Diet drinks for children?!

In researching childhood obesity I recently came across an article which described parents giving their overweight or obese children diet drinks such as slimfast or medifast meals...I was quite shocked and alarmed.

While limiting calorie consumption is on the right track, a more nutritious choice for the developing bodies of children is to focus on 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day...As well as following the FDA food guide pyramid.
If parents or schools need guidance on how to take the weight off in a healthy fashion, there is a great website: Eat Smart Play Hard

Foods that boost brain power

Recent studies indicate that what you eat effects how you do in school. A recently released study shows that homegrown foods have a positive impact on everything from test scores to attendance. Most recently, the “Children’s Lifestyle and School-Performance Study,” which appeared in the April issue of the Journal of School Health, found that children—regardless of their socioeconomic status—performed better in school if they increased their fruit and vegetable intake and decreased their caloric intake from fat.

Many schools are implementing on-site gardens, so children can learn about where food comes from and have a direct experience of connection to their health.

One of the smartest responses I've read in regards to the rising costs of integrating organic foods into the cafeterias and school sites is from Vanessa Ruddy a parent of a 14 year old and a 2nd grader. “Compromising with food is compromising on children’s health.” Vanessa helped integrate an organic school lunch program at Lincoln Elementary in Washington.

There is an excellent lengthy article on all the efforts being made by many schools across the country. Feel free to read it here.

School lunch dilema

School districts across the nation are facing a difficult choice. Raise school lunch prices or offer fewer, less savory and less healthy options.

Given that schools are already taking a loss on each lunch served the outcome may be one of the first roll backs on the effort to stem the childhood obesity crisis.

While it costs about $3 to produce a school lunch, the U.S. Department of Agriculture pays districts $2.40 for meals eaten by children who are eligible for free lunches. For students who pay full price (unsubsidized), the average price nationwide for meals is $1.80.

School districts have touted the changes made to school meals, physical education programs and nutrition education since the 2004 federal Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act compelled them to implement wellness policies.

Florida district's Broward and Miami-Dade have cut artery-clogging trans fats from meals. Broward cut calories so much they were serving too few for the federal government's liking.

Broward's version of the policy reads, `the school cafeteria serves as learning laboratory to teach and practice good nutrition.''

The next test of our commitment in the childhood obesity battle will be to see how districts react to this dilema.

More on School lunch dilema.......

Other posts on school nutrition
Grants for school gardens
Produce for kids.org
Hawaii's food targets fit
Nutrition in Schools: Schooling on Nutrition

What does healthy look like?

Tips for healthy kids:

1) Provide them with at least five servings of vegetables and fruit a day.
What does that look like? a small apple, half of a banana, a handful of baby carrots, one celery stalk cut up and a stalk of steamed broccoli.

2) No sugary drinks: offer water once an hour, and 100% juice (1 serving/day), and or low fat milk.

3) Encourage children to be active. Buy them consumable equipment like balls, hula hoops, beanbags etc. Children will choose to be active when they have equipment to play with.

4) Set an example, by eating and drinking healthy options as well as by staying physically fit yourself.

Grants for school gardens

CFF School Garden Grant Program
This program administered by the California Fertilizer Foundation (CFF) offers a $1,200 unrestricted grant, a $50 gift card to Home Depot, and age-appropriate educational materials to California schools for gardening projects. At the end of each year, winning schools can re-apply for a progress grant of $1,500 and a free agricultural field trip.
http://www.calfertilizer.org/grant.htm
Deadline Date:
06/15/2008

Captain Planet Grant
Schools and non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for funding to involve children ages 6-18 in hands-on involvement projects to promote the understanding of environmental issues, including up to $500.00 for organic gardens. Application deadlines are March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31, 2008
For more information:
http://www.captainplanetfoundation.org/default.aspx?pid=3&tab=apply
Deadline Date:
06/30/2008

Healthy Sprouts Awards
Schools or organizations planning to garden with 15 or more children and youth between the ages of 3 and 18 with a focus on nutrition and/or hunger are eligible to apply for materials gift certificates, seeds, curriculum, and support from the National Gardening Association.

To learn more go to http://www.kidsgardening.com/healthysprouts.asp
Deadline Date:
10/18/2008

2009 Youth Garden Grants
Schools or community organizations that have child centered garden with an educational, nutritional, environmental, and/or social focus are eligible to apply for the 2009 Youth Garden Grant Awards sponsored by Home Depot and the National Gardening Association.

For more information go to http://www.kidsgardening.com/YGG.asp
Deadline Date:
11/01/2008

Nutrition in Schools: Schooling on Nutrition

Childhood obesity is the public health crisis affecting the world!

Explore:

1) What lead to the current epidemic?

2) What research tells us about the schools’ influence on childhood obesity?

3) What schools can do?

USDA Eat Smart Play Hard

for free materials!

http://www.fns.usda.gov/EATSMARTPLAYHARD/

LISTEN HERE

Washington Post Series on Solutions to Childhood Obesity

The Washington Post series on the Childhood Obesity Epidemic began on Sunday, May 18 and continues through May 22. It is the position of the Washington Post that "we are all responsible for the childhood obesity epidemic: parents, government, schools, communities, companies, the health system. This five-day series searches for solutions."

Topics for the 5 day series on Childhood Obesity are listed below and can be reached at the following link.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/childhoodobesity/index.html?hpid=topnews

PART 1: Sunday
* » Obesity Threatens a Generation
* » How to Choose Healthy and Keep Your Taste Buds Happy
* » Overview of Childhood Obesity
* » Facts You Should Know

PART 2: Monday
* » Inertia at The Top
* » Making Headway or Headed Nowhere?
* » High Profile Campaign Becomes Past Tense
* » What the Candidates Say
* » 21,000 Calories in Two Hours at High School
* » A Smart Snack Machine

PART 3: Tuesday
* » The District | Produce-deprived, over half the kids in some wards are heavy.
* » The Suburbs | They seem to have it all and are still overweight. Why?
* » Controversial "fat school."

PART 4: Wednesday
* » One big barrier to healthy lunches: parents.
* »The new PE: If schools can't offer more, they'll try for better.
* » Nutritionist heeds the taste buds of students.
* » School lunch makeovers

PART 5: Thursday
* » Doctors, researchers are perplexed.
* » Maneuvering restaurant food.
* » A longtime culprit makes an "epochal" shift.

Hawaii's food targets fit

"Ultimately, at the end of the day, we are making decisions that benefit all students," said Hawaii DOE Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto. She was speaking about Hawaii's recent legislation that requires physical activity and makes dramatic changes in the way school lunches are prepared and served. Over the next four years schools are required to phase out foods and drinks high in fat and sugar and will be promoting more healthy food choices. They will be required to provide educational lessons in the importance of physical activity and healthy nutrition choices.

Hawaii's New Nutritional standards for food on campus
All snack and beverage items served or sold on school property, including fundraising items, must meet the following standards:

Based on manufacturer’s nutritional data or nutrient facts labels (per serving).
TOTAL FAT No more than 8 grams
SATURATED FAT No more than 2 grams
TRANS FAT 0 grams
CALORIES No more than 200
SODIUM No more than 200 milligrams
SUGAR No more than 8 grams
DIETARY FIBER More than 2 grams
ALL BEVERAGES Not to exceed 12 ounces, except for water and milk.
PRODUCTS CONTAINING 2% MILK FAT OR MORE Not to exceed 8 ounces
Source: State of Hawaii

Sound like an interesting idea? Check out the Peaceful Playgrounds We Count Walking Program with lessons on nutrition and physical activity.

Other blogs on school nutrition and fitness.

Recess Before Lunch: Breaking with Tradition

Olympic hopefuls inspire kids to get up and get moving

Free Nutrition and Physical Activity Materials

The Go Healthy Challenge

Produce for kids.org

Go Visit Produce for Kids to get:

For Kids

• healthy recipe ideas for kids'
• tips for kids IE: Why fruits & veggies are good for you, brain food for all that you do & a food guide pyramid for kids
  
• as well as fun games for kids with Curious George, the cookie monster and many more colorful friends.
  

For Adults

• Register to win a family vacation
• Recipes for the whole family
• Resources for topics like obesity, FAQs on childhood, and the PFK advisory board

Another great resource to keep your kids healthy and fit!

Previous posts on nutrition:

Got Milk? Rewards Moms...

New Study: Cutting Fat & Sugar in Schools

Free Nutrition and Physical Activity Materials

Recess Before Lunch: Breaking with Tradition

Got Milk? Rewards Moms...

The got milk campaign is taking time to reward Mom's for being the nutritional gatekeepers in their homes and for keeping kids healthy! Mom's are being dubbed the 72% solution, because it has been discovered that moms influence 72% of what kids eat and drink.

This campaign is being called Project Mom. Moms can be rewarded with a $100,000 paycheck, for keeping their kids healthy. The campaign notes, one small change like serving lowfat or fat free milk instead of sugary soft drinks and fruit drinks can make a big difference in the health and weight of children and teens. Studies show that children who drink milk instead of sugar-sweetened drinks tend to be leaner and have better quality diets that are richer in essential nutrients -- particularly calcium, which is so vital for growing children.

There are a ton of resources on their website for moms. Go check it out!

Similar Posts: New Study Cutting Sugar and Fat in Schools
Recess Before Lunch: Breaking with Tradition
Free Nutrition and Physical Activity Materials
From Farm to School Lunchroom

Oklahoma moves to increase physical activity in schools

New legislation in Oklahoma has passed doubling the amount of class time devoted to physical activity includeing: physical education, exercise programs, fitness breaks, wellness and nutrition education for the state's youngest students. The bill calls for an increase from 60 minutes a week to 120 minutes a week. The requirement will apply to students in kindergarten through the fifth grade.

The measure was approved by the Senate on Tuesday and now goes to Gov. Brad Henry.

Policy makers acknowledged an obligation to do all they can to reverse a growing epidemic of childhood obesity.

New Study: Cutting Fat & Sugar in Schools

by Andrea Bossenmeyer

The new issue of The Journal of Pediatrics, published a Temple University study showing the true power schools do have in reducing rates of obesity.

The researchers chose to examine schools impact in reducing obesity, factoring in that kids eat 1-2 meals at school per day. They went into 10 schools and revamped their menus. Soda was replaced with water, fruit juice and low-fat milk; snacks were capped at 7 grams of total fat and 2 grams of saturated fat; and candy was eliminated. Additional factors besides nutrition revamp, was nutrition education and parental involvement.

The research study was successful in reducing the amount of new cases of obesity by half; however was unsuccessful in reducing the amount of children who were already obese.

To read more : Philadelphia Study

TV Turnoff week April 21st-27th

"TV Turnoff week promotes the idea that limiting screen time and boosting physical activity can lead to healthier living, sponsored in part by the Center for Screen Time Awareness (CSTA) and We Can!, a science-based national education program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) makes the following recommendations for physical activity and tv watching time:

• Limit TV viewing and video game playing to two hours a day
• Boys should take a least 11,000 steps daily
• Girls should take at least 13,000 steps a day

"Children not meeting the physical activity or exceeding the screen time recommendations were 3-4 times more likely to be overweight than those complying with both recommendations," Laurson says in a news release. Laurson is from an Iowa State Research Study.

There is continuous researching documenting links between the more screen time a child has, the more likely they are to be obese and not reaching daily exercise recommendations. Childhood obesity is linked to type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and asthma. All serious threats to a child's quality of life & lifespan.

To read more about turn off tv week
or incentives...

Recess Before Lunch: Breaking with Tradition

As an educator, I'm the first to admit that getting things to change inside the education system is like turning a huge cruise ship around in a small harbor. Possible but not probable and it requires lots of maneuvering. However, a few principals across the nation are doing just that and bringing a long standing school tradition to an end, they are advocating recess before lunch.

In doing so they are finding some amazing results: kids eat more, waste less food, return to class calmer, behave better and as a result instructional time is increased.

It seems to be working for middle schools and elementary schools alike. “We’ve been doing it for three years, and it has made all the difference in the world, especially in the afternoon classes,” said Kim Anderson, principal of Central School, a grade 5 to 8 school in Whitefish, Montana. “They used to come in [from recess] hot, sweaty, and fired up. It would take teachers five or six minutes to get them back to a teachable mode. We’ve reclaimed five to ten minutes of instruction time every day.”

Two elementary schools that switched recess and lunch also reported healthier, happier students. Post-recess ailments were among the reasons North Ranch Elementary School in Scottsdale, Arizona, changed its schedule. “We got the idea [of recess before lunch] from the school nurse who had been to a conference,” said principal Dr. Sarah Hartley. “It gets very hot here, and the kids were eating and then playing in the heat. The nurse was reporting a lot of headaches and stomachaches after lunch.”

North Ranch was the first elementary school in its district to make the change; now 16 out of 31 elementary schools have switched.

Katie Bark, a dietician who is a member of the Montana Team Nutrition Program, said her group has been researching the affects of holding recess before lunch for several years. The project is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture; one of the directives from the USDA is for schools to develop a healthy nutritional environment.

The team developed some guidelines for schools interested in changing their schedules, called Recess Before Lunch Policy: Kids Play and then Eat!

Click for complete Education World Article.

Olympic hopefuls inspire kids to get up and get moving

Click on arrow to view PSA.
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said, "Now we have television, video games, the Internet - and an epidemic of childhood obesity. We need to get kids up and moving, and that is what these Olympic hopefuls are doing with the Public Service Announcements.

Free Nutrition and Physical Activity Materials

Eat Smart. Play Hard materials are a great free resource from the USDA.

Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM provides practical tools to help you motivate children and their caregivers to eat healthy and be physically active. Messages and materials are fun and based on MyPyramid and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

What should kids and parents eat and do for good health? The answer is just a “click” away at USDA’s new Eat Smart. Play Hard.™ web pages for kids and parents. The kids’ web page provides interactive learning and skill-building experiences in a virtual community setting. The web page encourages and motivates kids to make better lifestyle choices using kid-friendly entertaining techniques. In others words, the web page is fun!

Related posts:
Making Food Fun and Mighty Moves

Pedometers spur physical activity

Obesity the new "normal"

This article was copied in its entirety because it gives such a great perspective...
post submitted by Andrea Bossenmeyer

Of all the challenges to reversing our national obesity epidemic, the one that concerns me most is what I call the "distortion of normality." While constants in science (physical values or principles) are well known and don't change, life has far fewer "constants."

The constants we tend to adhere to most often are defined by our culture. Case in point: our relationships with food.

What we like to consider normal food intake and portions are far from constant. Aside from the differences between mainstream America and other countries, many of our internal definitions of "normal" change from generation to generation.

Take for example dress sizes. In 1933, the hip measurement for a size 8 dress was 33 1/2 inches. Today, a size 8 hip measurement is 38 inches. The average American today weighs 24 pounds more than in 1960.

But consider food and drink portions. A serving size of soda in 1956 was 8 ounces. Today, the standard size is 20 ounces. The standard adult meal serving at McDonald's in 1971, which consisted of a hamburger, bag of french fries and an 8-ounce drink, is what we now call a child's meal. Read the labels; many children's fast food meals are really adult portions.

Besides humongous soft-drink cup sizes, what about those bagels or doughnuts the size of spares tires on a Volkswagen? Or muffins the size of a grapefruit? Bags of chips are larger than ever, cookies seem as big as Frisbees; burgers have two, sometimes three patties stacked on the bun.

Now consider this: To your child, these portions are the definition of "normal" they will grow up with and pass on to their children.

Anyone with this sense of history should not be surprised that we're all getting larger. By the end of the first year of life, the typical American baby is overfed by 250 calories a day.

According to a recent study, factors known to have the greatest effect on encouraging childhood obesity include 1) being Hispanic, 2) having an overweight mother, 3) taking a baby bottle to bed, and 4) having a low or high (more than 9 pounds) birth weight. While three of these can't be changed, one can. Breast feeding reduces the risk of child obesity by 4 percent for every month the infant is nursed. It also helps mom lose weight gained during the pregnancy.

While "normal" is defined by the times and our culture, we can't escape one universal constant: Newton's first law of thermodynamics.

Simply stated, energy cannot be created or destroyed, it only changes form. Energy, in the form of excess calories, is either burned up (typically by exercise) or is turned into body tissue with all the extra calories becoming fat.

We live in a fast food and processed food subculture, driven by speed, cost and convenience. In this kind of culture, obesity, or at least a greater acceptance of it, has become the new normal.

In 1986, 55 percent of Americans considered overweight people less attractive. Today, only 24 percent of Americans carry the same beliefs. Attitudes are changing and we've become much more accepting of obesity. Is that how overweight and obesity will become the "new normal" of the 21st century?

I've had kids brought into my clinic because the parents are concerned that their child was "too small" when in reality their son or daughter was normal for height and weight, but smaller than their siblings, cousins or friends. Because so many of the family members are oversized or obese, any members who are normal by standard growth charts are looked upon as underweight or too small.

Every few decades, new charts for defining normal growth and development are created. When the next charts are issued, childhood overweight and obesity will then truly become part of the medical establishment's definition of normality.

The explosion of food portion sizes and the calories that accompany it create an imbalance in our kids' perception of what is appropriate versus what is normal. Is it "normal" for your child to consume a single bag of microwave popcorn while drinking a 20-ounce soda? Read the nutrition facts label on each product and you'll see that those two items have enough calories for almost three adults.

The standard candy bars are 100 percent larger than just a few years ago; and with 100 percent more calories, too. Again, remember that these food experiences will define and shape your child's perception of what is normal.

Child obesity is the new "normal" of the 21st century. It will remain that way if portion sizes are uncontrolled or are not checked by parents and in home attitudes about proper eating. Many experts say that we live in a toxic food environment.

Make the home an oasis from the problem, not its focal point. Failure to do so will continue to drive higher rates of early childhood obesity, Type 2 diabetes, early heart disease and a shortened life expectancy.

Dr. Stephen Ponder, who has Type 1 diabetes, has been a pediatric endocrinologist for 20 years. He is director of the Children's Diabetes and Endocrine Center of South Texas at Driscoll Children's Hospital. Contact him at 694-4864 or stephen.ponder@dchstx.org

The Go Healthy Challenge

Nickelodeon, Alliance for a Healthier Generation and American Heart Association have teamed together to create the Go Healthy Challenge.

You can learn about healthy snacks and pledge your reason for taking the challenge.

There are videos, nutrition information, and much more...All designed with kids in mind! Spread the word about this fun kids site.

Healthier Food Choices Can Be Taught

Results of a new study to be released today in the April issue of Pediatrics will show that healthier food choices and removal of high calorie foods in school vending machines makes a difference. Additionally snacks were scaled back and they banished candy. researchers handed out raffle tickets for wise food choices and spent hours teaching kids, their parents and teachers about good nutrition.

It paid off. The number of kids of obese children during the two-year experiment was half the number of kids who got fat in schools that didn't make those efforts. It's a really dramatic effect from a public health point of view.

Public health officials have long maintained that schools are ideal settings for programs that target childhood obesity. Children spend long hours each day at schools and eat lunch and often breakfast at school. But previous school-based programs have had mixed results. The Philadelphia study put to the test a program developed by the Food Trust, a local nonprofit which works to improve access to affordable, healthy food.

A child's view of "healthy diet"

By Andrea Bossenmeyer

A new report asked children what a healthy diet is, and they responded "One in which you do not gain weight." Rather than a diet that gives you all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals you need to grow and develop.

They also interviewed children as young as four. The research indicates that children can be strongly prejudiced against overweight people. Children had little sympathy for people who are overweight. Their perception was that these people are lazy and responsible for their condition.

The kids said that weight and size was how they determined a healthy person. They determined that the unhealthy effects of eating bad shows only externally (fat, skin issues, bad teeth), the children didn't consider internal consequences.

The report also found that while children were well able to recognize healthy foods from unhealthy foods, when they were given the option of a nutritious lunch or a meal with a high sugar content, they tended to opt for the unhealthier option.

To read more about the The Voice of Young People Report

Related Blogs on nutrition and Overweight
What consists of an appropriate snack?
Nutrition training changes eating habits of preschoolers.