Greetings! Here are 5 nutrition related articles that caught my eye this week. Enjoy and drop me a comment to share your thoughts.

Snacks are in, Meals are out

That is our eating culture today according to this story in the recent New York Times. Research conducted by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services between 1997 and 2002 found that fewer children ate 3 meals a day while the percentage of those who had a snack instead went up by 40%. This should hardly be a surprise since snacks are now available everywhere. And parents are asked to bring snacks to sporting events or other extracurricular activities. It is no wonder that the traditional family meal is no longer a tradition now except around the Holidays!

Right now, we are experiencing this problem first hand. It takes a lot of effort to create a distinction between mealtime and snack time. Healthy snacks have a place in a child’s diet, but when they begin to demand their favorite snacks at regular mealtimes, you have to draw the line. Snacks are meant to keep them from getting too hungry between meals. Not as a substitute for regular wholesome family meals. So we are trying to be gentle, yet firm in our approach to having our twins understand this difference. Share your tips for getting your child to eat regular meals and not demand snacks and mealtimes.

Obesity rates are flat, but that’s no reason to celebrate

New data from CDC suggests that obesity rates among US adults have reached a plateau, which means they are not rising anymore. But the bad news is that the number is quite high – nearly 34% of the US adults are obese, which is nearly double the number about 30 years ago. Although the number of obese children is at about 17%, this number as tripled over the same time frame. Some may see this as “halting the obesity epidemic”, but I think that attitude does nothing to solve the problem at hand.

This graph in the New York Times is interesting. It shows that Hispanic and African American children 2-5 year old have a higher rates of obesity (BMI is >95% of children in this age group) compared to White children of the same age. Same conclusion can be drawn for adults 20 and older. There is a clear correlation between race and, more importantly, the socioeconomic status, and obesity. And I don’t think there is any coherent strategy to target this group of people to solve this problem. There is no reason we should get complacent about “flat” rates of obesity in the US. This problem is deep and quite severe.

Fuel Up to Play 60

This is an interesting program sponsored by the National Dairy Council and the NFL to encourage kids to eat healthy, play at least 60 minutes a day and do fun activities in and out of school. Kids and Schools can enroll in a competition of sorts where they score points by tracking their food choices and activities. Even the USDA has joined in as a partner.

I think this is a great project. More than anything else, it will get kids to pay attention to what they are eating on a daily basis. I strongly believe in the power of measurement – you get better only when you measure. That is why tracking the food choices and physical activity is a good idea. And of course if they win, they get to hang out with NFL players, which is also very cool!

The only thing to watch out for is that undoubtedly dairy products including flavored milk will be pushed into schools and kids will be encouraged to grab them so they can “score” points. Milk is a far better option than soda or other sugary drinks in schools, but too much flavored milk is also not good. The reason is that it has added sugar in addition to the natural sugar found in plain milk.

Bottom line – stick to plain milk, eat fruits and veggies and give up on soda and junk food. But do bring this program to the attention of your child’s school if they don’t know about it. 60,000 schools have already signed up!

Here are 2 neat recipe ideas for you this week

Take the beef out of your burger and (still) enjoy the experience

Who doesn’t love to sink their teeth in a thick, juicy burger?! But with so many scary stories of E. coli contaminated beef recently, even the most devoted burger fan is probably looking for safer options. This article in the Well column of the New York Times offers 5 ways of enjoying a beef-less burger! You can make burger-like patties by combining fish, chicken, turkey, vegetables, beans  and mushrooms. Sounds like a good idea, certainly worth trying.

Cold quinoa salad with feta cheese

We like quinoa and we love feta cheese! That is why this simple recipe on The Nourished Kitchen caught my eye. First you cook the quinoa and chill it before preparing the whole salad. Aside from the feta cheese it also calls for chicken and pine nuts, both very healthy ingredients. I could also consider experimenting with finely chopped pieces of apple. Overall, it looks very good and worth a try.

Enjoy and let me know what is on your mind.

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

Oh no! It is Friday the 13^th! A coincidence maybe, but I just noticed that this is the 3rd Friday the 13th this year. Maybe that is why we are having a nightmarish year so far – there is simply no good news anymore! Hopefully things will change for the better soon.

Here are 5 nutrition related articles that caught my eye this week. Enjoy and drop me a comment to share your thoughts.

Toronto conference raises another red flag on vitamin D

If  you want to be heard, scream louder! That seems to have been the strategy of the conference organizers in Toronto who made loud proclamations like “breast cancer risk virtually eradicated by elevated vitamin D levels” and “97% of Canadians are vitamin D deficient and don’t even know it”. I love it when I hear attention grabbing headlines like these! Sounds like the vitamin D enthusiasts are getting desperate because their research so far has not been able to influence policy decisions by health officials.

Interestingly, a non-profit “grassroots” organization called Grassroots Health is leading this fight with their flagship D*Action panel of leading researchers in North America. They recommend 2000 IU of daily vitamin D and blood levels of 100-150 nmol/mL to reduce the risk of all kinds of chronic diseases. Their mission is to promote awareness of the vitamin D problem by educational seminars and encourage people to get their blood levels checked two times a year.

There is no consensus on optimal vitamin D levels, especially for children. Keep in mind that the current recommendation is 400 IU for infants, children and adolescents. Many “experts” believe children need about 10 times the current recommended levels! I am not really convinced of that and I don’t recommend you to fall for this kind of advice without testing and consultation with your pediatrician.

Will you raise your hand for chocolate milk?

The creators of the “Got Milk?” campaign now want you to encourage your children to “raise their hand” for chocolate milk in school. The logic is simple – kids are not drinking enough milk, vitamin D levels are low, chocolate milk is popular so why not let them drink more of it in school? It is not as bad as candy and soda anyway! Check this out:

I am not necessarily against this idea because it seems like a practical solution to a common problem. Some experts have opposed this idea because of extra calories coming from added sugar. Kids are getting enough sugar already so chocolate milk has no place in schools, they say.

What do you think? If you raise your hand for the chocolate milk mustache this time, try to cut those extra calories from somewhere else in your child’s diet.

By the way, I understand why this video would use dietitians to endorse this idea, but what’s up with the actors and models? Does their endorsement carry the same weight? But then, I probably don’t understand Marketing!

Getting the division of responsibility right in feeding toddlers

I was thrilled to read Dr Kathleen Cuneo’s sound advice in response to my guest post on her blog a couple of weeks ago about challenges of feeding toddlers using Ellyn Satter’s division of responsibility idea. 5 challenges that we have faced with our 3 year old twins are – can’t be sure if they are really full, they are not hungry at dinner time, they are distracted by TV, they are too tired and you are just too tired and “give in”.

As she promised, Dr Cuneo followed up with a couple of posts on her blog, which I strongly recommend you to read if you are facing a similar challenge. In her post Are They Really Full? she advises parents to acknowledge their fears and do a realistic assessment of how much their children are eating on average. Probably about what they need because they are naturally programmed to regulate their food intake. So keep your fears in check and use division of responsibility consistently.

Just like getting a workout buddy can keep you on track to burn those extra calories in the gym each week, a community-level program to fight childhood obesity is more likely to work based on recent experience in Europe. Together Let’s Prevent Childhood Obesity is a proven program in France (it goes by the name EPODE), which aims to build healthier habits over a lifetime by using all key stakeholders at the local level. First started in 2003, EPODE now extends to 1.8 million people across 167 French cities, 20 in Spain and 8 in Belgium. Greece and Australia are expected to follow soon. The results, measured by BMI of children have shown reduction in the percentage of overweight and obese children.

Why does it work so well? I think the key is making it a community level issue and not an individual issue. Also encouraging healthy habits, moderation and not stigmatizing certain foods. Mindful eating, peer pressure and involvement of key opinion leaders such as dietitians, chefs and school administrators seem to create a supportive environment for the individual.

Should we wait for our policy makers to wake up and act? Why not get a Mom’s group together and develop a simple action plan to address this problem in your community? What do you think?

Changing the way we eat in 2010 and beyond

Registered Dietitian Janet Helm provides a great preview of what we might expect in the 2010 revision of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Looks like the experts are considering the following recommendations – fight obesity, promote nutrient-rich foods, focus on nutrients of concern (vitamin D etc.), emphasize plant-based foods, highlight diversity of vegetables and cut the salt. How the exact guidelines will turn out, no one knows but we can probably expect more emphasis on these points. I think it is quite timely and a clear recognition of a link between what we put in our bodies and our present healthcare challenges.

There is no shortage of advice and guidelines and yet we are facing a public health crisis. I think the gap is in implementation and accountability.

Enjoy and do let me know what you think. I would love to have you share your best tips in comments below.

Photo source – everystockphoto

©2009 Littlestomaks.com