Kool for Momz N Dadz

So often we are inundated with news of America’s ever-expanding waistline. We now understand how important diet and exercise are. As adults, we know the relationship between what foods we chose to eat and the amount of weight we gain or lose. We have learned that choosing a sedentary lifestyle can be detrimental to our overall health and well-being.

As adults we have the freedom to make choices. We can stop at a fast food joint on the way home from work, or choose to go home and make a nutritious meal. We can choose to sit in front of the television or go out for a jog around the block. But the children in this country rely on adults to help them make good choices. They eat what an adult chooses to prepare, or not prepare, for them. They often must be driven or supervised if they would like to take a walk or play at a playground.

A recent study from UT Southwestern has found that toddlers, ages 1-3, who do not attend daycare and those from lower income families tend to weigh more than their counterparts. By putting on extra pounds, the study found that 20% of overweight toddlers were iron deficient. What does that mean? These children can expect impaired bone marrow and muscle function in addition to behavioral and cognitive delays, including impaired learning, decreased school achievement, and lower scores on tests of mental and motor development.

Children who are not at daycare often stay at home with a parent or caregiver. That might mean watching television and playing video games for long periods of time. They may not eat healthy meals and may eat more while sitting in front of a television or computer. Children at daycare tend to be active for most of the day. Most schools do not even have televisions in the classrooms. In addition, most daycare toddlers eat less. They are usually served healthy meals and snacks. They are also frequently exposed to new and different foods.

The article addresses the Hispanic population. The UT Southwestern researchers believe that these often lower income families tend to rely on breastmilk for longer periods of time. Children, in turn, consume unhealthy amounts of milk and juice throughout their childhood. This leads to a decreased appetite for healthy solid foods.

Childhood obesity is not going to decrease unless we take the proper steps to provide a healthy lifestyle for the children in this country. Education, funding, and support should be available to all parents and caregivers, no matter what their economic standing or race may be.

Copyright © 2007

The beginning of each school year, like most new starts, brings about many joys as well as challenges. In addition to the various discussions about teachers, classmates, bus routes, sports schedules, etc., my children express a good deal of concern about the contents of their lunch boxes. As a mom, I like to include healthy selections, but know that this kind of planning has a way of usurping the precious time needed for homework, after-school activities, and down time with our family.

Determined to get this done quickly and nutritiously, I am beginning the school year prepared to plan ahead. I’ve outlined a few helpful hints below entitled “The Busy Mom’s Guide to Making Lunch Preparation Easier” and I created a recipe for pasta salad with all of my kid’s favorite ingredients in it. This recipe has been kid tested and approved by my children – (although I must admit, my daughter picks out the beans). It was prepared in less than 20 minutes and yielded enough for several lunches for three children (plus a snack for my husband as well).

Mom’s Guide for Making Lunch Preparation Easier

• When cooking a dinner favorite, make extra. Leftovers make great lunches. My kids especially like leftover chicken cutlets and meatball sandwiches.
• Keep your pantry stocked with items that don’t spoil quickly. This includes things like [Read more →]

A new report on medpagetoday.com tells of a person who came down with a disease called “Popcorn Lung.” You may have read or heard about it a few months ago.  Back then it focused on factory workers at plants packaging the microwave popcorn, who were coming down with a serious lung ailment with the scientific name bronchiolitis obliterans. In this case its a one of us, a popcorn consumer, who has come down with the illness.?

I am usually not an alarmist, no formal studies have been done, but I’m throwing out all of my microwaveable popcorn. No need to risk this one.  I’ll run out to the supermarket and pick up some plain popcorn in a jar, some oil and salt to ease my fix.?

What’s scarier still, does that same chemical called diacetyl, live on my shelves in other butter flavored products? Here’s what the Baltimore Sun reports

…no other government agency has calculated the hazard, if any, to consumers who use microwave popcorn or cook with other products containing diacetyl. The butter-flavoring agent is used in margarine, faux butters, cooking oil, lard and, according to food scientists, in thousands of frozen products.

THOUSANDS OF FROZEN PRODUCTS!

So until the jury verdict is in, no butter-flavored products for us.

Today (8/15/07), researchers from the University of Michigan, School of Public Health confirmed that people who used plain soaps (non-triclosan) had no more illnesses than those who used anti-bacterial soap.

You may have heard about the controversy surrounding the use of antibacterials soaps, specifically the ones that contain Triclosan. If not, here’s the distilled version. Triclosan kills most of the bacteria on your childrens hands, but not all. The bacteria that survive the chemical hand-washing, are thought to be those that are “stronger” or more resistant to antibacterial agents including some of the antibiotics that you or your children may have to take for an infection. So, that’s why doctors are less willing to give you antibiotics for what they diagnose to be a viral infection. Viruses are different and are not cured by antibiotics.

Also, the study showed that there was no more bacteria removed by the antibacterial soap and regular soap. Note that this study didn’t include alcohol based soaps, or other hand washing chemicals.

A good handwashing takes about 20 seconds. Use warm soapy water.  A good tip I’ve heard is to have kids sing their ABCs while their washing.