Healthy Eating Starts Young: The Children Book I Recommend to Educate Kids on Digestive System and Nutrition

The United States has the largest fitness market in the world, with gym and health club memberships and revenues leading globally. Currently, more than 64.2 million Americans are members of health clubs, with over 6 billion visits to gyms, health clubs, and studios each year. The market value of the U.S. fitness industry is projected to reach $9.66 billion in 2024, with an annual growth rate of approximately 8.7% (Wexer).

Ironically, the U.S. also ranks among the highest globally for overweight and obesity issues. According to recent data, the obesity rate among U.S. adults continues to rise. In 2022, 22 states reported adult obesity rates at or above 35% (CDC).

Obesity rates differ significantly among various races and ethnicities. Non-Hispanic Black adults have the highest obesity rate at 49.9%, followed by Hispanic adults at 45.6%, non-Hispanic White adults at 41.4%, and non-Hispanic Asian adults with the lowest rate at 16.1% (CDC).

Obesity significantly impacts individual health and imposes a heavy economic burden on the entire healthcare system. In 2019, the medical costs for obese adults were approximately $1,861 higher per person compared to adults with a healthy weight, with severe obesity adding an extra $3,097. Consequently, obesity-related medical expenses totaled around $173 billion in 2019 (CDC).

About 80% of obesity is caused by incorrect dietary habits and perceptions, with exercise contributing only about 20%. However, we devote 95% of our efforts to exercise, while learning and cultivating healthy eating habits receive less than 5%. From childhood to adulthood, we have never learned any knowledge about healthy eating in school, as if it is not an important subject. I only started researching healthy eating at the age of 22 after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. After all, if everyone learned healthy eating, who would pay for expensive medicines and doctors' salaries?

Thus, educating children about healthy eating should be a compulsory part of family education. Since we parents did not receive much education on healthy eating, we explore and learn about healthy eating together, teaching and growing simultaneously. For both parents and children, this process is a shared learning and exploration experience. Reading picture books about healthy eating with children is a journey of learning about healthy eating together.

In my previous article "Why Shared Book Reading is the Best Investment in Your Child's Future, and How to Read with Your Child in Joy and Growth," I mentioned three important points for choosing picture books. Firstly, the parents should have an enjoyable and enlightening experience from reading the picture book. Secondly, the picture book should connect with the child's recent life experiences to spark curiosity and understanding. Thirdly, the illustrations should be excellent, and the storyline should be rich.

"The Train Station Inside Everyone's Belly" is a picture book worth reading with your children about healthy eating. This book vividly describes how our digestive system transforms the food we eat into waste and shows how different foods affect our digestive organs, giving children the right dietary concepts, such as chewing thoroughly, eating less ice cream, and how to care for themselves if they have a stomachache.

This picture book easily connects with children's lives. For example, before reading the picture book, I took my child to the Taipei Science Museum, where we visited the structure of human organs and experienced a "digestive journey." We stood in front of a giant child model with a wide-open mouth, inviting us into his body. As soon as we entered, we felt like we were in a giant mouth, surrounded by realistic teeth and a tongue, complete with sound effects that made us feel the chewing and swallowing sounds. Through the esophagus, we reached the stomach area, where the soft walls and simulated gastric fluids provided an immersive experience. The information panels introduced the stomach's function and how it breaks down food. Moving forward, we entered the winding small intestine, lined with villi-like structures, simulating the absorption of nutrients. Detailed displays explained the length and function of the small intestine and how it transports nutrients to the body. Finally, we arrived at the large intestine, which showed the process of absorbing water and electrolytes and forming and expelling waste. This experience provided a vivid understanding of the internal structure of the human body, making learning interactive and fun.

The picture book perfectly revisits the digestive process we experienced at the museum. Thus, the child was full of curiosity about the picture book. We spent 30 minutes reading the book and another 30 minutes retelling the story. For a 5.5-year-old child to concentrate on a picture book for an hour is remarkable, indicating that this is an interesting and enlightening book for both children and parents.

Most importantly, after spending an hour on the picture book with my child, I felt energized rather than drained, as I also learned about how the small intestine absorbs nutrients from our food and transports them throughout the body. Moreover, explaining these healthy eating concepts to my child gave me a great sense of satisfaction and security, significantly reducing my parenting anxiety. Ensuring my child develops healthy eating habits during childhood lays a solid foundation for their health. This shows that this picture book is one of those magical books that can give adults mental energy.

Let's appreciate this wonderful picture book together:

There is a little girl named Julia. She just came out of kindergarten and was walking home. Suddenly, Julia heard a rumbling sound.

The sound came from her belly!

Julia didn't know there was a train station in her belly! The belly elves live there, and their job is to turn food into mush. The elves were lazing around because they had nothing to do. The train was also stopped there, and the entire belly train station was quiet.

Suddenly, the strange sound came again. It turned out that one of the elves was asleep and occasionally snored loudly in his dream, which was the rumbling sound Julia heard.

Julia finally got home, and a delicious lunch was on the table. She started gobbling up her food.

Soon, a big lump of noodles fell down the esophagus into the belly train station.

The elves woke up immediately and crawled out of their holes, ready to work. They were diligent little fellows.

But this time, they were shocked! The long, thick noodles entangled them; whole lettuce leaves floated down, wrapping them like bed sheets; heavy meat chunks rolled around like stones. The train station was in chaos, and the elves were angrily shouting.

"This Julia didn't chew properly at all!" "She always relies on us!" "These food pieces are too big; what should we do?"

Although angry, the elves started working. What else could they do?

The train had to depart on time, but breaking down such a large pile of food would take a lot of time and effort, so the work progressed slowly.

The food piled up like a mountain.

Then, an accident happened! A large piece fell right on an elf's head, knocking him unconscious.

He became a tour guide in his hallucination, leading tourists through the belly train station. The elf told the tourists, "If all the food were chewed properly, they would fall as small pieces of noodles, small pieces of lettuce, small chunks of apple, and small pieces of meat. They wouldn't hurt him even if they fell on an elf's head."

"We would quickly load the food into the train carriages and add a lot of liquid, which is essential for digestion. Finally, we would mix the liquid and food together into mush. This process is exciting for us!"

"Once everything is ready, the train can depart! The elf driver would jump onto the train, excitedly waiting for the gatekeeper to open the gate. This gate is the entrance to the small intestine."

"The small intestine is a long, narrow, and very dark tunnel with many curves. The walls of the tunnel have many tubes that reach into the carriages, absorbing nutrients from the mush and transporting them into the blood. Then, the train carries the remaining waste through the large intestine tunnel to the final station. The driver would dump the waste through a small door, and most of it would fall into a white container. People call this container a 'toilet'!"

"Hey, what's wrong?" A voice woke up the unconscious elf. Several companions were looking at him worriedly. The food storm had stopped, and a huge food mountain stood next to the tracks.

The station was empty, with only the last train remaining, as all other trains had left fully loaded.

Without so many trains, how could they transport this food mountain?

While the elves were worrying, a cold wind suddenly blew. Then, a pile of snow-like stuff sprayed out of the esophagus; it was vanilla ice cream and chocolate milkshake!

"This is too much! We've had enough!" The elves protested loudly in the freezing cold.

The temperature in the train station dropped lower and lower, and the last train froze on the track.

The elves started a protest. They shouted slogans, banged on the walls, and stamped their feet angrily.

Julia was in trouble; her stomach began to ache.

Julia got sick because she ate too much, too fast!

Finally, just as the elves were about to freeze, the ice began to melt. A warm rain fell from the sky.

Julia was lying in bed, drinking hot water with a hot water bottle on her stomach.

After a long time, the trains returned to the belly train station, which was now empty. The elves loaded the remaining food into the carriages, and the mountain slowly disappeared.

Now, the elves could rest, play, and sleep soundly again.

Julia felt much better, her stomach no longer hurt, and she happily did somersaults. The elves in the belly train station felt like they were on a roller coaster...

Drinks are too sweet, drink less, eroding the station is too scary!

Too many chips, elves feel sick!

Whole grain foods are nutritious; eat more for a healthy body!

Elves love broccoli, hope you love it too!

Cocoa butter is sticky, they can't escape it!

Gummy candy is hard to chew; the elves find it annoying!

Jumping on peas, the elves love it!

Even small candy pieces are hard to handle!