Fun food is fat and unhealthy food :(
Most of the population and especially kids are facing an obesity epidemic. We hear it all the time: kids are larger than they used to be. A third of U.S. children are overweight or obese.
Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics even suggested that children as young as 2 receive cholesterol screenings, and kids 8 and older use statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, when doctors deem it necessary.
Commonly-named culprits for the weight problems: video games, TV, shorter gym classes in schools, poor food choices.
Canadian researchers seized on that last one in a study published in the journal Obesity Reviews. They found that a whopping 89% of food marketed to children are unhealthy. The University of Calgary-based researchers studied 367 kid food products, and followed the health guidelines laid out by the U.S. nonprofit Centers for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which received the FDA’s highest honor in 2007. The CSPI ‘s standards say that food should contain:
• Less than 35 percent of its total calories from fat
• Less than 35 percent added sugars by weight
• Less than 230 mg of salt for snacks
• Less than 480 mg per serving for cereals, soups, pastas and meats.
• Meals should contain less than 770 mg of sodium.
These researchers considered “fun” foods those which featured cartoon characters, movie tie-ins, and were commercially marketed to children. They excluded junk food from the study, and still found that:
• 89 percent of the products studied had high levels of sodium or an excessive proportion of calories from fat or sugar.
• Less than one percent of foods marketed to children are fruits and vegetables.
• 63 percent of fun food products make at least one nutrition claim in its packaging.
• Almost one-quarter of the products contain a high proportion of calories from fat.
• 70 percent products had a high proportion of calories from sugar.
• 20 percent had high levels of sodium.
If you are a parent. You and your partner both work full-time jobs. Or even if you don’t occasionally, every parent needs a quick food fix for the kids. What can you do in this spoilt world?
Ignore the hype. The Canadian study found that some kid-”friendly” products gave only half truths on nutritional value. Yes, frozen pizza may be a “good source of calcium,” but it’s not a good source of a whole lot else. Avoid “TV foods,” anything that has movie or cable personalities. You’re not actually ingesting that cartoon character, are you? So what, exactly, is "Dora" trying to sell you?
Stick to the edge. This is one of my favorite pieces of advice. At the grocery store, stay near the walls. Don’t go down the aisles aimlessly, or you may end up buying packaged foods that are chock full of preservatives. Shop for whole foods with complete proteins, fiber, and vitamins. If you plan to trace the shape of a square, you’ll fill your cart with the necessities: milk, eggs, meat, fruits, and vegetables.
En Inglés, por favor. Monosodium glutamate? Sodium benzoate, anyone? Make sure you understand the ingredient list. If you can’t swallow the words, you shouldn’t eat it.
Don’t buy a “high.” If the ingredient list includes “high fructose corn syrup,” leave it on the shelf. The simpler the sugar, the better.
A couple of healthy choices:
• Start young. If baby begins her food life eating greens, she’ll be more likely to have a wide food palette when she’s older.
• Easy fruits: organic apples, strawberries, blueberries. Pick your own, and add to the fun!
• Simple snacking veggies: baby carrots, sugar snap peas, cucumbers. Once your children fall in love with these fresh, crisp tastes, you’ll be shooing them out of the garden.
• Juice boxes (with 100% juice) instead of pop.
• Pair cheese with a fruit for snack time. Don’t pair it with pasta, or that mac and cheese is a filler meal instead of a nutritious one.
Quick quesadilla:
- Use whole grain tortillas.
- Pack it full of good stuff: black beans, avocados, cucumbers, spring mix lettuce, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and a bit of cheese.
- Melt this taco “sandwich” in an iron skillet, toaster oven, or microwave.
- Toss some chopped cilantro in plain yogurt for garnish.
Voila! You’ve taken your first step to healthier eating.