Healthy Food Tips for Kids

Sometimes it may be tough as a parent to make sure your children are eating correctly. Here are a few ways to reduce fat intake and promote healthy eating:

• Low-fat or nonfat dairy products

• Poultry without skin

• Lean cuts of meats

• Whole grain breads and cereals

• Healthy snacks such as fruit and veggies

Also keep in mind that healthy eating habits can be put in place too! Here are a few tips to develop healthy eating habits:

• Make a wide variety of healthful foods available in the house

• Encourage your children to eat slowly

• Eat meals together as a family as often as possible

• Involve your children in food shopping and preparing meals to obtain hints about their food preferences

• Plan specific times during the day for snacks

• Encourage your children to drink more water

• Make sure your children’s meals outside the home are balanced (school lunch, restaurants, etc.)

• Pay attention to portion size and ingredients – Read those food labels!

It will be a challenging task to implement every tip at once -- Pick a few to start with and go from there!

Information sourced from WebMD

Franchise Spotlight

Overtime Athletics Franchise Spotlight is featuring our Atlanta, Georgia owner, Matt Pulliam. In just a few months Matt has taken the ATL by storm. Partnering with over 7 facilities to bring the area over 40 Summer Camps. Along with Summer camps he is excited to bring a 4th of July basketball tournament, kickball league, dodgeball tournaments, and a unique twist to babysitting.

Matt Pulliam is an Atlanta native. He started school at the University of Alabama, and then transferred to Kennesaw State where he got a degree is Sports Management. Matt, although didn't start the Overtime Athletics Atlanta branch, he worked with OTA as a coach throughout college and developed a passion for what the company stood for. After working a couple of jobs after finishing College, and even trying to start his own after-school program all roads pointed back to OTA. "My decision of buying a franchise was a no-brainer. The day I found out that Overtime Athletics was franchising it took me two seconds to say YES!"

Matt has been playing sports all his life and started coaching youth sports as early as High school. "Knowing I can work with sports and kids at the same time as well as having the ability to own my own business was a dream come true"

Benefits of Kids Participating in Summer Camps

***PARENTS***

It is that time of the year again: making plans for the summer months that are just around the corner. Family vacations take up one, maybe two, weeks of the long break from school, but what happens for the other two months? Summer camps.

Summer camps have been a staple in American childhood development for decades, and statistics show that kids can develop emotionally, intellectually, socially, and physically from participation. Enrolling children in pre-planned activities get kids away from the television and off the couch. Camps stimulate their minds and provides structure to an otherwise uneventful time of year.

Former U.S. Secretary Colin Powell once said that camp “gets them away from a neighborhood or situation that may exist in their neighborhoods that isn't healthy…It teaches them how to get along with other people – both other young people as well as adults. To give our children a safe place to learn and grow – camp does that." Camp satisfies needs of self-expression, physical activity, and a feeling of belonging, whereas many schools fail to foster the combination of these three characteristics.

When looking at different camps, consider a multitude of factors. What are my child’s likes and interests? Do not send a child to a camp where he/she is likely to lose interest in the activities provided. Consider camp size and organization. Does your child play well with others? Many parents are nervous to put their children in a camp with a large number of campers. However, also consider that he/she may be more likely to find/make friends in a camp of 60 kids than a camp with 15 to 20.

Finally, camp provides children the chance to be independent and on their own in a new, unfamiliar place while under tight adult supervision. Staff members and camp counselors keep students engaged but also allow them to make choices on their own regarding activities in which they wish to participate. So, do some research, find out what camps are offered in your area, and enroll your child in a quality program that builds character and self-reliance and develops creativity and independence. You’ll leave them with a lifetime of memories…and keep them away from the television for days at a time.