A little effort goes a long way when it comes to weight loss. And that goes for your kids, as well. A new study examined the consequences of family health programs on very obese children. They found that even modest weight loss had significant health benefits.
According to the researchers, there hasn’t been much research done on these kinds of programs for severely obese children.
“Modest weight loss is associated with real health benefits. That’s the take-home message, it’s worth doing,” says Dr. Marsha D. Marcus of the University of Pittsburgh, one of the authors of the study.
Being a busy mom, I find that mornings are especially chaotic and not friendly to a leisurely, home-cooked breakfast. Not only that, my kids’ favorite breakfasts involve foods that are high in fat and calories and not healthy choices. One of the best breakfast options out there is cereal. So many cereals on the shelf are full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colorings and lacking in protein – but appealing to kids, thanks to colorful pictures, candy-like flavors and cartoon characters. It’s hard to find a cereal that pleases both children and parents, but it is possible. Here are some guidelines that I try to follow when I’m shopping for cereal. (Psst – I never bring the kids.)
- Keep the sugar low - I remember when I was a child my mom always told me never to buy cereal with a sugar count over the magic number of “10.” Ten grams of sugar means that the box is 10% sugar, and that’s high enough for it to still be tasty.
What do you get when you combine the forces of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Dairy Council (NDC) and the National Football League (NFL)? A powerhouse team of knowledge, muscles and nutrition.
On September 17, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA will partner with the NDC and the NFL on their new youth-led health and wellness program, Fuel Up to Play 60. The program, launching to more than 60,000 schools nationwide this fall, will empower youth to take charge of their own health by being more active and eating healthier foods as well as improve the overall health of their school environment and community.
The program is open to all children and participation is quite simple:
I was shocked to see a report on the news this morning where it was reported that heart disease begins in childhood. Childhood, people! The time of innocence and Popsicles, riding bikes to the store for a bag of Doritos, chasing the ice cream man and birthday parties galore – oh, yeah, heart disease begins in childhood. I can see that. Apparently, so can scientists who have looked at autopsies of children as young as five who died in accidents and found evidence of fat lining the arteries of the heart. More children than ever are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and everywhere you look you see children as big as adults.
I have lots of kids. Lots of kids means lots of treats and lots of birthday parties, lots of trips to the beach with snacks and lots of visits to the movie theater where it’s much cheaper to buy the jumbo popcorn – after all, SOMEONE will eat it, right? Well, no. It’s my job as a parent to keep them healthy, and in my house, that means limited fast food, no juice (except for V-8) and cakes and cookies on special occasions.
The week of September 20 is Autism Awareness Week at DietsInReview.com.
Guest blogger Jean is a mom to three young sons, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. She has spent many years trying to find ways to entice her autistic son to eat healthy food. She writes about her life and her kids on her blog, Stimeyland.
“C’mon, Jack, just take one bite. Please?”
You hear this a lot at my house. Jack is my autistic son, and he does not care for new food. Nor does he care for familiar food, especially if it is a fruit or vegetable. He has about 15 foods he will happily eat, and he is usually unwilling to stray outside that list.
We’ve tried many things to get him to eat: Fruit in smoothies! Vegetables hidden in spaghetti sauce! Raisins hidden in cookies! But he just takes one tiny sip of the smoothie and walks off. He cleans the sauce off of his pasta with his cup of milk. And if he finds a raisin in his cookie, he will spit it out. In fact, he’s started to avoid cookies because of the unwelcome surprises he’s found in them.
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