HEALTH TIPS FOR 2013

EVERYWHERE I GO, I talk with parents and grandparents faced with the harsh reality and knowledge that, somehow, their child or grandchild is not at a healthy weight.  Sometimes the reality rears its head when your child suddenly refuses to go to school one day.  Or when the school principal calls to say your daughter is in their office crying because someone called her fat. 

What I say to you as a parent is the same thing I say to adults who are told by their doctors that if they do not lose some weight, they will develop diabetes.  If they already have diabetes, without losing some weight, they likely will encounter the reality of its ugly complications such as loss of circulation in the feet, amputation of toes or a foot, a heart attack, loss of vision, and more.  We know how to  prevent diabetes.  We can learn how to prevent more weight gain and then make a plan to get to a healthier weight.

You may ask yourself, “Where did all this fat come from?”  or “How did my daughter (or son) gain all this extra weight?”  The answer is simple:   by eating and drinking more food, drink, and calories than they (and we) need and use.  Extra weight does not suddenly appear overnight.  We don’t go to bed 180 pounds one night and suddenly wake up the next morning weighing 215 pounds.  It’s the same way with kids as it is with us adults.  They don’t go to sleep one night weighing 55 pounds and wake up the next morning weighing 80 pounds.  

Woman eating fast food french fries.

We all gain extra weight the same way - one pound at a time.  Five pounds here, three pounds here, another two pounds here – it adds up over time.  Every time you take the kids to McDonalds, it adds up faster.  Check this out:  a double quarter pounder with cheese, a large coke, and a large fries has 1,560 calories (almost a whole day’s worth of calories), 1280 mg of sodium (more than half of what we should eat in a day), and a whopping 86 grams of carbs (the sugar in the coke contains  “empty” calories with no nutritional value).  Go to www.mcdonalds.com to learn the nutritional value of what your kids eat there. 

Children having fun running.

“So, now what do I do to help my children?”  You start one day and one week at a time to make changes.  The universal law is that small changes lead to big results.  

Right now, starting today, the first day of 2013, you can make the decision to make small changes.  This week you start moving.  Take a walk.  Don’t assume that your kids are getting enough exercise in school, because they are not, especially if they live in Florida.  The education leaders in Florida should be ashamed of themselves for stripping physical education out of our schools and our children’s health and daily lives (personal opinion).   In the county where I live, kids in elementary school get 30 minutes a day of P.E.  Remember that kids needs 60 minutes a day of P.E.  So start moving.  Be the example they need.  Take a walk every day with your child while they are on winter break.  Play basketball with them.  Jump a rope.  Don’t allow them to sit inside all day.  Get outside and play.  Just for the heck of it.  For the health of it.  Now. 

It takes responsibility to develop new habits.  As parents, we are responsible for our children’s health, for what they eat, for making sure they get exercise every day, for getting their homework assignments done and turned in, and their science fair project deadlines met.  Take responsibility for their health.  Stay tuned to this blog for weekly lessons in 2013 you can use at home (and at work) to improve your children’s health – and your own.  Together, we can lose the extra weight.  To access a Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator for you and your children, go to www.cdc.gov.

Thanks for taking responsibility. 

Perfect health,

Nancy Heinrich

To order a copy of my new book for parents, NOURISH AND FLOURISH, go to amazon.com now.

GROWING HEALTHY KIDS' Founder Visits Boys and Girls Club

MOTIVATING KIDS TO TRY NEW FOODS is a challenge for parents.  At the first “Meet the Author” program held at the Sebastian Boys and Girls Club, Growing Healthy Kids founder Nancy Heinrich talked with kids about what inspired her to write Nourish and Flourish, her new book for parents about what kids (and parents) need to eat to stay at healthy weights.  According to Heinrich, “Parents pick up their kids from Growing Healthy Kids' education programs and the kids can’t stop talking about the great foods they learned to make.  We kept getting requests from parents to come up with a book for families to make it easier to eat better.  Their requests inspired us to write this book.” 

In a frank discussion with the kids about inspiration, Heinrich talked about the steps involved from taking an idea to a published book that all the kids got to see up close.  Her discussion prompted lots of young hands to go up in response to her questions to the kids about what ideas they have for writing their own books.  She offered several tips such as identifying a favorite pen or pencil to write with and taking ten minutes a day to write in a favorite notebook or journal.  Club Art Director Ella Chabot-Policare, who invited Heinrich to conduct the first “Meet the Author” program in November 2012, prompted the children to create artwork based on the Nourish and Flourish theme.  See below for the art of two Boys and Girls Club participants inspired by the first "Meet the Author" program: 

The best part of the "Meet the Author" program just might have been the snack Heinrich made for the children from one of the recipes in Nourish and Flourish:  Artichoke- Lemon Hummus served with fresh celery and carrots.  It was a big hit enjoyed by even the younger kids when they saw the eyes of their friends light up with delight and surprise as they had their first taste of the garbanzo bean dish and proclaimed it tasty and delicious!  Who knew it could be so much fun to eat healthy! 

Nourish and Flourish is available at amazon.com.

NOTE FROM NANCY:  We have a responsibility to protect the health - and lives - of our children.  We can reverse, prevent, and halt childhood obesity.  Be a role model for your children.  Eat less sugar.  Eat more breads and pastas with four or more grams of dietary fiber per serving.  Drink water, not soda.  Eat fruit and drink less fruit juice.  Take walks with your kids.  Love life.  Your children will thank you.  Their health and their lives depend on the choices you make for them.  

3 TIPS FOR GREAT BREAKFASTS

I believe in breakfast.  My uncle Griff, who lived in Long Beach, California, was a basketball and tennis coach at Long Beach State College.  Our family would drive south for the holidays every year and Uncle Griff would always prepare great breakfasts.  Cereals, eggs, pancakes, fresh fruit, orange juice.  He taught me that it is the meal that sets the tone for the day.  It gives you the edge.   It gives you brain power.  It gets you and your body ready to play and work for the day.

“Breaking the fast” after not eating all night resets your body’s metabolism to expect small amounts of energy every couple of hours.   Believe it or not, eating breakfast is one of the master keys to getting to - and staying at - a healthy weight. 

Here are 3 great tips you can use:

1.       Replace rolled oats with steel cut oats.   The traditional rolled oats are more processed than steel cut oats.   Always choose less processed foods for better health.  I love the “Bob’s Red Mill” brand because it cooks in about 15 minutes.  Add your favorite toppings.  My favorites are cinnamon, ground flax seed, a little agave nectar and fresh or frozen blueberries (for a brain boost). 

2.       Plan for on-the-run breakfasts when the kids oversleep on school days and soccer Saturdays.  Hard boil some eggs, keep bananas in the family fruit bowl, and let the kids choose a low sugar-high protein breakfast bar to keep on hand. 

3.       Don’t skip breakfast.  If you want to lose weight, you need to eat breakfast. Anything is better than nothing.  

Steel cut oats with cinnamon, agave nectar, and frozen blueberries.

So, what’s in your breakfast bowl? 

Peace,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder of the Growing Healthy Kids movement to halt, prevent, and reverse childhood obesity