Category Archives: Kids

Mercury: Fish to Avoid

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Mercury: Fish to Avoid

How much mercury does this fish have?

Fish can be a part of a healthy diet (but are by no means essential to a healthy diet, so vegan friends keep on vegging out!).  Unfortunately, many popular fish are high in mercury.  Mercury is a heavy metal that we do not need in our systems to survive.  In fact, there is no safe amount of mercury that we know of.  As parents, we have an obligation to protect our children as much as possible.  One way to do this is to avoid feeding kids fish high in mercury.  Pregnant women also need to avoid mercury as much as possible, as mercury can cross the placental barrier.

Fish as a Source of Mercury

Preparing fish

While some mercury is naturally discharged into the environment, much mercury is added to the environment by human industry.  Industries often discharge large amounts of waste products into our water sources.  Elemental or inorganic mercury is discharged by industry into our oceans and is transformed by bacteria into methylmercury.  This methylmercury then accumulates in the aquatic food chain.  Thus, small animals eat the bacteria, bigger animals eat them, and as you move up the food chain more and more methylmercury accumulates in the fish. Pregnant women who eat this fish, or children whose parents feed them this fish, are at higher risk. (Read more here.)

Which Fish to Eat?

Grilled fish

Not all fish accumulate methylmercury equally.  Just as not all mammals eat the same things, not all fish eat the same things.  If the methylmercury processing bacteria aren’t in the food chain (or are less in the food chain), then the bigger fish will contain less mercury.

Unfortunately, overfishing has also done a lot of damage to the aquatic environment.  Some fish are being so overfished their populations are declining dangerously.  This isn’t a health or diet issue, but it is an environmental issue.  Because this is a nutrition blog, I’ll still list fish with dangerously low levels or with bad environmental fishing practices, but I will include the caveat of stars for those who wish to avoid them.

This list is from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

LEAST MERCURY

Enjoy these fish:
Anchovies
Butterfish
Catfish
Clam
Crab (Domestic)
Crawfish/Crayfish
Croaker (Atlantic)
Flounder*
Haddock (Atlantic)*
Hake
Herring
Mackerel (N. Atlantic, Chub)
Mullet
Oyster
Perch (Ocean)
Plaice
Pollock
Salmon (Canned)**
Salmon (Fresh)**
Sardine
Scallop*
Shad (American)
Shrimp*
Sole (Pacific)
Squid (Calamari)
Tilapia
Trout (Freshwater)
Whitefish
Whiting

MODERATE MERCURY

Eat six servings or less per month:
Bass (Striped, Black)
Carp
Cod (Alaskan)*
Croaker (White Pacific)
Halibut (Atlantic)*
Halibut (Pacific)
Jacksmelt
(Silverside)
Lobster
Mahi Mahi
Monkfish*
Perch (Freshwater)
Sablefish
Skate*
Snapper*
Tuna (Canned
chunk light)
Tuna (Skipjack)*
Weakfish (Sea Trout)

HIGH MERCURY

Eat three servings or less per month:
Bluefish
Grouper*
Mackerel (Spanish, Gulf)
Sea Bass (Chilean)*
Tuna (Canned Albacore)
Tuna (Yellowfin)*

HIGHEST MERCURY

Avoid eating:
Mackerel (King)
Marlin*
Orange Roughy*
Shark*
Swordfish*
Tilefish*
Tuna (Bigeye, Ahi)*

* Fish in Trouble! These fish are perilously low in numbers or are caught using environmentally destructive methods. To learn more, see the Monterey Bay Aquariumand the The Safina Center (formerly Blue Ocean Institute), both of which provide guides to fish to enjoy or avoid on the basis of environmental factors.

** Farmed Salmon may contain PCB’s, chemicals with serious long-term health effects.

Mercury: Dangerous for Kids’ Health

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Mercury: Dangerous for Kids’ Health

There are so many ways we try to protect our children.  We hold their hands when they cross the street, we watch them as they play on the playground, and we buckle them into their car seats.  But how careful are we about how they eat?  One way we can protect our kids is to reduce their exposure to serious known toxins.  Exposure to toxic chemicals can affect children in very serious ways, as they are still growing and developing.* One of the most common toxic exposures is to a metal called mercury.

What is Mercury?

Mercury is a heavy metal that is naturally occurring in the environment.  In fact, it is so heavy that just one quarter cup of mercury at room temperature weighs nearly one kilogram!  (Just over two tablespoons weighs one pound.)  It is a silvery color that you may have seen in thermometers.  Even though mercury occurs naturally in the environment, it can also be propagated by certain industries and causes serious environmental and health consequences.

How Is Mercury Taken In?

Mercury is pernicious in that it can be taken in in many ways.  It can be inhaled, consumed, and absorbed through the skin.  It can also cross placental barriers and be prenatally absorbed by a fetus.  It is important to begin protecting your child from mercury exposure as soon as they are conceived.

What Exposes My Kids to Mercury?

Some children are exposed to extra mercury because they or their families are associated with certain employment that uses mercury.  Ironically, the health care sector used to be a major route of exposure, through use of mercury in instruments and cleaning supplies, but fortunately this is no longer common practice.  Mercury is still used heavily in the mining industry (especially gold mining), power plants, crematoria, and the charcoal industry.  If you or your child is not exposed to these industries, then your child’s exposure to mercury is likely to be environmental: food, air, water, and soil.  Let’s look at the main routes of exposure in turn.

Mercury Exposure in Food

This is the most common way children are exposed to mercury and one of the most easily preventable.**  Mercury accumulates in the seafood food chain.  This means that top seafood predators, such as tuna fish, are highest in mercury.  By knowing what fish are highest in mercury and which are lowest, you can ensure that your child is eating fish with low levels of mercury.

Be aware that fruits and vegetables grown in mercury heavy soil or in a mercury poisoned atmosphere are also themselves high in mercury.  Today, fertilizers no longer contain mercury as they used to, so most people in developed countries do not need to worry.  However, if your produce is being grown next to a power plant, a plant that produces mercury cell batteries, a gold mine (you wish, right?), a cemetery, or a crematorium, you should be aware that the mercury levels in your produce might be high.

Some preservatives also contain mercury.  This is a good reason to try to buy things fresh and prepare your own food as much as possible.   In many foods, even foods purporting to be all natural or pure, the only additional ingredient is a preservative.

Mercury has also been detected in certain foods that are the byproducts of mercury producing practices.  The most notable one is high fructose corn syrup.***  High fructose corn syrup is found is so many foods today that it is almost ubiquitous.  Aside from the fact that it is incredibly unhealthy in general, it is also a source of toxicity.

Mercury Exposure in Soil

Kids play outside (or at least mine do – and I hope yours do, too).  But because kids are digging in the dirt, getting filthy, and putting their hands in their mouths, they are also exposed to anything the soil contains, including mercury.  Environmental mercury can accumulate in soil just from being deposited from the air.  Soil can also contain mercury from decomposing wastes, as well as from fertilizers containing mercury (which fortunately is less common today – but used to be used more).****

Other Sources of Mercury Exposure

Some mercury exposure is due to the customs of certain cultures.  If you do not participate in these cultural practices, then you do not need to worry about these things.

Significant exposure can come from certain ayurvedic medicine.  Yes I know ayurvedic medicine is supposed to be healthy, but certain medicines and practices contain mercury and it can be really dangerous.*****  Other religions like Santeria or Espritismo also involve mercury in their rituals.******

Another significant cultural exposure to mercury comes in the form of skin lightening cosmetics, creams, lotions, and other products.  In some cultures, especially Asian cultures, light skin is seen as highly desirable and there is temptation to use products to lighten skin tone.  However, many of these products contain mercury, which can be very dangerous.*******

What Harm Does Mercury Cause?

In children, mercury poisoning generally manifests in the form of acrodynia, or “pink disease.”  It is called pink diseases because children’s hands, feet, cheeks, and lips turn pink and painful.  They can also begin to lose their hair, teeth, and nails.********   Other symptoms of mercury poisoning include confused vision, hearing, and speech, and a lack of coordination.

Mercury poisoning is very serious.  Mercury kills neurons in certain parts of the brain, which makes it especially dangerous for babies in utero.  It crosses both the placental and blood brain barriers and is not efficiently excreted, so it can accumulate in the unborn baby.  These babies are born with neurological problems that resemble cerebral palsy, spasticity, and other reflex, visual, and convulsive problems.  All pregnant women, for the sake of their unborn babies, should not risk mercury exposure.

How Much Mercury is too Much?

There is no known safe level of mercury to consume.  Let me repeat that.  There is NO safe amount of mercury to consume.

In other words, any mercury is too much mercury.

To protect your children, reduce their mercury intake as much as possible.

How Can I Protect My Kids From too Much Mercury?

There are certain things you can do to reduce your children’s exposure to mercury:

  • If you feed your children fish, ensure you are feeding them low mercury fish.
  • Reduce your kids’ intake of mercury containing food additives like preservatives and high fructose corn syrup.
  • Avoid keeping mercury containing products like mercury thermometers and fluorescent light bulbs in your house.  If you do keep these items in your home, ensure they are kept safe and not in danger of breaking.  If a mercury containing item does break, safely clean up the spill, keeping your kids far away at all times.  (If you are pregnant and one of these items breaks, please leave the area immediately and do not inhale in that area.   You should contact an approved toxic spill company to clean up the toxins and test the air, as airborne mercury is highly toxic.)
  • Do not use ayurvedic or other ritualistic remedies that may contain mercury.
  • Do not expose yourself or your children to skin lightening creams, lotions, etc.

(You many notice that not vaccinating is not on this list.  There is no scientific link between the trace amounts of mercury contained in vaccines and autism.**********  In fact, elemental liquid mercury injected is less harmful than mercury in its other forms taken in through food, skin, or air exposure.***********)

Conclusion

I hope this information is useful.  I will follow up soon with more information on what fish and seafood are safest and most dangerous to consume, as well as more information about how children are exposed to mercury through seafood consumption.

*Jarosinska D, Gee D. Children’s environmental health and the precautionary principle.Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2007;210:541–6.

*Selevan SG, Kimmel CA, Mendola P, Pronczuk-Garbino J. Children’s health and the environment – a global perspective. WHO press; Geneva: 2005. Windows of susceptibility to environmental exposures in children; pp. 17–26.

*Weiss B. Vulnerability of children and the developing brain to neurotoxic hazards.Environ Health Perspect. 2000;108(Suppl 3):375–81.

**Al-Saleh IA. Health implications of mercury exposure in children. Int J Environ Healthc.2009;3:22–57

***Dufault R, LeBlanc B, Schnoll R, Cornett C, Schweitzer L, Wallinga D, et al. Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: measured concentrations in food product sugar. Environ Health.2009;8:2.

****United Nations Environment Programme-Chemicals . Global Mercury Assessment.Geneva: 2002. Available at: http://www.unep.org/gc/gc22/Document/UNEP-GC22-INF3.pdf.

*****Dargan PI, Gawarammana IB, Archer JRH, House IM, Shaw D, Wood DM. Heavy metal poisoning from ayurvedic traditional medicines: an emerging problem? Int J Environ Healthc. 2008;2:463–74.

******U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . Task force on ritualistic uses of mercury-EPA/540-R-01-005. Washington, DC: 2002.

*******Al-Saleh I, Al-Doush I. Mercury content in skin-lightening creams and potential hazards to the health of Saudi women. J Toxicol Environ Health. 1997;51:123–30.

*******Hursh JB, Clarkson TW, Miles EF, Goldsmith LA. Percutaneous absorption of mercury vapor by man. Arch Environ Health. 1989;44:120–7.

********Palmer RB, Godwin DA, McKinney PE. Transdermal kinetics of a mercurous chloride beauty cream: an in vitro human skin analysis. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 2000;38:701–7.

*********Bjørklund G (1995). “Mercury and Acrodynia” (PDF).Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine 10 (3 & 4): 145–146.

**********Doja A, Roberts W (2006). “Immunizations and autism: a review of the literature”. Can J Neurol Sci 33 (4): 341–6.

***********Clarkson TW, Magos L (2006). “The toxicology of mercury and its chemical compounds”. Crit Rev Toxicol 36 (8): 609–62.

Healthy Travel Snacks for Toddlers: Airplanes

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Healthy Travel Snacks for Toddlers

The boys and I on the planeTraveling with toddlers can be stressful under the best of conditions.  You don’t need to add worrying about food to your to-do list.  And yet, you cannot travel with your toddler(s) without some fuel for their energetic and growing bodies and minds!  Never fear, here are some ideas for healthy travel snacks for toddlers that you can easily grab and go!

My Story

Akiva at the Airport

Akiva is 3 years old now, which is 36 months, and he has already been on 48 flights. He’s been on road trips and traveled on cars, buses, boats, and bicycles.  He’s been in taxis, on ferries, and on vans and of course has traveled on foot and in a carrier.  He’s pretty well-traveled.

Akiva is also an eater.  He’s about average when it comes to food – he is neither a child without limits (I know some of those) nor is he a picky eater for whom one mouthful is a meal (I know some of those, too).  This makes him very good for experimenting on.  My child, my (healthy travel snack) guinea pig. 🙂

Kids Need Healthy Travel Snacks

Homemade healthy cookies are our favorite airplane travel snack

Homemade healthy cookies are our favorite airplane travel snack

As adults, most of us do not snack much during the day.  Our bodies simply do not require a constant stream of fuel to keep us going.  (Of course because I am writing about snacks, now I want one!)  But children have smaller stomachs and have a lot of energy, which uses up their fuel more quickly.  They need snacks to get them through the day.

Kids are also growing and learning constantly.  Every situation is an opportunity to learn.  Going through the airport scanner is an adventure.  Riding on a bus without needing to be in a car seat is like a holiday in Rome.  But all that learning means kids’ brains are burning through their calories, which means they are going to get hungry.

And you cannot rely on airlines or airports to be able to provide healthy food.  Yes, there may be a “vegan” or “vegetarian” option, but that doesn’t mean it’s a “healthy” option!  Even vegan or vegetarian meal options can come packed with sugar and salt, not to mention lots of unnecessary oil.  Airport restaurants are no better: Airport restaurants are designed for convenience and speed, not health.  There have been times when I have had to scour a dozen airport restaurants and shops just to be able to find some plain, uncut fresh fruit.  That said, in a pinch many airports today are now featuring juice bars.  Fresh juice can be good fuel but fruit juice also packs a whopping load of sugar.  (If you are getting fresh juice for your child, try if you can to get vegetable juice.)  Better are smoothie bars (smoothies contain whole fruit, which means the fiber in fruit, which slows and steadies fruit sugar absorption, is still being consumed).

Of course the temptation is out their to ply your kids with unhealthy travel snacks.  It is so easy to justify.  “They deserve something special for this special occasion,” or, “I need to give them something delicious to distract them/keep them quiet/make them stop screaming their heads off on the plane so the United stewardess doesn’t kick me off.”

But travel is exactly the time when your kids need healthy food the most.  They need balanced nutrition to help keep their hormones and emotions well-balanced.  They need the extra energy to be able to handle all the new experiences. They need extra fluids to help keep them hydrated on airplanes.  They need foods that will calm them and enable them to sleep whenever possible to alleviate the fatigue of travel and overstimulation. They do not need added processed sugars that will give them sugar highs and lows, and energy bursts and crashes they cannot control.  They do not need salty snacks or snacks high in sodium that will dehydrate them further.  And our of courtesy for the people who own and have to clean your conveyance, they do not need really messy snacks.  (Or courtesy for yourself – when I flew United and Akiva dropped some sandwich crumbs the stewardess made me pick them up.  Of course, United Airlines is evil incarnate and should never be flown, so this probably should not come as a surprise.)

(Also, a musical interlude because I can’t help myself) 

Healthy Travel Snacks for Toddlers When You Fly

There are lots of healthy and delicious snack options, even when you consider that flying has lots of requirements: You don’t want anything too heavy because you have to carry it, or too big because it will take up too much room you need for carrying other things (like diapers and iPad backup batteries).  You also don’t want anything too fragile that will be crushed into an inedible mush or will make a big mess.  And of course you can’t bring anything liquid above a certain size if you’re traveling in America.  With all those parameters in mind, consider these snack ideas:

  • Muffins – Muffins can be savory or sweet.  I often make savory muffins loaded up with fresh veggies like carrots or zucchini.  You can also add toppings/fillings to savory muffins – Vegemite, hummus, and tahini are our favorites.  Sweet muffins can be used as a yummy treat to distract kids without needing to give them a sugar rush.  I load mine up with fruit juice pulp – the extra fiber helps slow down sugar absorption and releases energy more smoothly, which is exactly what kids need!  You can also bulk up sweet muffins by spreading them with natural 100% peanut butter.  Muffins also hold their shape pretty well, even if they get a bit bumped around.
  • Oatmeal – If you need a good morning snack, oatmeal travels very well.  Snack sized servings should pass through security just fine (although I have never had a problem with food for my “baby”).  I make steel-cut oatmeal and load it up with chia and flax/linseeds, fresh and dried fruit, coconut oil, and make it creamy using rice milk.  Non-dairy oatmeal travels really well and with all the fruit in it, it tastes so great my kids never care if it’s hot or not.  (Some airlines will be happy to warm it for you though if you ask.)
  • Fresh Veggies & Dips – Fresh vegetables and dips are a great snack combination for kids.  Try cutting up celery, capsicum/bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, and carrots.  Kids can snack on these on their own or dipped in something like hummus, tahini, babaganoush, beetroot dip, or red pepper dip.  If you’re in America, though, you will have to bring just a small enough portion to be able to get through security.
  • Peanut Butter and… Anything! – Maybe it’s wrong of me, but I do bring peanut butter when I travel.  It’s a nutritious food with healthy fats and proteins that give kids good fuel.  It’s great as a dip or as a spread.  Of course you can make the traditional peanut butter sandwich or spread peanut butter on two crackers and slap them together.  But you can also spread peanut butter on all sorts of things.  Use peanut butter to fill celery logs (you can stick raisins in to give it some sweetness), or slice apples thinly and make peanut butter apple “sandwiches.”
  • Fresh Fruit – Fresh fruit is sweet, juicy, and nutritious.  Choose a travel-friendly fruit like apples or oranges as opposed to bananas, which squish easily.  You can also cut up fruits like apples, pears, and peaches and put them in a disposable or reusable plastic container.
  • Crackers – I make my own vegan gluten free crackers from vegetable pulp, but you can also buy some really healthy crackers as well.  Crackers give kids the chance to crunch on something and are easily eaten by them on their own, freeing you to tend to younger kids or just to relax a bit.  Veggie pulp crackers give kids extra fiber to help keep their digestive tracts running smoothly and conventional crackers made of grains and/or seeds give kids needed carbohydrates.
  • Cookies – I pack lots of healthy homemade cookies for a treat when we travel.  In our house, cookies are a special pre-naptime treat, so when the cookies come out my kids usually settle in for a rest right away.  I have a couple different kinds of cookies I make, one with oatmeal and fruit and the other with oats, whole wheat flour, fruit, and carrots.  Either way, I know my kids can have cookies guilt-free, with whole fruits and no added processed sugar.
  • Dried Fruit – Dried fruit is my secret weapon.  My kids think of dried fruit as candy, which a lot of it is.  Dates are sweeter than most candies you can buy and tamarind is more deliciously sour than sour candy. Drying fruit concentrates its sugar and flavors.  When my kids are crying out of control on the plane, dried fruit inevitably quiets them down.  It also keeps them chewing hard during takeoff and landing, when they need to chew to equalize the pressure in their ears.

Happy Travels!

I hope these snack ideas make it feel easier for you to travel by air with your toddler.  Healthy travel snacks don’t have to be hard to make or find, they don’t have to be complicated, and they can be toddler friendly.

Gastroenteritis: What to Feed Sick Kids

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Gastroenteritis: What to Feed Sick Kids

Gastroenteritis, or “gastro” as it is more commonly known, is a frequent visitor in most homes with children.  Young children in particular, who may share toys with little friends and put objects and hands in their mouths without washing them, are notorious for spreading this disease.  I should know: I have two little monsters spreading germs and, with my sensitive stomach, they never fail to share with me.  Which is exactly what they have done yet again.  Now that I’m down with this dreaded yet common disease, it prompted me to ask: When your kids come down with gastroenteritis, what should you give them to eat and drink?

What is Gastroenteritis, or “Gastro”?

Gastroenteritis is an infection of the gastrointestinal system, which is also known as the alimentary canal.  The alimentary canal begins with your mouth and throat, then proceeds through your stomach, intestines, and bowels.  Gastroenteritis can be caused by many different bacteria and viruses, so children can get gastro multiple times.  It can last as little as 24 hours or as long as 10 days.

The most common symptom of gastroenteritis in children is diarrhea, or watery stool.  Kids may also experience stomachache, cramping, or even vomiting.  Fortunately, the vomiting phase usually lasts only a short time, even if the diarrhea persists for a few days.

Gastroenteritis can be dangerous for babies.  If you have any concerns for your child’s health, please bring them to the doctor!  Especially look out for symptoms of dehydration, including a lack of urination (wet nappies/diapers), has a dry mouth/tongue, has sunken eyes, has unusually cold hands/feet, or is exceptionally sleepy.

Accordingly…

Children with Gastroenteritis Need to Drink!

This is essential no matter what the age of the child.  Children who are vomiting should drink clear fluids even if they are going to vomit them up again.  Vomiting on an empty stomach is awful and is not good for your kids (on an empty stomach, stomach acids or bile can still come up, which are not good for the lining of the throat).  All children should be given a drink of water immediately after they vomit, to wash acids out of the throat, to rehydrate, and also to put something back in their stomachs.  After that, kids should be offered a small drink (a sip or a mouthful) every 15 minutes or so to rehydrate and to see if they are able to keep fluids down.

What Should Kids with Gastroenteritis Drink?

When I was a kid, my mom always told me that ginger ale or another carbonated beverage would help settle my stomach.   To tell you the truth, it still works for me to this day!  But this is actually purely psychological – experts now tell us that carbonated beverages and soft drinks are actually not good for anyone (adults included) who has gastroenteritis!

So here is what to give your kids:

  • Water.  Water is the best prevention for dehydration.  However, kids also need electrolyte replacement to avoid dehydration, so you should also give:
  • Oral rehydration products, such as Pedialyte, that you can get from your local pharmacist/chemist – prepare them according to package instructions.
  • Sucrose solution.  Mix 1 teaspoon of maple syrup or honey in 1 cup of water.
  • All natural fruit juice.  Best if freshly juiced to retain all the enzymes!  Mix 1 part fruit juice to 4 parts water.
  • Cordial.  I use a homemade rosehip cordial for this – I do not buy the processed, packaged stuff.  My rosehip cordial is nothing but rosehip syrup with honey and a bit of agave nectar.  Rosehip cordial is also good because rosehips help soothe stomach pains.  Mix 1 part cordial to 16 parts water.
  • Weak herbal infusion of ginger, as ginger reduces nausea; peppermint, which also reduces nausea; or chamomile, which soothes the bowels.

Here is what not to give your kids to drink when they have gastroenteritis:

  • Soft drinks or carbonated beverages (sorry, Mom!).
  • Sweetened fruit juices (even with concentrate) or fruit drinks.
  • Sports drinks such as Gatorade.
  • Caffeinated beverages (such as black tea).
  • Alcoholic beverages (but you shouldn’t be giving your kids these anyway…).
  • Broth, even clear broth.

Babies with Gastroenteritis

When babies get gastroenteritis it is very dangerous.  Fortunately, there is now a rotavirus vaccine, which has dramatically reduced the number of cases.  Vaccinations for rotavirus are administered (in Australia) begin administration at 2 months of age, so please get your baby vaccinated as soon as he/she is able, especially when there are so many irresponsible parents about failing to vaccinate their children.  Remember, gastroenteritis can be fatal, especially for vulnerable babies.  Gastroenteritis kills 1.4 million people every year*, half of which are children under the age of 5!** If your baby gets gastroenteritis monitor them very closely or take them to the doctor.

Babies who are breastfeeding should still be offered the breast as much as they desire.  If you are exclusively breastfeeding and your sick baby will not take a bottle with some additional water to counteract fluid loss after vomiting, ensure your baby is latching on properly and actively sucking.  Offer them the breast frequently and for as long as they want, especially following every vomit.  Monitor them carefully and contact a doctor immediately in the event of any concern, as it is impossible to measure exactly how much milk they have consumed from the breast.  A good way to tell if your baby is adequately hydrated is to check that they have wet their nappy/diaper as frequently as normal.

Babies who are bottle-fed should be given the clear fluids listed above for the first 12 hours, taking care to check that the baby drinks after every vomit and is offered small amounts of liquid frequently thereafter to prevent dehydration.  (To administer small, mouthful sized amounts, I find a syringe very useful.)  After 12 hours reintroduce their standard formula, but offer it at first in smaller amounts and more frequently.

Should Kids with Gastroenteritis Eat?

Conventional thinking was that kids with gastroenteritis should not eat, should eat very little, or should otherwise be restricted.  But now experts have stopped this thinking.  Today, experts advise that if your child wants to eat, they can eat.

This actually makes really good sense, if you think about it.  Eating food starts up peristaltic contractions in the intestines, forcing digesting food through the bowels and “moving things along,” so to speak.

This does not mean you should force food upon your child!  If your child refuses food, this is perfectly normal.  But if your child does want to eat, you should allow them to eat.  If you are concerned about vomiting, you can give them food more frequently in smaller amounts.

What Should Kids with Gastroenteritis Eat?

Just because kids with gastroenteritis can eat as they normally want to, does not mean all foods are created equal.  If your child is vomiting, trust me when I say you don’t want to feed them dairy!  If you have never had to smell milk vomit, just ask my mother and she will expound on how much you never, ever want to.

When I was a kid (and even today when I get sick as an adult), my mom invariably puts me on the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast).  Basically, the BRAT diet consists of bland foods, like plain rice or plain pasta.  The idea behind the BRAT diet is that bland foods cannot irritate the digestive tract.  However, today the BRAT diet is no longer recommended because it lacks the nutritional value to help the gastrointestinal system recover.  Children who have gastroenteritis should be able to resume eating a healthy, balanced diet within 24 hours of coming down with gastro.

Nevertheless, there are still some foods to avoid.  You want to make sure your child is getting fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains packed with nutrients.

Here are some foods to avoid if your child has gastroenteritis:

  • High-salt canned or packaged soups (homemade low-sodium soups are fine)
  • Fried or otherwise high-fat foods (e.g., potato chips, french fries, pastries, etc.)
  • Ice cream, sherbet, popsicles, and jelly (Jello)
  • Dried, dehydrated, or freeze-dried fruits and vegetables (these require extra water to digest and are not ideal when you are trying to prevent dehydration)
  • Fruits canned in syrup (too high in sugar – but kids should not eat this anyway!)
  • Spicy foods (spicy food can irritate the gut)
  • High-sugar foods, such as sugary cereals, candy, and chocolate

Prevention is the Best!

The best strategy for dealing with gastroenteritis is simple avoidance of spreading it in the first place!  Keep your children home from day care or creche and do not bring them to play dates so they do not spread it to other children.  Everyone in the family should wash their hands regularly, especially after going to the toilet or before eating, including children.  Remember to wash your hands well after changing nappies/diapers and before feeding babies.

Conclusion

The conventional thinking we grew up with is done!   We now know that it is okay to let kids eat when they have gastroenteritis.  Not only can they eat, but they can even eat a normal, healthy, balanced diet.  Kids today do not need their food restricted, nor do they have to eat just a bland diet when they get sick.  I hope you will find this guide helpful the next time a child you know gets gastroenteritis!

*Lozano, R (Dec 15, 2012). “Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010.”. Lancet 380 (9859): 2095–128. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61728-0. PMID 23245604.

**Walker, CL; Rudan, I; Liu, L; Nair, H; Theodoratou, E; Bhutta, ZA; O’Brien, KL; Campbell, H; Black, RE (Apr 20, 2013). “Global burden of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea.”. Lancet 381(9875): 1405–16. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60222-6.PMID 23582727.

Trick Your Kids Into Eating Healthy At Home

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Trick Your Kids Into Eating Healthy At Home

Yesterday, we considered some clever psychological ways to trick our kids (and possibly ourselves) into eating healthier when out of the house.  But a lot of the food our kids eat is in fact eaten at home.  Fortunately, there are lots of ways to trick our kids into eating less and eating healthier at home, beginning with the way we do our grocery shopping, and continuing on to the way we serve (and even market) our homemade meals.  Bon apetite!

In the Store

Going food shopping?  We all know it’s a bad idea to go to the grocery store when we’re hungry – it encourages impulse buying, especially of convenience food items.  Shopping hungry doesn’t necessarily make us buy more, it makes us buy worse… and that unhealthy food will feed our families for the next week.

Another grocery shopping trick to still those cravings is to chew gum, especially mint flavor.  Chewing gum tricks your body into thinking its eating and, as your stomach expectantly waits for its (nonexistent) food delivery, you will be able to do your grocery shopping uninhibited.  People who chew gum while shopping buy 7% less junk food.

Begin your shopping trip in the produce section.  Spend some time there.  Browse the vegetables and, if your kids are with you, talk to them about them.  Spend at least 10 minutes there – shoppers who spend this long in the produce section tend to buy more produce than shoppers who rush through… and fresh produce is the healthiest thing you can buy in the entire grocery store, really!

Don’t be afraid to “cheat.”  Who cares what people thing when they see you buying bagged salad?!  They may think you’re lazy, but do it anyway.  We’re all busy mums and bagged, pre-washed salads make it so much easier to serve salad for dinner.  Today, you can buy bags of just greens, but more and more grocery stores are offering complete pre-mixed options that come with other veggies already mixed in, or in separate packets in the bag.  Heck, I’ve even been know to cheat by buying the bagged Asian salad mix – and dumping it into the pan for a quick stir-fry.  If bagged salad means you’re more likely to serve salad for dinner, do it!!!!!  As parents, we tend to feel like better parents if we’re serving our kids fresh vegetables, so why not skip some steps and take credit for being a good parent?  Serve them bagged salad or steamed frozen veggies and feel proud while you do it!

Smart shoppers looking to save money will often buy the economy size, so save yourself some money and buy all means get the healthy option in the biggest size available!  But don’t leave it that way when you get home – subdivide them immediately.  Today you can buy special reusable cereal containers that even come in half sizes.  I have a whole pantry full of them and I use them for everything, from muesli to rice.   Seeing the smaller container when serving will encourage kids to take less.

At Home

Get organized!  People eat less when their kitchens are clean and organized, possibly because it sucks to make food when you know you’ll be messing up a clean, shiny countertop.  The same principle applies to other places where you tend to sit and eat, like at your desk at work.  People surrounded by clutter eat 44% more snacks.  And no matter how organized or nice it looks to leave certain food items sitting on the counter, put them away – studies show that people who leave containers of cereal (even super healthy cereal) sitting on the counters weigh on average 21 pounds (10 kg) more than people who hide their cereal in the pantry.

What kinds of dishes and utensils are you using?  Next time you’re looking to upgrade, don’t go with the fancy plates that match the food you’re serving, unless perhaps you’re serving kale on a dark green plate.  People consume 18% more food when they are eating off a plate that matches, so try to choose contrasting colors. And of course there is the age-old trick of using a smaller plate.  Most people have heard about this one already – it’s logically satisfying, since you can’t eat as much if you can’t fit as much on your plate.  Use a smaller plate, eat 22% less.

As for your cutlery?  Go with a bigger fork.  It may be tempting to serve kids with small salad forks rather than the big adult forks, but it’s time to give your kids a promotion to adult status, at least in this regard.  One study found that people who used larger forks ate on average 3.5 ounces less per meal than people who used smaller forks.  That’s because our brains take visual cues to determine how much we have eaten – our stomachs are just too slow to respond.  Seeing bigger bites tricks our brains into thinking we’ve consumed more, while seeing smaller bites makes us think we’ve consumed less.

Don’t stop there – think about what kind of glasses you are using to serve drinks.  Experiments have mainly focused on alcoholic beverages like wine, but it stands to reason that a kid’s equivalent of wine would probably be some sort of juice, soda, or other soft drink.   Soft drinks are a huge portion of calorie consumption by today’s children, so why not trick your kids into drinking less?  People drink 92% of what they pour for themselves, so the amount put in the glass really matters.  Pouring into tall, thin glasses, rather than short, fat ones, encourages people to pour in less, and thus consume less.  Of course, if all your glasses are short fat ones, you can just avoid the whole issue by serving only water at meals, which is what I do.

Keep healthy food around and visible, especially during mealtimes.  Placing a bowl of apples in front of the shelf of potato chips may seem like a hopeless and obvious attempt to get your kids to snack on the right foods, but it actually works.  Kids who are presented with healthy food staring at them when they make food choices are more likely to eat healthier overall during that meal.  Whether it’s guilt, shame, or subconscious influence, I don’t know, but it does work.  Of course, you could just remove the potato chips and replace them with apples completely… but how many of us have that much willpower?

How do you serve meals to your family? I’ve never been a fan of “plating” each dish – in my experience, this leads to a lot of food waste and grumbling because not everybody wants precisely one serving of every thing. Growing up, dishes were all placed on the table and each member of the family took as much of each as they wanted.  Lately, I’ve been lazy and I often serve meals directly from the stovetop in a “get it yourself” kind of manner.  Which of these three methods is best?  Well, studies show that serving yourself from the stovetop rather than family-style at the table results in eating 19% less, so if you are aiming to reduce the amount your kids are eating, go ahead – tell them to get it themselves!

Name the food you serve.  Yes, I know, most foods already have names, but are they names that mean something to kids?  “Green Bean Almondine” may sound elegant to adults (and it has a nice rhyme factor) but it is meaningless to a five-year-old.   To encourage kids to choose to eat the healthier foods you are offering, rename them with names that are cool for kids.  “X-Ray Vision Carrots,” “Popeye’s Super Strong Spinach” and “Silly String String Beans” will sound fun to kids and studies show they’ll eat more of them.

Finally, if you’re not above misleading (or blatantly lying) to your kids, try telling them their meal is less healthy than it actually is.  People who think they are eating fattening, filling, and high calorie foods fill up faster and feel more satisfied, leading them to eat less than if they think they’re eating the diet version.  By all means, serve your kids the healthy stuff… just don’t let them know.

Conclusion

If you employ these tips and tricks you will find your kids are eating far less.  Maybe not the more than 60% less that each of the “at home” tricks listed above add up to, but then again… maybe!  I think it all depends on your starting point.  But if your child has a weight problem or you think he/she is eating too much, these tricks are a completely painless way to persuade them to eat less, without ever needing to tell them you want them to eat less.  So go ahead, serve that rice on a red plate and that pasta with tomato sauce on a white plate – a small one – from the stovetop.  And make sure there’s a big bowl of salad on the table while your kids are eating.  Then, just have patience and wait for the results.

Go ahead, shamelessly trick your kids into eating healthier.

Slim by Design

Go ahead, shamelessly trick your kids into eating healthier.

*Many of these statistics have come from the research of Brian Wansink, who is a food psychologist and the director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab.  You can read more about tips and tricks for psychological food mind games in his new book, Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life.

 

 

Trick Your Kids Into Eating Healthy Away From Home

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Trick Your Kids Into Eating Healthy Away From Home

If getting your kids to eat healthy food or choose healthy food options is a regular struggle, maybe you’re going about it the wrong way.  Most kids will be happy to learn to eat healthy foods using the techniques I have previously suggested (here, here, here, and here), but some kids really make it a struggle.  What if there was a way to get them used to eating healthier foods without fighting? If only there was some way to trick them into eating healthier.

The idea of tricking kids into eating healthy food may seem disingenuous, but it doesn’t have to be. The idea of tricking kids into eating veggies often means hiding veggies in cake, lying about the contents of a dish, or giving kids green juice in an opaque bottle.  I’m not opposed to disguising the color of an item or hiding vegetables in a food kids already enjoy, but outright lying is only going to damage your child’s trust.  If we want kids to value what we have to say and to really take on board the lessons we are trying to teach them, we have to maintain a high level of trust.

But we can still trick them into eating healthier.

There is a lot of research out there about how different psychological factors impact how much and what we choose to eat.  If we have concerns about obesity, we can start by reducing the amount of food our kids eat, and we can do it all without their even knowing.  We can do it by using psychological tricks.

In a Restaurant

Americans eat 43% of their food away from home, so it is good to have a few tricks up your sleeve when it comes to eating out.

Where are you eating out?  Most restaurants offer a range of healthy and unhealthy foods, so just picking a “healthier” restaurant may not be enough.  Consider the atmosphere and mood of the restaurant.  Sound and lighting can actually influence what we eat.  A restaurant with dim lighting and loud music will encourage you to eat more calories.  Also consider that certain types of music will enhance your dining experience.  Higher pitched music makes sweet food taste better while deeper notes improve the taste of bitter flavors, so if you’re trying to stick to an enjoyable savory meal and avoid the dessert, find a restaurant that tends to play deep orchestral music, rather than one with a piano in the corner.

Choose the right seat.  In a conventional restaurant, select a spot near a window, which increases the likelihood of ordering salad by 80%.  Avoid dark corner booths where nobody can see you – instead choose a spot near the front door – they increase your chances of ordering dessert by 73%.  And if you can, choose a high-top bar-style table.  These tables make you sit up straighter and reduce the risk of you ordering fried food.

When it comes time to order, resist the urge to order healthy food for your kids, or to pressure them to order that healthy salad.  People who are pushed to eat healthy food make up for it later by “treating” themselves, and you don’t want your kid dipping into the cookie jar as soon as he/she gets home.  (I think a lot of people do this with the gym, too, which is why exercise alone is not enough to lose weight.)  Instead, trick your kids into ordering a healthier option by asking them what someone else they admire – say, Batman or Dora the Explorer – would choose to eat.  Having to order for someone else encourages kids to think more deeply – and often they will change their order.

Going to a buffet?  Sit as far away from the buffet as you can – it encourages you to eat less.  Make sure your kids are facing away from the buffet, as well – they won’t be as likely to keep returning for more if they aren’t staring at it.  As above, encourage them to use small plates, rather than large ones.  Walk them through the buffet and look at each option before taking any food.  (Letting them take before looking encourages them to just grab the first things they see and end up eating those things in addition to what they really want.  Buffet-goers who look first only take those foods they really want to eat.)  Finally, if it’s an Asian buffet, teach your kids to eat with chopsticks.  Many Asian restaurants even have some special chopsticks for kids, to help them learn.  People who eat with chopsticks rather than forks tend to eat less, probably because chopsticks force you to eat more slowly, and allow the signal of fullness from your stomach to reach your brain before you’ve eaten too much.

At School

School lunches have improved in recent years… and also haven’t.  Consider packing a healthy lunch for your kids.  People at work who bring bag lunches eat less food than people who eat out, so why not apply this principle to your kids?  You also have more control over how healthy the food is that you are sending your kids.  Healthy lunch ideas like falafel plates, shish kabobs (and more shish kabobs), and roasted vegetables are filling and nutritious.  Homemade snacks like pizza crackers, fruity muffins, and even healthy cookies or mini cakes will be more nutritious than the snacks your kids are likely to eat from the school vending machines – even if they meet new health standards for “smart snacks”.

If you are going to send your child to school with snacks, consider some ways to get your child to snack less.  Try transferring snacks to clear bags.  If you are sending a snack that would normally fit in a sandwich size bag, send it instead in two or three small snack sized bags.  Studies show that snackers who have one big bag are likely to eat the whole thing, whereas snackers with the same amount of food in multiple small bags often only finish one of them.  And if you are concerned that your child might waste the healthy fruit you are sending, try cutting it up – one study found that 48% fewer apples were wasted when they were cut up, as opposed to served whole – and that there was a 73% increase in kids eating more than half of their apples.

Conclusion

These tips will help you trick your kids into eating healthier even if they are eating a lot of their meals away from home.  When kids are not eating at home, where are they most likely to be eating?  Primarily at school and a restaurants (whether with or without parents).  If you use these tricks, you can help get your kids to eat less and to eat healthier.

But that’s not all, folks!  Stay tuned for a new post soon, on how to trick your kids… at home!

Slim by Design

Go ahead, shamelessly trick your kids into eating healthier.

*Many of these statistics have come from the research of Brian Wansink, who is a food psychologist and the director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab.  You can read more about tips and tricks for psychological food mind games in his new book, Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life.

American Academy of Pediatrics says Anything Goes: What Do You Think?

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American Academy of Pediatrics says Anything Goes: What Do You Think?

Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new dietary guidelines and recommendations.  Rather than focusing on banning certain foods, it focuses more on what should be eaten.  The goal has becoming getting kids to eat more nutritious foods, even if that means coating them in sugars or fats to persuade kids to eat them.  What do you think about this recommendation?

Personally, I think this is selling out.  The fact is that certain food items should be avoided whenever possible.  There is really no need for processed sugar in a kid’s diet, not when there is so much natural sweetness out there (and unprocessed sweeteners now widely available).

There is a difference between what I call selling out and what I call being realistic.  Being realistic is accepting that yes, your kid might have a piece of cake at another kid’s birthday party.  Selling out is dumping processed cheese sauce on broccoli just to get your kid to eat it.  One is accepting the virtually inevitable and choosing not to make a fight out of it, in the hopes that your positive relationship with your child will ultimately lead them to make good, healthy life decisions in the long term.  The other is giving in to whims and demands because you are so incredibly desperate that your child will eat something, anything healthy, even if that means you have to coat it in something unhealthy first.

Does this sound like being realistic or selling out to you?

A small amount of sugar or fat is ok if it means a child is more likely to eat foods that are highly nutritious.

That’s from the AAP Press Release that accompanied the online publication of their guidelines.  To me, that sounds like selling out.  It just smacks of desperation.

It is probably a relief for many parents to see a statement like that because it vindicates them.  They no longer have to feel guilty for letting their kids pour the salty, fatty ranch dressing on their salad.

The problem is, “a small amount” is really subjective.  What, exactly, is “a small amount”?  Tastes and amounts are inherently subjective.  My mom loves salty foods (a gene I have inherited) and her “small amount” of salt is going to be vastly different from what my husband would add (he being the kind of person to complain food is too salty even when no salt has been added at all).  I love heavily dressed salads, dripping in extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, but my hubby likes his with so little dressing you’d need a microscope to find it on there.  My “small amount” is going to be completely different to his.

This creates a slippery slope.  A small amount on occasion can suddenly become a larger amount frequently, without parents even realizing it.  It starts with the brown sugar on the oatmeal for breakfast, continues at lunchtime with peanut butter full of added sugar, salt, and oil, and finishes with cheese on broccoli and heavy dressing on salads at a dinner that is followed by dessert.  But it’s easy to lose track of how many little things are adding up.  Anyone who has tried tracking calories figures this out really quickly.  (Also, did you know that the vast majority of dog food is more nutritious than the average peanut butter for sale today?)

A big part of my problem with this recommendation is that this is supposed to be an association we can rely on to give us the straight truth about nutrition.  They should be coming out saying the brutal truth and then leaving it to others to make excuses.  When doctors themselves are afraid to say how unhealthy foods like sugar are and that they should be avoided, who can you trust for nutrition information?

Even the doctors’ suggestions for acceptable food alterations are worrying to me…

Dr. Murray said. “It’s no secret that brown sugar on oatmeal, or salad dressing with cut vegetables, can make these healthy foods more palatable to children, and increase their consumption.”

Of course brown sugar makes oatmeal taste more delicious.  Brown sugar makes virtually anything taste more delicious.  But it’s also unhealthy and unnecessary.  Did you know bananas literally melt into oatmeal?  You can sweeten oatmeal dramatically and increase its nutritional content without needing that brown sugar.  And why bring sugar into it at all?  If they are going to recommend sweetening foods in a bid to get kids to eat it, at least they could recommend unprocessed sweeteners rather than the highly processed sugar they’re referencing.

As for dipping cut vegetables in salad dressing, there are a lot of dips out there for cut vegetables that taste far better than store-bought dressings and are far healthier.  Spread 100% pure organic peanut or almond butter on celery, dip carrot sticks in homemade tahini or hummus, or coat cucumbers in vegan cheesy red pepper (capsicum) dip.  All of these options are bursting with added nutrition and healthy fats while free of preservatives, additives, colors, unhealthy fats, and processed sweeteners.

It seems shocking to me to see doctors so desperate to get kids to eat something – anything – healthy that they would stoop to such a level of trickery.  Kids do not need these things.  Historically, sugars and oils would have been expensive and hard to get, so most kids went without and guess what? They ate their vegetables.  There is no biological requirement for sugar on oatmeal.

Is it hard to get kids to eat healthy food?  Of course it can be.  Even I have one toddler who is shaping up to be a temperamental eater.  But he still happily eats his vegetables – without unhealthy dressings – and his cereals – without added sugars, because he doesn’t know any different. And when he’s not in the mood for what’s on offer?  Well, he gets to eat from the options presented or wait for the next meal.  With uncorrupted taste buds, his preferences are for the foods themselves, not for sweet, salty, or fatty flavors.

Now, why can’t those doctors be as idealistic and optimistic about the future of our children’s diets as I am?

Inspire Healthy Kids: Teaching Healthy Diet to Kids in Schools

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Inspire Healthy Kids: Teaching Healthy Diet to Kids in Schools

When it comes to healthier school lunches and eating better, kids have been notoriously critical.  And this comes as no surprise, as habits and tastes once formed are exceedingly difficult to change.  Classes teaching health and diet in schools have been disappointingly unsuccessful.  Today I would like to look at some ways to change our school health and diet education programs to make them more fun, compelling, engaging, and effective so we can get kids on board and make them partners in healthy change!

There are two main elements at work in school programs that teach kids about healthy diets: what they teach and how they teach it.  All too often classes on health and diet are underfunded, so teachers turn to industry publications for assistance.  Coloring pages and activity sheets from source like the dairy industry or the cereals industry become important teaching tools.  This has to be the first thing to change.  Another major problem is that too much classroom learning involves sitting at a desk for long periods of time, and health and diet education has been no exception.  Teaching kids about health and diet needs to become a fun activity.  More than any other subject, what kids learn about health and diet will affect them every day, several times a day, for the rest of their lives.  Schools need to teach the right things and they need to make it fun.

Teach Substitutions

Firstly, we need to teach our kids about how to substitute unhealthy food with healthier options.  Kids need to learn that just because something is unhealthy does not mean they need to give it up altogether. They can learn how to substitute in healthier options that taste similar or in some cases exactly the same.  Kids can learn about how to substitute foods like zucchini and squash for spaghetti so as to decrease their caloric intakes.  They can learn to substitute cheesy vegan red pepper dip for processed cheese sauce.  It is even possible to make healthy cake and healthy cookies that are delicious!

Teach Portion Sizes

With childhood obesity on the rise, many kids are simply eating too much.  Even kids who eat a relatively healthy diet can become overweight if they are eating too much high-calorie food.  In addition to teaching what kids should eat, schools need to teach kids how much to eat.  Make it fun and entertaining by actually having the foods in the classroom and having kids select how much is in a healthy portion – if they get it right, they get to eat it!

Teach About Nutrition Labels

Kids can only make good food choices if they have the right tools.  Nutrition labels are meant to be a tool for helping kids make good decisions, but they only work if kids know how to read them.  Teaching kids what each of the lines on a nutrition label means, and showing them how to tell what ingredients are in a food are essential skills.  Kids won’t know that the snack foods they are eating are unhealthy if they have no idea what is in them.  But if we teach kids that ingredients like sugar, fat, and salt are going to hurt them, and they know how to find those elements on a nutrition label, they are more likely to avoid them.

Teach Practical Skills

Forget the workbooks, activity sheets, and drawings of a “healthy” plate of food.  Teach kids skills they can actually use!  Get them in those home economics kitchens and teach them how to cook healthy food.  Even very young children can learn the basics of cooking and putting together a few healthy dishes.  Teach kids how to make healthy snacks they can have when they get home.  Kids who learn how to cook are much more likely to actually implement their new healthy food skills.  When I took home economics, I learned how to make super sweet and buttery cinnamon buns.  I want my kids to learn how to make healthier foods!

Another practical skill kids should learn is gardening.  Let kids get their hands dirty and plant something in school.  Some schools have space for a garden plot, but if your school doesn’t, give each child a pot and teach them to grow something.  If your schools doesn’t have money for such a project, try asking around at some local garden centers and inquiring if they would be willing to donate some of the materials you need, like pots and soil.  Many local companies will be happy to give to such a cause, especially if they can then claim they donate to schoolchildren to help them learn about gardening!  When children learn about gardening, they feel a sense of ownership over the vegetables they grow and are more likely to eat those healthy foods.

Getting kids involved in activities like cooking and gardening makes it fun for kids.  Not only are they both creative processes that result in kids feeling a sense of accomplishment and pride, but they are also fun activities that get kids up and moving.   In a world where kids spend too many hours of every day sitting immobile at desks, any chance to get them moving around is a chance to capture their attention and excitement.  Associating cooking, gardening, and overall healthy eating with a feeling of “recess” gives it fun associations for kids that will last a lifetime.

Start Young

Get a health and nutrition education program going in your local preschool and kindergarten.  Even daycares can begin teaching these things!  The younger kids begin learning about healthy food choices, the more likely they are to stick. This is especially true in care centers where food is provided.  Mealtimes can be important teaching times even for very young children.

Make it Fun

Teaching kids about food doesn’t have to be boring!  One business startup promoting healthy kids that has been meeting with success is called FoodPlay Productions.  They have won awards for their entertaining teaching of nutrition, which involves theater productions, juggling, and bright colors designed to catch kids’ attention. By acting out funny interactions on stage, they get kids curious and leave them amused. Older kids in the classroom can make up skits in groups and perform them for the whole class – teaching information makes it more likely to stick in students’ minds.  They combine nutrition education with other basic skills, like math, as they count the number of teaspoons of soda in a can, calculate how much money the average child spends on soda in a year, and figure out what other fun (and healthy) toys, like skateboards and bicycles, they could be buying with that money.  Activities like puzzles and games are also good tools  for making teaching nutrition fun.

Get Families on Board

Schools running nutrition programs need to do more to get parents active in the program.  Running a parents’ information night and explaining to them the basic concepts of healthy eating and portion control can help get them involved, too.  If parents understand the importance of doing something for their kids’ benefit, they usually will do it.  After all, most parents want their kids to be happy and healthy, and giving up something like white bread at dinner every night will likely seem a small price to pay for kids with healthier future outcomes.

Getting schools to change their nutrition education programs may take some work and some time, but it is being successfully done in schools all over the world.   It is possible to get such a program integrated into your school, too!  Let’s teach the whole world to inspire healthy kids!

New Study Shows Vegan Diet Reduces Heart Disease Risk in Kids

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New Study Shows Vegan Diet Reduces Heart Disease Risk in Kids

We think of our children as immune to certain diseases we associate with old age.  We don’t expect them to get arthritis or to have a stroke.  Yet, sadly, with childhood obesity on the rise, more and more of our children are at risk for heart disease.  Just as type 2 (once called “adult onset”) diabetes has become commonplace among the youth of today, risk factors for heart disease are on the rise in younger and younger children.  The good news is, you can turn it around, and it’s easier than you think.

Earlier this month a study came out in The Journal of Pediatrics showing just how powerful switching to a healthy diet is.  Researchers wanted to evaluate how effective different diets were at reducing risk factors for heart disease in children.  Many studies of this nature have been done on adults, but this one is specifically targeting precursors of heart disease in children, which I have mentioned before is an increasing concern, with 70% of obese 5-7 year old kids exhibiting at least one risk factor for heart disease.

The current mainstream guidelines for reducing heart disease risk are those put forth by the American Heart Association (AHA).  While many doctors and individuals have long criticized their standards as being far from sufficiently rigorous, the AHA has been loathe to further restrict their recommended diet.  Perhaps they are concerned that being too strict will frighten people away from keeping to the recommendations.  But in the meantime, their diet is far from ideal.  So, what exactly are the AHA recommendations?

Choose foods low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium and added sugars and sweeteners.  As part of a healthy diet, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich whole grains, fish (preferably oily fish — at least twice per week), nuts, legumes and seeds.  Also try eating some meals without meat.  Select fat-free and low-fat dairy products and lean meats and poultry (skinless).  Limit sugar-sweetened beverages.

 

On the AHA diet, which is definitely healthier than the average diet, kids did see their diets improve and become healthier.  But how much healthier?  1/3 – 30% – of their calories were still coming from fats, although less than 7% of those calories came from harmful saturated fats.  Because they reduced meat intake, daily cholesterol intake dropped to less than 300 mg/day.  Sodium intake also dropped to 1,500 mg/day.

To determine if this diet is truly the ideal in reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease in children, researchers, led by Dr. Michael Macknin, tested both the AHA diet and an alternate vegan diet.  He and his team of researchers selected 28 obese children between the ages of 9 and 18 to participate in the study, which ran for 4 weeks.  They then randomly selected children to participate in one of the two diets.  At least one parent of each child in the study was also required to stick to the diet.  This makes it much easier for kids to stick to the diet, follow through with the study, and maintain a positive attitude.  The addition of this provision is actually a good example of what I repeatedly have said: Lead your kids by example.  If you want to inspire healthy kids, you need to also be eating a healthy diet!  Participants in the study also attended two-hour educational nutrition information sessions once per week, which affirms again what I have repeatedly said: Kids need to be educated about how food affects their health so they will be motivated to make healthy decisions.

What was the vegan diet like?  Children on the vegan diet were given plants and whole grains, although they limited their intake of fatty plant foods, like nuts and avocados.  They were given no animal products and no added fat was used in food preparation.

As a result, and no doubt in spite of a bit of cheating and leniency, consumption of animal proteins dropped from an average 42 grams per day to just 2.24 grams per day.  The percentage of calories from fat was just 18% (compared to 30% for the AHA diet), with only 3.6% coming from saturate fats (compared to 7% on the AHA diet).  Clearly, the vegan diet is a dramatically healthier diet than the AHA guidelines, if we look just at nutritional intakes.  (Of course not all nutritional values for foods were tested, but we can easily make an educated guess that those children on the vegan diet were consuming more vitamins and minerals, as their diets included more nutrient dense vegetable and whole grain ingredients.)

What were the results of the study?

Children on PB had 9 and children on AHA had 4 statistically significant (P < .05) beneficial changes from baseline (mean decreases): body mass index z-scorePB (−0.14), systolic blood pressurePB (−6.43 mm Hg), total cholesterolPB(−22.5 mg/dL), low-density lipoproteinPB (−13.14 mg/dL), high-sensitivity C-reactive proteinPB (−2.09 mg/L), insulinPB(−5.42 uU/mL), myeloperoxidasePB/AHA (−75.34/69.23 pmol/L), mid-arm circumferencePB/AHA (−2.02/−1.55 cm), weightPB/AHA (−3.05/−1.14 kg), and waist circumferenceAHA (−2.96 cm). Adults on PB and AHA had 7 and 2, respectively, statistically significant (P < .05) beneficial changes. The significant change favoring AHA was a 1% difference in children’s waist circumference. Difficulty shopping for food for the PB was the only statistically significant acceptability barrier.

In layman’s terms, this means that kids on the plant-based diet showed significant improvement in nine different categories: body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, insulin, myeloperoxidase, mid-arm circumference, weight, and waist circumference.  High sensitivity C-reactive protein is one measure of inflammation in the body and is a major indicator of heart disease risk.  Myeloperoxidase is an enzyme necessary for healthy body function, but in elevated levels is associated with risk for coronary artery disease,* to the point that high levels over a 13-year period was shown to have more than doubled the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.**

In contrast, children on the AHA diet showed statistically significant improvement in only four areas: mid-arm circumference, weight, waist circumference, and myeloperoxidase.  Clearly, the vegan diet was more effective in reducing risk factors for heart disease.  However, the AHA diet did show a 1% change in waist circumference, which shows it was good for losing weight in the right places.  On the other hand, the vegan diet resulted in greater health benefits even if those benefits were more internal than external.

(If you are an adult reading this and want to reap the benefits, you can.  Children’s bodies are more reactive to changes in their diet than adults, so they show more significant results more quickly, but adults also showed major benefits.  On the plant based diet, adults benefits in seven of the risk factor areas, while on the AHA diet they benefited in two of the risk factor areas.  If you put your child on one of these diets and you join him/her, you will also stand to gain – or, in this case, to lose! Haha!)

Dr. Macknin’s conclusion was:

As the number of obese children with high cholesterol continues to grow, we need to have effective lifestyle modifications to help them reverse their risk factors for heart disease.

 

We’ve known that plant-based diets are beneficial in adults in preventing and possibly reversing heart disease. This study shows that the same may be true in children too, though more studies are needed.

Of course this study was limited in scope, as not many children were tested.  Also, the study ran only for four weeks.  But just think about that!  Statistically significant benefits in nine areas were found in children on a plant based diet in just four weeks!  That’s such a short time.  It is really amazing.

The one complaint participants on the low-fat vegan diet had was that food was expensive and difficult to find.  It does not need to be this way.  Of course if you are buying convenience foods, it will be more of a challenge and more expensive.  Processed foods in the vegan market are niche, and fat-free vegan foods even more so.  I would suggest that more foods be made at home and less processed foods consumed, to take a page out of the paleo diet book.

We shop in bulk at farmer’s markets, often going once a week to stock up on fruits and vegetables.  I then use these to make healthy meals for my family.  Perhaps tomorrow I will post a recipe for an easy fat-free vegan tomato soup.  I often make big batches of this comfort food when tomatoes are in season and freeze containers for use later in the year. I find prices in farmer’s markets are 30%-50% lower than in supermarkets, I can support local farmers directly, and the food is more fresh.  On my last trip to the farmer’s market, I got 10 kg (22 lb) organic grapes for $10!  In the US, some farmer’s markets are even offering to double food stamps, so even people on food stamps can take advantage of the findings in this fantastic study.

With childhood obesity on the rise, we as parents have the power to combat it.  It’s not as hard as it might seem – even if you cut back and begin to follow the AHA guidelines, your child will benefit.  Go gradually and slowly transition to a more plant-based diet.  Even I cannot claim to be vegan (we eat a small amount of dairy and a tiny amount of fish once a week, but lots and lots of eggs), but take the steps you can in the right direction and it will only benefit you and your kids.  I know if my kids showed one of these risk factors for heart disease, or showed signs of obesity, I would not hesitate for a moment to switch to an even healthier diet than the one we are currently on.  We all have to start somewhere! Go ahead, take the plunge – or at least the first step – in the vegan direction!

*Zhang R, Brennan ML, Fu X, Aviles RJ, Pearce GL, Penn MS, Topol EJ, Sprecher DL, Hazen SL (November 2001). “Association between myeloperoxidase levels and risk of coronary artery disease”. JAMA 286 (17): 2136–42.doi:10.1001/jama.286.17.2136

**Heslop CL, Frohlich JJ, Hill JS (March 2010). “Myeloperoxidase and C-reactive protein have combined utility for long-term prediction of cardiovascular mortality after coronary angiography”. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 55 (11): 1102–9.doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2009.11.050

Healthy School Lunch Ideas: Shish Kabobs (Part 2)

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Healthy School Lunch Ideas: Shish Kabobs (Part 2)

Yesterday, I posted the amazing lunch idea of shish kabobs.  However, I was only able to get through the cold shish kabobs.  Don’t let that fool you – grilled shish kabobs can be made hot for dinner one night and put in the fridge for a yummy lunch the next day.  Trust me, they are delicious!  Don’t have a grill?  Place them on a tray on the top rack of your oven and turn on the grill/broiler setting (just keep a close eye on them so they don’t burn).  Remember to thoroughly soak wooden skewers so they don’t burn.  Here are some amazing and delicious grilled kabob ideas to help inspire your healthy kids!

Grilled Kabobs

Grilled kabobs can be served hot for dinner and then cold for lunch the next day, so this is a great opportunity to make two meals at one time.  Grilling makes it possible to include a much wider variety of vegetables that are not so palatable raw.  It also introduces a greater variety of vegan protein options.  You can grill kabobs with a marinade or send grilled kabobs to school with a dipping sauce.

Grilled Vegetable Kabobs

Any vegetables and fruits that can go on the grill can go on a kabob.  Zucchini and button or yellow summer squash are my go-to favorites, but cauliflower also ranks very high on my list of favorite slightly-blackened vegetables.  (Just make sure to spear cauliflower and broccoli through the stalk of each floret so they don’t fall off when grilled.)  Other good kabob vegetables are baby eggplant, button mushrooms, capsicum (bell pepper) – any color, banana peppers, red onion, thick asparagus, and cherry tomatoes.  Alternate colors for a beautiful kabob that will be especially appealing to young children.  Slice vegetables more thinly than you might normally to ensure they cook all the way through (if you hate biting into a kabob to discover your zucchini is still raw inside, then why would your kid like it?).  Include a small amount of fruit, like pineapple, to give a different flavor.  Marinades can run the gamut from Asian-inspired to garlic and herb.  Alternatively, grill vegetables plain and provide a simple dipping sauce.

Grilled Cheese Kabobs

If your mouth is watering with visions of a grilled cheese sandwich, I’m sorry to disappoint you.  Processed American cheese isn’t particularly healthy, but it also won’t do well on a kabob.  It will just melt and fall off.  However, there are some cheeses that can stand up to a flame.  Paneer (an Indian cheese), halloumi, and feta are all cheeses that do well on a grill.  You can of course pair them with any of the vegetable options listed above.  With the paneer, marinade vegetables in a (mild) curry marinade before adding them, to give an Indian touch.  Pair halloumi with flavors like basil, oregano, or thyme; vegetables such as red onion, cherry tomato, and zucchini; and fruit like lemon. Feta is amazing with olives, cubed whole grain bread, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and thinly sliced lemon.  Grilling the cheese will give it a smoky flavor it will maintain even once cool and in the lunchbox.

Grilled Seitan Skewers

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Gluten intolerants beware: Seitan is made from wheat gluten, which is awesome if you’re a vegetarian or vegan who thinks gluten is the protein of the gods, but not so good if you’re allergic.  I find the texture of seitan closer to meat than other substitutes I have tried.  It absorbs flavors wonderfully and is amazing on a gril and on a kabob.  You can grill it on its own, as you see above, or you can combine it with vegetables. Be sure to marinade it. Try something with personality like a green goddess dressing and chimichurri sauce if you’re grilling it on its own.  But you can also combine it with veggies.  Pair it with some broccoli and brush with a tamarind glaze, or add some baby corn and snow peas and brush with teriyaki sauce.  You won’t regret it, and your kids won’t even realize they’re not eating chicken.

Grilled Tempeh Kabobs

Unlike tofu, which is rather bland, tempeh has a more distinct flavor, which is pleasantly nutty.  Add it to any of the grilled vegetable kabobs and brush them with any marinade you like.  It pairs with just about anything and adds a great vegan source of protein.  Alternatively, grill it plain and send kabobs to school with your kids with a satay sauce. No peanuts allowed in school? Sub in cashews instead.  Kids go to a nut-free school? No problem!  Use a butter made from sunflower seeds to make your satay sauce!

Grilled Tofu Kabobs

Tofu is more bland than tempeh, but absorbs flavors wonderfully, making it perfect for marinades.  Marinate your tofu and vegetables together before grilling. Before marinating, ensure you are using extra-firm tofu, and squeeze the extra water out by pressing gently on the block with a tea towel.  Personally, I prefer tofu in Asian-style sauces, but it is so versatile there is no reason to limit yourself.  Want to marinate it in herbs and garlic? Go for it!  You can also cut your tofu in long sticks rather than cubes, so your skewer contains only tofu.  Consider coating your tofu in panko breadcrumbs or crushed wasabi peas after thoroughly marinating, for a crunchy outer coating.

Grilled Fruit Kabobs

Another dimension to dessert is actually grilling fruit.  I don’t find many people cook fruit these days, aside from the very occasional stewed fruit or cold fruit soup.  But trust me when I saw that grilled fruit is amazing.  Peaches, apples, pineapple, and star fruit are my particular favorites.  But step outside the box and try including fruits like bananas, watermelon, plums, apricots, strawberries, fresh coconut, and cantaloupe (rock melon).  Fruit kabobs are grilled to perfection in just about 7 minutes, making them easy to throw on the grill for dessert after a meal – just make some extra and chill them to send to school for a fruit kabob with a different and distinctly smoky-sweet flavor.

Get Kids Involved

Getting kids involved is one of the best ways to inspire them to be healthy kids and make good food choices.  They are also much more likely to eat foods they have helped make.  Plus, they might be tempted to snack on the leftover fruits and vegetables.  Putting together shish kabobs is also an entertaining activity for them, which saves you on finding something to entertain bored kids late on a Sunday afternoon, while also saving you time making their lunches!  Just place some sticks on the counter with a wide variety of items they can skewer.  Make sure you supervise them so they don’t hurt themselves (or each other) with the skewers.  That way they can add exactly the things they like.

In general, kabobs are a fantastic lunch food.  They are easily portable and they are lots of fun, especially if you send them with a dipping sauce.  They can be hot or cold, sweet or savory.  They can easily contain vegetables, fruits, protein, and grains all at once, so enough shish kabobs pretty much make up a complete meal.  They are a perfect way to use up leftover largely chopped, sliced, or diced vegetables.  I hope you enjoy these recipe ideas and please let me know how your kids enjoy them in their lunch boxes!!