Proteins are important building blocks for a growing child. They are required for growth, maintenance and repair of body tissues. Different kinds of specialized proteins also perform many important functions like carrying oxygen in our cells and fighting infections. In a recent Ask the Expert column, dietitian Emma Stirling wrote about protein power and offered tips on getting enough protein in your child’s diet. Children 1-3 years old need about 0.5 g of protein per pound of body weight, which comes to about 13-16 g of daily protein. In most cases, it is not a problem to get this much from a typical American diet. But if you have a picky eater, or if you are following a strict vegetarian diet, you need to pay a little extra attention to your child’s protein needs.

In this week’s Five for Fridays, I want to highlight 5 vegetarian sources of proteins. We routinely include them in our meals using many of our simple recipes. Even if you are not a strict vegetarian, you can try them occasionally to bring variety to your diet.

Lentils

Source: Wikimedia

Lentils are dry seeds of a pulse crop. They are rich in protein, iron, dietary fiber and B vitamins. More importantly, they are rich in the essential amino acids (there are 9 essential amino acids our body cannot produce). Sprouted lentils provide all of the 9 amino acids. On a 100 g dry weight basis, lentils provide 26 g of protein! Just like whole grains, soaking lentils  in water removes phytates which allows better mineral absorption in the GI tract.

One of our favorite recipes is a lentil soup which we often eat with basmati rice.

Chick Peas

Source: Wikimedia

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, have been around for a long time! You will find them in almost any cuisine around the world, especially in the Middle East, Mediterranean and South East Asia. They are super rich in protein, vitamins and minerals like calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc.

Here is one of our recipes with beef and chickpeas. There are many different ways to cook chickpeas without any meat.

Red Kidney Beans

Wikimedia Commons

There are many different types of beans, but our favorite are red kidney beans. They provide a lot of protein, iron, calcium, B vitamins, magnesium and zinc. Soaking them in water overnight reduces cooking time and removes complex sugars that would otherwise cause indigestion and gas.

Red kidney beans with olive oil is one of our favorite recipes.

Nuts

Source: Wikimedia

Unlike vegetables, nuts are actually dried fruit. If your child does not have any allergies to nuts, they can offer a good balance of calories from fat, carbs and proteins. Our favorites are almonds, walnuts, pecans and hazelnut. We like to soak almonds overnight in water then peel the skin off before eating the soft white core. We use walnuts in salads and pecans in some of our recipes like the steak and vegetables with pecans casserole. Nuts also provide healthy fats such as monounsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids.

Quinoa

We discovered quinoa not too long ago, and since then it has taken up a regular place in our kitchen cabinets. Quinoa is really the unrecognized superfood because it is not so common in America. It is beginning to be more available now in some stores, so check it out! It is low in glycemic index, and although it is not a grain, it can be a nice replacement to rice with your entree. It is a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals.

One of our favorite recipe is chicken with quinoa. And for the strictly vegetarian, here is our quinoa with vegetables.

Enjoy these recipes and let me know what is on your mind!

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! Hope you are enjoying your summer so far. In this week’s Five for Fridays, I want to focus on food advertising to kids. Many people believe that food advertising, especially on TV during children’s programming, plays a big role in influencing food choices and brand awareness among young kids. Some experts go on to linking such advertising to overweight and obesity in children and suggest we should put a ban on advertising during children’s programming. However, as I wrote in my article Ban TV Food Advertising to Reduce Childhood Obesity – Really?, there is little evidence to support the link between TV advertising and childhood obesity. Sure, there is a lot of passion and strong opinions about the effect of TV advertising on kids, but there is not much data.

In this article I want to first explain why I am against the banning food advertising to kids even though I am dead against junk food and fully agree with its impact on our health problems. Then I want to offer a few suggestions on how to reduce the influence of TV advertising so that the marketers are forced to change their message.

Here are a few reasons for my opposition to the notion of banning TV food advertising:

• It goes against the idea of freedom and personal choice – just the way consumers have a right to choose what they want to buy, food marketers are also entitled to promoting their products. Unless, of course, there are proven health risks of high degree and regulations are adopted to control public promotion. I don’t believe food advertising can be considered in the same way as tobacco advertising, at least for now.
• Banning specific advertising is discriminatory – some may say that promotion of  unhealthy food products should be restricted. That means some other type of food products may be allowed freely. This is like saying ban the ads for cars with low safety rating and allow only certain types of cars to be advertised. Who draws the line between the so-called unhealthy foods and healthy foods from advertising point of view?
• TV is not the only channel for food advertising – the fact is that there is a declining trend in watching advertising on TV. Other channels like internet, mobile phones, printed media and in-store advertising are becoming more popular with advertisers. To what extent should we ban food advertising?
• Banning unhealthy food advertising does nothing to promote healthy foods and eating habits – Even if a ban on the so called unhealthy food products is implemented, it does nothing to promote healthy foods and eating habits. The focus should be on the positive, not on the negative. Why not invest in a public awareness campaign to counterbalance the current advertising? Are we so afraid to go head-to-head against the clever food marketers?
• Banning TV food ads does not reduce the duration of TV watching – say we have no food advertising on TV anymore. It does not mean that there will be a reduction in the amount of average time a kid sits in front of the TV. What is needed is a change in lifestyle and eating habits, not a ban on TV advertising.

Now that I have pitched a few reasons why I don’t like the idea of banning food advertising on TV, I should also add that there are many ways we can collectively reduce its influence. Or at least create an environment where food marketers are forced to improve their message to serve the public good and not simply the interests of their shareholders. Government has a role to play, but so does everyone else. Here are few ideas that come to my mind; I am sure there are many more if we take a step back and think about this problem differently.

• Require a disclaimer on health risks in food ads - just like the ads for drugs have a disclaimer on potentially harmful side effects, a disclaimer should be required from foods high in calories, salt, sugar and fat. Before that happens, clear standards need to be established on a per-serving level so consumers can make an appropriate choice.
• Require a warning on product package – just like the Surgeon General’s warning on health risks of alcohol and tobacco, foods containing high calories, salt, sugar, fat and additives should be required to have a standardized warning on the label.
• Create and publicize a national database of unhealthy foods – just like a list of recalled products, there should be a database of foods that can be classified as unhealthy based on clear standards. Consumers should be able to report as well as search for products before making a purchase decision.
• Monitor and take aggressive action against misleading claims in food marketing – the problem is that functional claims are allowed and marketers use confusing language to convince customers into buying their products. It takes a lot of knowledge and savvy to cut through the confusion. This is where I see regulators playing a very important role.
• Launch a massive public awareness campaign – get on the offensive and launch a public awareness campaign. The argument I have heard is that it is too expensive and there is no way to beat the food marketers with huge budgets. We need to get creative – why not incent business majors to build and launch a public service messages as a part of their marketing class? Harness the power of social media and encourage key influencers in each community to fight this battle. There can be many low-cost creative ways of doing this.
• Empower parents to build their family’s personal brand – food brands are powerful, no doubt, but parents are the ultimate gatekeepers of their children’s nutrition and eating habits. The problem is that they are overwhelmed by information from different sources which may appear to be very confusing and even intimidating at times. With a little help, I think parents can develop their own brand which defines their unique approach to food and nutrition. It gives them a tool to evaluate food advertising and allows them to reject messages that are inconsistent with their brand. It is kind of an abstract idea but if companies can do it, why not individuals and families?

These are only a few different ideas, and by no means, I can claim to have all the answers. My hope is to start a conversation from a slightly different perspective. When it comes to the politics of food, a lot of focus is on the supply side of the equation. I would love to shift the conversation to the demand side for a change.

Will you join me in this conversation? Share your ideas in comments below.

Enjoy your weekend!

©2010 Littlesotmaks.com

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee established jointly by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) came out with a report this week. It is a lengthy report based on a lot of data. Most of their conclusions and recommendations are not really unexpected or surprising – cut down on fat, sugar and salt; manage total energy intake; engage in physical activity etc. We have heard them all one way or another.

What caught my interest was data on top 5 dietary sources of energy for children and adolescents, and in particular, for children 2-3 years old and 4-8 years old. Here is a portion of this table for these two age groups:

Grain based desserts include cakes, cookies, doughnuts, pies, crips, cobblers and granola bars. 100% fruit juice does not include orange or grapefruit juice.

Nearly 30% of the average daily caloric intake for the two age groups is delivered by these top 5 food groups. A quick look at these food groups confirms the carb-rich diet of today’s children (and adults alike).

Another troubling fact is that 35% of calories in a typical American diet (both kids and adults) comes from added sugar and solid fats. This is more than double the amount recommended by different agencies.

There is no shortage of data to prove that our diets and eating behaviors are not so healthy. There is also no shortage of blame being passed around – profit-hungry food industry, aggressive food marketing to children, poor quality of school nutrition, lack of physical activity and high cost of healthful foods. Again we have heard them all one way or another!

The report recognizes the challenges in changing this pattern of unhealthy eating, but does little to emphasize the importance of personal responsibility. It seems to imply a command-and-control, top-down type of an approach rather than empowering individuals and parents to make small changes on a daily basis. Individuals can make a difference, but they seem to think that the system is far stronger than the individual.

What do you think? What small changes can you make to make sure your family and children do not fall into the average category?

Have a great weekend!

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! I am on business travel this week. That is why I have decided to pull out a few noteworthy reader comments from my archives this week instead of the usual Five for Fridays.

I am constantly inspired by your comments and I learn a lot from them. I want to say thanks to those who spend time reading my posts and leave a comment behind with some advice, helpful tips or a question for further research. Some of them have their own blogs, which I highly recommend you to visit whenever you get a chance.

Enjoy, and feel free to leave a comment of your own.

1. When a reader asked about food sources of vitamin D, Dr. Joanna Dolgoff listed these on her Ask the Expert post about Vitamin D deficiency
   

Foods that contain Vitamin D include fortified milk, fortified yogurt, fortified breakfast cereals, wild salmon, canned tuna, cod liver oil, sun-dried shitake mushrooms and egg yolks. I think the fortified milk, yogurt and breakfast cereals will work best for a toddler!

2. Nona Nita reminded us that dollars and sense is not everything in response to a Five for Fridays entry on home gardens:

Even if growing my own tomatoes will cost more, I like the idea that I am going to use heirloom seeds that have not been hybridized. I will be able to keep the seeds from my produce to grow more next year. Not only will I get tomatoes like they used to taste when I was a kid, but saving the seeds from the tomatoes to use next year will be a great lesson in the cycle of life for my grandchild. Hooray to the Obamas for being great role models! Hooray to you for a great blog!

3. Reiza was concerned about mercury in tuna when she read dietitian Janet Helms’s Ask the Expert article on sushi for toddlers

My kids have all eaten sushi since infancy. You raised some issues I never even considered. I don’t think we’ll stop (my twins are over 5, but not my son), but we’ll definitely be asking more questions.

One thing I want to know, though, is how much sushi with tuna would a child need to consume to be worried about mercury? I’ve always limited canned tuna, but I never thought mercury would be an issue with such small pieces like you find in sushi.

In response, Janet Helm added:

Thanks for your message. You’re right. The small amount of tuna in sushi should not be such a problem, since the recommended limit is 12 ounces per week. A 3-ounce portion is about the size of a deck of cards, so you can estimate the number of ounces your kids may be consuming.
So if you’re not eating tuna more than once a week, you’re probably well within the “safe” range for mercury.

4. Dr. Ayala offered her perspectives on healthy snacks and indulgences in response to a Five for Fridays entry on childhood obesity

I don’t particularly like the term “snack”, as it can mean a small meal, which could be very healthy, or, more commonly, a highly processed packaged food you can eat on the go anytime and anywhere.

I therefore don’t use “snacks”. No matter the name, I make the small meals between the other bigger meals healthy–fruits, vegetables, nuts, leftover food from yesterdays’ dinner. That’s what I serve my kids when they come home from school quite hungry and in between meals.

As for the indulgences that I do think should not be denied–I call them dessert, and my kids call them “junk”. A good time to eat them is after the meal. I think there’s a place for ice-cream, chocolate, cake or whatever indulgence one fancies, but the key to really enjoying those and eating healthily is moderation and great quality. A small dessert (when a kid isn’t too hungry) made of high quality ingredients is a pleasure. Snacking on chips, cookies and donuts (even if low-fat)is not particularly satisfying, doesn’t hit the spot, and is just a bad habit.

5. Alina shared her concern and hoped for better nutrition at schools in response to Ask the Expert article on managing concerns about daycare food

I like the idea of bringing food to daycare but unfortunately many daycares do not allow found to be brought in. Also, a toddler wants to eat what everyone else is eating since the kids all eat together. Improving the nutrition of daycare (and all school food in general) is a very important topic. It would be nice for policy-makers and law-makers to embrace the need for this change!!

Photo source: Robert Whitehead on Flickr
©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! The twins are turning 4 this weekend and we are having a birthday party! Should be a lot of fun.

Here are 5 nutrition related stories that caught my eye this week. Enjoy and let me know what’s on your mind.

Beware of this high tech coke vending machine

Called the Freestyle, a high tech Coke vending machine will soon allow you to make your own personalized beverage by selecting a combination of flavors injected on demand into carbonated water. In light of falling soda sales over the last 5 years, and an actual drop of about 2% in 2009, Coke is betting that by getting you to play with these machines, you will drink more soda! I say, watch out and don’t fall for it even if it seems free at your favorite fast food restaurant.

I am all for technology – and believe me, this new machine is really high tech – but this kind of innovation is misguided and reflects linear thinking. The logic is simple – get people to drink more soda so you can make a few more dollars (actually a lot more!) each year. And why worry about a soda tax when you can get the restaurant owners to pay up for these fancy gadgets!

If Coke wants to reinvigorate its brand and re-engage consumers, in the words of its Vice President in-charge of Freestyle, why not do something that actually makes them healthy? Surely they have no shortage of smart engineers and brilliant marketers. How long do they want to keep going with the same Open Happiness message?

Skip the soda fountain. Ask for water. Vote with your wallet and don’t fall for these gimmicks.

Consumers link food to health and expect food companies to do more

Nearly 1 in 4 consumers look at food as a means of health and about 1 in 5 consider it a way to connecting with friends and family. This according to a farm-to-fork survey by StrategyOne which randomly asked 1000 US adults 3 simple questions to understand their attitudes and opinions about food.

About 90% of these consumers expect supermarkets to focus on health, wellness and nutrition, but only 68% found it important for fast food companies. Over 90% want food companies to offer healthy products which also taste good, and offer more healthy food choices. They also expect these companies to help solve community problems such as childhood obesity and malnutrition.

The data is encouraging. Although the sample size is small, the message is clear.  When will the food companies begin to pay attention?

Choose organic to reduce risk of chemical exposure and cancer

The President’s Cancer Panel is raising a red flag on chemical exposure as a potential cause for cancer, which is becoming a growing concern especially in children. According to an Op-Ed in the New York Times, the cancer panel is about to release a 200-page report recommending better oversight, and possibly new regulation, to manage our exposure to chemicals. “Only a few hundred of the more than 80,000 chemicals used in America have been tested for safety”, and “many known or suspected carcinogens are completely regulated”, says the report.

Although, it is important to be careful about chemicals, there is no reason to panic. I think a lot of has to do with the notion what you don’t know can hurt you, because of the very poor public awareness about chemicals. Modern life, and its conveniences, is a direct result of our success with using chemicals. Based on my personal experience I can say that the chemical industry takes its responsibility about chemical safety extremely seriously. Exercising caution is prudent, but there is no need to panic.

Since young children are most susceptible to the risks of chemicals, one easy action you can take is to rely more on organic foods, especially fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats. Organic certification on a food product means that it is produced without the use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and hormones. It may cost you extra, but there are ways you can buy organic on a budget.

Solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation

The White House task force on childhood obesity has a plan to solve this problem within a generation. They have issued a 120-page report with 70 recommendations for the federal, state and local governments as well as the private sector so we can get back to a 5% childhood obesity rates of the early 1970′s. Today we are at close to 20% and if these recommendations are acted upon, the task force believes that we can reach this goal by 2030.

I like the comprehensive research and the holistic perspective outlined in this report. This problem cannot be solved by a mandate from the government. Everyone has a role to play – parents, schools, community service organizations, food companies should take responsibility. I also like clearly defined benchmarks for metrics for success.

I plan to take a closer look at the report and write about it in future. Feel free to share your opinion on how this problem can be solved in our lifetime!

Make veggies interesting to eat, not just nutritious

Don’t sell the idea of health and the same old good for you when trying to encourage your kids to eat more veggies. Make it fun and exciting, suggests Dr Susan Robin, a holistic nutritionist, in her article Getting Kids to Eat More Veggies is More Fun Than You Think. I couldn’t agree more!

Coke does not sell nutrition in a bottle, they sell happiness. Food marketing is not much different, although a lot of health related claims are often mixed with the idea of fun, satisfaction and excitement. Take a page out of the food marketers playbook and turn it around! That is what I liked about Dr Robin’s article – they used a cool music video about making hummus to encourage kids to eat more chickpeas at a summer camp.

A word of caution though – I think it is ok to learn from the food marketers playbook, but don’t just copy it. Twist it around because there is no way you can win by doing what they do. They have more money to buy more star power. I have been thinking about the idea of creating your family’s personal brand about food and nutrition as you try to counter the overwhelming influence of major food brands. Not an easy task, but it is a very different approach and will surely take time. I plan to build on this idea in future. In the meantime, feel free to share your ideas.

Have a great weekend!

Photo: adactio on Flickr
©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! In this week’s Five for Fridays, I will highlight a few interesting videos and articles related to toddlers and restaurant manners. I started the week with 7 ways to handle bad manners when eating out with kids, so this seems like an appropriate way to reinforce the message! Let me know what you think and share your favorite tips.

How dinosaurs eat their food

This video is sure to catch the attention of your little one because of the dinosaurs who show really bad table manners like burping,  belching, making loud and rude noises, throwing food etc. In a funny way, it can teach your child what not to do!

Needs first, manners second

A very interesting perspective is offered by Dionna in her article Mind Your Manners, where she suggests that we pay attention to the child’s underlying need behind the behavior that shows bad manners. It may be a physical reason such as hunger, fatigue or sleepiness. Or it may be psychological reason such as frustration, jealousy, anger or need for attention. Adults have these needs too – and if you think about it – they too do not show good manners and friendly behavior if they are feeling that way. In those moments, it is not helpful to lecture about good manners with a don’t do that, or a do this. Rather, you have to pay attention to the underlying need and find a way to fix it before a meltdown!

Toddlers and mealtime manners

Excellent tips on mealtime manners from the Better Health Channel of the Victorian Department of Health from Australia! A range of mealtime topics such as sitting down to eat, making a mess, wasting food, table manners and reward systems are covered and several practical suggestions are provided under each. I really liked their perspective on why getting angry or worrying whether your child has had enough to eat is not useful. Kids are very perceptive and usually reflect back your anger and anxiety through unruly behavior. Keeping your emotions in check is the key. Have realistic expectations which are appropriate for age and development level. Keep your cool, stay firm and be consistent. And by the way, persuading children to clean up their plate because there are hungry children in the world does not work!

Parents speak out on teaching children to behave at restaurants

I liked this discussion about teaching restaurant manners to children because of a range of opinions and tips from parents based on real life experience. Consensus opinions seem to be training at home, family meals, early exposure to restaurants, and being ready to leave when things get out of hand. One parent advises good luck, patience and understanding, while another suggests involving them in food selection and engaging in a conversation. Another interesting suggestion is to go out in a group with other friends and their kids. Lots of interesting comments here!

Can you teach my alligator manners?

This is a funny series on Playhouse Disney which features a young boy named Mikey and his alligator pal Al, who is fun and cute but has no manners at all! The music is catchy and animation fast paced to capture the short attention of young kids. The great thing about it is that it asks the kids to recognize when Al is being polite and when he is not by picking one of the two color-coded squares which show these behaviors. Very good reinforcement indeed!

In this particular clip about restaurant manners, kids learn about eating with a fork and not their fingers, eat without making faces or noises, and not burp!

The alligator series is one of our favorites; have you seen it?

Enjoy and let me know what is on your mind.

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! It is Friday again, which means it is time for our usual Five for Fridays, a compilation of interesting food and nutrition news from the week. The focus this week was on salt content of foods as the Institute of Medicine came out with a report which recommended setting mandatory national standards for sodium content.

That is why I want to focus on this problem, especially when it comes to popular foods for children. You will be surprised by the amount of salt in these 5 common foods listed below.

It is no secret that the amount of daily salt in an average American diet is too high. According to some estimates, Americans consume 3400 mg of sodium (about 1.5 tsp) per day far in excess of the national dietary recommendation of no more than 2300 mg.

There is a biological reason why we prefer salt in our food – our body needs it for maintaining the electrolyte balance which is essential for normal functioning of our muscles and brain. However, too much salt is now known to be linked high blood pressure, which leads to heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure and kidney disease.

The culprit?

The finger is being pointed at processed foods and restaurant meals. The issue is not without its own politics however. Although the calls for policing the salt content in foods are getting louder, the FDA has avoided a knee-jerk reaction by suggesting a federal working group and encouraging food companies to voluntarily cut salt from their products. I think it is a smart strategy because I believe that we don’t need any more regulation; rather the market should reject salty foods and demand healthier options. It is not going to happen overnight, but it has the best chance of forcing the food companies to innovate.

Major food companies already see the writing on the wall. According to the Wall Street Journal, General Mills and Kraft Foods have announced plans to cut salt and rework their products. PepsiCo made a similar announcement to cut salt by 25% by 2015 by adopting new salt reduction technologies.  Although these are incremental moves, and I don’t support their desire to proliferate even more snacks in the marketplace, it is a step in the right direction.

Here are 5 foods, loved by most children, but surprisingly high in salt (and other bad stuff!):

Hot Dogs

Hot dogs have become a cultural icon! Kids get hooked on them early and even adults cannot resist them when presented with the opportunity. But did you know that even half of an Oscar Mayer beef frank contains over 400 mg of sodium? Other brands are not much better either and a single serving (typically 1 hot dog) can count for as much as 20% of the daily recommended value. As if that is not enough, most of the calories are from fat with loads of saturated fats and cholesterol. You definitely want to keep this dog on a tight leash as much as possible!

Mac ‘n Cheese

Kraft’s Macroni and Cheese is the big dog in town, another favorite of most kids. In case you haven’t noticed the nutrition label, you may be in for a big surprise because a single serving of about a cup contains over 500 mg sodium. This is unbelievable! Rely on plain pasta instead and make your own cheesy sauce if needed. We like to cook elbow pasta, toss it in a little olive oil and sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese. Another simple recipe uses Alfredo sauce along with some veggies and shrimp for a full meal!

Cheetos

There are so many different types of chips out there which kids like to munch on, but we focus on our attention on Cheetos when it comes to salt content. A 2 oz single serving size pack contains nearly 600 mg sodium. Pay attention to the serving size on the nutrition label because it might show the numbers for only half a pack (that is 1 oz.) but we all know that once you pop the bag, you can’t stop until all of it is gone! We have a strict no-chips policy, particularly no-Cheetos, inside the house. Exceptions are the Disney parks where our twins first got exposed to Cheetos and now they clearly link the two. Good thing we don’t go there very frequently!

Chicken Nuggets

Another kid favorite and a regular item on most fast food restaurant menus. 5-6 pieces of them contain over 500 mg of sodium! Frozen chicken nuggets from popular brands like Tyson and Perdue are no better and carry about the same amount. Don’t let the small size of individual nuggets fool you! They all add up very quickly.

Condensed Soups

Chances are you have at least half a dozen cans of condensed soups in your pantry on any given day. Chicken rice, chicken noodle, cream of mushroom and tomato soup are common household stock items. The soup aisle in any grocery store usually rivals the cereal aisle with a very broad range of soups from many different brands. Condensed soups have become a substitute for a meal but they do come with a lot salt. Even the so-called 25% less sodium chicken noodle soup from Campbell’s contains nearly 700 mg sodium!

Our kids like Campbell’s kids soups and although they contain less sodium (at about 500 mg), it is still quite high. Campbell’s is ahead of the curve in reducing sodium, and although we are encouraged by their efforts, they still have a long way to go. In the meantime, we manage the portion size and add more water than prescribed when making these soups.

Clearly, it is a challenge for most parents to manage salt in their family’s diet because these foods are very popular, easily available at a decent price point, and ready to eat. You don’t need to go cold turkey on any of them, but certainly you have to exercise caution and manage portion size. And whenever possible, choose a simple, home-cooked meal with fresh ingredients.

Enjoy and let me know what is on your mind.

Photo Source: heliosphan on Flickr

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! It is Friday again, which means it is time for the usual Five for Fridays! If you are just joining, this is where I highlight some of the recent food and nutrition related stories. This is also my soapbox where I offer my rants and not-so-scientific personal opinions! Sometimes, I also highlight the work of some of my favorite nutrition bloggers. Your comments and personal opinions, especially if you disagree with me, are most welcome and highly valued!

So, here are this Friday’s five! Enjoy and let me know what is on your mind.

Fruits and vegetables do not reduce cancer risk, but that’s no reason to give up on them

It appears that eating fruits and vegetables only slightly reduces your risk of getting cancer according to a recent study analyzed by Dr Ayala in her very insightful article “Another apple-a-day may save more lives than the Toyota recall“. Does it mean that we should ignore the advice of 5 fruits and veggies a day and bypass the produce aisle in the grocery store?

Absolutely not argues Dr Ayala and I agree completely. A diet rich in fruits and veggies has many benefits for your overall health and well-being. If there is anything you should ignore, it is studies like this and the sensational headlines that inevitably follow in the mass media.

I have a real problem with such studies and I am amazed they get funded in the first place! I doubt if they offer any value to the common public, except probably to the media machine hungry for anything that can be labeled as health related.

By the way, check out the long list of authors who wrote the original paper in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Granted that everyone has to make a living, but come on, this is crazy! Work on better hypotheses and solve some real problems!

To lose weight, take a cold shower

This may sound totally insane, but new research is suggesting that you can train your body to burn more calories simply by getting used to a cold environment! Turns out that exposure to cold activates brown fat inside your body, which is known to produce heat (which means burning calories) in contrast to the insulating nature of the regular fat. Believe it or not, researchers are discovering that obese mice are able to burn off half of their fat within a week simply by living in a cold environment even if they eat more than 1.5 times their usual diet.

It appears that our bodies have a built-in heat producing mechanism to offer protection against cold. Babies are born with brown fat which helps them keep warm long before they learn how to shiver. Even adults have this brown fat but it is not active. Cold environment activates the brown fat, and so does a special protein discovered by researchers at Harvard. Some are now thinking about developing a drug to encourage production of brown fat to solve our obesity problem!

Don’t get too excited though! Keep in mind, that a healthy weight is a result of achieving and maintaining the right energy balance your body needs. Energy in minus energy out equals weight gain (or loss) – it is that simple. You don’t have to torture yourself by taking a cold shower every day, or wait for a fancy anti-obesity drug!

Don’t fall for the low fat label, you may actually eat more calories

Would you believe that putting a low fat label on snacks causes people, especially those who are overweight,  to underestimate the calories and actually eat more? There is a devilish effect from this health halo, writes registered dietitian Janet Helms on her blog Nutrition Unplugged this week.

I found this research quite fascinating, although, not really surprising. This is the result of clever marketing messages on the package, which are designed to lower the resistance and enhance the urge to eat. This is no different from advertising for other products which often targets the hidden desires and aspirations of consumers. Brand associations are powerful, and once they stick, consumer choice is nearly automatic. Why is it that you always pick the same brand of toothpaste, shampoo and laundry detergent even though other options, including cheaper store brands, are available on the same shelf? It is the job of the marketer to make the product irresistible by serving consumer needs at many different levels. And some of them are very good at what they do!

The problem, I think, is not with the marketing slogans on food products. Although this notion is quite popular among today’s experts who propose imposing limits on food marketing, even to the extent of imposing a twinkie tax! The problem is in a total lack of awareness and self-empowerment on the part of the common consumer.

How can you fight the influence of such powerful marketing? Not by banning these products, but by making smart choices. Consider a mix of an offensive-defensive strategy by building your family’s personal brand. That will be your anchor which can offer some strength against the currents of powerful brand marketing. Also check out Janet’s insightful suggestions on how to enjoy real foods and practice mindful eating.

Many ways to enjoy vegetables, give it a try

More people are trying to include veggies in their diet and that is great news! Even better, there are so many ways to enjoy vegetables whether you like them raw, medium or well done according to the Fooducate blog, which offers helpful tips for making smart choices in the supermarket. There are many useful tips in this particular article, but this one resonated with me the most:

If you are thinking about incorporating more vegetables into meals, worry less about the healthiest preparation method, and figure out the tastiest and most convenient use case for you.

I think this is great advice. A large variety of vegetables are available in a typical supermarket today, whether in the fresh produce section or in the frozen foods aisle. Plus there is no shortage of recipes – you can check out our own simple recipes section for ideas! So go ahead, give it a try and share your vegetable story!

Calling all recovering picky eaters

My blogger friend Jenna of KidAppeal is on a mission! Inspired by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, she wants to register 1000 recovering picky eaters in a month and help them develop a taste for a wide range of wholesome food. Interesting idea; so I am supporting her by spreading the word out. Now, you might be considered a recovering picky eater if:

• there are foods you don’t eat simply because you don’t like them even though they are good for your health; and
• you want to shrink the list of objectionable foods because you want to eat better and set a good example

If this is you, check out her blog and sign up! You got nothing to lose except a few bad habits!

Enjoy and let me know what is on your mind.

Photo Source: robbie jim on Flickr

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! There is no doubt that popular food brands have enormous appeal and influence, especially on children who are exposed to heavy marketing. Not a surprise therefore that even 3 year olds can recognize these brands. The bad news is that most of these brands offer sugary, salty and fatty junk foods, to which kids get hooked on early! Parents have to face this challenge as they try to encourage their children to develop healthy eating habits. Sounds familiar?

I started this week by suggesting that we need to have an offensive-defensive strategy for dealing with the attack of popular food brands. The idea is to create your family’s brand of food and nutrition by applying common branding techniques of identifying core values, developing a main message with a logo/slogan, promoting with friends and family and aggressively defending it with a few rules.

Another approach is to identify a few brands and products that resonate with your core values to support your battle against the not-so-healthy-but-otherwise-popular food brands. Association with these brands then becomes an extension of your personal brand.

This week, instead of the usual Five for Fridays, I want to share with you 5 of our favorite brands and why we like them. And no, I have not been paid to highlight them here; the idea here is to offer you a few suggestions as you try to discover what is important to you.

I would love to hear your comments! Feel free to share your favorite food brands and products.

Earth’s Best Organic

Earth’s Best, by far, is our most favorite brand! Our twins grew up on Earth’s Best fruit and vegetable purees, and they continue to love their organic toddler snacks such as Letter of the Day Cookies, Yogurt Rice Crisp Bars and Instant Oatmeal.

In researching Earth’s Best for this article, I found out – much to my surprise – that the company’s founders Ron and Arnie Koss are twins! Their vision of nurturing children with purest foods and growing those foods responsibly to promote a healthier earth resonates with our core values completely.

Earth’s Best brand now belongs to the Hain Celestial Group, Inc. who is responsible for bringing their toddler products to market, and of course, we are very thankful! Their product lineup ranges from infant formulas to baby’s first foods to toddler snacks and meals. They seem to be big on using Seasame Street characters as a marketing tool on their products. Honestly we are not too crazy about it! For us, the appeal is in their promise of organic quality and commitment to the environment.

For a complete list of their products and to learn about their history, visit Earth’s Best website.

Horizon Organic

We are a big fan of Horizon’s organic milk with DHA. We have had our twins on this milk ever since they started cow’s milk. At first, we were looking for an organic milk brand, but when we found Horizon’s milk with added DHA in our local supermarket, it was a no-brainer! DHA is known to support healthy brain and eye development in infants and toddlers. The source of DHA is from algae branded as life’s DHA from Martek Bioscience Corporation.

We believe that milk is an important source of nutrition for a growing child, unless there is the unfortunate situation of milk allergy. Selecting certified organic milk is better because it does not contain any antibiotics or growth hormones.

We are impressed by Horizon’s commitment to organic principles, compassion for their livestock and passion for the land. In my research, I found Horizon’s Standard of Care, which goes in great detail about their beliefs and management practices to support these beliefs. The integrity of this brand is impressive.

For a complete list of their products and company facts, visit Horizon Dairy website and Horizon Organic Facts.

Campbell’s Kids Soups

Campbell’s soups are a household name, no doubt, as you can tell by the prominent place they occupy in any grocery store. Our daughter enjoys Campbell’s kids soups with her favorite characters like Dora and Disney Princess. She loves to help Mom open a can and pour its contents in a saucepan for a quick meal. On a busy day, these ready-to-eat soups come in very handy! We are careful to read the labels because these soups can be high in salt, although Campbell’s is ahead of the curve in reducing the sodium content from its products.

We like Campbell’s as a brand, because they seem to really listen to their consumers while being sensitive to the economic difficulties. Clearly, their brand is positioned for the masses. Although their approach to healthful nutrition and environmental sustainability is incremental in our opinion, we do like their focus on affordable nutrition and continuous improvement. They have also figured out a great way to encourage consumers to prepare home cooked meals using their soups and recipes on the label. From that point of view,  we believe that Campbell’s has the potential to enable a move away from fast food and restaurant food toward home cooking at a very large scale.

Here is an interesting piece of trivia I found while researching their brand – they also produce their own seeds for tomato and peppers!

For a complete list of their products, visit Campbell’s Condensed Soups.

Cheerios

Although our twins are no longer that crazy about Cheerios, this cereal is a family favorite and occupies almost a permanent place on our cereal shelf. When they were younger, it was one of their favorite finger foods, especially when they needed to munch on something in the car!

Although there are many different types of products in the Cheerios family, we go for the plain standard Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios. We like the whole grain oats, low sugar and vitamins (particularly vitamin D) in this cereal. Recently, there has been some recent controversy about their claims around cholesterol and heart health, but we think it is more of a legal issue for them rather than a real concern with the product.

For a complete list of their products, visit Cheerios.

Green Giant Frozen Vegetables

We usually keep our freezer stocked with several packages of Green Giant frozen vegetables. Although fresh produce is the best choice, the convenience of packaged frozen vegetable -  some ready to serve with a sauce – makes it easy to add veggies in your daily diet. We like the affordable diversity of different frozen vegetables from Green Giant. But we also try to limit our selection to some of their simpler products like peas, cauliflower, broccoli and mixed vegetables. Their rice pilaf is also one of our favorites.

As a brand, which is now a part of the giant General Mills, they seem to be able to retain their identity and maintain a connection with their roots in the Minnesota River Valley. We are also impressed by their commitment to sustainability. They are sponsoring an innovative project with The Nature Conservancy. It involves using a combination of native vegetation in infiltration ponds to collect the water runoff from the fields. It is then diverted to a bioreactor (trenches filled with woodchips) where the excess nitrogen is removed and land erosion controlled. This system will also create a habitat for wildlife. Sounds like an interesting idea; although it may take up to 10 years to see the results.

For a complete list of their products, visit The Green Giant.

Enjoy and share with us your favorite brands and products.

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Disclaimer: We have not received any sponsorship or free products from these brands and companies for our review. Our opinions are based on personal use and publicly available information.

Happy Easter! It is Friday again, which means it is time for the usual Five for Fridays! Here are 5 food and nutrition related stories that caught my eye. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

New health bill will require restaurants to show calories on the menu

Chain restaurants with more than 20 outlets nationwide will be required to display nutrient content and calorie information on their menus according to Section 2572 of the recent healthcare bill. Similar rules will apply to vending machines. Menu labeling has been already in place in New York City for over an year with mixed results. Studies published last year, which I wrote about in a Five for Fridays, reported that doubts were emerging about the effectiveness of calorie labeling. What was more worrisome to me was the fact that some restaurants were actually “cheating” by posting lower calories than actually present in certain food items when tested! Clearly, this should not be allowed.

I think calorie labeling on restaurant menus is a good idea. Not only that,  there should also be other nutritional information available, particularly on salt, sugar and fat. It may take some time before consumers are fully aware of the risks of salty, sugary and fatty foods, but clearly in the long run it will help them make better decisions. The problem is that now it will require some sort of policing to ensure compliance with the law. Already there are problems with the National Organic Program (see below) due to constraints in budget and inspectors . These new requirements will undoubtedly create a new bureaucracy and another cat-and-mouse game will begin between food marketers and compliance officers. Hopefully it will become a self-policing system if consumers begin to vote with their wallets at these restaurants.

National Organic Program lacks teeth to enforce rules

You pay extra for certified organic products. You have the right to expect that they are genuine and that they do not contain pesticide residues. You do not expect non-organic products sold with the organic label. Yet, it is not an absolute guarantee! Now, wouldn’t that make you mad?

This is exactly how I felt when I read a report in the New York Times which exposed serious gaps in federal oversight of the organic food industry. Turns out that they don’t have enough inspectors to spot check organic products for pesticide residue (required by law) and that bogus organic products were allowed to be in the market for over 2 years before any action was taken. The excuse? Well, demand for organic products has grown so fast that the USDA’s National Organic Program can’t keep up with its enforcement responsibilities!

Finally, they are making a commitment to enforce spot testing for pesticide residues. They are getting more money and more people. The bureaucracy is ballooning but don’t expect it work perfectly. It never does. Meanwhile, don’t give up on organic products; just do your research and buy from a reputable brand.

Pepsico wants to trick your tongue by “designer salt”

Don’t give up on the potato chips! At least that is what Pepsico would like you to do just in case you are having second thoughts after reading about the evil sodium in their popular snacks. Recently they announced plans to cut sodium content by 25% by 2015, saturated fat and added sugar by 15% and 25% respectively by 2020. Sounds like the responsible thing to do, especially now that there is a bright spotlight on the link between processed food and obesity.

The solution, at least for sodium? A new “designer salt” which has crystals shaped and sized so that they dissolve fast on the tongue delivering a rapid salty sensation. While an innovative idea, which Pepsico is sure to market as a “breakthrough”, I think it is still a great example of incremental thinking. The problem is not with salt folks, it is the chips that we need to cut down on.

And 25% reduction is not going to make these products “healthier”! Consider Cheetos, which contain a whopping 290 mg of sodium per 1 oz serving. A 25% reduction (in 5 years) will bring it down to about 220, which is still very high. Too little, too late? What do you think?

Spinach leaves enrich their vitamin content sitting on the store shelf

Worried about picking up that box of baby spinach close to its expiration date? Well, believe it or not, you may be actually getting more value for your money compared to a box that did not sit on the store shelves for this long!

According to researchers at the USDA, spinach leaves exposed to store lighting conditions continuously over 9 days had a higher level of folate, vitamin C, K and E compared to those kept in the dark. This fascinating research was recently published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. The researchers reasoned that the spinach leaves continued their photosynthesis (a process by which plants produce sugars using sunlight and carbon dioxide) under the store light, which also produces these vitamins. When the same spinach leaves were stored in the dark, photosynthesis did not happen.

This is interesting for sure, but remember that the vitamin content of vegetables also depends on how you cook them. Steaming and microwaving is good; but eating raw fresh veggies is even better.

Teaching kids to eat healthy the French way

Offer preschoolers a 5 course meal, make sure they eat at the table and keep the parents out is the French recipe for getting kids to build lifelong healthy eating habits. I was fascinated to read the Nursery School Gourmets in a recent TIME magazine, which explained how seriously the city of Paris looks at the matter of school lunches.

Clearly, it is a well-structured, heavily funded state program unlike what we have in the United States. The daily menu is planned in advance for 2 months with no repetitions. Every meal includes an hors d’oeuvre, salad, main course, cheese plate and dessert (yum!). Soda and snack machines are banned. Parents are given suggestions for what to serve at dinner based on the day’s lunch menu. Discipline is intense and kids are trained to eat at the table and keep quiet.

Should we emulate the French model to solve our childhood obesity problem? The topic of school lunch is center stage these days, and Jamie Olivers’ Food Revolution is on prime time. The French model is yet another benchmark for us to consider. What do you think?

Enjoy and let me know what is on your mind.

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! It is Friday again, which means it is time for our weekly Five for Fridays where I usually highlight interesting food and nutrition articles of the week. But this week I want to highlight 5 interesting comments from readers of this blog which they wrote last year on different articles. Your comments inspire me and add so much value to my articles that it would be a shame to keep them buried in the archives! Plus, this is a good way to recognize those who take the time to leave a thoughtful comment. Many of them have blogs of their own, which I highly recommend you to visit via the links in each of the titles below.

I will be highlighting more comments in future posts; for now, enjoy these 5 insightful comments. If I did not pick your comment, just hang in there and look out for another post in future. And of course, feel free to share your opinions in a comment!

In response to my review of popular toddler multivitamins,  Tommy’s Mommy recommended paying attention to the recommended dosage

What a good guide to vitamins! My 11-yr-old has been taking Centrum Kids for years because he is my picky eater. I just tried it with my toddler because he has had a bad cold and hasn’t been eating like his normal self the last few days. A couple of observations…

I think you’ve addressed this, but parents need to make sure they check the dosage of vitamins. I cut one Centrum in half for my toddler as per instructions. Secondly, he loved the sweet, tasty vitamin so much he cried when I didn’t give him another. I don’t think I’ll give him any more when he’s eating well again.

Jenna of KidAppeal shared her enthusiasm for leeks and offered these interesting tips when she read my recipe for leeks with olive oil

I love leeks! thx for sharing this recipe. i tell the boys they are “ginormous” onions. eating super huge food is fun for kids. if your recipe doesn’t use all all your leeks, wash them, slice them and put in a zip lock back and store in freezer. take out a handful when you need them to saute and flavor sauces, soups, etc.

members of the onion family are also anti-bacterial by making the body inhospitable to bad bacteria that causes illness. eat onions/leeks to stay free from illness.

TTD-you could make a larger recipe and freeze half for a quick supper that only requires re-heating the next week!

When a reader asked about healthy superfoods for a 12 month old, registered dietitian Milton Stokes offered these additional details to his expert article about retooling your toddler’s diet effortlessly

Nothing beats breastfeeding. So good for you and your baby! Weaning may take place during the 6 – 12 month range.

For the one-year mark, it’s time for solids. At this point your child should eat during normal meal times and eat with the family where the family eats. Texture should be soft, chopped and/or easily gummed depending upon dentition. Avoid making separate, special meals just for your child. Some variation of the family’s meal is preferred. In other words, don’t create a routine of being a short-order cook.

An introduction of up to 20 times may seem excessive, but it’s not. As I said before, what a parent eats–how she models food consumption–is far superior to anything else. I discourage emphasizing certain foods as “good” or “bad,” or using food for any purpose other than nourishment. (For example, refrain from rewarding with food.)

Now, to actually answer your question: nothing is more “super” than fruits and veggies and whole grains. You may need to present them differently and call them different names. Instead of apples, call them “apple smiles” or “smiley fruit.” Or you could cook the apple in the microwave and fill the center with oats, a little brown sugar, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Call it the “apple cave.” Additionally, you can slice bananas and call them “wheels” or “flying saucers.” Another common one is “trees” for broccoli. (Cook and/or chop tough foods to prevent choking.)

Do you have a garden. Let your daughter help you. “Help” may mean play in the dirt, but at least it’s some exposure. Little by little her diet will change/improve. Just note: her stomach only holds a tiny bit of food compared to an adult’s, so you don’t have to worry if she only eats a couple cooked carrot sticks.

Kayris offered this simple recipe for a greek-style salad with quinoa when she read my review article quinoa – the unrecognized superfood

We love quinoa, and it IS so eay to prepare.

My favorite way to make it is in this Greek-style salad:
One cup quinoa, cooked as directed (or you can sub any other grain, I have made this with bulgur and also with couscous)
1 cucumber, chopped (peel it if you like)
1 large tomato, chopped
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Italian or Greek salad dressing until saturated (I usually use homemade Italian dressing)

Alina shared her success with herb tea instead of sugary drinks in response to shaking off a sweet addiction

I introduced herbal teas to my daughter who is now 16 months old. I wanted to offer her something different than just water and milk. And I didn’t want to go with juice which is so sweet, even when diluted. So I have offered her some basic, caffeine-free herbal teas such as chamomile. You can add ice as a refreshing cool drink or serve warm or at room temperature.

Like any new foods, I had to offer it to her many many times before she actually drank it. I think that’s where some parents go wrong with juice — it’s sweet so the child will drink it right away. But I have found my toddlers will eat non-sweet foods (or drinks), it just may take longer for them to like the taste. Also it really helps when they can see you drinking the same thing. And with tea, there is the fun part of preparing the tea…. adding the tea bag, waiting for it to steep, adding some ice, etc!

To any parents who would like to try offering tea in a sippy cup, make sure to read the label carefully because some herbal teas do contain caffeine or other “odd” ingredients.

Enjoy and let me know what is on your mind.

Photo Source: Just chaos on Flickr via everystockphoto

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Hope you all enjoyed the day’s festivities. Our twins had fun at their daycare where they got green milk for breakfast! It was quite a novelty for them since we don’t usually offer them colored or flavored milk. It was fun to see them proudly display their green milk moustache! They also threw a small party in the afternoon and invited the parents to come hang out with the kids and the teachers.

Green happens to be my favorite color, which is one reason I like this holiday. And when it comes to food, the nutritious value of green vegetables is unbeatable. That is why I want to highlight a few green recipes in this week’s Five for Fridays. Some of them are our own favorites which we have published before in our Simple Recipes column. A few others I found on blogs of some of my favorite bloggers. Check them out and feel free to share your personal favorite St. Patrick’s day recipes!

Pasta with spinach and mushrooms

Salmon and broccoli in green curry sauce

Avocado and pears salad

Rebecca has this Easy South Indian Spinach recipe on her Chow and Chatter blog

Jenna has this Green Macroni and Cheese recipe on her Kid Appeal blog. She also has a very nice lineup of other St. Patrick’s Day recipes you might want to check out!

Enjoy and do share your favorite green recipe!

As part of the National Nutrition Month®, March 10th this month was celebrated as the National Registered Dietitian (RD) Day. I have a lot of respect for registered dietitians – many have answered questions from readers in Ask the Expert column on this blog. I think this recognition is well deserved!

It is Friday again, which means it is time for the usual Five for Fridays! This week, I want to highlight 5 informative posts by registered dietitians who contributed to a recent blogfest. RD’s in this blogfest were asked a simple question – If you could give only one message, what would that be? There is a wide range of ideas from RD’s in response to this question! Check them out and leave a comment to share your opinions.

Get your kids interested in cooking

That is the message from Robin Plotkin in her post Give a kid a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a kid to fish, feed him for life! The idea is simple, yet quite powerful; one that has the potential to totally change our relationship with food and eating. Instead of relying on carry-outs, drive-thrus and ready-to-eat meals, you could get your kids involved in the whole process of putting food on the table. Get their input in meal planning, take them out for grocery shopping, and do a cooking project in the kitchen with them.

We have sort of getting started on it with simple projects like making chicken quesadillas! Try it out, it’s a lot of fun, although it takes a little planning.

Don’t label food as good or bad, enjoy it

In her post Enjoy food, Heather reminds us that food should not be labeled as good or bad; rather we should take a look at our behaviors and environment to find solutions to our diet and health related problems. We have become so separated from how our food is grown and where it comes from, that all we can rely upon is the nutrition facts panel on the box. The quality of food is determined by calories, fat, sugar, salt, protein, vitamins and minerals. Not by how it is made, how it is eaten and how it is shared with friends and family. There is a cultural aspect to food and eating which has gone completely missing from modern life.

Heather’s message is a simple reminder to enjoy food without guilt while still being mindful of what your body tells you. Get to know your food and choose natural or minimally processed foods. Her message resonated with me a lot especially after I read Michelle May’s book Eat what you love, love what you eat! The risk here is that if you don’t exercise mindful eating and don’t listen to your body, you can take this guiltless eating along a negative spiral. That works only in food advertising, not in real life!

Eating healthy at home is super easy, give it a shot

You don’t have to be a high-profile chef to prepare simple, wholesome, nutritious meal! Or go out of your way to find ways to include fruits and veggies in your daily diet. Simple, but creative, changes can help you eat healthy everyday according to these eat well tips from Janel. I like her simple approach and ideas for getting fruits and veggies at every meal. She also points out that just by keeping a small inventory of whole grains and proteins in your pantry, lean meats and frozen vegetables in your refrigerator, you can make a variety of combo meals simply by boiling water, heating an oven or opening a can of beans!

Once you get in the habit of preparing your meals at home from simple recipes, it becomes a part of daily routine and doesn’t seem like a big task. Getting your kids involved, as suggested by other bloggers, is also a good idea!

Formula for a healthy diet – 90% plants, 10% animal foods

You don’t need one diet for cancer prevention, one diet for diabetes and one diet for heart disease, says Diane Perves on her blog as she makes a case for a mainly vegetarian diet in her article Only one message. Simply increase the amount of plant based foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds and reduce the amount of animal based foods like meats and dairy. That is the core of dietary guidelines and a variety of diets. The sad fact of the Standard American Diet (SAD) is that the food triangle has been flipped on its head with vegetables at the bottom and animal products providing 70% of the daily calories.

Of course this does not mean that you need to go cold turkey on meat and dairy completely. What it means is that you can start out by making small changes as you work toward getting your food triangle sitting on its broad base rather than its pointy head!

To D or not to D, is no longer the question

Dietitian Debra is clear and emphatic in her recommendation that you take vitamin D supplements during pregnancy and also give it to your children. Food sources of vitamin D are rare and hours of sunshine limited during the winter. Recent data suggests a broad deficiency of vitamin D and recommendations are pouring in from experts about using a supplement and even taking more than the current daily recommendation of400 IU.

I do agree that vitamin D is very important for growing children. However, I am not convinced that there is widespread vitamin D deficiency and that it is very hard to get enough vitamin D in kids via food. All milk is fortified with vitamin D. So is several brands of orange juice. Kids cereals typically have vitamin D fortification. Eating fish even once a week can provide a lot of vitamin D. There is considerable disagreement about what can be considered as deficiency, especially in kids. And there is no real evidence to suggest that the daily dose should be increased beyond the current recommendation.

Having said that, there is no harm in using a supplement within the suggested dose if that offers you a peace of mind. There are always special situations where your child may definitely benefit. Here is how you can tell if your child may have a vitamin D problem. If you suspect that your child may be in this situation, consult with your doctor first.

Enjoy and let me know what is on your mind.

Photo Source: noahg on Flickr via everystockphoto

©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! This month, the American Dietetic Association is running its National Nutrition Month® campaign. It is a public awareness program designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. This objective is very much aligned with the focus of Littlestomaks because we are all about helping parents of toddlers make smart choices about their child’s nutrition and lifelong healthy eating habits.  That is why I will be supporting this campaign by writing articles along this year’s theme of Nutrition From The Ground Up. I would like to call upon my fellow nutrition and food bloggers to do the same! I am also open to ideas if you want to collaborate!

It is Friday again, which means it is time for the usual Five for Fridays! Here are 5 nutrition related articles that caught my eye. Enjoy and do share your opinion in the comments below.

Link between childhood obesity and heart disease gains strength

30% of obese 3-5 year old children show higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is linked to inflammation and is known to predict heart disease and stroke. This is nearly twice the rate at which high levels of CRP are seen in children with healthy weight. This data is based on a recent study of 16,000 children between the ages of 1-17 published in the journal Pediatrics and cited in this week’s Wall Street Journal.

It does not mean that children who show high levels of CRP will definitely develop heart disease when they become adults. This is because CRP can be elevated due to a lot of other reasons. Still, this is a strong link between obesity and heart disease and suggests that early childhood obesity needs our immediate attention. The question I would like to get answered is if these high levels of CRP can be reversed in obese children if their weight is managed as they grow. If I find out, I will write about it!

Flooded by snacks, kids are becoming constant eaters

Kids get 27% of their daily calories from salty, fatty and sugary snacks and constant nibbling starts as early as 2! This is what a recent snacking study found from surveys of over 31,000 kids. Clearly, this is becoming a big challenge for most parents who are trying hard to encourage their kids to develop healthy eating habits. Availability of all kinds of snacks combined with our culture of bringing something to eat for every event means that kids are constantly munching.

I think the main problem is that there is no separation anymore between a regular meal and snacks – which are supposed to manage our hunger level between meals and not act as a substitute. To that end, it is important to drive an understanding – and acceptance – of this notion of separating meals from snacks at an early age. And of course, we as parents have to be a role model by consistently showing the desired behavior.

It is not about healthy snacks, although a lot of products claim to be just that. It is about healthy choices which kids should be empowered to make right from the start. If they recognize their hunger cues, and are in the habit of eating full, wholesome meals at regular times, I am sure they will be able to manage snacks on their own.

If you are facing this situation, check out these handy tips on managing snacks and treats by one of our experts.

Confused about which diet to pick? Get your genes checked!

We have all heard about low-carb and low-fat diets, and you have probably tried them all! If nothing seems to work, check out this new technology of a genetic test for diet. It may just point you to the right direction!

It is yet another weapon in our fight against overweight and obesity. Now you can find out if you are genetically predisposed to lose weight on a low carb diet or on a low fat diet. In a study of 133 overweight women, a substantially higher weight loss was reported when their diet was matched with their genetic predisposition. A separate study shows that 45% of white women have the low carb genotype while 39% have the low fat genotype. The test looks at variations in 3 genes known to affect metabolism of fat and carbohydrates.

Don’t run out to get this test yet because these results are far from conclusive. More research is needed especially with a larger group of men and women across different racial demographics. It is an important trend however, we are finally in the era of personalized medicine and nutrition!

FDA issues warning letters to rein in food labels

This week the FDA issued several warning letters to 18 food companies including high profile names such as Nestle, POM Wonderful and Beech-nut. The big guns are out to shoot down the front-of-box claims, which according to some, are getting out of control these days. There are some, including the prominent Marion Nestle, who are suggesting an outright ban on these front-of-box labels.

If you look closely at the reasons for most of these warning letters you will notice something interesting. FDA is complaining that labels like “low sodium”, “low fiber”, “plus vitamins and minerals” are not allowed on products intended for children 2 years or younger because appropriate dietary levels have not been established for children in this age range. Now whose fault is that? Clearly, inaction from the FDA has created a vacuum which is being filled by savvy marketers. It is also clear that there is a need for front-of-the box labels. Busy consumers do not have time to read and absorb the Nutrition Facts and ingredients list on the back or side panels. They want something quick that helps them decide whether they should buy a certain product or not.

The rest of the world is already moving ahead with standardizing front-of-box labels, an example of which is the traffic light food labeling system. There is no perfect answer, but we need something that works. I hope the FDA takes this on and not simply try to appear like they are doing something by issuing warning letters!

Big Words from Little Foodies

Finally a shout out for my blogger friend Jenna of KidAppeal, who is running a weekly column on her blog called Big Words from Little Foodies. She is inviting toddler parents to share mealtime funny comments they hear from their kids in response to the food on the table. We have had a lot of fun lately with our twins as we try to engage them with funny stories and watch their response! Check out stories from other parents and recipes they have shared as part of this column. We too have contributed to it with articles like diesel food for a diesel engine and eating salad like a giraffe! Share your stories of mealtime fun in comments below.

Enjoy and let me know what is on your mind.

Photo Source: just jane on Flickr via everystockphoto
©2010 Littlestomaks.com

Greetings! I thought of doing something different for this week’s Five for Fridays. Here are 5 videos which caught my eye as I looked for food and nutrition related news. Let me know what you think!

Bode Miller the “ski champ” farmer

Did you know that Bode Miller grew up a vegetarian? I didn’t, until found this video on Phd in Parenting blog! I was so fascinated by it that I decided to dig up the original source. I finally tracked it down on Stonyfield yogurt’s website under their “Yotube” video channel. It makes a perfect pitch for Stonyfield – after all, Bode Miller is no ordinary champion. One unintended message out of this video may be that organic is for crazies only! I think the positioning needs to be a little more mainstream. In any case, this video has a great message aimed to inspire the younger generation.

Watch out! Jamie Oliver is bringing his food revolution to America

It’s official folks! We are a country of fat people. If you have doubts, just check out the statistics on Huntington West Virgina – half the adults are considered obese and rates of diabetes and heart disease lead the nation! Jamie has supposedly the secret formula that can change the mindset: we don’t wanna sit around and eat lettuce all day! It is hilarious and I think it is sure to get good viewership when the show airs on ABC in March. I think it will make great TV, and although I hope it makes a real difference, I am not holding my breath for it! Good luck Jamie anyway.

Tom Vilsack on child nutrition act

Secretary Tom Vilsack answers 5 questions about his plans to expand the child nutrition program. I am all for it; I continue to believe that hunger and obesity are two sides of the same coin. Improving access to nutritious food, including fruits and vegetables, and not just focusing on low salt, sugar and fat is a good idea. Childhood obesity is a serious problem we must address now.

Michelle Obama takes on childhood obesity

If you haven’t yet seen this video by the first lady, you have got to check it out. Even though I think her Let’s Move campaign is destined to disappoint, I do admire her initiative to improve the health of our nation. She has a great personality and her message is clear and in many ways quite inspiring.

Help! My baby is fat – are you serious?

Chubby babies are cute, but is there a thing called a “fat” baby? Well, according to some researchers, people who turn obese when they grow up, begin to show a sign as early as 3 months of age! I find that unbelievable and I think this is going to send a risky signals to new parents. Babies need healthy fat, which if they are exclusively breastfed, is very easy to accomplish. Don’t be afraid of fat; the key is to work towards developing healthy eating habits during toddler years. This is yet another example of how catchy headlines can create a sense of unnecessary anxiety. The video does have some good tips from Dr. Sanjay Gupta, so check it out!