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Health and Fitness
Home News Tribune Online 02/20/07
By Stephanie Madeira, RD -
Correspondent
When it comes to food, teach your children well
Some children at our local playground were chasing each other. They were hanging from monkey bars, jumping and sliding down poles. The bustle of children playing was suddenly interrupted by one of the mothers. "Who wants a snack?" she called out. "Who wants some cookies?"
Parents at my daughter's soccer practice think they should bring snacks during practice. The kids are offered cookies, pretzels, processed fruit snacks and spicy tortilla chips. Pity the parent who brings only water.
Is it any wonder our children are overweight?
Unlike adults, children are efficient when it comes to food: they eat when they're hungry not when they're nervous, anxious, stressed or bored. But if we are constantly plying them with snacks, what are we teaching? When I see moms with snack food at the playground I want to scream: "They're playing. They're active. They don't need to eat."
Food and eating are behavioral. How much we eat, what we eat, and how often we eat are learned behaviors. When we interrupt a child at play to eat a snack, we're saying that food takes priority. And what kinds of food take priority? In most cases, it isn't fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy products.
It's hard to change behavior. We are all crunched for time and we grab what's convenient. But if we want to reduce the number of overweight kids, we have to start rethinking when, what, and how much we eat. And that has to start with adults. Adults have to start eating better and by doing so, setting the example for children about the role of food, the right amount of food, and getting the most from the calories we consume.
I run our hospital's outpatient nutrition program and have also given nutrition lectures to school groups. When I visit schools, I am always impressed with what children know about nutrition. Children as young as second grade tell me that people should eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. They tell me that chicken (not chicken fingers) and fish (yucky to them) are healthy sources of protein. They tell me that we all need to eat less sugar, oils and fat. After they tell me this, I ask them what they ate for dinner. The answers are usually things like pizza, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers with fries, and soda, all high calorie foods that need to be balanced.
Our hospital held a program a few years ago on childhood obesity. When I looked around the room, I understood why there were so many overweight children. Many of the parents who attended the program also were struggling with weight. That's not uncommon. Studies have shown that children of overweight parents are more likely to themselves be overweight.
The good news is that the parents who attended that program were receptive to change. They wanted to help their overweight children and many were willing to start with themselves. I told them that when it comes to food and eating, they are role models and that healthy eating needed to be incorporated into the family's lifestyle.
Keeping the right foods in the house — fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and whole grains — is a good first step. As children grow and make more of their own food choices, they will learn the role and importance of balancing healthy foods with higher calorie foods such as pizza, cake and sweets. And that is what good nutrition is about - balance, moderation and making reasonable choices.
So let's go back to the food pyramid, with its emphasis on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry, milk and cheese. According to the pyramid, kids should have 6-11 servings of whole grain breads, cereal, pasta and rice per day. They should have three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit. For protein, the recommendations call for two to three servings of fish, poultry, lean meat, beans and eggs. Two to three servings of low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese per day are recommended. Do you eat these types of foods? If you do, there is a good chance your kids will too.
Equally important for weight control is physical activity. Just like adults, kids need 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week. Be physically active with your child. Include activities such as walking, bike riding, dancing or jumping rope.
Remember, kids are copycats. Be a role model for your health, as well as your child's. And when your child is playing, when she is running, jumping and kicking a ball, don't interrupt that activity to offer food. Just enjoy the bustle of a child at play.
Stephanie Madeira, RD, runs the outpatient nutrition program at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway. She can be reached at 732-499-6210.
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