• Pushing the “Reset Button” on Family Health Habits
• Recipe: Broccoli Potato Soup
• Updates from Connie
• Healthy Holiday Tips from FK Readers
• News in Brief:
  Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools
  Fast Food F.A.C.T.S.
  Recent Studies of Interest
  Recommended: Garden ABCs
  (Updated 11/2012)

As a society, when exactly did we decide that there are “adult” foods and “kid” foods?

Pushing the “Reset Button” on Family Health Habits

There's no denying that Americans have been impacted by major social, cultural, and lifestyle changes over the past 30-40 years. Many of these lifestyle trends have contributed to the growing problem of both adult and child obesity and related health problems.

Don't you wish you could press a “reset” button and return to some of the family traditions of your youth that promoted better health? Did you play outside for hours on end? Walk to school? Eat family meals without fail? Drink the occasional soft drink out of an 8 oz. bottle (as opposed to daily gulps of 20, 44, or gasp, 64 oz.?)

As a society, when exactly did we decide that there are “adult” foods and “kid” foods? I guess my mom never got that memo. When I was growing up, we all ate the same food at the same time (and I don't recall chicken nuggets as part of the menu).

Below are eight ways to “reset” for better health. I'm sure you can think of more. Email me with your suggestions and I will share them on my facebook page.

1. Rethink the American concept of eating at every occasion and every location and instead, return to innate eating. In other words, learn to listen to your body's hunger/fullness signals and encourage your children to do the same. After all, infants are born knowing when they are hungry and precisely how much to eat at each feeding. We gradually lose this ability to respond to body cues as we are exposed to environmental and cultural influences.
   
   
2. Reset to family meals as the default meal each day. Drive through dining, eating on the run, or grabbing mall or ballpark food should be reserved for rare occasions. Ask your child to help you with the planning, shopping and cooking. You will be amazed at how this impacts his/her attitude about food.
   
   
3. Think “retro” in regards to plates, bowls and glasses. It's no coincidence that the size of our dinnerware has increased in sync with our waistlines. Bigger dishes = bigger portions. Try using salad plates as dinner plates and bowls designed for dip or salsa for breakfast cereal.
   
   
4. Choose restaurants that care about kids' health. Instead of soda pop, French fries, and chicken nuggets, ask for meals that automatically default to healthy sides such as salad, apple slices, milk, or baby carrots.
   
   
5. When kids are bored and out of ideas, make active play the default choice for “what to do.” Set time limits on all electronic-based toys, computers, movies and television.
   
   
6. Teach children this equation: THIRST = WATER! Serve 1% or nonfat milk as the default beverage at meals, and limit 100% fruit juice to 4-6 ounces each day.
   
   
7. Reset snack time as the occasion to refuel active, growing bodies with mostly healthy choices, not just sweets and treats. Provide easy choices such as cut-up fruits and vegetables, low-fat yogurt and cheese, whole grain crackers or bread, lean protein sources, and nuts.
   
   
8. While public health policy and legislation are useful tools (think: nutrition on menu boards, healthy school meals, incentives for healthy behaviors), it will always ultimately be our choice to practice healthy habits. As you head into a new year, consider real personal change that will impact you, your family, and your community. After all, habits — both good and bad — are contagious!

A mantra of public health professionals is to “make the healthy choice the easy choice.” Try this same philosophy in your home!

Download "Nutrition & Fitness for your Child: Ten Steps to Healthy Habits"

Click the image below for a PDF copy of this recipe:

RECIPE: Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

Rich in calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium, this soup is a welcome addition to a winter day. Serve with fresh fruit and whole grain sandwiches for an easy complete meal.

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups Vegetable broth
¼ cup Flour
¼ cup Smart Balance® Spread (or other trans-fat free spread)
½ cup Onion, finely chopped
3 cups 1% milk
2 cups Fresh broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
¼ tsp Red pepper flakes (optional)
½ tsp pepper, black
1 cup Sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Peel and dice potatoes and cook in vegetable broth until tender. In a separate large saucepan, melt the Smart Balance® over medium heat. Add chopped onions and cook for 1 minute. Add flour and cook roux, whisking, for 3 minutes. Add milk gradually, whisking and bring to a boil. Add the black pepper and red pepper flakes, if desired. Gradually add the potatoes with broth and whisk until smooth. Add chopped broccoli and cook until tender. Remove from heat. Add the grated sharp cheddar cheese and whisk until melted. Serve immediately.

Serves 8

Nutrition (per 1 cup serving): Calories: 211, Total Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 19mg, Sodium: 417mg, Potassium: 547mg, Carbohydrates: 21g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 9g

Updates from Connie

• Need a gift for the educator on your list? How to Teach Nutrition to Kids and Nutrition Fun with Brocc & Roll make great presents for your favorite teacher!
  
  
• Keep up with Connie on twitter. Receive frequent tips or links to pertinent programs, recipes, research studies, special offers and more!

From Stephanie Levick:

It can be as simple as taking a walk in your neighborhood with your family after a Holiday dinner or lunch. Depends on where you live and the weather but it will get everyone up and moving and not parked in front of the TV!!! Hope you have a wonderful season.

From Christine Cliff:

1. Substitute low-fat or fat-free yogurt for sour cream in your recipes for dips
   
   
2. Create your own spritzer (as a substitute for alcoholic drink) using soda water and cranberry juice. Garnish with a lime twist or wedge.
   
   
3. When eggs are in your baking recipes, use one full egg (white and yolk) and egg whites for the balance. Remember, two egg whites for every one egg needed in a recipe. This will help bring down the fat content in your baked item.
   

From Georgia Orcutt, Program Manager
Oldways - Changing the Way People Eat
Mediterranean Diet for the Holidays

1. Eat home-cooked meals as often as you can. Keep your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer stocked with Med Diet basics so you can come home from a busy day and put an affordable, healthy meal on the table quickly, avoiding last minute trips for groceries or fast food. Stock up on extra-virgin olive oil, canned tuna and sardines, canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables and shrimp, whole grains (including pasta), eggs, hard cheese for grating, Greek yogurt, olives, and nuts, plus an assortment of herbs and spices. Keep apples, celery, and carrots in the refrigerator along with hummus and tzatziki. And don't skip breakfast or lunch!
   
   
2. Be smart about buffet party tables. Enjoy the feast with your eyes first. Survey the table and think about ways to fill half your plate with vegetables. Once you have served yourself, move away from the table and stay away so you won?t be tempted to overeat.
   
   
3. Eat lots of vegetables. Include a variety of vegetables in your holiday meals, and try new ways of preparing them. Shred winter squash and sweet potatoes in the food processor and sauté them in olive oil and garlic. Roast beets, carrots, potatoes, and onions in the oven. Sauté fresh spinach with garlic and add a squeeze of lemon. Create pretty and tasty salads, using different colors of lettuce, watercress, and fresh herbs, and serve them with a simple vinaigrette.
   
   
4. Find alternatives to sweets. Save sweet treats and desserts for truly special occasions during the season, rather than making them daily fare. Reach for a handful of nuts, an apple or orange, or some homemade trail mix, or make a small amount of popcorn when you need a snack. Going to a party? Take spiced nuts, fruit baskets, assorted olives, fresh veggies with healthy dips, special cheeses, or wine.

News in Brief

Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools
Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools, sponsored by the Food Family Farming Foundation, National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance and United Fresh Produce Association Foundation, supports First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative. Beginning January 1, 2011, schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) can apply for grants that will allow them to place salad bars in schools. Let's Move is a nationwide initiative to promote making healthy choices, improving food quality in schools, increasing access to healthy, affordable food, and increasing physical activity for a healthier generation of kids

Fast Food F.A.C.T.S. Releases new report
Children as young as age 2 are seeing more fast food ads than ever before, and restaurants rarely offer parents the healthy kids’ meal choices, according to a new study from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. The report’s authors studied marketing efforts of 12 of the nation’s largest fast food chains, and examined the calories, fat, sugar and sodium in more than 3,000 kids’ meal combinations and 2,781 menu items. Their evaluation of marketing practices revealed that the fast food industry spent more than $4.2 billion on marketing and advertising in 2009, focusing extensively on television, the Internet, social media sites and mobile applications. Read the full report here and visit http://www.fastfoodmarketing.org/ for additional info and resources.

Recent Studies of Interest:

• Study out of Iceland shows that nutrition education in the classroom results in positive behavior change (How to Teach Nutrition to Kids was one of the resources used in this study) Link
• Schoolchildren's Consumption of Competitive Foods and Beverages, Excluding à la Carte Link
• Children's Screen Viewing is Related to Psychological Difficulties Irrespective of Physical Activity Link

Recommended: Garden ABCs
GardenABCs is a school garden share site for parents, teachers and community members seeking guidance, resources, fundraising, networking and teaching support to start and maintain school and community gardens. The founder of GardenABCs, Anne Nagro is a master gardener and author of Our Super Garden. (Connie was a nutrition advisor for this exciting new children's book).

©2010 by Connie Liakos Evers, All Rights Reserved. There is a modest reprint fee for reproducing the material in this newsletter in either print or electronic publications. Please send an email to reprint@nutritionforkids.com for details and rates.

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