September 24, 2008
Go Take a Hike
Celebrate this week! As part of “Take a Child Outside” week from Sept. 24-30, encourage your family to turn off the TV and go outside and play! Take a walk, a hike, a bike ride, walk the dog, play catch, frisbee, jump rope, hopscotch, shoot hoops, rollerblade...do something outside!
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June 22, 2008
Junk Food is Not the Norm
If you're a parent struggling to control your child's penchant for junk food, the following strategies may help.
Keep it small: Be it ice cream, candy, cookies, French fries or a sugary drink, avoid supersized portions.
Stock healthy snacks: To curb your child's appetite for junk food, keep healthy snacks in the house such as cut up fruit and vegetables, hummus, yogurt tubes, whole grain crackers, cheese strings, whole grain muffins and sorbet. Just as kids learn to love the taste of junk food, they can learn to love the taste of healthier foods, too.
Plan alternative activities: If your child reaches for junk food to pass time between meals, have him or her make up a list of activities to do other than eating.
Talk about nutrition: Give children consistent, clear messages about healthy eating to build their nutrition awareness. I'm not suggesting a lecture at every meal, but there's no harm in telling your kids, from time to time, why vegetables and whole grains are good for them.
Explain that it's okay to eat junk food occasionally, but not all the time. It's important for children to know that junk food – despite how prevalent it is – is not considered the norm.
Avoid food rewards: Studies indicate it's unwise to use junk food – or dessert – as a reward for good behaviour because those foods become more desirable.
Get kids cooking: If kids become involved in choosing, planning and preparing meals and snacks, they'll be more interested in what they're eating.
Last and most importanttly...
Be a role model: It's unrealistic to expect kids to eat healthfully if their parents don't. Don't try to be perfect. Just try to squeeze in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and even exercise – and limit the quantity of the empty-calorie foods. If you don't want your child to become fixated on junk food, don't let it become a focus of your diet.
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May 16, 2008
Traffic Light Snacks
A new software helps kids replace unhealthy snacks with healthy foods. The Snackwise software works by assigning snacks a color based on their nutrition facts label: green for healthy snacks, yellow for snacks that should be eaten occasionally and red for snacks to The Nationwide Children’s Hospital developed Snackwise in 2005 because schools needed healthy food standards.
The actual software costs $25, but the online version is free and available to anyone.
Some red foods include Skittles and Lay’s Cheddar Sour Cream chips, according to the Snackwise Web site. Yellow foods are Rice Krispie Treats and Reduced Fat Cooler Ranch Doritos. Even if foods are low in fat, such as Fig Newton bars, they might still be considered a yellow or red label food because they are low in vitamins and nutrients.
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April 08, 2008
Family Time
In a large survey conducted by the American Dietetic Association Foundation, kids ranked Mom and Dad as their No. 1 nutrition role models. This same survey also found that if Mom and Dad spent most of their time watching television and being inactive, their kids did the same.
If your eating habits need a tune-up, here is some help.
• Make breakfast a priority. Kids who eat breakfast every day get more nutrients overall. They fare better at school and are less likely to be overweight.
• Give them a choice. Don't ask children if they want a vegetable at dinner; ask "Would you like carrots or green beans with dinner tonight?" Studies show that if parents emphasize the importance of vegetables and fruits, children will eat them more often.
• Abolish the clean plate club. The clean-your-plate mentality overrides the natural cues a child has to stop eating when he is full. It can also encourage overeating later in life.
• Value family mealtimes. Families who eat together tend to eat healthier.
• Avoid using food as a bribe. Threatening no dessert after dinner if they don't eat their vegetables only teaches children to value dessert. It doesn't teach them to like vegetables. Similarly, don't use food as a reward.
• Try one or two new healthy foods or recipes every week. Some new foods and recipes will catch on and others won't. You might need to expose kids to certain foods 10 or 15 times before they develop a taste for them. If today's Singapore Black Bean Salad doesn't receive rave reviews tonight, it just might next month.
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January 04, 2008
New Cookbooks for Kids
Better your child’s nutrition with these kid-focused books.
1. Lunch Lessons, Changing the Way We Feed Our Children. This book explains the basics of child nutrition, gives practical steps on how we can change the way our kids eat and offers numerous kid-friendly recipes.
2. The Spatulatta Cookbook. A zany collection of recipes written by kids, for kids.
3. Lunchbox Menu For You. This book will help parents create healthy school lunches. It provides 40 different five-day menu cycles including foods kids love but are also healthy for them to eat. To make it even easier, it also provides grocery list for the week which can be detached and taken to the grocery store.
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October 28, 2007
Advice for Parents
Nutrition in a Nutshell. Here's some advice for busy parents based on the kids nutrition-guru Ellen Satter, RD. Don't get discouraged with your child's much-too-common food jags. Keep trying! Here's some healthy tips:
• Limit fast food. It's high in sodium and fat and highly processed.
• Encourage kids to try new things. Take them grocery shopping with you, and let them pick out some healthy foods.
• Allow the children to be a part of the menu planning at home. Come up with one new food to try per week. This gives them some ownership, and they'll want to try new things.
• Bring them in the kitchen with you. In general, if they get to help prepare the carrot sticks — peeling, washing or cutting — they're more likely to nibble on them, too.
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May 23, 2007
Spruce Up Your Salads for National Salad Month
Did you know that May is National Salad Month? Keeping salad interesting night after night is a challenge: here are some easy, fun ideas to try.
•Chopped romaine lettuce, orange slices & dried cranberries
•Mixed baby salad greens, chopped apple & shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
•Baby spinach, raspberries or sliced strawberries & shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
•Mixed baby salad greens, shredded carrots, raisins & sunflower seeds
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April 25, 2007
Yum-o!
Rachel Ray teams up with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to create a non-profit organization focusing on healthy families. Check out Yum-o for tips and recipes to help your family transform their eating habits.
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February 13, 2007
Setting a Good Example
State law required every Illinois school district to create a wellness policy for the 2006-07 school year to battle obesity and improve health habits. The mandate arrived without state funding, during a time when teachers complain that they have enough on their plates--so to speak--in trying to improve test scores and complete paperwork.
The district's wellness policy lists nutritional guidelines to be followed during school-sponsored events, encouraging the use of fruits and vegetables and noting, for instance, that ketchup, potato chips and pickled relish do not count in those categories.
The policy requires that topics such as nutrition, disease prevention and health promotion be incorporated into class curriculum. One of the more difficult directives states that food should not be used to reward pupils. That brings into question the popularity of pizza parties or candy incentives in the classroom. In the cafeteria, Doritos have been replaced with baked chips and popcorn shrimp is no longer on the lunch menu.
Across Evanston-Skokie Elementary School District 65, pupils have joined yoga clubs, planted gardens and begun drinking more water. At Lincolnwood the wellness effort started with the staff during an eight-week fitness challenge that ends March 16. A bulletin board in the teachers lounge lists eight teams of six people each who accumulate points throughout the week if they meet goals such as eating a healthful breakfast, reading for 15 minutes, exercising for 30 minutes or meeting a 25-gram daily fiber requirement.
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December 07, 2006
Try Something New: Food Demo with Kids
Today was a crazy day including a food demo for 100 elementary school kids. Talk about chaos. It was supposed to be a vegetable burrito suppling almost half of their veggie needs for the day. They built their burrito, and most of them ate it, but a few dumped out the filling and just ate the tortilla with a sprinkle of chili powder.
Crunchy Vegetable Burrito Banditos
(Dole 5 A Day)
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup shredded carrots
* 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
* 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower
* 2 green onions, thinly sliced
* 4 ounces shredded lowfat Cheddar cheese
* 1/4 cup nonfat ranch salad dressing
* 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
* 4 (7-inch) flour tortillas
* 1 cup torn iceberg lettuce, bite-size pieces
Method:
1. In a mixing bowl, combine carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and onions with cheese, dressing, and chili powder.
2. Lay tortillas flat on the counter and spoon about 1/2 cup vegetable mixture and 1/4 cup of lettuce down the center. Wrap each tortilla around the vegetable mixture.
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September 02, 2006
Goodies for Lunchboxes
A few items a kid (at any age!) would enjoy.
* Fruity Kebabs: Spear chunks of pineapple, cucumber, orange and/or grapes on toothpicks; include a small cup of sugar-free yogurt for dipping.
* Happy Trails Mix: Combine equal parts popcorn and whole-grain unsweetened cereal; add a small handful of orange-flavored dried cranberries.
* Chips & Dip: Pack up a small bag of baked tortilla chips; include a separate container of salsa you’ve spiked with shredded Cheddar cheese for dipping.
* Do-It-Yourself Mini Stackers: Provide whole-grain crackers, 1-inch squares of sliced roast turkey breast and cucumber rounds in separate containers. Let your child stack her own “sandwiches.?
* Mini Rice-Cake Sandwiches: Spread peanut butter between mini rice cakes.
* Taco Bites: Provide separate containers of mini-taco shells (preferably trans-fat-free), low-fat bean dip, shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese and salsa.
* Ham “Sushi?: Spread turkey ham lunchmeat with a thin layer of reduced-fat cream cheese. Sprinkle with shredded carrot and roll into a cylinder; slice crosswise into “sushi.?
* Petite Pitas: Fill mini whole-wheat pitas with hummus, shredded lettuce and chopped tomato. Drizzle with Italian dressing; wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
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July 04, 2006
8th Grade-Proof Goodies for Lunchboxes
A few items any kid would enjoy.
* Fruity Kebabs: Spear chunks of pineapple, cucumber, orange and/or grapes on toothpicks; include a small cup of sugar-free yogurt for dipping.
* Happy Trails Mix: Combine equal parts popcorn and whole-grain unsweetened cereal; add a small handful of orange-flavored dried cranberries.
* Chips & Dip: Pack up a small bag of baked tortilla chips; include a separate container of salsa you’ve spiked with shredded Cheddar cheese for dipping.
* Do-It-Yourself Mini Stackers: Provide whole-grain crackers, 1-inch squares of sliced roast turkey breast and cucumber rounds in separate containers. Let your child stack her own “sandwiches.?
* Mini Rice-Cake Sandwiches: Spread peanut butter between mini rice cakes.
* Taco Bites: Provide separate containers of mini-taco shells (preferably trans-fat-free), low-fat bean dip, shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese and salsa.
* Ham “Sushi?: Spread turkey ham lunchmeat with a thin layer of reduced-fat cream cheese. Sprinkle with shredded carrot and roll into a cylinder; slice crosswise into “sushi.?
* Petite Pitas: Fill mini whole-wheat pitas with hummus, shredded lettuce and chopped tomato. Drizzle with Italian dressing; wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
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May 23, 2006
School Food Fight
School food has become a national obsession. And no place is the fixation more evident than in the Bay Area, where activists are determined to put an end to obesity and teach kids how to eat right.
They're filling school yards with edible gardens, applying for grants to put salad bars in cafeterias, teaching students and parents how to cook healthful meals and replacing cookies with strawberries at school dances.
All agree that schools need to clean up their nutritional act, but there is bitter dissent over how it should be done and how far it should go.
In recent years, California has passed some of the most stringent school food laws in the country. The state, concerned that it has the second highest rate of overweight children in the nation, passed legislation introduced by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier (Los Angeles County), that would heighten nutritional standards at schools.
The law, which goes into effect July 1, 2007 , says vending machine snacks sold on campus during school hours and a half hour before and after, must meet certain requirements -- no more than 35 percent of its calories can come from fat, no more than 10 percent can come from saturated fat, and no more than 35 percent of its weight can be sugar.
Entrees prepared in school cafeterias must have no more than four grams of fat per 100 calories with a 400 calorie cap.
But Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor, one of the food industry's loudest critics and author of "What to Eat,'' says the junk food manufacturers are probably already looking for ways to circumvent the requirements.
"I don't like this kind of criteria," she said, adding that although the new rules will rid schools of candy bars, they will also knock out most salad dressings. "It's a slippery slope, and there are always exceptions. Why not just get rid of highly processed foods and use the Marion Nestle method -- only serve foods with no more than five ingredients on the label."
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March 13, 2006
Got Breakfast?
Got Breakfast? is the new school program encouraging kids to eat breakfast. Many kids don’t have time (or make time?) in the morning to eat anything. They rush out the door and start the day on an empty stomach. Research suggests this can hinder their learning ability, concentration levels and it’s hard to get all the nutrients you need with just 2 meals/day. This program is sponsored by Share Our Strength, the Alliance to End Hunger, the National Dairy Council and breakfast Breaks. Visit www.gotbreakfast.org for more information.
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January 12, 2006
Something for the kids to read
Eat Healthy, Feel Great is an excellent kids book designed to start kids out on the right track towards a healthy life. It refers to the eating plan based on traffic lights: green light, yellow light and red light foods. Teach your kids the tools to allow them to make their own healthy choices. This book also includes recipes like Think Smart-Smoothie and Pizza Pizzazz.
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September 30, 2005
International Walk to School Week
October 3--7, 2005, has been designated International Walk to School Week. The week enables children, parents, teachers, and community leaders to be part of a global event celebrating the benefits of walking and the need to create communities that are safe for pedestrians. In 2004, approximately 3 million walkers in 36 countries observed the weeklong event by walking to school.
CDC supports International Walk to School Week and walking and bicycling to school year-round through Safe Routes to School (SR2S) programs. KidsWalk-to-School is a community-based SR2S program that encourages walking and bicycling to school. As part of the program, communities build partnerships with schools, police officers, public works agencies, public officials, businesses, and civic associations to create an environment that supports safe and active travel to school. The program was developed in response to low rates of walking, inadequate physical activity levels, and a 300% increase in the proportion of overweight children since the early 1970s.
In 2005, Congress passed a transportation bill that includes $612 million in funds for SR2S programs to enhance safety for children walking or bicycling to school. State departments of transportation will administer the program, and communities will be able to use the funds to make infrastructure improvements near schools (e.g., removing road hazards, slowing traffic, building sidewalks, and creating walking trails) and enhance safety through enforcement and education programs.
KidsWalk-to-School information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/kidswalk/index.htm. Information on International Walk to School Week is available at http://www.walktoschool-usa.org and http://www.iwalktoschool.org. Information on SR2S is available at http://www.saferoutesinfo.org.
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July 20, 2005
How do we help our children connect with their own bodies?
"Imposing a lot of (parental) control is really counterproductive," says Leann Birch, a psychologist at Penn State who specializes in kids' eating habits. "If you focus on external factors — like how much food is left on the plate, or what time it is — then children get out of touch with their internal cues for when they are hungry and when they are full."
If, as Birch recommends, we shouldn't become food wardens at home — forbidding junk food or candy, or depriving our kids of a burger and fries when that's what all their friends are eating — we certainly can fill their plates with basic skills about nutrition and food that, with any luck, will follow them into adulthood.
There are four tools parents can give their kids to help them develop healthier eating habits:
• The motivation to understand how nutrition works for their bodies (such as telling them that the milk they're drinking is going to make their bones grow and, therefore, help them climb that tree or score that goal or grow into those roller blades they've been asking about).
• The power to stay connected to their bodies' signals of hunger and fullness and to eat accordingly. "You are the expert on your own body," I tell parents to tell their kids, "so it's your job to listen to what it's telling you and to take care of it."
• The ability to separate hunger from other feelings, such as boredom, sadness or anxiety, which often result in eating. Time and again, I have seen how a well-placed hug can be just as satisfying to kids as reflexive snacking.
• The skill to make smart decisions around food — which means not sacrificing those treats that "make the tongue happy," but instead to manage those cravings rationally and realistically.
(Full Text: Worried about your child's diet? You should be. By Donna Fish. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-07-19-kids-diet_x.htm)
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July 05, 2005
Healthy Choices for Families
Helping your kids become healthy eaters
By David Leonard
Helping your child develop good eating habits has never been more important. Indeed, health experts predict that one in three children born in 2000 eventually will develop diabetes in his or her lifetime, unless diet and exercise habits improve.
According to Ellyn Satter, a widely respected authority on feeding children, toddlers and older kids are more likely to become healthy eaters if they can decide how much and whether to eat, while the adults decide when and where to eat and what to offer. She calls this arrangement the "division of responsibility in feeding."
Satter believes most eating problems and food battles happen when parents or other caregivers try to dictate what and how much to eat or when they fall short on their seven key feeding responsibilities:
1. Be a positive role model - it works!
2. Provide healthy meals and snacks with a variety of foods.
3. Keep a set schedule for meals and snacks: Most kids need to eat every two to three hours. Time snacks so kids are ready to eat again at mealtime.
4. Eat meals with your kids whenever possible. It promotes strong families, a sense of support and better nutrition. Moreover, it helps kids learn manners, respect and values, as well as how to talk and listen. Let everyone share their news or thoughts but avoid conflict and anger. Turn off the TV or radio.
5. Teach kids age-appropriate skills for helping in the kitchen.
6. Promote healthy weight by offering mainly healthy food choices and encouraging physical activity.
7. Agree on dietary and feeding guidelines with your spouse or partner.
The child’s job deals with eating. Letting him decide how much and what to eat from a meal or snack and whether to eat eliminates a major source of power struggles. It’s also the only way your kids will learn to sense when they’re full, and that’s vital to prevent habitual overeating.
Kids should also behave reasonably well at the table but don’t be too strict. Teach kids to turn down food with a polite "no thank you" rather than a "Yuk!"
The division of responsibility has a high success rate if adults fulfill their roles. "If parents do their jobs with feeding, children do their jobs with eating," says Satter.
So, what happens if your child doesn’t like the meal you prepared? Calmly say something like "Well, OK," but don’t turn into an apologetic, short-order cook ready to satisfy every request. If you provide healthy meals and snacks with a variety of foods, you’ve already done your part.
With every meal, offer milk and a grain food like rice, pasta, or bread (make half of these choices whole grain). Kids will usually eat these if all else fails.
Some other tips: All kids have times when they’re not hungry. They won’t become malnourished by missing a meal or going on a temporary food jag. In fact, the large majority will meet their nutrient needs for growth and wellness if you do your job of feeding.
Resign from the "clean plate" club.
Don’t use food to bribe, reward or punish. Use praise and attention as rewards. Bribing a child with dessert if she eats her spinach sends the clear message that spinach is yucky. Overuse of food to console a sick or upset child encourages overeating for emotional comfort. Use hugs or kind words instead.
The best time to introduce new foods is usually between 12 and 21 months when kids are putting everything in their mouths. "Neophobia" (fear of new foods) is normal for older toddlers and preschoolers. It usually starts around 21-24 months and begins to wane by age three 3 or 4. Picky eating also results from kids wanting to make their own decisions and be more independent.
Introduce only one new food at a time and in small amounts (one to two tablespoons). Offer it in a calm and neutral way since kids naturally resist persuasion.
Continue to offer the new food at least once or twice a week for up to 15 times (most parents give up after just two to three attempts). Try preparing the food in different ways and don’t make a big deal about rejection. Young children typically accept new foods only after many refusals.
Try reverse psychology like saying, "If you don’t want your vegetables, I’ll eat them."
Forcing a child to eat a food only worsens the power struggles or increases the dislike of the food. If you do use a "one no-thank-you bite" policy, let the child choose the bite’s size, however small.
More information on the division of responsibility is available at Ellen Satter’s Web site, www.ellynsatter.com.
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June 28, 2005
Children and Exercise
Children need an hour of exercise per day
Recommendation aims to end confusion over conflicting advice
ATLANTA - Children should get an hour of exercise over the course of each day, a panel of national obesity experts has concluded, seeking to end confusion on the matter.
"Physical activity is essential for health. This just puts a number on the amount of physical activity children should receive or shoot for," said Dr. William Dietz, director of nutrition and physical activity for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which funded the panel. The recommendation was made earlier this month.
The committee was created to cut through conflicting advice on children's exercise — 27 different groups have their own recommendations.
"People get confused about what they should do," Dietz said. Federal health officials hopes the different organizations will adopt the panel's advice so parents will get a unified message from the health community.
The panel reviewed more than 850 existing studies on child physical activity and found that most recommended 30 to 45 minutes of continuous activity.
But the panel decided that 60 minutes of exercise was more appropriate because children typically are active in "fits and spurts" rather than in a continuous manner, said Dr. William Strong, a co-chairman of the panel.
"What we're trying to say is that you accumulate this over the day — it doesn't have to be in one particular spurt of activity," said Strong, a retired professor of medicine at the Medical College of Georgia.
Variety
Children should be given the chance to take part in a variety of physical activity, from walking to jumping rope to competitive sports.
"The reality is children aren't going to be physically active unless it's fun," Dietz said.
It's an important issue because besides helping control weight, regular exercise reduces the risk for heart attack, colon cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure, and may reduce their risk for stroke.
"The real issue is not that children are having immediate problems, but that if we don't do something about this now, 20 to 30 years from now we'll have a severe epidemic of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome," Strong said.
The CDC previously said that more than a third of high school students nationwide do not engage in vigorous physical activity, such as running or playing sports like basketball or soccer.
Daily participation in high school physical education classes dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 32 percent in 2001, according to the latest data from the CDC.
Dietz said that in Atlanta, where the health agency is based, children have "substantial difficulties" in being active.
"Most children (in Atlanta) can't walk to school because of traffic and because of the way communities are designed," he said. "Part of the challenge in today's world is finding opportunities to make physical activity fun."
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June 24, 2005
Our mission: Assuring the conditions so that people are able to be healthy.
On Wednesday, Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, California's State Public Health Officer spoke in Stanislaus County about the impact urban planning has on our community’s health. Eighty percent of Stanislaus County is classified as “urban?. The population of our county now exceeds 500,000. Dr. Jackson asked the question: how are we managing our wealth? Supersizing was the answer. We supersize our homes. Families with one child have a 3000 sq ft home with little to no yard as opposed to 40 years ago when a household of 11 resided in a 900 sq ft home on the same size (or bigger!) lot. We supersize our cars which waste more fuel and make more noise. We supersize our highways and travel more miles/year and spend more time in the car than ever before. What is the quality of life for a person who commutes 2 hours to and from work each day? Is the drive stressful? Does he smoke to relieve that stress? Does he spend time with his family? Does he go to his children’s ball games or is he involved in cub scouts? Does he fit exercise into his day? Does he grab a meal-to-go on the way home? We supersize our food portions. Which fast food company can make the biggest burger and fill up the biggest cup of soda? If our pasta bowl was continuously refilled without us knowing, how would we know to stop eating? Even our plates are bigger than they were 30 years ago!
Children immerse themselves in their environment. They have ten times the number of neurons firing in their head as adults do. Every second they’re learning something new. What’s the attention span of a 2 year old? They learn the English language in a matter of 2 years. Today, kids suffer from what Dr. Jackson likes to call Nature-Deficit Disorder. They’re depressed, bored, and lack social contact. They spend more time indoors watching television, playing video games and playing on the computer than ever before. Physical Education classes are the first to be cut out of children’s school days when money gets tight. No wonder 75% of 5th, 7th, and 9th graders in California can not pass the state fitness test. Kids are inside, sitting at desks, in the control of their teacher. Ritalin consumption among kids is at its highest level and continues to rise. Did you know that exercise works just as effectively as Zoloft in treating depression?
What can we do? Our goal as public health professionals is to provide an environment where people have the ability to lead a healthy life. Consider this…what if we spent money to build bike paths and walking paths as opposed to 35,000 new homes as close together as possible? Why are we buying cheap land miles from our neighborhoods to build schools on and spending thousands of dollars per child to bus or drive them to school? How many children today are able to walk or bike to school? How many walking schoolbusses are there in Stanislaus County? What if schools invested in school gardens where kids can learn, have fun, co-operate with classmates, exercise and enjoy healthy food all at the same time? Who uses the dark, smelly, scary staircases at work which may or may not have access at every floor? What if we designed architecturally stylish, open staircases for workers to use to get from one floor to the next? What if we were satisfied with standard portions at restaurants? Would we still be served quality food, enjoy the company of those we are with, celebrate an occasion and not have to clean the dishes? Is the amount of food really the reason why we are at the restaurant? One idea that is in the works is taxing foods which contain high fructose corn syrup. The money will then be used to start working on some of the above thoughts to help make a healthier environment for our community. Of course our culture is in for a change as well. We need to have safe routes to school. Parents need the security of knowing their kids are safe at the playground down the road. We need to use the bike/walking paths and stairways. We need to frequent restaurants serving healthier options and not complain about portion sizes. This isn’t easy and it won’t happen overnight. However, every small step leads us closer to our goal.
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June 09, 2005
Advertising and Kids
TV confuses children about which foods are healthy, new study finds
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Despite -- or perhaps because of -- the barrage of information about food that they consume while watching television, kids are getting the wrong message about healthy eating.
A study has found that the more television kids watch, the more confused they are about which foods are -- and which aren't -- going to help them grow up strong and healthy.
Increased television viewing had, in fact, a double-negative effect on the children in the study. Regardless of their initial nutritional knowledge, the more television they watched, the less able they also were "to provide sound nutritional reasons for their food choices," said the author of the study, Kristen Harrison, a professor of speech communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Foods marketed as aiding weight-loss were particularly problematical for the kids in the study. They equated the words "diet" and "fat-free" with being nutritious.
"When they were presented with choices like Diet Coke vs. orange juice and fat-free ice cream vs. cottage cheese, they were more likely to pick the wrong answer -- the diet and fat-free foods -- than when they were presented with choices without these labels, for example, spinach vs. lettuce.
"The labels 'diet' and 'fat-free' suggest that these foods are good for them and make it harder for them to pick the 'right' answer," Harrison said, noting that the goal of the study was "to gauge children's understanding of which food would help them grow, not make them slimmer."
TV advertising intentionally blurs the lines between diet and nutritional -- in Harrison's words it "frames" diet foods by "equating weight-loss benefits with nutritional benefits." One TV ad for chocolate syrup, for example, runs the tagline, "as always, fat free."
"Child television viewers are bombarded with health claims in television advertising," Harrison said. "Given the plentitude of advertisements on television touting the health benefits of even the most nutritionally bankrupt of foods, child viewers are likely to become confused about which foods are in fact healthy."
Adults, Harrison said, should be able to understand the difference between foods that are healthy because they help one grow up, and foods that are healthy because they prevent one from growing out, "but this is too much to expect kids to understand."
Study findings appear in the most recent issue of the journal Health Communication. Harrison's research focuses on media effects on children and adolescents and the impact of media exposure on body image and eating disorders.
For the study, 134 children in the first through third grades were asked to respond to a questionnaire that measured their nutritional knowledge, nutritional reasoning and television viewing, once at the onset of the study and again six weeks later.
On average, the children reported that they watched 28 hours of television a week; there was no correlation between gender and age and the amount of television watched.
In the nutritional knowledge part of the study, children were presented with six pairs of foods and asked to choose which item in each pair was better for helping them "grow up strong and healthy." One food in each pair was predetermined to be more "nutritionally dense" than the other, Harrison said. The pairs were carrot/celery, rice cake/wheat bread, jelly/peanut butter, spinach/lettuce, fat-free ice cream/cottage cheese, and orange juice/Diet Coke.
The children displayed "moderate" nutritional knowledge, Harrison said. Out of a perfect score of 6, they got a median score of 3.7 the first time, and 3.92 the second. To test their nutritional reasoning, Harrison asked the children why they chose each food, and their answers were scored as representing either nutritional reasoning or non-nutritional reasoning. Examples of nutritional reasoning were: "More juicy, has vitamins (referring to celery)" or "It has cheese, cheese is made from milk, and milk is good" (cottage cheese).
Examples of non-nutritional reasoning: "It's chewy" (wheat bread) and "My brother hates it" (spinach).
The children also displayed moderate nutritional reasoning. "But as the study shows, this number decreases with heavier TV viewing, especially for the choices involving fat-free and diet labels."
One interesting finding was that children's nutritional reasoning was "largely independent of their nutritional knowledge."
For example, a second-grade boy who chose jelly over peanut butter explained that he chose jelly because "it has fruit in it and just a little sugar because sugar is bad." "Although his answer was incorrect, his reasoning was nutritional," Harrison said. Conversely, a third-grade girl who chose cottage cheese over fat-free ice cream said she did so because "it has less calories."
"Although her answer was correct, her reasoning reflected the food's potential for weight loss rather than its utility for helping her grow up strong and healthy."
The reasoning that a food does not contain fat or has fewer calories may appear to be nutritional in nature, Harrison said, "but a lack of fat and calories will not in itself help a child grow up strong and healthy. We know that many American children are consuming too much fat and too many calories, but replacing the nutrient-dense foods in their diets with low-fat, low-calorie items like rice cakes and diet soda does them a disservice by depriving their bodies of the whole-food nutrients needed for growth."
The ideal compromise, Harrison said, would be a diet of foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, with moderate levels of fat and calories. There is a "crucial difference between foods that don't contain 'bad-for-you' ingredients and foods that do contain 'good-for-you' ingredients."
Harrison said that whenever she presents this work, people invariably say that because childhood obesity is out of control in the country, a diet of rice cakes, lettuce, jelly and Diet coke wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
"But I maintain that it would be a bad thing because these foods are nutritionally vacuous," she said. "Vodka is fat-free and has zero digestible carbs, so should we have kids drinking that every morning? They need nutrients to grow, and the 'right-answer' foods in the study have more of those nutrients than the 'wrong-answer' foods."
In her report, Harrison cited previous studies that have found that 97.5 percent of the food commercials appearing on weekend morning TV network programming were for unhealthy foods -- defined as products containing significant amounts of fat, sodium, cholesterol or sugar; for weekend evening programming, 78.3 percent of the commercials were for unhealthy foods.
Therefore, whether kids are watching children's programming or adults', they are exposed to ads for unhealthy foods.
"Thus, television in general seems to be a source of nutritional misinformation, and children's exposure to television in general may increase their risk of becoming misinformed food consumers," Harrison wrote.
Posted by Lisa at 09:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 09, 2005
Teaching Kids to Pick Healthful Foods
1. Make it Familiar
Experiences with food in childhood influence our food preferences. It may take 9 or more exposures to a food before a child will try it.
2. Share Meals Together
Establish food habits. Kids are better nourished and less likely to smoke, use alcohol or be depressed.
3. Teach Basic Food Concepts
A meal needs 3 food groups: Protein, Fruit and/or Vegetable and Grain
4. Formula for Fiber
Your child’s age in years plus five. Keep intestinal tract healthy. A good choice is 2g or more/serving.
5. Cut the Fruit
Cut fruit gets eaten more often than whole.
6. Turn off the TV
Enjoy food and each other and not be distracted.
7. Be a Good Role Model
Let them see you eat healthy.
8. Lighten Up Your Attitude
Let them learn to make good decisions without controlling everything that goes into their mouths.
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April 07, 2005
Teen Tactics
With all the pressures today's teenagers have to deal with, it's no wonder so many are in trouble. Statistics show that teen suicide and teen pregnancy are on the rise, as is the firearm-homicide rate for teens. Smoking among teens is in vogue, and two-thirds of eighth-graders report that they have tried alcohol. And only about 38 percent of them get enough exercise - which means the other 62 percent are setting themselves up for a sedentary life and all the problems that come with it.
Now's the time to change these statistics. Research has shown that kids who play sports, or who are physically active, are less likely to have these problems. But getting kids to exercise is no easy task unless you're willing to spend time with them and learn to speak their language.
Quality Time, Quality Talk
It's impossible to have good relationships with teenagers if you don't spend time with them. Don't expect teens to automatically think you're cool and trustworthy - you'll have to prove it. Accept them for who they are and show them that you are genuinely concerned about them. Look past the way they dress or wear their hair, and learn to understand their language so you can relate to what they have to say.
A person who is a good listener has a good chance of developing relationships with teens, since most of them would rather talk than listen. Whatever it takes, learn to listen to teenagers, and offer your words of wisdom only when necessary. It's the only way to figure them out.
They're Listening - What Do You Say?
The number-one thing you can do to help teens get active is to be a good role model. Live the life that you advocate; show them that being active can be fun, and they will follow your example. Let them know that being physically active does not necessarily mean going to exercise classes or playing sports, although these are two great options. Hiking and camping, body surfing and playing Frisbee or paddleball are activities the whole family can enjoy. And, since they're having so much fun, teens will hardly realize that what they're doing is actually good for them.
Teenagers can participate in just about any fitness activity, whether it be weight training, mountain biking or martial arts. Many gyms are lowering their age requirements and offering family memberships and discounts to reach the younger market. Organized sports also are an excellent means of improving socialization and developing discipline and teamwork skills.
Competing With The Negative
It's not easy to get your message of good health and fitness across when you're competing with the lure of television and video games. That's why it's so important to appeal to a teenager's sense of fun and need for social interaction. Whenever possible, include others, such as their friends, in your fitness activities. Encouraging a teenager (or an adult, for that matter) to become more active can be discouraging, particularly when they seem to be tuning you out. At some point, that encouragement may become counter-productive. Instead, continue to serve as a role model for an active lifestyle and perhaps they will one day follow your lead.
The most important thing you can do for today's youth is to help them value their lives. Being healthy and fit will put them in touch with their bodies, increase their self-esteem and help them to establish a desire to set personal goals. Bottom line, however, is that in order to get anyone to exercise, teenager or not, it has to be fun. Teenagers aren't likely to do something just because they're told it's good for them. But with your support and encouragement, you can help put them on the path to better health that lasts a lifetime.
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March 16, 2005
Parents, Eat Your Words.
Are you pleased with your progress toward healthful nutrition and fitness habits but frustrated with your children's? Do you suspect that the lunches you send to school are traded or thrown away? Do you shudder at the sight of your pantry shelves displaying high-fat snacks and sugary cereals that you vowed you would never buy? Can you really win the battle against advertising, peer pressure and kids' love affairs with sugar and fat?
The Bad News And The Good News
Kids today are fatter and less fit than previous generations. Between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s, obesity increased 54 percent among young children (ages six to 11) and 39 percent among adolescents (ages 12 to 17). Recent studies show that obesity has continued to increase into the '90s.
Food companies spend millions of dollars on television advertising to convince children that high-fat, high-sugar, processed foods are worth eating. Food is consumed because it's cool, fun or comes with a free toy rather than for its impact on health or even for its taste!
So what's a parent to do? Eat your words! The fact is that parents who have adopted a lifestyle that includes healthful foods and regular exercise are living role models for their children. We know that the behaviors children see most often at home are the ones they will be most likely to adopt for themselves and parents' efforts to promote healthy food habits do make a difference.
The first step is to stop battling with your kids about food. You may need to slow the rate of change in your children's food choices and offer reasonable alternatives as you gradually reduce those high-fat, high-sugar foods. Be sure to include some of their favorite foods in daily meals.
Stack The Deck
Much of nutrition is common sense. For instance, stock the kitchen with a majority of healthy items, keeping in mind that kids want some of their favorite foods, which may be sweet and/or salty. Buy pretzels, which are low in fat, instead of greasy chips. Keep cut-up vegetables and ready-to-eat mini-carrots in the refrigerator. Sprinkle air-popped popcorn with grated parmesan cheese instead of butter.
A good way to get kids involved and committed to healthy eating habits is to involve them with the food shopping and preparation. There are lots of children's cookbooks on the market; select one that emphasizes ways to modify many favorite foods rather than eliminate them. Children who feel competent to select and prepare food will make more intelligent food choices.
Balance Is Everything
The key to keeping kids happy and healthy is to strike a balance between foods that are good for you and those that just taste good, between leisure or TV time and physical activity.
Which brings us to the other side of the healthy living equation. The most obvious impact of inactivity on kids is the strong association between the number of hours spent watching TV and the level of obesity among youngsters.
Make physical activity a family affair. Go for walks, fly kites, rollerblade around the neighborhood, play miniature golf or other sports. Anything that gets you moving together will no doubt be good for you, too.
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January 15, 2005
Parent’s Guide to Brown Bag Lunches
Variety. Try to include most of the food groups from the Food Guide Pyramid. Rotate choices to add variety and prevent boredom.
Get Them Involved. Have your kids make a list of the different foods they like in each food group…then pack those foods.
Expand Their Horizons. Try different sandwich fillings like low-fat lunchmeats, cheeses, and grilled vegetables. Try different breads like pita pockets, mini bagels, rolls, English muffins, or raisin bread. Jazz up peanut butter sandwiches by adding bananas, raisins, apple slices, shredded carrots or low-fat granola.
Beyond Sandwiches. Pack pasta salads with fun shaped, colored pasta, veggies, and low-fat mozzarella cheese. Make a quesadilla or pizza on a tortilla or pita.
Strong Bones. Kids need 3 servings of calcium each day. Send milk money to buy milk at school. Add yogurt for a sweet dessert. Low-fat cheese sticks, wedges, or cubes work too.
Produce Power. Slice up celery, bell peppers, and cucumbers and add some baby carrots and cherry tomatoes for a crunchy snack to dip in low-fat ranch dressing. Pack grapes, strawberries, cubed melon or whole apples and pears. Dried fruit and fruit cups in their own juice are good ways to get your 5-a-day too.
Go Nuts. Instead of potato chips or cheese curls, pack a handful of nuts to get a serving of healthy fats for the day.
Surprise Them. Kids love fun and surprises in their lunch. Be creative with shapes, colors and themes. For example, pack a red lunch with spaghetti, red grapes, strawberry yogurt and a red fruit leather. Cut sandwiches into puzzle pieces. Throw in a joke or a comic strip for a final touch.
Safety First. Use ice packs in insulated lunch bags to keep cold foods cold. You can also freeze water bottles, milk or yogurt the night before so that it will thaw by lunch time. Use a Thermos to keep hot food hot like soups or chili.
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Healthy Family…Healthy Kids
How Can Parents Teach Nutrition at Home?
1. Encourage kids to be healthy. Don’t focus on ideal weight and body figures.
2. Involve the whole family in improving their eating and exercise habits.
3. Play hard for 30-60 minutes every day:
Go for family walks or bike rides.
Play sports or join a club.
Use your feet instead of your car when
possible.
Wear a pedometer.
Research YMCA or after school programs.
4. Limit TV time:
Take TVs out of kids’ bedrooms.
Take a trip to the park or pool.
Dance, skate, play frisbee or jump rope instead
of watching TV.
5. Healthy Eating:
Eat breakfast: cereal with nonfat milk, oatmeal,
yogurt, fruit, or toast.
Parents decide where and when to eat.
Kids decide whether or not to eat and how much.
Eat together. Encourage sharing, conversation
and laughter.
Stock your cupboards with healthy foods. Rid
your cupboards of junk foods.
Do not bribe or reward your kids with food.
Limit fast food restaurants to once a week.
Do not watch TV while eating.
Encourage kids to help with grocery lists,
shopping and preparing food.
Pack nutritious lunches for kids to take to
school.
6. Set a good example by:
Not being on a “diet?.
Not showing too much concern about your weight.
Eating fruits and vegetables.
Being active every day.
**High fat foods, not eating fruits and vegetables and drinking regular sodas and juices contribute to weight problems.**
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