How do you set kids up for a lifetime of good health and smart lifestyle choices?
Former long-term Far Northern GP Dr Alex Bernhardi believes children may already hold the answer within them – their own curiosity.
Parents and the medical profession just need to recognise and nurture it.
To that end, Dr Bernhardi has written and published her first book called Charlie the Keen Kid, aimed at establishing healthy habits that children will carry with them into adulthood.
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Dr Bernhardi, a former Tropic Now health columnist who now resides and practises on the Sunshine Coast, said Charlie the Keen Kid builds upon children’s own curiosity about healthy living matters to introduce them to practices that will enable them to live healthier, more fulfilling lives as they grow older.
“It’s not a secret, people are getting sicker and sicker as people in our society are getting older and collecting chronic conditions,” Alex said.
“Most of these conditions are lifestyle related and can be prevented.”
Alex, who adopts a more integrated approach to the treatment of her patients than most of her peers, said her experience as a GP had taught her that children aged 3-5 years had a natural interest in health matters that the medical profession often does make the most of.
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“I’ve found that children are always interested when I discuss health issues with them on their level and that was the idea behind writing my book – to be a useful resource for parents and children.”
Alex said Charlie the Keen Kid also provided parents with valuable knowledge to help them prevent their children joining the increased number of young people who are experiencing physical, behavioural, and emotional problems.
She said her integrated approach to the treatment of patients, inspired by her initial university studies in Germany and developed further with more recent study in Australia, sought to help them achieve balance in their lives.
“In integrated medicine we are aware that everything is connected, so we look at all areas for our patients – how they are sleeping, what they are eating, what they’re drinking.
“We emphasise that they need to be moving, having fun, being outdoors and connecting with other people, and the environmental aspect – we need to look after the environment and, if we do that, we are also looking after our own health.
“In the book, Charlie picks an apple to eat. By eating an unwrapped apple, rather than apple juice or apple chips, there is less waste, production and energy going into the food and it benefits Charlie as well as the environment.”
Alex began drafting the book, released last month, in 2021 but the project grew from a standalone book into a suite of resources for families including a campaign website, video game and song.
Already, Alex is exploring the possibilities of adapting the book to target its healthy lifestyle messages to children from diverse cultural and age groups, so expect to hear more from Charlie the keen kid!
To find out more about Charlie the Keen Kid or the Keen Kids campaign visit the website at Keen Kids.
