American Diet: A Boost to the Whole Grain and Healthy Food Industry
With the rise in obesity rate across the US, the Obama administration is keen on combating the most serious epidemic in America by enjoining every Americans to live a healthy lifestyle. Concerted effort made by the government, educational institutions, health advocates, private organizations, and corporates with new healthy food companies proliferating across the country.
Obesity if not prevented can cause detrimental effects leading to serious illnesses such as hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. It can also give psychosocial consequences such as low self esteem and depression. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions shows that 12.5 million American kids whose ages range from 2 to 9 years are obese making up 17% percent of the population which triples the percentage three decades earlier.
Healthy Vending Coming to Schools
The new school lunch law that President Obama started is a good start, but fact still remain that healthy eating begins at home.
Unlike the latest tax compromise, the law Healthy, hunger free kids for President Obama will not sink down in history. This bill is for children, it requires healthy foods being serve in schools whether it is from the canteen or in the vending machines.
Healthy Lifestyle in Children Can Prevent Future Heart Disease
In the study, 539 young adults had cholesterol and triglycerides levels measured when they were 9, 12 or 15 years in 1985 which served as the baseline. Participants were tested again after an average of 20 years of follow up. Many children who were “high risk” at baseline were no longer high risk at follow-up when they reached adulthood. Those children who were obese and continued smoking and having unhealthy lifestyles were among the most likely to have high blood cholesterol and elevated risk status. Suzanne Steinbaum, MD, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association said that the new study results are “extraordinarily empowering” because parents can now control the diseases that might affect their children in the future. It is like making lifestyle changes, not smoking and watching their weight can prevent heart diseases when they reach adulthood.
Healthy Snacks Versus the Five Worst Junk Food Choices
Kids love fast foods. Show them Big Mac and large fries and you’ll surely get their attention almost instantaneously and no sweat at that. But as much as we hope fast foods can return the same extent of appreciation to our kids, a piece of toy from happy meals is just not sufficient to prove they care enough for our kids’ health.
Based on the analysis of dietitians at the nonprofit group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), fast foods are the biggest source of unhealthy meals that kids are consuming nowadays. McDonald’s Mighty Kids Meal tops the list with 840 calories, 37 grams of fat and excessive sodium content. But the saddest part is that their happy meals toys are acting as motivational pieces that keep luring the kids from munching greasy-filled burgers and fries. This is also the reason why a nonprofit group Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened to sue McDonald on June for using the toys to promote junk foods. To date, no lawsuit has been filed yet.
Nutritious Snacks for Kids
It has always been every parent’s wish to give what best for their children. Parents always walk an extra mile just to show their love and care for their kids. One way to do just that is to provide kids with healthy snacks which they can munch on after school time.
But if you do run out of ideas or healthy snack recipes, do not worry too much. There are plenty of healthy snack recipes which you can find online. In fact, I have easy-to-prepare healthy snack recipes to share with you and your kids, so here goes:
1. Whole-grain crackers, grapes, and cottage cheese
Through whole grains, children are able to maintain their energy levels and feel fuller longer. Cottage cheese, on the other hand, provides calcium for stronger bones. To get a hold of these two, here’s a quickie:
Arrange on a small plate 2 crackers, 1/4 cup nonfat cottage cheese, and 1/4 cup grapes.
Healthy Snacks for Soccer Matches
Do you have a son who loves to play soccer? If you do, then this article is just right for you. For sure, you have gone through those days, when you have been preparing snacks for your son and even the whole team as well.
But you wouldn’t want your son (and his team) munching on unhealthy foods, right? You definitely would not want parents to come up to you and suggest you prepare healthy snacks the next you prepare snacks for them. If you also serve them with spinach and organic mushrooms, then prepare for trouble.
Healthy Eating Important this School Year
Another school year is fast approaching and along with this comes millions of parents hurriedly doing their last-minute shopping for their kids’ school supplies. While the thought of whether or not their little tykes and teens will manage to develop positive connections with their fellow schoolmates is more than enough reason to give parents some worries, should they also be worried with what their children are eating in school cafeterias?
Kathryn Strong, a staff dietician for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, confidently assures that schools are working their way hard to make sure healthier meals are being served in school cafeterias to help fight obesity among children. This claim also validates a recent survey conducted by the School Nutrition Association which shows more than half of the schools surveyed have increased their vegetarian options to help students achieve a well and robust body. Meanwhile, Congress has also taken its own step of support after it currently reauthorizes child nutrition legislation to raise standard for school meals. And this significant decision will soon see all schools serving more fruits, vegetables, and other healthful plant foods, and less sodium and saturate fat.
Better Kids Behavior Starts With Healthier Diets
If you want well-behaved kids, get rid off the junk food. While this may sound unbelievable and even quite ridiculous, there’s just enough reason to believe with the outcome. And one school institution to have reaped the glory of feeding its students with nutritious foods is Appleton Central Alternative High School—an alternative school with notoriously delinquent students.
“I found the students to be rude, obnoxious and ill-mannered,” said school counselor Greg Bretthauer when head his first job interview with ACA High School in 1997. The sight of the students’ behavior made him turn down the job offer only to take it several years later after seeing the astounding change that took place in the school’s atmosphere and children’s behavior.
Healthy Home Menus
For most people, dieting is a daunting task. There are days that you get bored with the usual food you take, making them taste bland and lose their appeal resulting to just drop the diet plan. In some instances, if you are serious about dieting and the rest of the members of the family are not, then you tend to lose track with your kids diet plan as well. So how can you avoid these situations? What are the ways to stick to your diet without suffering the emotional torture at home?
The best solution is to make a healthy home menus or healthy home menu makeover. This will not only benefit you, but also your family. It is more on embracing a healthy lifestyle with the family and not just mere dieting which is only good for you and oftentimes depleting yourself of the most important nutrients the body needs.
What Kids Think About Childhood Obesity
Nowadays, adults are getting worried with the rising numbers of overweight kids. Kids know it also. In a KidsPoll, 1,168 boys and girls were asked on the issue and it was found out that 52% of them agreed that there are too many overweight kids.
“This is important because knowing there is a problem is the first step to getting answers to solve the problem,” says Dr. Sandra Hassink. Dr. Hassink is a doctor in Delaware who has been helping kids resolve their weight problems. So, read on to find out more about the issue on childhood weight problems.