Feb 04

When is the Right Time to Introduce Healthy Food to Your Child?

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You’ve heard the news reports. Child obesity is on the rise. Children are developing diabetes that was once primarily seen in adults. Then on the opposite end, you may have read reports emphasizing that young children need fats for their development. There is little mention of eating whole foods. So how do you beat childhood obesity and diabetes, but still provide for your child’s developmental needs?

First Introduction to Food

At around six months of age you may begin introducing solid food to your child. Here we go …You may either choose to purchase your baby food or process your own. If you purchase the ready-made” baby food, ensure that the ingredients are natural. What is the trick to knowing this? If you don’t know what the ingredients are, don’t buy it!

This is where healthy eating habits begin. Start with one type of food source at a time to ensure your child doesn’t have any food allergies. You may choose avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, and pears to start. As your child is still drinking milk, most of the protein and fats will be received in that form. A few months later you then may begin introducing protein from meat or vegetarian sources. So far, it’s pretty simple, right?

As Your Child Grows

Deciding on a healthy diet for your toddler is most likely going to be based on your eating habits. They mimic what they see, so be careful. Whether you are a vegetarian or a meat eater, it doesn’t matter; your child will eventually pick his or her own path. What matters now is providing your child adequate fat and protein for brain and overall development, as well as whole foods to prevent diseases. Avoid those sugary fruit snacks and opt for healthy choices:

  • Fat and Protein – Red meat, eggs, fish, milk, or vegetarian choices. Remember your child needs good fats when making your choice of protein.
  • Vegetables – Tomatoes, spinach, peas, and carrots are the top choices
  • Fruits – Choose only those in season to ensure freshness
  • Unprocessed foods – Whole grains and whole wheat

Continuing the Path to Health

Once establishing healthy eating for your child, he or she will most likely continue on this path. Yes, other children or adults will introduce your child to candy and the greasy fast foods like hamburger, but having a good foundation is what builds a healthy child. Your child will eventually make his or her own decision on what type of food to eat – but a healthy foundation is never forgotten. And the biggest trick to healthy eating for children – NEVER deny them something they want to try. Let them try the food they desire, but explain to them what they are eating. Try it. It may shock you when your child reaches for the apple on the counter, and not the candy brought home from some birthday party…!

 

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Feb 04

Easy Ways to Put Health into the Holidays

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Valentine’s Day is just around the corner – there always seems to be some holiday or other where cookies and the like begin to sprout out from every corner!

As the obesity epidemic increases in our society among the children, we as parents are responsible for what our children consume. We make them breakfast. We pack their lunches. We cook their dinners. We do the grocery shopping for snacks. We are in control of keeping our toddlers and young children on the healthy path of good eating. After all, what they are allowed to consume now will determine how they will eat and how much excess body fat they will carry as adults.

Even if you have been preparing healthy meals and snacks for your toddler or young child throughout the year, the holidays have a way of sneaking in and sabotaging healthy eating habits. It becomes a season of baking, and cookies are often the choice of food related gifts. Of course, you can’t control what others give you. What you can control is your whether your child will eat these items.

Eliminate ingredients with no nutritional value in your baking

You can take mostly any recipe, and make it healthier for your little one. By having healthy treats available, your child will be satisfied and not beg for the unhealthy “treats” in the gift bags of nice red heart-shaped wrappings.

Natural sugars are already something found in your little one’s diet, so the last thing you want is to intentionally add more sugar to their tiny bodies. Additional sugars will only begin the process of multiplying the amount of fat cells that their body has. This is something that will affect them now; as they grow, and even as adults. So the choices we make for our little ones now can determine not only their adult weight, but their future health as well!

Another item you want to eliminate is processed and high fat ingredients. Processed food, as the name implies, is processed and not natural to your child’s body. These foods contain chemicals that are known to cause heart problems and cancer, so why would we want to predispose our precious children to this?

Substituting unhealthy ingredients for healthy ingredients

With all that in mind, here are some few changes that can increase the nutritional value of the cookies you bake:

  • Take out the white baking flour and replace with whole wheat flour
  • Use unsweetened applesauce instead of white or brown sugar
  • Use unsweetened applesauce to replace oil and/or butter
  • Use organic, raw, natural peanut butter for peanut butter cookies
  • Use vanilla for extra flavor when replacing sugar
  • Use cacao nibs in place of chocolate chips

These cookies will not only be healthy, but your child (even your significant other) will not know the difference – honestly! The cookies may be a little bit moister than cookies made with hardened oil, but who says cookies have to be crispy? Your child will love it – and you will love yourself more for giving your child the best start in life. Do you have other healthy recipes? Share them with us!

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Nov 16

Let’s Move

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By now, most of us have heard about the new government initiative, Let’s Move! Launched by First Lady Michelle Obama, this comprehensive efforts was created to put into place better options and solutions for eliminating childhood obesity. Ultimately, Mrs. Obama believes if we can raise a healthier generation, we’ve made the first big step in finally eradicating this growing epidemic in the U.S.

Let's MoveThis is a powerful effort, but what’s so impressive is the common sense that’s a hallmark of the program. It’s not overwhelming, but rather, a simple and straightforward effort that puts our children on a much healthier path and it all starts with parents and other adults in the child’s life. It’s about providing healthier environments where choice is encouraged, but healthy habits are instilled in the process. It’s about healthier foods in school classrooms around the country and better solutions for child care providers and just as importantly, ensuring families can afford these healthier choice.

“In the end, as First Lady, this isn’t just a policy issue for me. This is a passion. This is my mission. I am determined to work with folks across this country to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition.”

- First Lady Michelle Obama

The Task Force on Childhood Obesity Presidential Memorandum was signed by President Obama, further cementing his family’s dedication and commitment to our nation’s young people. Mrs. Obama has said she hopes one good decision will encourage more good decisions. With attention paid on what families choose for their nutrition, she hopes it will encourage those families to introduce daily exercise into their lifestyles, as well.

Mrs. Obama, along with the task force, have identified five pillars that define the initiative:

Creating a healthy start for children

Empowering parents and caregivers

Providing healthy food in schools

Improving access to healthy, affordable foods

Increasing physical activity

We’re excited to play a role in these efforts and we invite all of our readers to visit the official let’s Move! site where parents and child care providers can find a host of resources to help them define their own game plan.

What kind of changes have your family made? If you’re a child care provider, have you introduced any elements to the First Lady’s initiative? Share your story with us.

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Apr 30

Childhood Obesity – Doing Your Part as a Child Care Provider

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According to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity has more than tripled since 1970.  In fact, the prevalence for children between the ages of 6 and 11 has gone from 6.5% to 19.6% in 2008.  Those statistics are startling and provide a somber look at just how much we’ve come to rely upon refined sugars and convenience foods.

But there’s more to it than just a few extra pounds our children are carrying.  The physical and psychological tolls can be devastating and affect a child into his adulthood.  Everything from cardiovascular disease to diabetes to sleep apnea has been associated with childhood obesity.  So what can you, as a child care provider, do to offset these potential problems?  While it may seem as though any efforts on your part, in your capacity as a provider, would be offset by a child’s unhealthy lifestyle, you might be surprised to learn that those little things will actually stick with a child as he grows older.  This is one reason it’s so important to encourage physical activity and to stress the benefits of choosing an apple over a cookie.  Often, many children don’t have access at home to healthier food choices, such as fruit and veggies.  And too, kids will often dismiss fresh veggies not because they’ve tried them and really don’t like them, but because it’s just their first reaction.  Making it fun is key.

One way of doing this is by encouraging a child to participate in age appropriate ways.  Many child care centers are allowing little ones to plant small gardens.  Even if it’s just a few strawberry plants and even tomato plants or cucumbers, it gives them a sense of pride in knowing they’re responsible for those yummy strawberries they’re now washing and getting ready to share.  It’s fantastic for everyone, but most importantly, it allows these kids to take the knowledge with them into their adulthood when they’re not only making food decisions for themselves, but for their children too.

You might not be able to eradicate childhood obesity on your own, but you can certainly influence those children who are fortunate enough to have you as their child care providers.  A few small changes is all it takes for potential major changes later on.

Be sure to visit our site, too for more information on how to make your child care center more efficient.

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