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Archive for October, 2009
Losing Weight and Keeping It Off
A Road Map for Success
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On the Road to Healthy Living
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Different Personality Types, Different Eating Habits
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For Successful Weight Loss, Follow Guidelines that Work
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Weight Loss is a Health Issue, Not a Sport
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Do You Know Your Body Mass Index (BMI)?
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Body Shapes: Comparing Apples and Pears
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What is Your Frame Size?
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Do Your Know Your Healthy Weight Range?
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A Quick and Easy Way to Estimate Your Daily Calorie Needs
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Change Your Lifestyle, Not Just Your Diet
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USDA Guidelines to Healthy Eating
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Portion Sizes Anyone Can Understand
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Supermarket Savvy
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Food Label Literacy
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A Pantry Stocked For Healthy Eating
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Tips For Leaner Cooking Techniques
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Recipes Modified
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Eating Lighter, Eating Smarter
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A Restaurant Guide For Healthy Eating
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Understanding Restaurant Lingo
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Why You Need a Dining Out Strategy
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Controlling Hunger
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Special Occasions
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Eating With All Our Senses
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Some Basic Information About Exercise
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Making Time for Exercise
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Calculating Your Target Heart Rate
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Developing Strategies
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Setting Goals
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Handling Stress
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Coaching Yourself
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About Thinking Styles
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Getting Support
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Everything in Moderation
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Achieving Our Best
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Lifestyle Changes Matter More Than Dieting
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Your Health – A Larger Picture
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The Meaning of Good Health
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New Year’s Resolutions – Weight Loss Once Again or For Good?
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Expect Miracles This Year
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Writing Our Stories
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Eating With All Our Senses
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Fitness Exercise for the Aging Mind
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Vegan Nation
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What You Should Know About Seafood
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Q&A Sessions About Your Health Concerns
Glad You Asked Q&A sessions are listed in the order of their publication. You may also search for specific topics by key word(s) or by date. Please leave your questions and comments to be addressed in future issues.
Overweight But Otherwise Healthy – Still At Risk?
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I’m Trying to Lose Weight, But I’m Not Getting the Support I Need
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Crash Diets – Do They Work?
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What’s Wrong With Carbonated Sodas?
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Kids Can Gain Weight in Response to Stress
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Picky Eaters – How Concerned Should You Be if Your Child Refuses to Eat Right?
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Jet Lag, Not as Harmless as You May Think
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Food in a Pill, How Important Are Vitamins and Supplements?
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Fruit Drinks, A Cause for Concern?
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Is Fast Food Especially Bad For Young Kids and Teenagers?
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How Safe Are Water Bottles and Plastic Food Containers?
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“Organically Grown Produce” – Is It Worth the Extra Money?
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Strictly Vegetarian, Too Radical?
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Children With Food Allergies
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Is There a Right Way to Diet?
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Fasting for Weight Loss and What Else?
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Multivitamin Supplements for Children
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How Safe is Your Refrigerator?
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Kids Love Healthy Foods
Sound nutrition plays a decisive role in every child’s physical and mental development. Kids can love healthy foods as much as they love sweets and candy. It all depends on how they are introduced to healthy eating habits. Learn more about your kids’ specific nutritional needs:
Kids Love Healthy Foods as Much as They Love Anything
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Healthy Eating Habits Can Be Learned – Mostly By Example
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Do You Know Your Child’s Daily Calorie Needs?
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Healthy Foods Your Kids Will Love
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Health, Growth and Development
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The U.S. Government Guidelines to Healthy Eating For Kids
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Reading Labels – Cracking the Code
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Portion Sizes Both Parents and Kids Can Understand
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Young Bodies Need to Move
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Nutrition for Athletically Active Children
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Helping Your Child With Weight Problems
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Turning Bad Eating Habits Around
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Helping Your Child With Weight Problems
If you are concerned about your child’s weight or health issues related to your child’s eating habits, consult first with a pediatrician or a clinical dietitian. Many factors, including age, height, body frame, activity level as well as growth spurts and normal weight gain shortly before and during puberty need to be taken into account to determine whether your child’s health needs attention.
There is always more than one course of action that can be taken. Many commercial diets and weight loss programs are not suited for children. Most of these regimens focus on rapid weight loss through calorie and fat restriction, but they don’t teach the value of sound nutrition. In fact, restrictive diets may lead some children to become “deceptive” eaters by making them feel guilty about eating. Your best intentions may backfire. Some children who feel pressured to curb their appetite may eat in secret and turn to binge eating when they are unsupervised.
Unless children are seriously overweight, it is a good idea to allow them to “grow” into their extra weight. It may suffice to let them maintain their weight until their next growth spurt occurs. In most cases, bad eating habits can be corrected with age appropriate counseling and education.
Regular physical exercise should be encouraged at any stage of a child’s upbringing, but especially when weight problems are an issue. Weight loss through exercise is the most natural and healthiest way. You should, however, consult with a pediatrician first before your child engages in a more rigorous exercise regimen for weight loss purposes.
Finding the right strategy for lasting weight management is critical. Involving the whole family in making healthy food and lifestyle choices, instead of singling out the overweight child, will greatly increase the likelihood of success. Avoid blame or teasing at all times. It is never helpful to make an overweight child feel uncomfortable or even ashamed by commenting on his or her condition. Most children who struggle with weight problems are keenly aware of their situation and need no reminders – neither well-intended nor mean-spirited ones.
Healthy eating should be a pleasurable experience, especially for kids. If they feel deprived, they will not enjoy their food, no matter how beneficial it may be to their health. Variety makes meals interesting and helps ensure a balanced diet. There are hardly any “forbidden foods,” however, moderation is key.
The benefits of healthy eating are indispensable, especially at a young age. Make this a central mission in the upbringing of your children. Don’t assume they learn anything about nutrition on their own. It is up to you as a parent, to take the initiative to teach them. Understand this is an ongoing effort that requires your patience and persistence.
Spend some quality time around food. Organize family outings to your local farmers market or working farms that welcome visitors. Encourage your kids to lend a helping hand in the kitchen and allow them to explore and experiment with cooking techniques and the like.
Show your children that food is to be valued and appreciated and have them sit down for family dinners, instead of letting them munch mindlessly in front of the TV or the computer. If you are too busy or too tired to cook an elaborate meal, think of possible alternatives. It doesn’t take more time to pick up fresh ingredients for a salad than to order a pizza or wait in line at a burger joint. It’s more a question of your priorities – and your kids will pick on that too. Read more »
Turning Bad Eating Habits Around
What should you do when your child has unhealthy eating habits?
It is a sad fact that weight problems and even morbid obesity among children are dramatically on the rise, not just in America but throughout the world. Many youngsters who are overfed are at the same time undernourished. Excessive weight gain early in life can potentially lead to other serious health concerns, such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma and also cancer. If your child is facing any of these issues, you must take action at once.
Many parents take comfort in the thought that their kids will eventually outgrow a little extra baby fat, and sometimes that may be the case. However, if a child becomes overweight from excessive consumption of unhealthy foods, drinks and sweets, the weight problems will not disappear with the next growth spurt.
Give your child a healthy start in life
Teaching healthy eating habits to your children from early on is one of the most important investments you can make in their lives. Many habits and preferences develop during early childhood and continue often for a lifetime. But you cannot expect kids to distinguish healthy from unhealthy lifestyle choices by themselves. They follow the example set by adults and older siblings. For parents, this is a short window of opportunity to get it right. When kids reach their teenage years, the chances for parental influence and guidance diminish quickly. So, if you observe your child exhibiting unhealthy behavior, you must try to stop the trend while you still can.
Set the stage for a healthy lifestyle at home
Healthy living starts in the home. Parents are supposed to lay down the rules for meals and snacking. They supposedly determine what kind of food their kids can find in the fridge or the pantry. They are in charge of scheduling time for exercise and physical activities. Parents are foremost and ultimately responsible for their kids’ health and well-being.
At least while they are young, children will follow the standards set for them. Of course, you can’t expect to maintain control over their environment forever. Once they go off to school and spend more time outside the home, they are exposed to the same onslaught of temptations as the rest of us. Cafeterias, vending machines, coffee shops and fast food places can quickly sabotage all the good efforts that were made on their behalf in the past. But don’t give up and don’t underestimate the lasting effects you can have on young minds, even if it doesn’t show at the present. Most importantly, be a good role model. In other words, live yourself by the rules you set for your kids.
Deal with your child’s weight problems
It can be difficult for parents of an overweight child to talk about weight problems. They may find the subject embarrassing or don’t want to hurt their child’s feelings. Shying away from addressing these issues, however, is never helpful, least of all for the child.
There can be many reasons for weight problems to occur at an early age. Environmental factors, such as a sedentary lifestyle, easy access to food at home and frequent visits at restaurants and fast food places can all contribute to unhealthy weight gain. Family history, genetics and heredity may also play a role and need to be taken into consideration.
Sometimes, parents tend to overreach in response to their child’s weight issues. Most weight loss programs are designed for adults and are not suited for children and their nutritional needs for growth and development. Especially weight loss through fasting and calorie restriction is not recommended for youngsters.
However, portion sizes must be monitored even for growing kids. For some parents it may be hard to say “no” when children ask for second helpings or extra treats and snacks. Keep in mind that you are not doing them any favors by not setting some necessary bounderies .
For a diet regimen designed for children, I advocate nutritional quality over calorie restriction. Balanced meal plans with emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables should be at the center of any weight loss program, and particularly for children. Don’t get discouraged if you encounter initial resistance. Most kids have neither “natural” preferences nor distastes and can love healthy foods as much as they love junk food or candy. When you introduce dietary changes, be patient but also be persistent.
Don’t blame your child, change the environment
Never make a child feel guilty when you talk about weight issues. This is a delicate subject and needs to be approached carefully. Instead of dispensing blame, consider ways to build a health-promoting and supportive environment where your child can gradually become comfortable with the changes you’re trying to make. As I emphasized earlier, your own behavior as parents and the standards you set for your entire family play a crucial role in your child’s chances for success.
It is never too late to keep trying
Don’t count on quick results. Like many adults, children with weight problems often face long struggles that can last for a lifetime. Don’t set the mark too high or try to achieve impossible goals. Work towards gradual but lasting differences in your child’s eating and lifestyle habits. Failure and relapses are almost inevitable, but you don’t give up trying.
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The Healthy Diner book by
Timi Gustafson R.D. is the
perfect companion on your
journey to a healthy lifestyle.- Understand the connection between your personality
and your eating habits. - Assess your current health status.
- Determine your nutritional needs.
- Keep track of your daily
calorie intake. - Overcome weight problems once and for all.
- Learn to shop for the most nutritious foods.
- Prepare healthy meals
without losing the taste.
- Understand the connection between your personality
-
