by Jennifer Shakeel
Umm... What will your child choose?
When I was younger one of the things you looked forward to when you went to high school was being able to buy your lunch through the "snack line" instead of the hot lunch line. Yes you could get fries, chips, ice cream cookie sandwiches and such. That was high school a number of years ago but to us back then it was a sign of … well maturity, we weren't little kids anymore and the proof was that they were giving us the option of what type of lunch we wanted to buy.
I am sure you are wondering which line was the longest, hot lunch or snack line. In all honesty the hot lunch line was usually longer and the majority of "kids" that went into the snack line went because they were running late or the lunch being offered was disgusting. We all remember the Salisbury steak lunch that we all opted to go hungry over instead. But the majority of students, if they were eating, were eating the healthy hot lunch.
Today there seems to be a huge controversy over the food that is being served in school and how healthy it is. Some communities are going as far as banning vending machines and junk food from schools and quick marts that are close to the school in an effort to put a kabash on kids eating junk. I have yet to figure out why. Not why are people upset over kids consuming too much junk food, I think everyone should be concerned about that especially in our obese nation where childhood obesity is on the rise reaching numbers it has never seen before. READ More on Junk Food and Schools - Who is Responsible for What Kids Are Eating?
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How do our kids know that food is good for them? It seems that they can uncannily pick out the most nutritious item on their plates to turn up their noses at. That is especially true at our house! Whatever it is that gives them the inside scoop, as parents we need to find ways to counteract it.
While their may be kids who love their veggies, they seem to be few and far between… at least, none of them live at my house. Instead, we try to make things interesting enough so the kids will eat more of what is good for them and less of what isn't.
After many years of fighting with our kids about eating, sneaking vegetables into something where they wouldn't be noticed, and just about pulling my hair out, I have come to a couple of conclusions. Are you ready? Presentation is important. Yes, it's true. Kids like to see something nice on their plates. I don't mean to arrange food like you'd get at a high end restaurant… I mean it should be colorful and preferably bite size. This is why the original concept of fruit cocktail got the reputation of being great for kids… it was bite size and full of color and different shapes.
READ More on Making Healthy Foods Fun for Kids
If your child is overweight or obese, it’s not just your child’s problem but your whole family’s. There are many reasons a child develops a weight problem, but genetics and family environment definitely plays a factor. In fact, if a child has one parent who is obese, that child has a 50 percent chance of also being obese; the risk increases to 80 percent if both parents are obese.The key to helping your child beat obesity is to develop healthier habits for your whole family. Your child will not succeed at losing weight if he is munching carrot sticks while everyone else slurps chocolate milk shakes! In addition, change your habits slowly so that everyone has time to adjust to the new routines. Specific areas to focus on include better eating habits and more physical activity, as the only way to lose weight is to reduce the number of calories eaten and to increase physical activity.
READ More on A Family Solution to Childhood Obesity
Make it a New Years resolution for healthier family meals! Here are some tips and recipes to help get kids to eat their veggies
Eating plenty of veggies is important to a healthy diet. However, getting kids to eat vegetables is often difficult. Kids that are growing especially need to get the nutrition that are in vegetables and fruits, and even little toddlers need to get plenty of veggies in their diet. It can definitely be hard to get kids to eat their vegetables. The best time to introduce newer foods is while children are younger. Once they get beyond the age of four, it can be more difficult to introduce new foods. So, if you are trying to make sure that your kids eat a healthy diet and that they get plenty of vegetables, here are some top tips to help and some ideas for adding veggies into other recipes.
Tip #1 - Eat Veggies Yourself - First of all, if you really want your kids to eat their veggies, you are going to have to make sure that you eat some veggies yourself. After all, you'll that your kids aren't going to want to eat something that you are not going to eat. So, when you sit down to dinner, make sure that you don't push away the veggies or your kids are going to do the very same thing. If they see you eating the veggies, they will be more likely to eat the veggies too.
READ More on Getting Kids to Eat Their Vegetables - Tips and Recipes
by Stacey Schifferdecker
Childhood obesity is becoming ever more a problem not only in the United States but also in Europe and other developed countries as well. In the United States, experts estimate between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese, which means their weight is at least 10 percent higher than what is recommended for the height and body type. The statistics are just as alarming in other countries:
- From 1985 to 1995, the number of overweight and obese children in Australia more than doubled.
- Ten percent of six year olds in England are obese. If the current trend continues, half the children in England will be obese by 2020.
- 22 million of the 75 million children in the European Union are overweight. 5.1 million of these overweight children are obese.
READ More on Is Your Child Obese?
by Stacey Schifferdecker
Experts estimate that by the year 2010, almost 50 percent of children in North America will be overweight. We know why – kids gain weight for the same reasons adults gain weight: too much food and not enough exercise. And while we are probably all behind the drives to remove junk food and soda vending machines from our schools, are we similarly vigilant about the food in our homes?
Separate Snacks from Treats
A dietician once spoke at my children’s preschool and explained to us the very logical distinction she makes for her children between “snacks” and “treats.”
READ More on Snacks versus Treats: Encouraging Healthy Habits
The traditional image of the post-school hour is children skipping home to enjoy a glass of cold milk and some fresh-from-the-oven cookies. The reality is, most of us moms spend our days working at a job, running errands, or volunteering at our kids’ schools. The kids don’t walk or skip home – we pick them up or they go to an after-care program. And unless you just enjoy baking, your kids may only have fresh-from-the-oven cookies after you buy frozen cookie dough from the latest school fundraiser.
Does this change in lifestyle mean kids don’t need or want after-school snacks anymore? Absolutely not! Children need to eat every three to four hours to replenish their energy stores. With school lunch hours starting as early as 10:30 in some schools, your kids are likely to be famished by the time they get home from school.
Here are some ideas for easy, healthy after-school snacks for millennial moms:
READ More on Best After School Snacks
Remember when your baby began eating table foods? What joy it was to watch his reaction to each new food. He enjoyed some tastes, and he scrunched up his face at others. But put a food in front of him, and into his mouth it went.Fast-forward to toddlerhood. Your daring little taster now refuses anything but grilled cheese, chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese (usually the processed boxed kind). And, oh yeah, that grilled cheese had better be cut into triangles!
It may be comforting to know that you are not alone. Parents around the world are tearing their hair out as their little darlings refuse anything remotely nutritious. What can we do as parents without resorting to trying to force food down our kids?
READ More on Is Your Child a Fussy Eater? Tips For Healthy Eating
