We launched our daily health tip widget at the beginning of the year. It is an easy, quick way to get a reminder each day of ways to improve your family and child’s health. Remember, it is all about small changes in our lifestyle can add up to really make a difference.

But we have had requests for printable daily healthy nutrition tips for those who do not use widgets or want a daily reminder that they can post on the refrigerator or family bulletin board so the whole family can be reminded.In response, we have created a print version of a very kid friendly, fun calendar that gives you simple daily health tips for the family. Click here to get this month’s healthy daily tips calendar

Many families are gung-ho at the beginning of the year, but healthy goals quickly drop off by end of February/early March. So don’t forget to grab a new calendar each month!

Each month a new healthy nutrition tips calendar will be located on our nutrition tips free printables page.

For interactive meal planners, bmi calculator and more visit our parents’ nutrition tools page.

If you have any other suggestions, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Thanks to Healthy Monday organization for sharing their Monday healthy tips.

I had the opportunity to attend the “Small Change” summit held by the USDA in Washington DC earlier this month. I was invited to attend as a representative for Nourish Interactive along with other corporate partners. Corporate partners are organizations that have signed up to work with the USDA to promote healthier eating.(To read more about the corporate partner program, click here)

The Small Change Summit was hosted by the Dr Brian Wansink, the director of the CHPP.

The goal of the summit was two-fold:

• to share new data about obesity
• to collaborate with corporate partners

Dr James Hill and Dr Gilbert Leveille presented new research on obesity which has lead the USDA to take a new position on obesity – “the importance of making small changes in our lifestyles”

Here is some key points that their research showed:

• trying to get Americans to lose weight requires significant changes in their lifestyles
• it is very difficult for people to make big changes in their habits and sustain them for the long-term (thus most dieters gain back their weight… and then some)
• there are three factors that make it hard for us to keep weight off, long-term -

• biology (once you gain weight, your body wants to stay at this new weight)
• economics (i.e., high fat, high sugar foods are often cheaper than healthier foods – supersizing is a dollar value)
• socially- our lifestyle lends itself to inactivity/ lots of marketing-messaging for high caloric foods

So these researchers showed how America as a country is gaining weight – about 2 pounds per year. So their message was – instead of focusing on trying to get Americans to their ideal weight, let’s help America just maintain the weight they are at. If we could stop gaining weight and just stay at our current weight that will have significant health benefits.

Okay, this may sound like they are giving up on getting Americans to lose weight but I think they are just taking a step back and realizing that first, they need to stop the weight gain.

What do we need to do? Not that much!! That is the good news. Essentially, you just need to cut 50-100 calories from your diet per day to stop the weight gain.

What is a 50 – 100 calories change? You might be surprised at how little effort it would take to do this.

Here are some examples of how to cut 50-100 calories out of your or your child’s diet:

• switch from whole milk to 1% or nonfat
• use a small glass for juice instead of a large glass
• eat a half of a large bagel instead of a whole bagel
• have your hamburger without cheese
• cook with nonstick cooking spray instead of butter
• buy water packed tuna instead of oil packed tuna
• substitute fat-free sour cream in recipes instead of regular sour cream
• order pizza with grilled chicken instead of pepporoni
• trim the fat off of beef, pork and chicken before cooking
• leave the croutons out of the salad
• bake, broil or grill instead of frying
• remove the skin from chicken
• eat 1/2 cup of pasta or rice instead of a whole cup
• have the ice cream without the cone
• have a half of a slice of cake or pie
• eliminate a soda
• eat baked chips in place of regular chips
• buy canned fruit packed in water instead of heavy syrup
• Or you can keep your diet the same but add exercise: walk around 20 minutes

I think you can see how small these changes are. So minor that we can easily maintain them!

One message was very clear. The best solution to obesity is prevention. It is so much easier to maintain our current weight than it is to lose and keep that weight off.

This reaffirms the purpose of my work. We need to get the little ones, our children, learning about healthy choices at a young age. I can’t stress this enough. We need to provide learning opportunities that are not only fun for kids (so they want to learn) but also help them associate positive associations with healthy eating.

Our future depends on it!

Free Online Health and Nutrition Resources:
Children’s Nutrition Education Game- The Chef Solus’ Food Pyramid Adventure
Family Nutrition Tools- BMI Calculator, Meal Planner, Printable Tips
USDA Nutrition Education Resources- Children’s Nutrition

I know this may seem surprising. Maybe even shocking to many of us, but according to a recent study published in Pediatrics Journal, doctors are not informing parents when their kids are overweight or obese.

Here is what the study found:

• 10% of the kids who were overweight were diagnosed
• 54% of the kids who were obese were diagnosed
• 76% of the severely obese kids were diagnosed

This means doctors missed a huge opportunity with 90% of the kids who were overweight. A chance to talk with parents and child on healthy eating and their activity needs. We all know that the more weight you have to lose, the harder it is. What about the other kids who were obese? severely obese? How can the childhood obesity epidemic be addressed if the medical community is not identifying child-weight issues?

Sometimes, it is hard for a parent to objectively look at their child and see that they are overweight and need changes made in their lifestyle. We know this as parents and this has been confirmed by studies! How can we address the problem until we first recognize it.

What does this mean to us? If a BMI is not calculated for your child, please ask them to do it. When they do the calculation, ask them to review the results with you. Talk with them about your child’s eating habits and activity habits. You must be proactive, your child’s long term well-being is counting on it.

To read more about BMI, click here. You can also download our age appropriate pediatric sheet (at the bottom of page) to take to the doctor during your child’s annual well check-up. These sheets are designed to provide you with key topics on how to keep your child healthy.

Feelin’ blah with winter blues? Shake off the cold and dark of winter doldrums and brighten your mood. Bundle up and head outdoors with the kids, especially on sunny days. Also, socialize by getting outside to walk, ski, and/or ice skate as a family. A brisk walk with shared laughter boosts health and spirits!

Mondays are a great day to renew Family Health vows. Every Monday, you will find some healthy tip to help your family start the week off on a Healthy Note!

Thanks to Healthy Monday organization for sharing their Monday tips.

First of all, don’t despair. That leads to frustration and stress at meal times. That doesn’t help you or the child. Be patient there is no magic solutions because kids, like us adults, have different personalities, tolerance levels, patience, moods etc. So in other words, what works for one child may not work for another. So patience and persistence are the tools for parents of a picky eater.

Here are some tips from leading nutritionists.

* Don’t make your child clean their plate. Forget that old fashioned way of thinking. We now know that kids, especially under five, have a good sense of their hunger. They will stop eating when they are full. The portion size they were given may be too much for them.

* Avoid bribing please! ie “If you eat your vegetables, you can have dessert later.” Think about the message that will send to your child. Dessert- reward, fun, happy, success. Vegetables, not fun, requires a condition in order to eat them, Multiple studies have shown that bribing kids doesn’t promote good healthy food preferences in the long run.

* Just try to offer them one bite of the healthy food they don’t want to eat. If your child refuses, don’t give up or get mad. It just means they won’t try it today but that does not mean forever. Keep bringing that vegetable back to mealtime every several days or so.

* Take advantage of other activities to expose your child to healthy foods outside of mealtime. Have them help you pick out the vegetables and fruits at the grocery store, or better yet, at the farmers market, Maybe the farmer will tell your child how they grew it. Let them help prepare the foods. I know I have said this before, but it can take kids 15 exposures before their curiosity is peaked enough to try a new food.

* Be a fun healthy eating role model. The kids are watching you and paying attention. Pile on those veggies on your plate and let them know how delicious it is. A little extra acting is okay. You have an audience!

* It’s okay for kids to have a dessert or high sugar, high fat food once in awhile. Avoid completely eliminating a food they enjoy. It will only make them want it more. Instead, teach your child how these foods are good to have once in a while. Help them learn to eat small portions of these kinds of foods. We have to be realistic. Being healthy is about moderation, balance and portion sizes. There is room in a child’s diet for all kinds of foods. Some every day and other once in while. When there are independent tweens/teens they will be making their own food choices. Home is a chance to teach children good eating habits and that includes teaching them about these high sugar foods and high fat foods.

* Avoid letting your child snack all day long. If they aren’t very hungry at mealtime they are less likely to try new foods.

* Make the foods interesting. Jazz up those vegetables and fruits. Kids love dipping foods, so how about adding a low fat dip for their vegetables or fruits. Serve them their vegetable with a vegetable made of into a picture or funny face. Just image their faces when they sit down and see a happy smile made of celery, carrots and cucumbers. Make fruits and vegetables a fun event for kids. Have them color their plate with the food item. See if they can name the different colors. You can come up with different games using fruits and vegetables that can peak their interest about the food.

* If you find a couple of vegetables that they do like, well, it is okay to repeatedly serve them. Just continue to introduce one new food at a time.

* To add more nutrition for that stubborn picky eater who absolutely refuses to eat vegetables or fruits, be creative. You can add vegetables into some of their favorite meals. Dice them finely and add these healthy foods to their favorite meatloaf, stew, soup, casserole dish or pasta.

If none of these work, or you already tried all these techniques and are thinking “this is of no help, you don’t know my child”

Let me say it’s definitely a challenge and I feel for you. I applaud your efforts and you are a wonderful parent.   Your tenacity to make nutrition a priority will pay off in the long run as your child grows and begins to form food associations and preferences and priorities. Your guidance and role modeling will be a positive and formidable influence. (but you can’t see it right now, so hang in there and don’t give up.)

Nourish Interactive thanks all who shared their opinion by taking our mini survey!

Thanks to Jason at 1-877myjuicer.com, I was able to host a giveaway for a Free Lexen Healthy Electric Fruit and Veggie Juicer ($149 value). I’ve got to say thank you to the 850 Nourish Interactive visitors who shared their feedback in our first mini survey – and all who entered the Healthy Juicer Drawing.

I am happy to announce the randomly selected winner, compliments of Random.org is listed below.

G. Andolina of Centralia WA

Here is what the winner of the Nourish Interactive Healthy Juicer drawing had to say!
“Thank you so much for contacting me about exactly what I had been wishing to a friend yesterday that I had gotten for Christmas. One of the things I miss most about not living in San Francisco was the fresh-squeezed carrot juice and apple juice with Meyer lemon juice from the Marin farmer’s market. Living in Washington State means apples everywhere and now a new way to juice and share with my friends.” –G. Andolina Centralia Wa.

Juicing is such a great way to get kids to try different fruits and vegetables.

For those of you who would still like the Lexen healthy electric fruit and veggie juicer – 1877myjuicer.com is offering a special 10% off savings to all Nourish Interactive supporters who want to purchase the Lexen Electric Healthy Fruit and Veggie Juicer!

Simply purchase through 877myjuicer.com and enter code: NILEXEN upon checkout.

Happy healthy juicing!

To receive more healthy tips, coupons or special savings make sure you have signed up for our Nourish Healthy Kids nutrition e-newsletter!

A tax on soda and sugary drinks is being proposed in some states as a way to fight childhood obesity. In New York, for example, they are proposing an 18% tax on these type of beverages. But is this the direction we should be moving in our fight to improve our children’s nutritional status.

Some will argue yes.

• It will raise funds that can be used to promote healthier choices.
• The added expense will make some people buy less because it will cost more.

Some will argue no.

• It will punish soda drinkers.
• It overlooks the importance of nutrition education.
• It singles out soda when there are other foods that are high in calories.

No matter what side of the fence you sit on, it still boils down to nutrition education in order to make long term changes. Twisting peoples arms, or should I say pocketbooks, are only short term solutions.

Children need to learn about healthy choices. They need to understand:

• about moderation
• foods that are okay to have once in a while
• how to determine whether a food is healthy for our bodies
• how to determine which ones do not provide any nutrition value just calories

This is the kind of changes that can make a difference in a child’s long term eating habits.

It’s starts in our home. Each family making healthier choices, it will add up. Think about it? Do we need to be taxed? Is that the only way we are going to change our behavior? Will it change our behavior?

Let’s look at a simple example.

• Your child wants candy.
• But Mom, thinking that she doesn’t want her child to eat candy, imposes an additional condition (like the tax does to our wallet)
• So Mom responds, “You can only have candy if you sweep out the entire garage” (or some other activity that your child will think, “no way do I want to do that”.)
• Okay, good, mom has definitely sent a message, “you will have to pay with an additional chore to have this item”
• But now the child decides, I really want that candy so I will go ahead and clean out the garage.

Is it a win? Did they learn the concerns Mom had about eating candy? Would it have been better to sit down and help the child learn about foods that should be eaten once in a while?

A tax won’t fix the problem, not long term.

Build healthy habits together as a family this winter. Skate at an ice rink. Pop popcorn with a hot air popper. Shovel snow and build an igloo. Stroll after dinner with the dog (don’t forget to carry a flashlight).

Mondays are a great day to renew Family Health vows. Every Monday, you will find some healthy tip to help your family start the week off on a Healthy Note!

For more healthy tips visit:
Family exercise and kid fitness tips article

Healthymonday.org

Sometimes you run across a great little gem. Yummy for your Tummy is a cute healthy recipe booklet for families. The booklet is going to be distributed for free at Luckys Grocery Stores but I didn’t have good luck finding it yet. But I did find it online! Click here to download your healthy recipes booklet.

Chef Lala, a popular California nutritionist and celebrity partnered with with First 5 Hands, an organization dedicated to promoting healthy families, to offer a free recipe booklet full of fun, easy and healthy recipes. I wanted to share this with you because:

• It has many healthy tips sprinkled through the booklet
• It has a kid-friendly feel to the booklet, so your young readers will enjoy it
• The recipes have cute, fun names that will appeal to kids
• Kids will love the colorful illustrations
• IT’s FREE, we like free!

We are excited to announce that we have been listed on AllTop.com. We are grateful that they took the time to read our Family Nutrition Blog and felt it was worthwhile to put on their exclusive list.

AllTop is website that provides quick access to popular topics. Each topic features a certain number website/blogs that  are rated as informative and well written.

Here is how this handy and useful website describes their purpose: We help you explore your passions by collecting stories from ‘all the top’ sites on the web. We’ve grouped these collections “aggregations” into individual Alltop sites based on topics such as environments, photography, science, Muslim, celebrity gossip, fashion, gaming, sports, politics, automobiles, and Macintosh. At each Alltop site, we display the headlines of the latest stories from dozens of sites and blogs.

You can think of an Alltop site as a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. To be clear, Alltop sites are starting points—they are not destinations per se. The bottom line is that we are trying to enhance your online reading by both displaying stories from the sites that you’re already visiting and helping you discover sites that you didn’t know existed. In other words, our goal is the “cessation of Internet stagnation” by providing “aggregation without aggravation.”

Visit Alltop nutrition for great nutrition articles, resources and to see our blog listing!
Or visit Alltop’s main page to choose a category of interest or use keywords to discover a great news article, blog,  or new website today!