Tag Archives: childhood obesity

Child Health, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Great Healthy Snacks for Kids

Finding great healthy snacks for kids is an ongoing challenge for every parent. With busy schedules, fixed grocery budgets and the discerning palates of children, making healthy choices is a process often pushed aside. Fortunately, parents and kids can work together to choose healthy options that are affordable and easy to find in the grocery store.

 

Snacks with Cheese

Adding protein such as cheese to a child’s snack helps the child to feel full while preventing the sugar high that sends kids bouncing off the walls. Most kids enjoy mild flavored medium-hard cheeses such as cheddar, Monterey Jack and Colby. Some snacks to try with cheese include:

•Cheese paired with whole-grain crackers
•Cheese and fruit kabobs
•Quesadillas with cheese, refried black beans and salsa for dipping
•Pinwheels made with a tortilla, cheese, and hummus or meat, rolled up and sliced into rounds
•Cheese flowers, which are cheese shapes cut out with cookie cutters and put onto pretzel stick “stems”

 

Peanut Butter

So long as a child is not allergic to nuts, peanut butter is an affordable, filling and easy option for many different snacks. Some creative options include:

•Spread on celery and line with raisins for “ants on a log”
•Spread onto tortillas and drizzle with honey for an alternative to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
•Use as a spread on mini waffles or rice cakes

 

Yogurt

Yogurt contains live active cultures that can help kids who are prone to belly aches. With so many styles of yogurt, including Greek yogurt, fruit-filled yogurt and mousse-style yogurt, there’s sure to be a flavor to please even the pickiest eaters. Parents can serve yogurt as a snack in these ways:

•Mixed with pureed fruit and frozen into popsicles
•Made into a parfait with layers of fresh fruit and granola
•Mixed with frozen fruit and almond milk or apple juice as a smoothie

 

Fruit

Sweet fresh fruit is a staple in the homes of many families. To keep this snack affordable, stick with seasonal fruits such as apples in the fall, oranges in winter and strawberries in the summer. Some creative ways to serve fruit to children include:

•Mixed into oatmeal
•Added to cold cereal
•Cut and ready for dipping into yogurt

These great healthy snacks for kids are quick to make. They are also easy to bring while on the go, just put them into a reusable lunch sack.

 

Child Health, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Ways to Help Prevent Childhood Obesity

Obesity has become a major health problem over the past few decades. While losing weight and getting healthy is difficult for adults, the problem is even more challenging when talking about childhood obesity.

No person ever wants to be overweight, but unhealthful eating choices and too little exercise are firmly ingrained habits that are difficult to change. Some of the blame can be placed on parents who do not understand the health risks of obesity, but more often children gain weight because their parents lead a busy life and choose convenience foods over healthful foods.

 

Combating Childhood Obesity

 

Stock the Kitchen with Healthful Foodsavoid childhood obesity

While most kids will gravitate toward snacks with too much sugar, fat and salt, they will enjoy more nutritious fruits and nuts just as much. It is important to limit between meal snacks so the children will be interested in eating the healthful meals that are served.

It is also important that parents limit serving sizes and make sure children are eating a balanced diet.

 

Limit or Eliminate Soda and Sweetened Drinks

There is a high concentration of sugar in soda and sweetened beverages. Children should drink an adequate amount of water in addition to milk and natural fruit juices to get the nutrients they need while avoiding the sugars that can contribute to childhood obesity.

Parents should not keep any beverages containing artificial sweeteners in their home because they are also unhealthful.

 

Encourage Physical Activity in Children

Young children have a natural tendency to run and play, but too much exposure to electronic devices such as computers and television can make electronic entertainment more tempting as they grow older.

Parents who are busy working and maintaining a home may appreciate the peace and quiet in their home while the kids are watching TV or playing computer games, but these activities must be limited.

Unfortunately, it is not always safe to allow kids outside to play with their friends, so parents should make it a point to get out with them and enjoy physical activities together.

Parents must make healthful food and lifestyle choices for their children, and most of them will when they realize the importance of good health for their kids.

The incidence of childhood obesity, diabetes and the development of heart disease can be greatly reduced when parents are able to help their children maintain a healthy weight. Obese children also suffer from poor self-esteem, and this can limit their outlook for a positive future and fulfilled life.

 

Child Health, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

10 Facts about Childhood Obesity

The number of American children suffering from obesity has tripled over the past 50 years. Childhood obesity is one of the most serious health challenges facing the U.S. Most cases of childhood obesity have behavioral or environmental origins as opposed to genetic roots.

 

Did you know?

1. Almost half of the children in the U.S. who are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes would not have diabetes if they were not obese.

2. Currently, childhood obesity costs the U.S. $14 billion annually. Obesity-related illnesses are estimated to cost $66 billion per year by 2030.

3. New diagnoses of asthma have increased by 52 percent in children and adolescents. Experts suspect a strong link between asthma and diabetes in children and teens.

4. Children with obesity are at higher risk of heart disease. 70 percent of youth who are obese have at least one risk factor for heart disease. Heart disease risk from high blood pressure and high cholesterol increases for obese children.

5. Overweight children miss school 4 times more frequently than children who are not overweight. The fear of being bullied, teased or embarrassed often prevents overweight children from participating in healthy physical activities.

6. Excessive snacking results in additional consumption of 200 calories per day of unhealthy snack foods and beverages. States that restrict the sale of snack foods and beverages in schools show lower rates of unhealthy weight gain in youth.

7. The four to five hours per day that a typical child spends watching TV, using the computer or playing video games increases the likelihood of excess weight gain. This sedentary behavior contributes to a lifetime of obesity.

8. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that children and teens practice activity equal to 60 minutes of vigorous walking every day. Only one out of every four children participates in any free-time physical activity of any type on a regular basis.

9. The life expectancy of obese children is reduced by at least five years when obesity is permanent.

10. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only 2 percent of American children enjoy healthy diets. A survey of high school seniors found that only 3 out of every 10 teens eat vegetables of any amount on a daily basis.

Child Health, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Childhood nutrition facts

Did you know that the amount of nutrients kids need to grow changes as they get older? Take a look at the childhood nutrition facts below to learn how much each food group your child needs.

 

Kids age 2-3

Calories  1,000-1,400

Protein  2-4 ounces

Fruit  1-1.5 cups

Vegetables  1-1.5 cups

Grain  3-5 ounces

Dairy  2-2.5 cups

 

Girls age 4-8

Calories  1,200-1,800

Protein  3-5 ounces

Fruit  1-1.5 cups

Vegetables  1.5-2.5 cups

Grain  4-6 ounces

Dairy  2.5-3 cups

 

Boys age 4-8

Calories  1,200-2,000

Protein  3-5.5 ounces

Fruit  1-2 cups

Vegetables  1.5-2.5 cups

Grain  4-6 ounces

Dairy  2.5-3 cups

 

Girls age 9-13Breakfast

Calories  1,400-2,200

Protein  4-6 ounces

Fruit  1.5-2 cups

Vegetables  1.5-3 cups

Grain  5-7 ounces

Dairy  2.5-3 cups

 

Boys age 9-13

Calories  1,600-2,600

Protein  5-6.5 ounces

Fruit  1.5-2 cups

Vegetables  2-3.5 cups

Grain  5-9 ounces

Dairy  3 cups

 

Girls age 14-18

Calories  1,800-2,400

Protein  5-6.5 ounces

Fruit  1.5-2 cups

Vegetables  2.5-3 cups

Grain  6-8 ounces

Dairy  3 cups

 

Boys age 14-18

Calories  2,000-3,200

Protein  5.5-7 ounces

Fruit  2-2.5 cups

Vegetables  2.5-4 cups

Grain  6-10 ounces

Dairy  3 cups

(source: Mayo Clinic)

 

These childhood nutrition facts are a great way to ensure that your child’s body has the fuel it needs to develop. And of course, you want to limit junk food and encourage physical activity.

Child Fitness, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Proper Nutrition Improves Childhood Obesity Statistics

According to the CDC, childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last thirty years. In 2010, 18% of children ages six to eleven were considered obese. Numbers like these are occurring all over the country, causing alarm among the medical community.

As these rates continue to rise, it is certain more and more children will become victims of obesity, threatening their health and their lives. Many in the medical community are working to see what can be done to stop the onslaught of this epidemic.

Through research, it has been found the foods being consumed by children are putting their health at great risk and causing weight issues like have never been seen before.

 

Childhood obesity and kid’s diets

Why Is the Diet of Today’s Children Such a Concern?

Very few children these days are getting the Recommended Daily Amount (RDA) of the healthy foods containing the vitamins and minerals needed for proper growth and body function. Not only are children not eating the proper foods, but they are eating way too much.

The average child eats hundreds of calories more than they should in a day. Between the ages of seven and ten, children should consume between 1500 and 2000 calories, depending on their age and sex.

 

Food choice heavily impacts childhood obesity

One of the biggest worries among the medical community is children are eating more fast food, fried foods, candy and soda than ever before. If your child consumes a 4-piece chicken nugget happy meal, they have already consumed about a third of the calories they need in a day. This can be even greater if your child chooses to up the size of their meal to a Mighty meal.

Though the schools are trying to do their part in helping provide children with proper nutrition, they are failing in many ways. Pizza, fried nuggets and fries are not making for healthy kids.

 

Curbing childhood obesity

To improve the health of your child and prevent or reverse obesity, you need to offer your child a wide variety of healthy fruits and vegetables. Snacks should be offered in the form of fresh fruits and vegetable sticks. It is also important to get your child moving as much as possible.

Studies have shown active children who have plenty of opportunities for active play, weigh less than those who sit around and play video games or watch TV.

Through a healthy diet, exercise for kids and your supervision over their health, your child’s weight will improve along with their health.

Child Fitness, Child Health, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Child fitness strategies need to be enacted at home to work

 

In recent years the epidemic of childhood obesity has gained notoriety in the media for being a serious issue facing our youth. Countless studies have been cited and statistics trotted out to the increasingly concerned public, and in response, elected officials have begun making policy changes aimed at increasing child fitness through better nutrition and health education.

As a result, the meals that many schools provide are beginning to include more healthy options and PSA’s stress the importance of getting children physically active for at least 60 minutes a day.  These well-meaning initiatives are certainly a step in the right direction towards improving child fitness on a national scale, but these sweeping policies can also provide a false sense of security for parents.

kids-exercising

General programs aren’t enough

Some schools have been able to make changes to their lunch program by making healthy food options more accessible to students and now provide better education on the importance of being in good physical shape. But for those that haven’t – due to lack of funding, staff or resources – many of these programs fall on deaf ears.

Budgets are tight for schools and youth-service organizations across the country. Among the first things being cut are gym classes and after-school recreational activities. Meanwhile, healthy food options usually cost more than the more traditional choices many of us grew up with.

 

wellness

 

Even if schools are offering these resources to their students, parents can easily get the wrong impression that these steps are enough for their child to be healthy. It is this false sense of security that parents need to overcome.

Ultimately the health of a child falls on the responsibility of the parents. They need to be the ones to ensure that their children are eating healthy foods at home – and when they’re at school that they’re actually choosing the healthy meal options. They also need to get their children to be physically active for a meaningful amount of time each day.

 

The role parents play

School and public programs only go so far into changing the habits of children. For any long-term changes to be achieved, the message needs to be reinforced at home by their parent or guardian at a young enough age when habits are still being formed. In most cases family involvement will determine the success or failure of these programs in improving child fitness.

Children can learn all about the food pyramid and the need for aerobic activity, but unless the message is reinforced and mirrored at home the lessons are unlikely to sink in.

Parents need to make healthy meals and plan physical activities at home so that children receive the lessons we want them to learn in a consistent and organized way. This might include such things as:

  • involving children in grocery shopping by helping them pick out fresh fruits and vegetables
  • having them help you prepare nutritious meals (let them toss the salad!)
  • go on family bike rides
  • play in the yard or at the park with them
  • set good examples by eating healthy and remaining physically active

 

Take initiative for their sake

It might be easy to assume that the lessons children at school about fitness is enough to create a lasting change in the decisions they make about their health, but sadly that’s not the case.

And it might also be easy to say that because of busy schedules or other commitments that continuing any good lessons taught at school or through after-school activities at home is too difficult. But what you must remember is that these teachable moments are shaping the life-long habits to ensure the health and well-being of your child. And nothing can be more important than that.

——

Ed Holpfer

Child Fitness, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Childhood Obesity – Getting Our Kids Healthy

Mark Aselstine, guest contributor

Nearly every community in America has made getting our kids healthy a priority, as we’ve seen the continual rise in childhood obesity rates gain momentum over the past two decades.  While reasonable people can argue about the cause of this rise in childhood obesity, be it the rise of indoor games like video games, or a general lack of healthy food choices, what matters is that virtually everyone agrees that a continued rise in childhood obesity is one of the major issues facing this country.

I’m lucky to live in the community of Berkeley California, a highly urban area just east across the bay from San Francisco.  Berkeley is certainly known for many things, from our internationally recognized University, aptly named California, to being the center of the hippy movement in the 1970’s. What hasn’t received as much attention of late is Berkeley’s role as the American center for the slow food movement.  The concept is pretty simple, we should be cooking food more often than we eat fast food because of the nutritional quality as well as the cost.

 

It takes a village…

In Berkeley, eating healthy food has become something of a focus in the fight against childhood obesity.  Over the past few years, we’ve seen the city outlaw new fast food restaurants and encourage an even greater focus on Farmer’s Markets and other local food choices.  Since the city is highly urban, not everyone has the space and yard (if they have a yard at all, the average size of a single family home’s property is under four thousand square feet) to grow their own food, there has been a huge focus on the creation of community gardens and centralized places for people to grow their own food.

The county of Alameda had a program which provided close to three million dollars a year to allow gardening to happen at every school campus in the Berkeley School District.  Of course, as they often do, budget cuts ended that program and left a huge hole in its wake.  That’s where we can truly see the community’s commitment to the program, Alice Waters and her famous Chez Panisse Restaurant held a $2,500 per plate fundraiser, while other businesses donated 10% of their proceeds over a given month, raising the money to continue this important educational program which also provides lettuce and other fruits and vegetables for school lunches.

 

 

Making exercise accessible

Of course, no commitment to fight childhood obesity would work without the ability to encourage children to burn more calories through play.  We’ve all heard that most kids should have sixty minutes of free play per day, but how can that happen with the end of Physical Education in schools and a condensed school schedule which sends children home, sometimes without more than a fifteen minute recess?  In Berkeley, the answer has come again through community support and involvement.  Berkeley has certainly gone all in, so to speak, with National Night Out.  Held every year on August 6th, National Night Out encourages the blocking of streets to allow children and their parents to enjoy playing outside.  Additionally the city shuts streets on a rotating basis on weekends to allow children an easy place to play.

 

Creating healthy citizens through city planning

Of course, a weekly event hardly allows children a space to gain sixty minutes of play per day.  Berkeley has continued to focus on adding park space, but also in building bicycle boulevards which in essence give bicycle riders streets to themselves, encouraging the biking of place to place. With a city of about one hundred thousand all packed into a three by four mile area, giving families the ability to get from home to the grocery store as an example, without driving, is a worthwhile and achievable goal.  The city and its business backers are focusing on allowing children to gain part of their exercise through their regular daily schedules.

Thank you for taking the time to read about the city of Berkeley and its fight against childhood obesity.  It’s certainly a hard problem to solve and the solutions which Berkeley is finding aren’t perfect for all cities across the country, but with a large amount of community involvement and government backing, answers are out there.

——

Mark Aselstine is the owner of Uncorked Ventures, an online wine club and high end gift basket business.  With a toddler at home, the issue of childhood obesity is perhaps more important to him than many others, but he believes that with community involvement and smart, common sense solutions we can see improvements in the coming years.

Child Health, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Childhood Obesity Overview

Childhood obesity is a significant and growing problem throughout the world. In many countries child obesity rates have tripled or quadrupled in the last 10-to-20 years.

Some health experts are predicting that, for the first time in history, the current generation will be less healthy than the last due to the rising incidence of child and adolescent obesity. It is broadly assumed that childhood obesity rates have risen due to increased consumption of unhealthy (junk) food and decreased physical activity among children throughout the world. Therefore, the dominant prescription for addressing the child obesity epidemic is having kids eat healthier and exercise more.

The problem is that the research data doesn’t support this approach. There is almost no evidence that childhood obesity is caused by unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior, and almost all efforts to reduce the incidence of via this prescrition haven’t worked.

Global child and adolescent obesity rates continue to rise and research studies attempting to address the problem continue to fail. Getting kids to eat more healthily and exercise more hasn’t worked for the last 20 years and there is no scientific evidence these strategies will work in the future.

As contributor to the Better Kids Institute, I plan to write a series of articles about childhood obesity that I hope will provide real help to parents. I will be discussing the causes of child obesity and offer advice on what parents, schools and communities should be doing about. What’s needed is a more accurate understanding of the childhood obesity crisis and more viable solutions for parents and communities to address this global problem.

The advice I offer will not be based on myths like much of the information available on health and fitness. Instead, I will focus on sharing the truths about what is known through the scientific literature and that strategies that have proven to work.

Child Fitness, Child Health, Child Nutrition, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Eating Disorders Overview

Eating disorders are growing in incidence throughout the world. Here are the three primary types:

  • Anorexia nervosa (severely restricted eating)
  • Bulimia nervosa (binging with purging)
  • Binge eating disorder (compulsive overeating)

Eating disorders such as Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating disorder are characterized by extreme emotions, attitudes and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues, and a disconnected understanding of one’s body. Eating disorders are also a gendered health issue, affecting women at a disproportionate rate than men.

Here are some facts about eating disorders from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders:

  • Eating disorders are a national epidemic affecting over 7 million women and 1 million men, and it incidence is increasing at an alarming rate.
  • Onset of eating disorders occurs before the age of 20 in 86% of sufferers. The incidence rate is estimated at 4.5% in young women and 2% in young men.
  • Death rate is over 5%. Young women with anorexia nervosa are 12 times more likely to die than their peers.

Eating disorders are very complex problems with many possible causal factors (e.g., genetics, personality, family dysfunction, psychological issues). However, almost everyone agrees two of the primary contributors are:

A culture that promotes thinness in women and musculature in men and a media that transmits these messages.
Prior experience with strict dieting (severe dieters have an 18 times greater chance of developing an eating disorder).

In other words, eating disorders can definitely be attributed to the pressure society puts an women to be thin, and men to be muscular. Eating disorders prevail when these unattainable goals and cultural standards become internalized and necessary for survival and success. Researchers who study eating-disordered thoughts and behaviors suggest that the media, advertising, women’s magazines, and the $60 billion weight loss industry may play a role in triggering eating disorders.

If you want additional information about eating disorders, beyond what’s provided on this site, here is an additional resource you may want to access: Eating Disorders Publications and Education

Allen Oelschlaeger (allenoelschlaeger.com) is known for his no-nonsense and passionate approach to sharing his expertise on weight loss, nutrition and fitness and is the creator of the B.I.T.E. method for effortless weight management. Allen has degrees in biology and pharmacy and was an executive in the medical industry for over 20 years.

Child Health, Child Obesity, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

An Overweight Child? Whose Fault is It?

I was reading an article in the paper the other day about childhood obesity. With all the challenges that our children are facing now a days I would have thought this was no big deal… boy was I wrong. The statistics were shocking. I never realized all the medical problems caused by being overweight, let alone the fact that overweight children are 3 times more likely to be bullied in school.

But the one thing that hit home with me the most was that they blamed the parents. They have some nerve, right? After all, we work hard to give our kids all the things that we never had. I don’t ever want them to be hungry or need anything that I can’t give them. I just want them to be happy.

But something kept resonating in the back of my mind about being an enabler. Could I actually be contributing to my child’s weight problem? I couldn’t help but think back to my childhood and remembering my Mom telling me to clean my plate before I was allowed to get up from the dinner table. Sometimes even giving me the lecture about people starving in other countries and that they would thankful to have what I had on my plate. I must admit, even to this day, I still feel a little guilty when I don’t finish everything that on my plate.

The article went on to list dozens of products that contribute to child obesity. Wanting to confirm my innocence in this matter I quickly went to the pantry and refrigerator to see if any of the “Bad Food”s listed was on our shelves. Well, to my shame I found product after product with empty calories and ingredients that I could not pronounce. It was true, in an effort to make our children happy we were allowing them to consume snacks that had absolutely no nutritional value. Undaunted I was still determined to prove my innocence by justifying my children’s eating habits with their activity levels. So when they got home from school I kept a watchful eye on everything they did.

Well, I’ll bet you can guess how that turned out. Apparently I have been a bit out of touch with what my children actually do when they get home from school. The kids spent almost all of their time watching TV, developing bad habits that would destroy their health. After discussing this whole revelation with my wife we immediately cleared the shelves of all the bad snacks and replaced them with healthy ones. Then we gave our kids the choice of which after school activities they would like to participate in. To our surprise the kids now love the healthy snacks and they can’t wait to get to their after school activities.

The moral to this story is that we as parents are indeed responsible for teaching our children good eating habits and seeing that they stay involved in positive activities to promote good health. Our kids don’t need another friend that just agrees with everything that they want to do; they need a parent’s watchful eye to help them make good decisions and choices about the things they eat and the activities that they participate in.