Greetings! Hope you all have had a great week so far. Here are 5 interesting nutrition stories of the week that caught my eye. Enjoy and drop a comment to let me know what’s on your mind.
Would you take advice from a fat doctor about controlling your child’s weight?
When weight is the issue, doctors struggle too! After all, they are humans just like the rest of us. In some ways, as this article in the New York Times argues, overweight doctors might show more compassion and might have a more pragmatic view about how to control your child’s weight. It is easy to say “eat less, exercise more and watch less TV”, but it is not really that easy to follow it day after day. An overweight doctor might still be able to sound credible if they stick to the facts and explain the problem to the parents using growth charts. A recognition of the challenges parents face in managing their child’s nutrition is also important. The advice is still useful, especially if it is based on personal experience and offers practical tips to solve the challenges in real life. If the overweight doctor simply tells you what you might read in a book, then you would probably feel like throwing it back at them. Have you found yourself in this situation? Do leave a comment to share your experience.
Overweight kids eat more when exposed to food marketing
Kids today are targeted for marketing of packaged foods, which are usually full of sugar, fat, salt and calories. There is a belief that this type of targeted marketing is causing overweight and obesity. If this was true, then all kids should show a preference for branded food if they can recognize the brand and eat more of these foods. In a surprising result, researchers from Columbia University and University of Liverpool, UK found that only the overweight kids ate more when presented with branded foods such as Kraft Lunchables, Trix yogurt and Lays potato chips. In this study, 4-6 year old kids were given branded foods on two occasions and the same food packaged in ordinary non-branded containers on the other two occasions. The overweight kids ate 40 calories more when branded foods were given. The non-overweight kids actually ate less when the food was presented in a branded packages. In general, overweight kids ate more on all occasions compared to the non-overweight kids. This is an interesting result, although there are many unanswered questions. I think the key point is that the non-overweight kids show a better control over their appetite, while the overweight kids eat more especially when they can recognize a brand. Teaching kids how to recognize when they are full is probably the best way to protect them against overeating. Eating branded foods in moderation is not a problem, but overeating is.
Believe it or not, you can eat healthy on the cheap
Times are tough; you want to eat healthy but cannot afford to buy fresh produce or fancy organic foods. You live a busy life and cannot always find time to cook from scratch. At the end of a busy day, the idea of getting some cheap fast food on your way home seems too good to pass. But with the right information and a little preparation, you can eat healthy without busting your budget says this article published in the USA Today. Sure fresh vegetables and fruits are expensive, but you could consider frozen and canned varieties if you watch for the sodium content. Potato is rich in potassium; just avoid the french fries and go for boiled, mashed or baked without too much butter or cream. Salmon, Tilapia or Flounder out of your reach? Go for chicken or lean beef. Skip the ready-to-eat frozen meals – they cost a lot more on a per pound basis and even the low calories, low fat ones tend to be loaded with sodium. Planning simple meals for the week and spending just 3 hours preparing them over the weekend can go a long way in taking charge of your family’s health. One of our favorites is lentil soup served with basmati rice, which is a very economical meal. Check out other simple recipes, and if you subscribe to my newsletter, you can get a free eBook of toddler friendly recipes.
More tips on eating out with kids
In her July 2009 Newsletter, Dr Kathleen Cuneo of Dinner Together offers some more tips for eating out with kids. Recently, I pointed to one of her articles on this topic which explained the importance of having realistic expectations. In her newsletter article, she talks about first developing a consistent mealtime routine at home of sitting down together and establishing table manners before you can expect your kids to behave the same way at a restaurant. It is tough, but we are making progress – at least now, we have been able to set the rule that no food will be allowed away from the dining table. Still, it is very hard to keep the twins at the table for more than 10 minutes! Another great advice from Dr Cuneo which I liked a lot is to be prepared to get your food to-go and leave the restaurant on some occasions when your kids might be tired or otherwise just not in the mood to sit down in a strange place. Check out her website and sign up for her newsletter for more great tips and recipes.
Give a little to help feed needy families this summer
Let’s face it -hunger in America is an embarrassing irony. It is simply incredible to realize that more than 12 million children were at risk of hunger at some point last year (Source: Share our Strength). A new program from the US Food Service called Operation STEM-ulus offers an easy way to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to needy families this summer. Now through October 15, 2009, you can get a book of recipes contributed by their associates called Recipes from the Heart for $14.99 plus shipping to help raise funds for this program. All proceeds will be donated to Feeding America, a network of over 200 food banks operating in all 50 states. We just ordered our copy – can’t wait to check out their recipes and try a few ourselves!
Enjoy your weekend! And let me know what you think.
Photo source -mikecpeck on Flickr
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