Everyone is busy getting their kids back to school.  What a perfect time to take a little break and bring the kids to a Family Night that will mix fruits and vegetables and lots of FUN.  Nourish Interactive has been working with Fresh Choice to reach out to kids and promote healthy eating.  With September being National Childhood Obesity Awareness month, it is a reminder to us how important healthy foods and daily activity is for kids.

We are happy to let our San Mateo, CA and nearby Peninsula cities know that the Fresh Choice Restaurant in San Mateo will host its First Family Night.  Nourish Interactive will be there with nutrition education games to make fruits and vegetables fun for kids.

Click to go to Facebook Event Page!

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables from their local farm while the kids have some fun learning about healthy food choices.

Just a few of the FREE & FUN nutrition activities for kids:

• Take a picture with Chef Solus
• Play Nourish Interactive Games- winner of Parents’ Choice Seal and Children’s Library Association Award
• Play tic-tac-toe   The vegetables versus Chef Solus
• Coloring fruits and vegetables while kids learn where produce really comes from!
• Spin the wheel, land on a fruit or vegetable and win a prize!
• Healthy eating out tips for parents to take home.
• Each child will have their name entered into a contest and have a chance to win a Wii game system.

Play the Yummy Drops Fruit Game and automatically get a FREE Kids meal coupon for Fresh Choice Restaurant!

More information:

Family Night event at Fresh Choice Restaurant in San Mateo, CA

Fresh Choice and Nourish Interactive Partnership

Nourish Interactive partnered with Fresh Choice!

Four factors that can make all the difference in promoting a healthy weight child.

1. Involve your child in grocery shopping and cooking
2. Avoid having “food rules” like finish all your food on your plate
3. Get the kids playing actively inside and outside
4. Make being active a priority

These are based on new research released by the SymphonyIRI and FMI completed in April 2010.  The study reports “We have found that just a few differences in behaviors can make the difference between the path to overweight and obesity, and that of maintaining healthy weight children.”

Related resources from Nourish Interactive:

Cooking with Kids Tips

Kids Daily Exercise Needs Article

Improving Kids TV Habits Article

Keep Kids Active During Summer Article

Online BMI Calculator- A free tool for parents to check their child’s BMI

BMI tool for children- Instead of a BMI percentile score, children receive positive messages about improving their exercise and nutrition habits!

Learn about our free interactive online games for kids – The fun way to learn about nutrition!

Getting kids involved in the meal planning is a good strategy to promote a balanced meal and a healthy one.

I know this sounds so simple but some of the best strategies for dealing with kids are pretty straightforward.  If they help decide the menu and help in the preparation, then they are a little more vested in eating it.

Here is a simple way to get started:

Print this free colorful and kid friendly food pyramid.

Have the kids plan the menu requiring them to pick a food from each of the food groups.

Have the kids help pick out the fresh fruit and vegetable at the grocery store.  Here is a cute guide for kids and parents to buying fruits and vegetables in season and how to pick them.

Have your child help in the preparation.  Depending on their age, kids can do quite a bit to help.  Here is a quick guide on cooking activities based on the child’s age.

Have the child name the meal or special dish.  Yes, add the little extra fun in it.  ”Tony’s SuperSonic Meal” or “Jazzie’s Dreamy Surprise” .  Kids are very imaginative, let them come up with a fun name that they can use to introduce their meal to the family.

Do we know what is really a healthy diet?  According to a recent study, 81% parents thought their child was having a healthy diet when in fact they were not.  It seems that parents assessed their child’s diet by looking at the three main meals they ate a day.  If the meals were balanced, then the parents rated the child’s diet as healthy.

This is part of a healthy diet for kids but you also have to look at:

• the amount of food eating (portion control)
• the snacks eating before and after meals (how many, what are they eating)
• processed foods versus natural ingredients
• junk food intake

These other variables can take a healthy balanced meal into a very unhealthy overall diet.

I have a little challenge for you-

I am going to recommend that you do a little family activity for 3 days.  And that is to help your child use a food journal and write down everything he/she eats.  Include the bits of this and nibbles of that.  Keep it light and fun for the kids so it doesn’t seem like a chore.  Maybe even a contest, who can complete and post their journal first each night.  Heck, the whole family could do it.

• Then you can use a meal planner and see what your child should be eating compared to what they are actually eating.  Look at the types of food they are eating.
• You will see where some family eating habit changes need to be made
• Next, pick one or two eating habits that you and your child are going to work on.

Little by little, you can change your family’s eating habit and it won’t feel so drastic.

You may be surprised at how easy it is to make one or two changes!  All adding up to a healthy child and healthier family.

We have some tools to help you get started:

Setting healthy goals with children

Goals and Food Journals – free, cute printables for kids

A new poll suggests that parents are concerned about the growing childhood obesity crisis in America but they are not recognizing that their child may be overweight.  This is a huge disconnect and we have to ask ourselves “why?’

Why are Americans not seeing that their own child may be overweight or obese and could be facing serious illness as they grow older?   There are several reasons that parents are not seeing the problem:

• the child has been putting on weight slowly, over time, so it is less noticeable
• kids overall (25-30% of kids are overweight or obese) are bigger so maybe the overweight child looks to be a normal size in comparison to the other kids
• parents may be holding on to the notion that “a plump baby or child is a healthy one”

I have children, myself, although grown, and I know as a mother it is not easy.  You don’t want to point out their weight and make them feel self conscious.  We love our kids and we don’t want to focus on their problems but rather on their achievements, we want to be supportive.

We are in danger of having the first generation that will be sicker and die younger than their parents.  How can we change this if we don’t recognize the problem in our home?

The best way to fight childhood obesity is by identifying issues early.  Have your pediatrician calculate the child’s BMI to age percentile as a starting point and see where your child falls.  Although this is not exact, it does give you a guideline and starting point for discussion.

Focus less on body image and more on their eating habits and getting a balanced meal.  Help your child be more active by finding activities they enjoy and activities that you can do together as a family.  Your pediatrician and dietitian can really help you curb eating habits with meal planning tips and suggestions.

And, it is so important to keep changes positive and something for the whole family instead of singling out the child.  Remember, that even small changes will add up over time.  These small changes will help your child build healthier habits and be a healthier person in the long run.

Resources to help you get started:

BMI tool

Pediatrician visit discussion sheet by age (just print and take to your next visit)

Setting healthy goals as a family guide

Easy tips on how to get the family moving this summer

help the kids learn about the fun of being healthy, play nutrition games

As the holiday weekend begins, many of you will be either preparing for your barbecue or bringing a platter to a 4th of July barbecue.

We are always talking about the colors of the rainbow and the colors of fruits and vegetables.  How about having the kids create a red, white and blue platter made of fruits and vegetables.  I thought this would be a really fun way to get kids interested and interacting with these healthy foods!

With a little bit of creativity in layout, kids can create a very fun platter for this special event!  Almost like arts and crafts, healthy style!

Here is your quick list of foods you can choose from to create a festive and healthy 4th of July platter:

Red

White

• Bananas
• Brown pears
• Cauliflower
• Dates
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Jerusalem artickoke
• Jicama
• Kohlrabi
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Parsnips
• Potatoes
• Shallots
• Turnips
• White Corn
• White nectarines
• White peaches

Blue

• Black currants
• Black salsify
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Dried plums
• Eggplant
• Elderberries
• Grapes
• Plums
• Pomegranates
• Prunes
• Purple Belgian endive
• Purple Potatoes
• Purple asparagus
• Purple cabbage
• Purple carrots
• Purple figs
• Purple grapes
• Purple peppers
• Raisins

Happy 4th of July everyone.

As a part 2 to National Dairy Month and ensuring your child is getting enough calcium and vitamin D, here is a list of the top foods rich in these two nutrients:

Vitamin D

Cod liver oil, 1 Tablespoon” amount=“1,360 IU

Salmon, cooked, 3½ ounces” amount=“360 IU

Mackerel, cooked, 3½ ounces” amount=“345 IU

Tuna fish, canned in oil, 3 ounces” amount=“200 IU

Sardines, canned in oil, 1¾ ounces” amount=“250 IU

Milk, vitamin D fortified, 1 cup” amount=“98 IU”

Margarine, fortified, 1 Tablespoon” amount=“60 IU

Pudding, prepared with vitamin D fortified milk, 1/2 cup” amount=“50 IU

Ready-to-eat cereals fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, 3/4 cup” amount=“40 IU

Egg yolk, 1 whole” amount=“20 IU

Beef Liver, cooked, 3 1/2 ounces” amount=“15 IU

“Swiss Cheese, 1 ounce” amount=“12 IU

Calcium:

June is National Dairy Month and a great reminder that we need to help kids develop strong bones and good eating habits to ensure their bones stay strong.  Dairy is so important because it is the main source of vitamin D and calcium for most kids.  Bones need calcium and calcium needs vitamin D in order to get absorbed into the body.  So these two nutrients go hand in hand to help kids form strong bones.

There are so many studies that indicate our children are not getting enough calcium and/or vitamin D.   There could be lots of reasons for this.  Maybe the child does not like milk and refuses to drink it or maybe they are lactose intolerant, or perhaps they are on a vegan diet.  Whatever the reason, it is important to help kids get these two nutrients.

One thing about dairy, it can be very high in fat.  So look for lowfat or even better, if you can wean them down to nonfat (skim) that is the best.

For lactose intolerant kids, there are now plenty of lactose free dairy products.  I know, because both my husband and son are lactose intolerant and so I only carry lactose free products in my home.  They are usually located in the same section as the dairy products but read the labels and make sure it says “lactose free”.

For parents who have kids who don’t like milk- perhaps some creative snacking ideas.

• Make hot meals like oatmeal and soups with low-fat or fat-free milk instead of water
• low fat yogurt goes great with some fresh fruit, you can even add a little fiber cereal to give it some crunch (and fiber)
• Add a little lowfat cheese (1 ounce or 1 slice) to some scrambled eggs and wrap it in a whole grain tortilla
• Kids love to dip!  Try some veggies and a low-fat yogurt-based dip,
• Kids love sticks – try some skewers with low fat cheese cubes and fruit
• Serve low-fat or fat-free milk with meals
• Some may argue with chocolate milk, but sometimes it is the only way to get them to drink, but be careful of the calories and sugar

For our vegan kids:  look for foods that are high in vitamin D and foods that are high in calcium

There are many calcium fortified foods, orange juice, dark green leafy vegetables.

Vitamin D is a little harder to find in foods naturally.  Talk to your pediatrician about how to ensure that your child gets the necessary amounts of vitamin D in their diet. We are not experts on vegan diets but there are many out there and a dietitian consult can be very helpful.

Vegan Resources:

Vegan Health.org

Vegan Mom

You may be interested in:

Family Tips – Calcium Rich Foods for Each Meal

‘Building Strong Bones and Teeth’ Healthy Contract – Printable Agreement

Building Strong Bones and Teeth – Printable Calcium Tracking Sheet

National study shows that many kids in the US don’t get enough vitamin D

New study shows 70% of kids are low in vitamin D

High Calcium Food List

Milk Food Group Learning Sheets

Fiber is so important in our diets and most kids (and even adults) don’t get enough.

I have put together some helpful tips to help you get your child  gradually increase fiber in their diet:

• Choose whole grain cereals for breakfast such as Raisin Bran or Wheat Bran.  Select cereals with at least 3 grams of fiber or more per serving.

• Eat whole fruits instead of drinking fruit juices. Whole fruit has more fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Plus an apple or a handful of berries will keep your child feeling full longer than a glass of fruit juice.

• Use whole grain bread, rolls, pita or bagels for sandwiches

• Before your kids get home from school, set out a bowl of carrots, celery, cucumbers or cherry tomatoes with a low fat dip for snacking.

• Replace white rice, bread and pastas with brown rice and whole grain products. If your kids resist at first, try mixing in half brown rice or whole wheat pasta and gradually add more.

• Cut back on refined foods. In many refined foods, the fiber containing parts have been removed.

• Snack on dried fruits such as apricots, figs or raisins. Have your child make their own trail mix using raisins, peanuts, and oat bran cereal.

• Encourage your child to use the Nutrition Facts label to find out how much fiber is in each serving of food. A good rule of thumb to remember is if the food has 5 grams or more per serving it is considered high in fiber.

• Be a positive role model; children learn many of their behaviors by watching what older siblings and grown-ups do. The next time the fresh vegetables are passed to you, take a serving and say, “I love fresh vegetables!” Soon your child will be eating it and saying they love it too.

You may also be interested in:
Fiber and Your Child: How Much Fiber is Enough? ‘Nourish Healthy Kids’

Foods to Boost Your Child’s Fiber PDF of foods high in fiber ( nutrition information serving size and grams)

Healthy Foods Shopping List Print a grocery list organized by the Food Pyramid groups

Fun web pages for kids:

Fiber and Healthy Hearts Story for Kids Cute nutrition story written for children

Fiber Power – Kids Fun Contract To Eat More Fiber Agreement sheet to set goals to eat more fiber rich foods

Fiber Power – Tracking Sheet for Kids Encourage more fiber rich foods – keep track daily and weekly.

Color and Learn About High Fiber Foods Fun coloring page that teaches children about fiber

Fiber Color and Learn Page for Kids

Print Weekly Fiber Goal chart

There has been quite a bit of buzz about a new law passed in Santa Clara County in California.  The new law essentials bans restaurants from using toys to lure kids to meals high in fat, sugar and calories.

It is true that a toy does not make kids gain weight, it is the food.  And, yes it is also true that parents have the ultimately authority to not buy unhealthy foods for their kids.

But let’s face it.  this is marketing at its finest and parents need some help.  It is very challenging to combat the billions of dollars of advertising the food industry spends to entice kids to want their foods.  And adding that little extra toy only makes the meal that much more enticing.

I am not trying to make excuses for parents who can’t say no to their kids, but I understand that their job is not easy.  Kids can recognize the “McDonalds” golden archers before they can really talk!  I remember being a kids and wanting the cereal with the toy inside it.  I also remember how much my kids wanted the “Happy Meal”, not so much for the food but for the toy it was promoting.  Kids like toys.

There are so many studies showing how adding a fun character, game, or toy helps kids build a positive mind  association with that food.

So is the ban the ultimate solution,? No, but it can help.  We have a growing problem of unhealthy kids.  We are talking about heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes and poor nutrition and it is going to take a great deal of creative organizations, laws and support from all areas of our society to change our current situation.

At Nourish Interactive, we believe strongly in early nutrition education for kids while they are still forming their food habits.   And helping kids build an association with fun and nutrition is also part of our mission.   We think it is important for kids to have fun while they learn about nutrition.  We hope our characters, nutrition games and fun nutrition activities are helping kids move towards healthy foods.

Related information:
California County bans toys in happy meals