Children’s Dietary Guidelines
Food pyramids and dietary guidelines have always been something that you think of as outlines for adults. Another belief we, as a society always held was that you’d outgrow your baby fat. Neither of these beliefs hold true anymore.
There is a growing concern about the fact that one in five preschoolers, ages 2 to 5 years old, is overweight. One of the changes taking place to combat this trend is education for parents to find out what quantity of food to feed their children as they outgrow baby food and switch to regular adult food.
In daycare, there is now a proposed change to get children 15 minutes of activity for every hour spent in the daycare. This is a good time in life to instill healthy habits and attitudes towards a beneficial amount of physical activity. Another recommendation for daycare is to limit standing or sitting time for the children to no more than 30 minutes at a time.
Also, avoidance of taking away recess or physical activity time as a punishment is a recommendation. For the babies in daycare, they should not be in equipment that limits movement, such as baby swings, for any extended periods of time.
Babies often know what’s best for them when it comes to portion control when they are very young. They usually drink enough formula until they are full and then refuse to take any more. When babies make the transition to solid food as toddlers, parents need to know what is a healthy portion size.
Parents may tend to give them more than they should eat and insist that they finish it. Without meaning any harm, parents may be establishing a lifetime habit of overeating. The national dietary recommendations are now going to include guidelines specifically for preschoolers. For portion size, the recommendation for each food category is one tablespoon of that food per year of the child’s age.
When it comes to attitudes towards physical activity and eating and what the norm will be, parents have the largest influence on their children. Daycare still is a good place to work on instilling norms of portion control and activity, since three-fourths of preschoolers spend some or all of their days there.
Recommendations here are to use portion control as it is age appropriate. Also, daycare staff should be sensitive to a child’s cue that they are full. For moms, breastfeeding is preferable because breastfed babies tend to be less likely to become obese adults. Pediatricians need to be sensitive to the issue of preschool obesity.
Infants and children need to be weighed at each checkup. If there is the beginning of an unhealthy weight increase, parents should be counseled and advised on steps to prevent obesity in their child. Federal nutrition assistance programs are available so parents can afford healthful eating for their children.
BOOKMARK OR SHARE :
Eating Right at a Buffet
Buffets are known as being the ultimate enemy of the diet. They make you face temptations to load up your plate with the most delectable of foods, with no limit, since you’re paying the same price no matter how much you pay.
Look around you at buffets – especially the kind which specialize in the worst food categories and load the fat into just about every recipe they use.
You will most likely see a lot of unhealthy, overweight people at these places. Of course, you will also see thin, healthy looking people peppered in there as well, as with anything else.
But notice how they eat. They may indulge in the dessert table and some of the fried, fatty fare as well, but they probably then do not go back for several helpings.
Or they may go back for several helpings, but only for the items they like, and not loading the plate to the max every time they go. I do go to buffets, but only occasionally. Sometimes I over do it and leave a little too full, but there is one thing I really actually LIKE about buffets when I’m on a diet that is somewhat restrictive.
I really like that they have a wide array of choices. For example, I can load up at the salad station and then get myself a few helpings of various lower fat cuts of meat. Most buffets, say for instance something like a Golden Corral type of thing, have several different types of meats. You could go low carb if you wanted!
There are usually several vegetable choices as well, so you can actually go all vegetarian if you want to as well. You don’t HAVE to indulge in the pizza, the tacos, the desserts and the fried things. You do have choices that are actually quite delectable as well as healthy and low fat or low carb at these types of places.
The great part is, you can load up on as many of the veggies you want and not feel guilty, and also not leave the place feeling like you’re on the same boring diet again, not satisfied and stomach growling.
So, there are SOME benefits to buffets. One thing I notice is that a lot of people wolf down their plates so they can go try the next round of interesting looking food. Don’t do this, it’s an invitation to over eat and feel awful later on.
You’re not giving your brain enough time to register that it’s full, and by the time it does register, you’ll feel too stuffed and disgusting to even move. Hey, if you have to, take a mild natural appetite suppressant before you go, that way you won’t be tempted to load down your plate with all the baddies at every turn, plus you won’t stuff yourself to the gills.
Naked Smoothies Provide a Quick Pick Me Up
I’ve recently become a huge fan of Naked fruit smoothies. You can find them in a lot of natural foods stores and also they are carried, I’ve found, in quite a few chain grocery stores as well. They can be a bit pricey, but I’ve found that they go on sale quite often at the natural foods stores I frequent (actually the grocery store rarely has all flavors on sale, go figure), for 2 for five bucks (Whole Foods has had this sale a few times), so that’s not bad at all when you consider the high price of nutritionless sodas and “juice drinks”.
There is another brand too that has a similar concept, Odwalla, but I’ve foudn the Naked ones to have more flavors that I personally like – just a personal preference, nothing against Odwalla.
If you are a person who watched their calories, or even more so their carb intake, you may look at the back of one of these smoothies and think it’s really high in both. However, I’ve found that just a few swigs is a great tide over to dinner and lunch when you’re just starting to get hungry and need a quick natural blood sugar pick up.
I have never drank a whole one at one sitting, I’ve found them more beneficial when you keep them around for a little “snack” in between meals. My two favorite blends are the Green Machine, which contains everything from apples, to broccoli, to spirulina for an even great energy boost. And it tastes nothing like vegetables, and yet it’s got them in it. That one is probably my all time favorite, plus there are tons of good nutritious ingredients in it.
The runner up for me is the mango flavor with beneficial probiotics added, for digestion and waste elimination efficiency. It helps you to be regular, since mango is filled with fiber, and also helps replenish your healthy intestinal flora that keeps things moving in that regard, if you know what I mean.
When I’m buying the smoothies, I try to really look at what’s in them, including their “boosts” and see if those vitamins and nutrients are something that I might be lacking in or not. This way, I know I’m getting the right benefits from drinking them, in addition to the benefits I’m getting from drinking something that helps tide my appetite over for big meals.