It is back to school time. The summer sure passed by fast!

This may not be new news but certainly worth reminding. I know already blogged about this but here is a new statistic released by the American Dietitic Association

40% of girl and 32% of boys who are school age, skip breakfast on a regular basis

So I think we may need to hear this message again. ‘Cause that is a lot of boys and girls.

Eating breakfast is first and foremost extremely important. It gives your child the necessary fuel that the brain needs to concentrate, absorb information and retain information. …that means better learning, better test scores, better grades.

According to a study done by Boys Town Pediatrics in Nebraska:
– providing energy needed to start the day
– eliminating hunger symptoms such as headache, fatigue and restlessness
– helping them to think faster and to respond more clearly to teacher
questions
– increase mental performance
– making them less likely to be irritable
– causing them to be calmer and less anxious

It makes sense. Children’s last meal is usually 9 or more hours. By the time they wake up their fuel from the previous day’s snack or meal is now used up by the body. Kids are growing so that makes their bodies very different than us adults. They need fuel to not only function but also to grow; every organ, tissue, cell is changing and growing. The brain can only use glucose for fuel. That means any food eaten has to be broken down or transformed into this fuel source so the brain can use it. Breaking down food uses up energy so these kids bodies are in a high state of work all the time!

So, help them off to a good school year with a healthy breakfast. To read more on breakfast, here is an article written by our dietitian.

In general,

• try to have at least 3 food groups represented in the breakfast.
• Look for high fiber cereals, 4+ grams
• include fruit and of course low fat or non fat milk (milk products)

It seems with the childhood obesity crisis our nation is facing researchers have begun to study the nutrition habits of preschoolers.  We know that habits are being learned…formed during this time.   Washington University is studying how to get preschoolers to eat more fruits and vegetables.

According to the research, it starts with the parents.  Well, this seems pretty obvious but here is a nice article that summed several studies that shows how parents can really make a difference in their child’s eating habits.

Parents, you are the most important role model for your kids.  You decide what food is purchased, what the meal will be etc.

So here is a couple of suggestions:

• make fruits and vegetables part of your child everyday life.
• have them help pick out the fruits and veggies at the grocery store
• have them name the veggies and fruits as they help put them away
• have a vegetable and fruit as part of each of your three meals
• don’t fight with your child if they won’t eat it
• encourage them to just have one bite
• if they still refuse, then ask them to name the color of the vegetable or fruit
• make talking about the fruit or vegetable part of the meal conversation
• introduce a new vegetable and fruit each day to your child
• keep reintroducing the fruits and vegetables

One study showed that a child may need to interact with a food at least 10 times before they will try it.

Keep it simple, keep it fun.  We want them to associate fun memories with fruits and vegetables, not bad experiences like “my mom got mad at me ’cause I didn’t eat my vegetables.

Mondays are a great day to renew Family Health vows. Every Monday, you will find some healthy tip to help your family start the week off on a Healthy Note!

Before eating your family meal, take a moment to look at the various foods on the plate. Make a fun game and see how many of the food groups you will be eating. Try to make sure you have one from each of the food groups!

Here is the update on the report just published on top 13 restaurant chains and the calories in the kids meals.  The benchmark was 430 calories.   Meals offered to children should not exceed this amount for one sitting (one meal) based on the recommended total calorie intake for 4-8 year olds.

The center found that 93% of the 1,474 possible choices exceeded the 430 calorie allowance for one meal.

• Chillis has 700 possible kids meal combinations:  94% are too high in calories
  • The report found that many combinations added up to over 1000 calories in one meal.

• Burger King has Big Kids meals that include double cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milk that reaches 910 calories
• Other restaurants mentioned were Jack in the Box, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Whacky, Sonic, Wendy’s, Dairy Queen,  Arby’s, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell and Dennys who all had meals that were too high in calories for children
• Subway faired better with 6 out of 18 Fresh Fit for Kids meals

What did the Restaurant’s respond:  they offer choices and it is up to the parents to guide their children in what they should eat.

I have been reading a few blogs who also are tauting the same message.  Don’t discount the power of early nutrition education.  If kids had a better sense of what their bodies needed, it might make it easier for parents and kids to work together in creating healthier meals.  But nutrition education is dominated by high sugar and high fat food companies marketing the wonder and deliciousness and fun of their foods.  Makes it hard.

Just remember, little steps do make a difference.  Every small change is a step to a healthier child.  Start by talking with your kids and making small agreements. If your child drinks coke every day, (I really hope they don’t) then try making an agreement to drink coke every other day and substitute water.  Small steps do make a difference.

What’s the buzz this week? A nonprofit organization has released a report about the calories in kids meals! From the top 13 chain restaurants. The report card was not too good for most of these restaurants. But really, are you surprised?

• 93% of the food offered to kids were over 430 calories.

I think that there are several challenges we parents face.

• how do you know how much calories your kids are supposed to be eating? maybe you think, 500 calories doesn’t sound too bad
• when you go out to to eat, you may be thinking or trusting that when it says “kids menu” that it is sized appropriately for children.
• maybe your child is not overweight so you don’t think you need to worry about their calorie intake
• maybe your child is overweight and you don’t want to harp on them or embarrass them by selecting a lighter meal

So how can I help. First, find out what your child’s calorie intake should be on a regular basis. Yes regular basis, because it’s okay to once in a while eat a little more than we need. Go to the meal planner and enter in three peices of information and you will know what your child’s body needs.

With just a little planning you can find out the calories for most of the major restaurants. If your like most families, you probably frequent 2 or 3 that are convenient for those family outings. Most restaurants have their nutrition information for their menus listed online under some kind of “nutrition” heading. Print out the menu and review it with your kids. Pick out some food choices that are lower in calorie. Help your child begin to think about “larger burger” skip dessert, maybe they will need to play in the backyard or do something active to burn it off. Everything in balance.

But make it an enjoyable experience so look over the menu of your favorite restaurant on a Sunday afternoon not right before you are going to go there.

If your child is overweight or if your child is not overweight, they are in the process of forming habits. All children need to learn about nutrition.

That means they need your help in learning how to make healthy choices now. You are their best role model…afterall. Would you teach math to person right before they are about to look for a job? No, math gets taught when kids are young, over time because it takes time to build that foundation. Nutrition is the foundation subject for good health. Kids need to learn it over time so they too build a strong foundation to help them make better lifestyle choices now and later.

But, I know I always say this, but it is so true. We have got to make it fun. Why? Otherwise, they will not want to learn about it. They will associate bad memories with the topic and shy away from it. We have to be smart like the high sugar companies. We have to make it fun and enjoyable.

Perhaps it is easier to say than do! but what if I told you that if we don’t start to help our children form better habits:

• they will have a shorter lifespan than you
• they have a 1 in 3 chance of developing diabetes before they are 30 years old
• overweight children will most likely be overweight adults
• early heart disease is being found in elementary school children

It is worth the time and effort to make nutrition a priority. Let them create their own balanced meal online and learn what their body needs with our Build-a-Meal game. Use just some of your time everyday to help your child learn about healthy choices.

Send me your ideas and suggestions. I am committed to helping you make nutrition fun for your family.

Seven ways to encourage your teen to eat healthy.

This article provides a nice little reminder list of do’s and don’t for dealing with overweight teenagers or just helping your teenager stay at a healthy weight:

1. Don’t nag, don’t be the “food cop”. It usually doesn’t work and may just get you parents frustrated
2. Lead by example: this is interesting because we may think that our teenagers don’t pay attention to what we are doing since they are so wrapped in their own lives. But studies have shown if we are healthy, then they eventually will too. But forget studies for a minute, I can tell you that on more than one occasion my college kid will tell me something I told him as a teenager. So, somewhere inside, they are paying attention and listening.
3. Do it for the whole family: So don’t single out “healthy rules” for just one child. Regardless of weight, all children need to eat healthy in order to be healthy.
4. Make it easy. So for example, keep sliced fruit in the frig, make healthy food readily available.
5. Give them a say: some compromise in what food goes and stays will help them feel involved and part of the decision
6. Eat together: you will hear this a lot, but there is so much overwhelming evidence that eating together as a family helps the child in so many ways
7. Cut down the screen time: the best rule is 2 hours or less total, that includes TV and computer time

Let me know if any of these worked!

Our refrigerator is sending messages to our children about what our family deems important.

This short article really is about us parents realizing how important our role is for kids.

Many schools around the country have or are beginning to adopt nutrition policies that prohibit high fat, high sugar foods from their vending machines. But, it is all for not, if the child comes home to a refrigerator or pantry full of junk foods.

Sometimes it is just a matter of throwing out the old stuff. I was just thinking about my refrigerator and yup, there it was 2 - 2 liter bottles of soda. I don’t like soda (anymore, I used to be a diet soda junkie but that was another life) but I had a family party 2 months ago. There it was still in my refrigerator. Anyone looking in my refrigerator would have easily come to the conclusion, this family drinks soda.

Other times, it is a matter of just throwing our the junk food. Getting a clean start and sending a new message to the kids.

So, think of your refrigerator and pantry as a “vending machine”. What’s in there? Is your vending machine sending the right message to your children? Just a thought.

Children that are skipping breakfast can be headed to all sorts of problems in school.

We talk about this in our Breakfast article in our April newsletter, but this article is a good reinforcement that breakfast is important. It cites the American Medical Association reporting that kids who skip breakfast have:

• trouble with concentration
• hungrier kids have lower math scores
• hungry kids are more likely to have behavioral, emotional and academic problems
• are hungrier earlier (yeah, they haven’t eaten yet!)
• tend to overeat at lunchtime

But this is interesting, at least I thought it was, another study showed that kids who ate high sugar (they refer to it as “fast-release sugar”) breakfasts, like a doughnut- ate more calories at lunch than kids who ate a healthy breakfast.

When you think about it, it makes sense. The brain needs fuel to think. The brain also controls our behavior and emotions. After sleeping all night and doing some growing… well there is not much fuel in those little tanks. That is why kids really need to have breakfast. It really is that important.

So, if your kid is still skipping breakfast, it’s time to step in and work to begin changing their attitudes and habits. Remember, small steps are okay so be patient.

We have a breakfast agreement and tracking tool that you can use. Keep it positive; keep it fun. Change takes time. Okay, I’m done.

Involving your children in the kitchen might present a great opportunity to teach your children about nutrition.

Kids, especially the younger ones, are so open to learning and spending time with mommy and daddy. Giving them simple instructions while preparing the meal lets you talk to them about the different ingredients found in food.

• Why some food should be eaten in smaller portions
• Why other foods should be eaten in larger portions
• Stressing to your child the importance of each of the five food groups
• Why you need to eat all five groups everyday

All these simple message will begin to set the seeds of the importance of a balanced diet. It’s hard to believe but most kids do not eat a balanced meal. Yes, I know you probably have already heard this or read this before. But I have to say it again. Less than 20% of children eat a balanced meal. Many meals are too heavy in fat and proteins and too low in fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains.

Start with the simple basics. You may be surprised that they will remember if they hear the message enough. If you repeat in different ways, they will learn that it is an important message. Don’t forget the activity part. That is all part of being balanced, healthy meal and activity every day.