WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Teaching Kids to Cook

"Cooking is all about people.  Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring people together.  No matter what culture, everywhere around the world, people get together to eat."  

                                                                                                   --Guy Fieri

Restaurants don’t make healthy food and one-third of Americans don’t know how to cook.  No wonder so many Americans are unhealthy.

When our country was in a crisis during World War II, food was rationed. Americans were asked to start Victory Gardens so they would have their own sources for food.  

We could sure use some Victory Gardens now.  There is another food crisis caused by the explosion of unhealthy, processed, and convenience food and the overconsumption of sugar, salt, and bad fats. Kids are facing shorter lifespans than adults due to obesity, obesity-related diseases like diabetes, and poor health status at young ages. 

When parents don’t know how to cook or don’t make the time to prepare food at home, they cannot teach their children how to cook.  In my work as Wellness Architect for Growing Healthy Kids, I encounter thousands of children who don’t know how to make a simple vinaigrette dressing for a chopped green salad or how to make a basic tomato soup.  In my work assisting youth and young adults with disabilities on their paths towards employment, I encounter individuals who have no idea how to cook, who eat mainly highly processed, unhealthy foods, and who are overweight or obese because no one ever thought that teaching them how to cook simple, healthy recipes mattered. 

If kids don’t know how to cook, they will be slaves to the processed food industry and will be at increased risk for obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and decreased life spans.  They will be forced to eat in restaurants and fast food places that don’t care if your blood sugar is under control or if your leg is amputated when you are twenty-five because you developed diabetes when you were fifteen. 

It does matter if kids know how to cook or not.  

All children deserve access to healthy foods.  All children need to know how to cook as a step towards their personal independence.  If kids don’t learn how to cook, how to identify healthy ingredients, then adults are failing by not giving them the tools they need to live independent lives. 

Shop.  Chop.  Cook.  Repeat.  

 

With love and gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Roundup is Robbing Our Children

"We won't have a society if we destroy the environment."  

                                                             --Margaret Mead

I really hate perfect lawns.  

At a recent workshop sponsored by Pelican Island Audubon Society, presenters talked about how herbicides being used at island homes and golf courses are washing into the Intracoastal Waterway, destroying its health, causing massive algae blooms, and killing animals and fish.  

Go into your favorite big box home improvement store and you will see huge displays of Roundup.  

The active ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate.  Roundup, manufactured by Monsanto, is used to kill weeds.  Monsanto created glyphosate-resistant Roundup Ready crops to allow farmers to kill weeds without killing their crops.  Most corn and soybeans grown in the U.S. are genetically engineered to be resistant to glyphosate. 

Glyphosate is now widespread in our soil, water, and air.  A physician passionate about raising the flag about how destructive glyphosate is to human and environmental health is Zach Bush, MD, a triple board certified (internal medicine, endocrinology, and palliative care) physician.   Dr. Bush is educating people about how the toxicity of glyphosate is directly related to gut health, the epidemic of Autism (1 in 88 kids in 2012 to 1 in 44 in 2016), the high prevalence of chronic diseases in children (46%), and other effects from our increased exposure to toxins like glyphosate in the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we shower and bathe in and the water we drink. 

Never has it been more true that “we are what we eat.”

Here is what you can do:

• Do not use Roundup on your yard. 
• Buy foods that are non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms).
• Support local farmers who grow non-GMO foods and follow organic growing practices. 
• Start growing your own food using non-GMO seeds, even if it is one tomato or zucchini plant.* 

Time to go outside and pull a few weeds!  

With love and gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.

*One of my favorite sources for non-GMO seeds is High Mowing Organic Seeds.    

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Eating for Life

"Energy drinks and energy shots, heavily marketed to adolescents and young adults, accounted for $6.9 billion in sales in the United States in 2012.  A 2011 AAP* statement cautioned that children and adolescents should not consume energy drinks because of their high content of caffeine and sugar." 

                                       --Andrew Weil, MD, from Mind over Meds            

Kids enrolled a Growing Healthy Kids education program
meet local farmers in Vero Beach, FL.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children who have obesity are more likely to have:

• High blood pressure and high cholesterol, which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
• Increased risk of impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes.
• Breathing problems, such as asthma and sleep apnea.
• Joint problems and musculoskeletal discomfort.
• Fatty liver disease, gallstones, and gastro-esophageal reflux.

Other health risks related to childhood obesity include:

Psychological problems such as anxiety and depression.

• Low self-esteem and lower self-reported quality of life.
• Social problems such as bullying and stigma.

Future health risks include:

Children who have obesity are more likely to become adults with obesity.  

Adult obesity is associated with increased risk of a number of serious health conditions including heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

If children have obesity, their obesity and disease risk factors in adulthood are more like to be more severe.  

Here are 5 tips parents can use to teach your kids to eat for life:  

1.  Take your kids to local farmers markets and meet the people who are growing food near you.

2.  Every week, let the kids pick out a vegetable or fruit they have not tried; research recipes and prepare it together.  

3.  Read food labels and choose foods with less ingredients, not more. 

4.  Use foods that contain dietary fiber in every meal (i.e., oats and fruit for breakfast, green salads for lunch, roasted veggies and whole grains like brown rice for dinner). 

5.  Use “The Nancy Rule” to choose healthy breads and pastas:  4 or more grams of dietary fiber per serving and the first ingredient includes the word “whole”. 

With love and gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

*American Academy of Pediatrics