Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Art and Science of Sleep for Kids: What You Can Do

Create a sleep-friendly space.

For smart sleeping habits, the most important issue is to keep screen entertainment (TV, DVD, video games, etc.) out of children’s bedrooms.


Make the room as conducive to quiet sleep as possible. Dark and comfortable are the keys, without too much clutter on the bed (a few stuffed animals, not an entire zoo).


Get into a relaxing, regular bedtime routine.

Smart parents know that a bedtime routine - at the about the same time each night - is the best way to get children settled down and ready to sleep through the night.


A warm bath, reading a story, and cuddling with a favorite toy are soothing ways to let children know that it is time for sleep. Keep lights low and music gentle before bed.


Avoid all caffeine for children.

Caffeine is a strong stimulant - increasing alertness and disrupting deep sleep. A recent study confirmed that the more caffeine children consumed, the less they slept.


Soft drinks and bottled teas that contain caffeine are not appropriate for children. To see the caffeine content of beverages, go to www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/AN01211.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Sleep: An Essential Part of Every Child's Wellbeing

Getting enough sleep is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle - equal to eating well and being active. For overall health and wellbeing, as well as for success at work and school, a good night’s sleep (7 to 8 hours for adults, 9 to 12 hours for children) is the amount recommended by medical experts.


What the research says

Too little sleep has been linked to overeating and overweight, increased risk of diabetes and heart problems, and more depression in adults. For children, recent research suggests:

  • In a study of 8,000 preschoolers, less than 11 hours sleep was linked to lower literacy and early math skills. Bedtime routines can be an important way to make a significant impact on children’s preparation for school success.
  • Getting less sleep at night seems to make a healthy growth pattern more difficult. In several studies of hundreds children, fewer hours of nighttime sleep was associated with a greater chance of being overweight. Daytime napping had no effect on weight.
  • Children who do not get the age-appropriate amount of sleep can behave somewhat like hyperactive children. For youth diagnosed with ADA or ADHD, improvements in sleep routines can dramatically improved peer relations and classroom performance.

Up next ... what your family can do!


Monday, January 24, 2011

Play and Enjoy ... Winter Family Fun

To be strong and healthy, kids need both nutrient-rich foods (like that yummy breakfast parfait!) and plenty of physical activity. Even in the winter, it’s fun to get outside and do things together. Expand your winter fun with this list of activities.


PLAY


1. Toss a snowball: Gentle tosses and hard throws can help build arm strength.


2. Build a snow family: Build one for each member of your family -- to size.


3. Build a snow fort: When the snow is solid, cut blocks for forts or igloos.


4. Shovel some snow: Make it a family activity or help a neighbor.


5. Sled down a hill: Big or small hill, get warm going back up for another run.


6. Tube down a hill: No sled, no problem. Take a wild ride on an inner tube.


7. Ski across country: XC-skiing is free (once you have equipment) and fun.


8. Skate across the ice: Grab some skates and check out the local outdoor rinks.


9. Snowshoe on a trail: Got small kids? Put them in a sled to pull behind you.


10. Make a snow angel: Any fresh snowfall is just right for snow angels.


ENJOY

However you like to move, just do it! Choose something that you and the kids enjoy. Research shows that people stick with the activities that they like to do.


Sunday, January 23, 2011

Eat and Enjoy ... a Nutty BREAKFAST Parfait

Bored with your breakfast? Try a beautiful, nutrient-rich parfait to kick start your day ... link to this gorgeous recipe below.

EAT FOR MAXIMUM ENERGY


CARBOHYDRATE: A high-octane carbohydrate energizes your body and brain for a busy day. Think cereal (hot or cold), bread, muffins, rolls, tortillas, or even leftover pasta. Choose whole grains for an extra nutrition punch (more fiber and nutrients).


PROTEIN: This is the missing link in most morning meals. Protein is what we need to go strong until lunch. Think lean: a slice of Canadian bacon, an egg, a slice of deli meat or cheese, a container of yogurt, a scoop of cottage cheese, or a handful of nuts.


FRUIT: Breakfast is a great way to start on the 5 to 9 daily servings of produce your body needs for optimal health. Think fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit – like apples, avocados, bananas, berries, grapefruit, kiwi, mangoes, oranges, pears, or pineapple.

ENJOY FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE


Skipping breakfast is a no-brainer – literally. Skip breakfast – and your brain and body suffer all day. Eat well in the AM and you’re on the nutrition fast track for a high-energy day. Give kids what they crave – a power breakfast every day.


Nutty Breakfast Parfait is from the California Walnut Commission. It's bound to get rave reviews from your family!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Blessings of Breakfast

January 2011 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">DPG</span>/MIG Administrative Bulletin

BREAKFAST at HOME:

We’ve all heard that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” often from our moms and grandmothers. After years of scientific research, it turns out that they were actually on to something important.


For kids, eating in the morning is essential for optimal school performance and overall health. Kids (and adults) who eat breakfast tend to do better at school (and work) - and to have healthier weights and cholesterol levels as well.


PLAN

To refuel and rev-up your family for an energetic day, plan a power breakfast. For most people, time is the biggest obstacle to eating in the morning. Here are three tried-and-true tips for beating the breakfast rush hour:

  • Get ready the night before: Set the table with bowls and spoons for cereal. Get out a pan for pancakes or a blender for smoothies. Slice up some fruit and cheese.
  • Keep it real simple: Fancy breakfasts are wonderful when you have the time. On busy days, a sandwich, a slice of leftover pizza, or a yogurt with fruit work just fine.
  • Pack it to-go: If there’s no time to eat at home, take your nutrition to-go. Pack a brown bag breakfast for the road - or see if your school offers a breakfast program. (Stay tuned for much more school breakfast info in the weeks to come.)


Thursday, January 13, 2011

Much More Than a Mere Role Model

Parents, grandparents, and other adults play a crucial role in helping children establish healthy behaviors for a lifetime. However, being a positive role model is just one of many important jobs that adults have in insuring a healthy future for our children. Here are tips and examples of positive ways to influence the behavior of the young people that you love.


Be the best role model you can be.

According to the American Psychological Association, kids are instinctively primed – from birth – to imitate their parents and adult caregivers. They are very sensitive to the messages that you send to them by your own health behaviors – what you eat and how active you are.


When you are active with children, it is really a two-for-one benefit. Your own body gets the incredible health benefits of physical activity – PLUS the kids imitate your habits. A family that plays actively together is a family that stays healthy together. And, there are so many ways to have fun – any month of the year.


Be a responsible gatekeeper.

Until the upper elementary grades, children rarely have to purchasing power or outside access to nutrient-poor food and beverages. During this time, parents and other adults can maximize access to healthful, wholesome, nutrient-rich foods (fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and low-fat dairy).


Limiting the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages you have in the house is another win-win for family health: When the choices are low-fat/fat-free milk, 100% fruit and vegetable juices, and refreshing water, that is what you and young people will drink. Fortunately, these are exactly the drinks for optimal health and hydration.


Be an influential taste-setter.

Adults significantly influence the likes and dislikes that children attach to certain foods. These influences can last a lifetime. Think of babies who grow up eating sushi or whale blubber or other unappealing (to us) foods because they learn to enjoy them from their parents, grandparents, and the other adults around them.


Mealtimes are the ideal time for family members and adult friends to influence the tastes of children. For example, the best way to get kids to enjoy a variety of veggies is to watch older people eating and enjoying vegetables – without tricks, bribes, or threats. Children eat less and enjoy food less when adults try to force them to eat it.


Be an everyday educator.

Children love to learn about the world around them. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and neighbors can teach kids about nutrition, fitness, and health – just by talking about the issues in normal everyday conversations. It’s as easy as talking about the foods that make you grow and the activities that make you strong.


For example, backyard gardens are a deliciously easy way to teach children about the pleasures of eating very local produce. Planting, watering, harvesting, and cooking vegetables and fruits with children is a wonderful way to teach them many lessons – including nutrition, health, and personal responsibility.


Be a passionate advocate.

Any adult can also support child and family-friendly communities. Most cities and towns are currently considering many issues that affect opportunities for kids to get the nutrition and activity they need. These include everything from community gardens to safe routes to school.


Schools are also important places to advocate for children’s nutrition and physical activity programming.

You can push school administrators to: start or increase school breakfast programs; incorporate physical activity or nutrition education in after-school programs; or start before school walking programs.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

We are ALL Role Models for Healthy Children ... at Home, in School, and throughout our Communities

America's children are looking to us for serious solutions to the current crisis in youth nutrition, health, and well-being. These solutions must be comprehensive ... involving families, schools, and the wider community.

My work increasingly focuses on efforts to improve children's health in two ways ... for families at home and in schools. During 2011, I will focus primarily on FAMILIES here on my blog and primarily on SCHOOLS MEALS THAT ROCK on Facebook.

To kick the year off, I'd like to lay the ground work with some information from the January 2011 issue of Eat Right Montana's Healthy Families newsletter. While these monthly newsletters will provide the basis for my posting here, I will also share background, research, and additional tips (all the information that wouldn't fit in the newsletter!!) for fit, happy, well-nourished, children who are ready to succeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the past 12 years, Eat Right Montana (ERM) - a coalition promoting healthy eating and active lifestyles - has published Healthy Families. During 2011, ERM will continue this tradition of practical tips and positive health information for Montana families.


“This year Healthy Families will focus on the very timely and important topics of childhood nutrition and physical activity,” says Kim Pullman, RD (registered dietitian), of Helena and Chairperson of the Eat Right Montana Coalition. “While childhood obesity has been in the headlines, there are more pervasive problems that affect almost all Montana children, regardless of their BMI (body mass index). In our fast food, couch potato culture, very few young Americans get the nutrients or the physical activity they need to grow strong bodies and smart brains for happy, successful, and healthy futures.”


The 2011 Healthy Families theme, FIT KIDS=HAPPY KIDS, will address the current epidemics of poor nutrition (too many calories, not enough nutrients) and inactivity in children. According to Pullman, the solutions are actually simple, inexpensive, and involve every adult in the Treasure State. “We are all role models for kids,” she says. “While parents are children’s first and most powerful role models, young people often copy the behaviors of other important adults, like grandparents, teachers, and coaches.”


The FIT KIDS=HAPPY KIDS campaign will offer parents and other adults practical, easy-to-use tips on tasty nutrition and fun physical activity that fit our Montana lifestyles. This information can help anyone:

  • PLAN MORE EFFECTIVELY: Healthy, active lifestyles often just need a little bit of advance planning. Eating smart and being active aren’t complicated and they can easily fit into the most hectic of schedules. For example, planning a power breakfast at home can be as simple as setting the table the night before.
  • EAT TOGETHER OFTEN: For kids, family meals mean nutrition, security, and success all rolled into a simple event. Family-style meals (at home, childcare, or church) are about more than the food on the table. They are about talking together, laughing together, and adults being positive roles models for children.
  • PLAY TOGETHER OFTEN: Like family-style meals, fun family activities are a time for children to copy adults doing things that are good for their bodies (and their brains). Having active fun together can be as simple as getting outside to build a snow fort or a family of snow people in the winter.
  • ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF GOOD HEALTH: Healthy eating and active lifestyles for children are not about restrictive diets and grueling exercise routines. In order to be fit and happy, kids need plenty of delicious nutrition and fun activities with their parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, teachers, and coaches.

“As a mother, I always look for tips to make my life easier and my family happy,” says Pullman. “As chair of Eat Right Montana, I know that this year’s campaign will give all Montana families the everyday advice they need to enjoy the benefits of being fit, well-nourished, and ready to succeed.”


Monday, January 3, 2011

School Meals That Rock Announces Fed Up with School Lunch Bashing

After careful consideration of some comments, I realize that I owe Mrs. Q an apology and a clarification. I am not fed up with her personally; I am fed up with the approach used by extreme critics of school lunch. Choosing to bash all school meals because some do not "rock" does a disservice to children and to the dedicated professionals in America's school nutrition programs. I have clarified this in the title of my announcement ... and will post more about positive strategies that can make a real difference soon on School Meals That Rock.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


January 3, 2011


School Meals That Rock Announces Fed Up with School Lunch Bashing


When Mrs. Q – the school teacher/celebrity blogger – posted her final 2010 meal on Fed Up with School Lunch, she got a bit of media buzz. In one sentence, she also got the facts about school nutrition altogether wrong: The meals I ate were identical to meals eaten by kids all over this country every day in a school in your neighborhood. Not even close, Mrs. Q!


“In a December 17th post, Mrs. Q described a little voice telling her to document the hazards of school lunch in her Chicago-area school,” explains Dayle Hayes, MS, RD (registered dietitian) and President, Nutrition for the Future in Billings, Montana. “A strong voice has urged me to refute the claims of Mrs. Q – and Mr. Oliver, Ms. Cooper, Dr. Phil, the Two Angry Moms, and every other extreme critic of school lunch. It is a well-informed voice with 20+ years experience in helping to improve meals in my neighborhood school and in districts across the country.”


During 2011, School Meals That Rock will continue to document the appealing nutrient-rich, delicious school lunches (as well as breakfasts and snacks) that are really eaten by kids all over this country every day in districts large and small. These meals are amazing because school nutrition programs are able to serve them on USDA reimbursement rates of $1.76 or less for breakfast and $2.74 or less for lunch, depending upon local income levels. These rates must cover food – increasingly fresh and local – as well as labor and benefits.


Ms. Hayes, Chair of the School Nutrition Services Dietetic Practice Group (SNS DPG), believes that it is time to completely bust the myths about school meals and to give credit where it is due. “Mrs. Q got a lot of online interest for blogging about poor lunches in a single school. School Meals That Rock will gather more support for the positive promotion of real meals in many districts.”


For the 2011 Fed Up with School Lunch Bashing, Hayes invites everyone to submit a photo of their Tray of the Day for Success at School and to Like School Meals That Rock on Facebook. The goals of the project are simple:

  • To celebrate the real nutrition revolution in America’s school meals
  • To showcase over 200 appealing school meals from 50 states during 2011
  • To create a community of over 5,000 school meal supporters on Facebook


“Mrs. Q claimed her blog ‘was a campaign to raise awareness’, but it was based on incomplete and erroneous information,” says Hayes. “Tray of the Day for Success at School is a factual project to celebrate the transformation of school meals led by members of the SNS DPG and the School Nutrition Association.”


To share a Tray of the Day for Success at School, send a photo, with date served and a brief description of the meal to schoolmealsthatrock@gmail.com. To join the online supporters of ongoing excellence school nutrition programs, go to School Meals That Rock and hit the Like button.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

School Meals That Rock Announces FED UP with MRS. Q

When Mrs. Q – the school teacher/celebrity blogger – posted her final 2010 meal on Fed Up with School Lunch, she got a bit of media buzz. In one sentence, she also got the facts about school nutrition altogether wrong: The meals I ate were identical to meals eaten by kids all over this country every day in a school in your neighborhood. Not even close, Mrs. Q!


“In a December 17th post, Mrs. Q described a little voice telling her to document the hazards of school lunch in her Chicago-area school,” explains Dayle Hayes, MS, RD (registered dietitian) and President, Nutrition for the Future in Billings, Montana. “A strong voice has urged me to expose the claims of Mrs. Q – and Mr. Oliver, Ms. Cooper, Dr. Phil, the Two Angry Moms, and every other extreme critic of school lunch. It is a well-informed voice with 20+ years experience in helping to improve meals in my neighborhood school and in districts across the country.”


During 2011, School Meals That Rock will continue to document the appealing nutrient-rich, delicious school lunches (as well as breakfasts and snacks) that are really eaten by kids all over this country every day in districts large and small. These meals are amazing because school nutrition programs are able to serve them on USDA reimbursement rates of $1.76 or less for breakfast and $2.74 or less for lunch, depending upon local income levels. These rates must cover food – increasingly fresh and local – as well as labor and benefits.


Ms. Hayes, Chair of the School Nutrition Services Dietetic Practice Group (SNS DPG), believes that it is time to completely bust the myths about school meals and to give credit where it is due. “Mrs. Q got a lot of online interest for blogging about poor lunches in a single school. School Meals That Rock will gather more support for the positive promotion of real meals in many districts.”


For the 2011 Fed Up with Mrs. Q project, Hayes invites everyone to submit a photo of their Tray of the Day for Success at School and to Like School Meals That Rock on Facebook. The goals of the project are simple:

  • To celebrate the real nutrition revolution in America’s school meals
  • To showcase over 200 appealing school meals from 50 states during 2011
  • To create a community of over 5,000 school meal supporters on Facebook


“Mrs. Q claimed her blog ‘was a campaign to raise awareness’, but it was based on incomplete and erroneous information,” says Hayes. “Fed Up with Mrs. Q is a fact-based project to celebrate the transformation of school nutrition speared-headed by members of the SNS DPG and the School Nutrition Association.”


To share a Tray of the Day for Success at School, send a photo, with date served and a brief description of the meal to schoolmealsthatrock@gmail.com. To join the online supporters of ongoing excellence school nutrition programs, go to School Meals That Rock and hit the Like button.