MyFitnessPal is an excellent app for helping your child utilize the Self-Awareness and Planning thinking skills. Try some of our suggested activities, or leave us your own ideas in the comment field at the bottom of the page. 

Self-Awareness Activity

Try and create a balanced schedule for your child. Not only should it include 3 healthy meals per day with exercise, but set aside time where your child can read, solve puzzles, and have family time. Fostering the mind and body is important for general well-being and happiness. A well-rounded individual tends to have healthy mind and body. Talk to your child about ways in which he can use MyFitnessPal to become an all-around healthier person. After every meal, get your child in the habit of checking (or asking) for the nutrition facts from the meal. After he enters them into his "daily diary" he can closely follow -- and later analyze -- his eating habits. The same should be done with exercise. After each week, ask your child about how he feels. Is he more comfortable in his own skin? Is he sleeping better? More lively during the day? These are important follow up discussions.

Planning Activity

With input from both a doctor and your child, determine reachable and healthy body weight for your child to strive for. Look for trends in the food that he eats. Enter foods that he often has access to into the app so he does not have to manually enter them in each time he updates his MyFitnessPal account. At the beginning of each week discuss the caloric and weight goal for the week's end. Will your child be looking to lose a half pound? Gain one? Or maintain his body weight? The type of exercises he does as well as the frequency in which he eats are determined by the end goal. If your child is trying to gain weight, he should eat five smaller meals per day most of which should include some kind of protein. This strategy will speed his metabolic rate which will ultimately result in more productive workouts.