Some Fat Chance – Part 3

     This is the last in the series about nurturing our children in a fat culture.  I hope some of this helps although I'm a humble vessel of accumulated information offering what I can at this time.  As time moves on, I'll post more details in certain areas to help you along.  Questions and comments are most welcomed.  Love to hear from you all.

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A Modicum of Sodium
     Sodium (salt) is another risk factor for growing children. The taste for salt is acquired. The more salt children get, the more they crave it. What foods supply salt in their diet? 
            15% - natural sources as meat, fish, dairy, vegetables and drinking water

35% - the salt shaker when used as a condiment or cooking spice

            50% - is found in processed foods and fast foods

    How can you monitor salt intake?
           1. Take the salt shaker off the table. 
           2. Spice up food with herbs and seasonings like black pepper, garlic, tarragon and lemon juice.
           3.  Eat more fresh foods and less processed ones. 
           4.  Slow down on the fast food. 
Sugar –The Sweet Potion

     Young children like sugar more than adults do. Fruits, berries and other foods which naturally contain sugar used to meet that craving for sweetness. They also contain necessary nutrients and fiber so they provide the best choice for a sugar source. Now other foods compete with fruits and berries. Just how much sugar are kids getting in their diet today compared to years ago?
Sugar Consumption:
           1887            5 lbs of refined sugar per person per year
           Now            148 lbs of refined sugar per person per year

   That's more than 1/2 a pound and 800 calories each day. The average child consumes more than 12 ounces of sugar a day which translates into 275 pounds of sugar a year. Most of the daily calories (remember those are empty calories) for children come from sugar.
     Where does all that sugar come from? Two-thirds of the sugar consumed comes in processed foods and high fructose corn syrup is the most common form of sugar. You'll most likely find sugar in:
Coca-Cola (12 oz)                                 9 tsp sugar
Jelly beans (14)                                      9 tsp sugar

Commercial fruit pie (1)                         6 tsp sugar

Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (3/4 cup)        3 tsp sugar

     So what's so bad with all that sugar? Well, sugar can help promote childhood obesity. One teaspoon of sugar equals 16 calories. If enough teaspoons of sugar are consumed, those calories pile up. 

How to Kick the Sugar Habit
     1) Put the sugar bowl away – don't have it out for breakfast cereals.
     2) Eat more fresh fruit to satisfy that "sweet tooth". 
     3) Reduce how many soft drinks are drunk or eliminate them altogether. Use lemon and lime slices to spice up a glass of water. Diluting fruit juices with carbonated mineral water or club soda gives kids the "fizz" they like so much.
     4) Read food labels for sugar. Beware with a name ending with "-ose" and "high fructose corn syrup". They're all sugars. And watch that honey.

Make the Change for Health
     First, design a meal plan so you can cook and eat most of your meals at home. A plan helps to determine food categories your family enjoys – pasta, seafood, meat. 


Then put your plan on paper:


Day                    Type of Food


Monday                 Poultry


Tuesday                Pasta, soups, stews

Wednesday          Seafood

Thursday               Main-meal salads

Friday                    Pizza, casseroles, chili

Saturday               Restaurants, take-out

Sunday                  Meat

     With a plan in mind, you can shop and prepare the meals ahead of time. That way, meals aren't just happening to you because now you're in control. Use a crockpot in the morning and get dinner started early. Try to eat your meals together as a family so you can remain connected. 
     Use low-fat or no-fat recipes and disguise leaner foods as familiar meals – put shredded zucchini in spaghetti sauce; shred carrots and use in lasagna; soups are great for inserting all kinds of nutrient-dense foods. Also you might have to change your cooking methods. Instead of frying French fries, bake them in the oven. 
Don't force kids to always clean their plates
     Children should develop an appetite and experience what it's like to feel stuffed. Try to serve smaller portions. They can always ask for more. You as parents can control the quality and type of food your children eat, but they should have control over how much they eat.
Let the Kids in the Kitchen
     They love helping. Working with you they can help organize meals and fix them. Instead of having a plate of food dropped down in front of them day after day, their participation enables them to grow up into individuals who have learned skills for healthy eating and living.
Healthy Eating and Living
    It's up to us as parents to teach our children how to life a healthy and fit lifestyle. So get out there and enjoy your kids. Run with them; cook with them; make memories teaching them skills for healthy eating and living.
      The current Fat Culture can be replaced with the Fit Culture as our children lead the way.

Some Fat Chance -- Our Kids Become What They Eat (Don’t We All?)

    We're continuing our discussion on developing a healthy lifestyle within our families. This is information kids can take away with them as they grow up and get on their own. For now, though, exercise and good food help our students think better—whether we teach them at home or send them out the door to school. Either way, our children need the best so they can perform their best and thrive. 
    The next in this series, I'll mention a little on sodium and much on sugar. Are you ready for that?

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The Skinny on Fat


     Fat is necessary for the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K. That's good. Fat also supplies more than twice the energy as the same amount of protein or carbohydrate—all elements of healthy food. This is important for children, especially those under two years of age. They need higher energy from fat to meet increased growth demands.

     Fat is rich in calories and the extra calories, if not used, the body stores and 3,500 extra calories create one pound of body fat. Over a period of time, it all adds up. Watch out for fat-free foods because they don't mean "calorie-free". They supply extra, empty calories—food that is nutrient-starved, but it sure tastes good. Fat makes food taste good. That's what gravy on potatoes and meat can do. It supplies the fat in that meal and it's sumptuous.

     Since fat digests slowly, it provides a feeling of satisfaction after a meal. There is nothing wrong with dietary fat—in the proper amount. Most often, we consume too much fat—between 800 to 1000 calories (which is equal to one stick of butter) a day. The average family consumes 400 pounds of fat per year!

     Some of the fatty foods our kids eat are hamburgers, cheeseburgers, meat loaf, hot dogs, ham, processed luncheon meats, whole milk, ice cream, cheese and other whole-milk dairy products. Commercially baked goods and fried foods such as fried chicken and the favorite standby, French fries, often load up our kids with fat they don't need.

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     Think I'll go grab some lunch.  If you have questions and comments, talk to me. Pass the word about this blog and let others know what we're talking about.  Thanks.

Some Fat Chance

I'm going to try and post a little more often this week so I'm starting a short series on how we as homeschooling moms can promote a healthy lifestyle for our children. We're going to talk about the high fat content of our culture and its inherent danger to our families. I'd like to encourage each one of you into a more mobile lifestyle and one that's relatively free of the refined sugars and fast foods so common these days. Also the concept of exercise is waning and I'll explain that right now. So enjoy and let me know what you think. If you have questions, please ask them. If you have comments, state them.

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Today our children are at risk. Some of them are overweight. The bad news is overweight children can grow into obese adults and carry with them a higher risk for coronary disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and self-image problems.

The good news is the risk is lessened with a change of behavior. It's up to parents—not the government--to provide their children with the information they need to promote a healthy lifestyle. "Ninety-nine percent of us are born healthy and are made sick as a result of personal misbehavior or environmental conditions. The ability to lengthen one's life depends first on the capacity not to shorten it." (Dr. John Knowles of the Rockefeller Foundation)

Crash diets aren't the answer. The focus must be on health--not just on losing weight. Plenty of exercise and nutritious foods all contribute to the health of our children.

Get moving

Kids have reasons for not getting up and moving their bodies. Computers, the internet, television, and video games offer them distractions. They don't play as much anymore—inside or outside—on a regular basis. Who needs to play outside when your social life is wrapped up on Facebook?

The average American child watches TV for 28 hours per week. By the time that child is a senior in high school, he has spent three years of his life watching TV. What do they have to show for it?

Did you know that 40% of boys can't touch their toes and that girls run slower than they did ten years ago? Kids have to get moving. They do that through exercise.

Exercise reduces body fat by burning calories and revs up the metabolism to keep the burn going. What can kids do for exercise? They can ride bikes, run around the yard playing tag, chase the dog, roller skate, have fun exploring with their friends. Or they can participate in community sports like soccer, baseball, basketball or any of the martial arts. Schedule those activities into their day. Parents, you can set the example for your kids by getting active too. Park the car farther away and walk. Toss a ball with your children. Get involved with a local tae-kwon-do class or coach soccer.