to good use as September rolls along!

Do You Have a Back-to-School Wellness Checklist?

by Meredith Deasley BA, RHN, RNCP

Every September, families with school age children have a back-to-school supply list that needs to be completed but rarely do we hear of, never mind complete, a back-to-school wellness checklist.

When the fall returns, children’s brains need to be reactivated to retain facts and information once again; they need to go long hours sitting in a classroom, maintaining their concentration levels; they need to get up early more often and sustain energy for longer periods of time than they do in the summer months.  We also find that with the change in weather, many children start getting colds and infections (i.e. Flu) again.  What’s on your child’s wellness checklist?

Here are the top 4 items I recommend for your child’s wellness checklist, all of which can be purchased at Nature’s Emporium:

1. Fish Oil – This is the very best supplement for brain health.  Fish oil improves concentration, memory, co-ordination, behaviour, ability to learn and mood.  Nordic Naturals (www.nordicnaturals.com) make excellent sources of Omega 3 and DHA.
2. Probiotics – This supplement is necessary to replenish the body with the good bacteria that is depleted from eating processed, sugary foods, from vaccinations and drugs, from using wireless devices, from swimming in chlorinated pools, just to provide a few examples.  Probiotics help all nutrients be better digested and absorbed, improve intestinal health, ensure proper elimination and improve the immune system.  My favourite make of probiotics is Innovite Health (www.innovitehealth.com)
3. Vitamin D – When we are not spending time in the sun, our bodies NEED Vitamin D to prevent sickness of all kind.  Natural Factors makes some excellent quality drops.  Please click here to learn more about the benefits of Vitamin D.
4. Protein – Ensuring your child has a protein source the size of their palm, every 2-3 hours, maintains energy, focus and good moods.  The healthiest protein sources include: Nuts and seeds, organic chicken, turkey and fish, legumes (green peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans), spirulina, quinoa, and goat cheese products.  Consider packing more protein sources in your child’s lunch (leaving out the nuts, of course)!

And if your child was not healthy this summer, you may want to seek help from one of the many knowledgeable staff members at Nature’s Emporium.  Children do not need to suffer from constipation, diarrhea, eczema, asthma, troubles sleeping, multiple ear infections and/or frequent sickness.  Detecting their food sensitivities or vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be crucial to turning these symptoms or conditions around.

The choices we make concerning what we feed our child can affect every single area of their lives.  It can affect how they feel, how much energy, strength and brain power they have, how they look and whether they will age with vitality or not.  It is my fervent hope that by implementing some of these  ideas, your child will have their best school year yet!

About the Author:

Meredith Deasley, BA, RHN, RNCP, Registered Nutritionist and Kid’s Life Coach and owner of “The Resourceful Mother” has been connecting families to health and happiness since 2002.  She teaches Pediatric Nutrition at the Canadian School of Nutrition and meets with families on an individual basis.  She has authored “The Resourceful Mother’s Secrets to Healthy Kids” (2010) and “The Resourceful Mother’s Secrets to Emotional Health” (to be launched this month, September 2014). Her website is www.theresourcefulmother.com and her blog is www.theresourcefulmother.ca.Her work is read in over 120 countries and 2400 cities around the world. She is a mother with over fifteen years of experience raising children to promote their natural physical and emotional health.