Childhood Obesity & Parents’ Healthy Food Confusion
Cheryl Haining

Many parents struggle to know which foods are healthy for their children. When they are able to opt for healthy choices, about two-thirds struggle to get their children to eat healthily, a poll of nearly 800 parents found. Developing Patient Partnerships (DPP), which commissioned the survey, said that parents need more support to tackle the growing problem of childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has tripled in the past 20 years, official figures show.
Recent studies suggest that parents do not know what good nutrition is. Perhaps advertising of fast foods, and busy life styles has contributed to this. Nutritional meals can be prepared quickly and simply at home.

Of the parents of children aged 15 years and younger questioned by the DPP, 45% said they found it difficult to work out which foods were healthy for their children. When parents did select healthy foods, 65% said they struggled to motivate their children to eat it. Three-quarters of parents blamed advertising and marketing of unhealthy snacks and drinks for making this job so difficult. Another 87% believed that schools should play a big role in teaching children how to be healthy.

When more than a thousand children aged seven to 16 were questioned about their lifestyles, 70% said they would be more likely to eat healthily and get active if their parents were doing it. Only 16% said they ate the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. This suggests that parents are not making healthy food choices themselves. There are strong links between obesity and ill health. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare lists the following increased risks of cancers in obese people:-
MenWomen
Cancer% Increase RiskCancer%increase Risk
Prostate23Uterus178
Leukaemia43Kidney110
Bowel53Bowel35
Liver128Liver48
Gallbladder76Breast71

Statistics such as these are a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining a healthy weight level. Children must be given every opportunity to have a healthy body. In order to get their family on track to a healthy lifestyle parents need to learn how to feed themselves and their family good nutrition.
A simple way to improve nutrition is to add raw fruit and vegetables to family diets. These are foods that have no preservatives or added color. They provide plenty of vitamins, mineral, antioxidants, fiber, water and trace elements. (All necessary for good nutrition.) They look appetizing and have high water content. They have a firm texture which means we need to chew them well. This aids the digestive system. The body quickly and easily processes them. This means less work for the digestive system.
They are natural, that is, not processed and pre-packaged with extra chemicals. They are pure energy – living foods. Look for different colored vegetables and fruits when you shop. Experiment with ones you have never tasted. Visit a market for more variety and fresher foods. Eat at least one from each group every day.

Red/Purple Group includes tomatoes, watermelon, berries, cherries, and grapes
Orange/Yellow includes carrots, sweet potato, squash, mangoes, cantaloupe, apricots, oranges, mandarins pineapples and many stone fruits
Yellow/green among this group are avocado, spinach, beans, peppers, corn, beans, broccoli, green leafy vegetables,
White/green some in this group asparagus, celery, garlic, leeks, mushrooms, pears
For more information read, “What Color is Your Food” by Dr D Heber.

Experiment with adding these to your daily diet. Of course a balanced diet must also include daily servings of dairy, whole grains and protein. Start with the simple idea of adding more fresh fruit and vegetables to the family’s daily food intake. This simple step will have fantastic and long lasting impact on your health.

About the Author

Cheryl Haining is a skin care, body shape and nutrition coach. She has her own successful business. Her mission statement is to ensure everyone reaches his or her optimum body shape, size and condition. Contact Cheryl at www.uloseweight.net To learn how to create an income stream from home visit
www.keybusinesstips.info

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Brown bagging it the healthy way
Tony Robinson

When enjoying a healthy lifestyle, one of the biggest challenges
is making meals on the go. Brown bagging is even more difficult
when children are involved, but it is still possible to create
delicious, nutritious brown bag lunches that the whole family
will love.

The most important part of creating healthy, delicious brown bag
lunches is choosing the foods that will go into those brown
bags. It is important to choose foods that are easy to put
together, and to include foods that everyone in the family
likes. Including everyone’s favorite foods is a great way to
make sure the lunches will be eaten instead of traded for
Twinkies.

When creating healthy brown bag lunches for yourself and your
family, try to choose at least three choices from the following
list.

At least one fruit or vegetable, either fresh, canned
or frozen. Some good choices include apples, bananas and
oranges. Fruit salad also makes a great choice for brown bag
lunches. A whole grain product like bread, a tortilla
shell, a bagel, pasta, rice or muffins. Milk or dairy
products like low fat or nonfat yogurt, skim milk, cheese or a
yogurt drink or shake. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs,
peanut butter, legumes or hummus A healthy vegetable or
fruit salad

It is a great idea to involve the whole family in the
preparation of these brown bag creations. Why not have a family
session where everyone creates their own healthy brown bag
lunches using the ingredients you provide? Lay out all the
healthy foods, selected from the above list, and let everyone
choose their favorites. Involving the kids in meal planning at
an early age is a great way to help them learn to make healthy
food choices throughout their lives.

Packing those brown bag lunches can be exciting and fun for the
whole family. For instance, why not let every member of the
family choose his or her own special lunch box or bag? Other
good ideas and tips for brown bag lunches include setting aside
one shelf in the fridge for lunch fixings and finished lunches,
and setting aside a drawer in the cupboard for all the packaging
required, such as plastic bags, plastic cutlery, napkins, and
straws.

Of course, keeping the variety in brown bag lunches is very
important, both for the adults and the kids. There are some
great suggestions for keeping everyone from getting bored,
including:

Use a variety of different breads in your sandwiches.
Use a combination of wheat bread, rye bread and pumpernickel, in
addition to interesting bread alternatives such as tortilla
wraps, bread sticks and whole wheat crackers. Pack bite
size vegetables, such as baby carrots, broccoli florets and
pepper slices, along with a low fat dipping sauce. Add
bit size fruit like grapes, blueberries, orange wedges and
strawberries. Use only 100% fruit juice in brown bag
lunches. Avoid fruit drinks and blends, which often contain less
than 10% real fruit. Pick up a variety of single
serving cereal and let everyone choose their favorites. 
Buy a good selection of flavors of nonfat or low fat yogurt
every week, and let everyone choose their favorite flavor every
day. Pack a variety of dried fruit in your family’s
brown bag lunches.

Of course the kids are not the only ones who can enjoy healthy
brown bag lunches. Mom and dad can also join in the fun. After
all, brown bag lunches are a lower cost, and healthier
alternative to lunches out.

Some of the most popular choices for brown bag lunches, both for
children and their parents, include leftovers from the night
before (pasta, rice and potato dishes are great choices), cheese
and crackers, leftover veggie pizza, or a quick sandwich rollup
using a soft tortilla shell or pita bread.

One great way to enjoy a variety of healthy new foods is to form
a lunch partnership with four or five other coworkers. Everyone
takes turns bringing lunch for everyone. This can be a great way
to enjoy healthy new foods and gather some great new recipes.

About the author:

Tony Robinson is a Company CEO, webmaster husband and dad. In
his busy lifestyle he has placed importance on health and
fitness. Visit http://www.eat-healthily.com for good eating tips
and techniques to assist you maintain a healthy lifestyle.

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Eating healthy is something we all would like to do, although it can be hard. In order to eat healthy, you must first make the right food choices. Eating healthy is all about what you eat, which makes the choices very crucial to your results.

Grains
You should consume 6 ounces of grains per day. To do this, you can eat 3 ounces of whole grain cereals, breads, rice, crackers, or pasta. You can get an ounce of grains in a single slice of bread, or 1 cut of cereal.

Vegetables
These should be varied, as you should eat 2 1/2 cups of them each day. You should start eating more of the dark vegetables, such as broccili and spinach. Carrots and
sweet potatoes are good as well. You should also eat more dry beans such as peas, pinto beans, and even kidney beans.

Fruits
Fruits are very important. You should try to eat 2 cups of them each day. Focus on eating a variety, such as fresh, frozen, canned, or even dried fruit. You can drink fruit juices as well, although you should use moderation when doing so.

Milk
Milk is your calcium rich friend. For adults, 3 cups is the ideal goal. For kids 2 – 8, 2 cups is where you want to be. When choosing milk products or yogurt, you should go for fat-free or low-fat. Those of you who don’t like milk or can’t have it, should go for lactose free products or other sources of calcium such as fortified foods and beverages.

Meat and beans
Eating 5 ounces a day is the ideal goal, as you should go lean with your protein. When eating meat, always bake it, grill it, or broil it, as this will prevent grease from
adding to the equation. You should vary your protein as well, with more fish, beans, peas, and nuts.

When cooking your food, you should also limit solid fats such as butter, margarine, shortening, and lard. These foods may add flavor to your dishes, although they can
also help raise your cholesterol as well. Therefore, you should try to add these foods and any foods that happen to contain them.

To help keep your saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium low, you can check the nutrition facts label. This label can be found on the food package and will tell you all the
information you need to know about the food item.

By picking your foods wisely and watching what you eat, you’ll help control your lifestyle. Exercise is great as well, as it goes along perfect with a healthy eating
lifestyle. No matter what your age may be, eating healthy will help you keep your active lifestyle for years and years – even help you and your health in the long run
as well.

Tags: Atkins, Broccili, Butter Margarine, Dry Beans, Eating Habits, Eating Meat, Foods And Beverages, Fortified Foods, Fruit Juices, Fruits And Vegetables, Grains, Healthy Food Choices, Kidney Beans, Lactose Free Products, Lard, Milk Products, Pinto Beans, Rice Crackers, Rich Friend, Shortening, Sources Of Calcium, Sweet Potatoes, Whole Grain Cereals —

There are many things in a person’s life that have a direct impact on their overall health or even specific aspects of their health. One thing that has a serious impact on a person’s health is how they eat.

Good nutrition is a very important part of staying healthy. Healthy food choices mean a healthier body. There are a couple different reasons for this. For one thing if a person consumes large amounts of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and lean meats their bodies get an abundance of many important vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

Another reason that eating healthy keeps a person in good health is not because of what these foods contain but rather what they don’t. For example many prepackaged and processed foods contain large amounts of fats and hydrogenated oils. These are things that not only will cause a person to gain weight but they can lead to issues such as clogged arteries and various other heart problems as well.

Salt is another thing that should be used in moderation. Yes, salt makes our food taste good and give it flavor but it also has its negative points too. One such negative issue that often occurs from the excessive use of salt is high blood pressure. This is especially true if you are already prone to develop this condition due to family history or other risk factors. It is for this reason that there are so many salt free options for seasoning and flavoring food. Many of these taste even better than if salt was used and contain little or no salt.

Sugar is another food that can wreak havoc with a person’s body. While it may be true that a certain amount of sugar is needed to fuel the body, too much can be a very bad thing. Sugar can be particularly dangerous to someone who has been diagnosed with diabetes. For people such as this the amount of sugar which is consumed must be monitored very carefully. Natural sugar such as that found in fruits and other healthy foods is always a much better choice than adding sugar to other types of foods.

Although it may seem that there are a lot of foods that a person should steer clear of or at least limit their intake of there are also a lot of foods that are good to eat and taste just as good as well. For instance fruits such as strawberries, grapes, apples and oranges make great snacks that are much healthier than salty potato chips or super sweet candy bars.

As you can see there are many ways a person can control their health simply by watching what they eat. The healthier the food choices that you make the better your health will be as a result. It is important to remember that eating healthy does not have to taste bad; there are many healthy foods that taste really good too.

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