Archive for April, 2009
Monday, April 27th, 2009
What is the best way to ensure that your child sticks with an exercise regimen? Make it fun! It is best to disguise exercise in the form of playing. And there is a calorie-burning superstar just sitting in your garage, waiting to be used! You probably bought it for about $4.95- much less than any other type of exercise equipment. It is time to look at the jump rope in a whole new light.
Read on for a great jump rope exercise routine for your child.
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How many calories will we burn?
Jumping rope is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise around. Jumping rope burns about 10 calories per minute- that’s 300 calories in a half hour and 450 calories in a 45 minute sweat session. Few exercises allow children to burn quite so many calories.
But jumping rope doesn’t only burn calories; it is also an effective way to burn fat, increase stamina, improve coordination and firm muscles.
Where can we jump rope?
Jump ropes are both affordable and transportable. Prices range from $5 to $25. And since jump ropes easily fit in your child’s backpack, exercise can happen at any time, on the spur of the moment. Kids can jump rope outdoors or inside. All you need is a high enough ceiling and enough space to turn the rope without knocking anything over.
What type of rope should I buy?
There are a few different types of jump ropes. Your best bet is a rope made of plastic. Cloth ropes are pretty flimsy and leather ropes take a long time to break in. Try to find a rope with soft foam handles and a swivel-like turning action for best comfort. Adolescents can try a weighted rope once they have mastered the regular jump rope.
Jump ropes are not one-size-fits-all. When picking a rope, lie the rope along the ground. Have your child put one foot on the center of the rope and pull the rope straight up along the side of the body. Ideally, the handles should reach up to your child’s armpit.
What moves do we need to know?
The routine will incorporate a few different moves.
Forward Hop-Overs: Place the rope on the ground in a straight line. Have your child face the rope and jump back and forth over the rope.
Side Hop-Overs: Place the rope on the ground in a straight line. Have your child stand with the rope to his/her right side. Your child should jump side-to-side over the rope.
The Workout
Each step should be done for two minutes. The length of the routine depends on how long you want to exercise. The ideal length of the workout is between 30 and 45 minutes.
Warm Up:
March in place for 2 minutes and then jog in place for two minutes.
1. Jumping Jacks
2. Jump Rope
3. Forward Hopovers
4. Jump Rope
5. Side Hopovers
6. Jump Rope
Repeat steps 1-6 as desired.
Cool down:
Cool down by jogging in place for 2 minutes and then marching in place for 2 minutes.
Tips to increase the “fun” in the workout:
1. Make it into a “Simon Says” game.
2. Invite friends to join.
3. Exercise with your child.
4. Let your child pick which move comes next.
5. Make up your own moves!
Remember: Exercise is fun!
Make sure your child drinks plenty of water before, during and after the workout. And always consult a doctor before starting your child on an exercise regimen.
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Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Several states now send home “weight report cards” to parents. The school reports the child’s body mass index and informs parents if their child is considered underweight, normal-weight, overweight or obese. The note home also includes nutritional tips and guidelines. Parents around the country are fuming! Should schools get involved in this arena? Is it appropriate for a parent to receive such a letter?
In my opinion, the answer is YES!
Quite honestly, I don’t understand what all the uproar is about. The information is completely confidential and parents can do with it what they please.
Studies show that the majority of parents of overweight children fail to recognize that their kids are overweight. And if they don’t realize that their children are at medical risk due to their weight, they will not take the appropriate steps to help them.
A 2007 study from the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital found that only 13 percent of parents with obese children ages 6 to 11 rated their child as being very overweight, compared with 31 percent of parents with obese children ages 12 to 17. And, less than 10 percent of parents with obese children ages 6 to 11 said they were “very concerned” about their child’s weight.
One out of every three children in this country is overweight and at risk for medical disease. Our children are developing medical conditions that used to be seen solely in adults. And according to the CDC, this generation of children will be the first to die younger than its parents. We clearly need to do something to help these overweight children.
Some parents are concerned about the cost of such a program. School budgets are already stretched thin. Parents are complaining that this program is simply an unnecessary expense.
Schools have always mandated that doctors send them information on each students height and weight. So they have had this information but have not done anything with it! The only change is informing the parents of the results. The cost of this program is truly nominal!
Eating disorder activists worry that this program will cause overweight children to develop disordered eating. But studies show that if you treat an overweight child in a sensitive manner and give them the necessary tools to lose weight, you actually DECREASE the incidence of disordered eating. These children are at a MUCH higher risk of medical disease from being overweight than they are of developing an eating disorder. The key is to handle the situation appropriately. That is why schools are not giving the information directly to the child. Nobody is telling a student that he/she is overweight. The school is simply giving the parents the information along with some nutritional guidelines. It is then up to the parent to handle the situation appropriately.
We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic that is shortening the life span of our children. As a society, we need to do everything we can to help the each child of the next generation live as long and as healthy a life as possible. I believe that informing parents, who may be unaware, that their children are overweight will help. When it comes to a child’s health, ignorance is definitely not bliss!
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Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
We are hard-wired to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods. Studies show that these unhealthy treats activate our brains’ pleasure zones, prompting us to continue to seek them out. Could fatty, sugary foods be as addictive as drugs and alcohol?
Brain studies prove that it is harder for some people to resist these unhealthy treats. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain associated with pleasure and reward, seems to be the main culprit. If the brain dopamine system is not functioning properly, people could be more at risk for overeating. Subtle variations in the function of these paths may explain why some people are better able to resist unhealthy food.
How could dopamine cause food addiction? When you eat a food that contains fat and sugar, your brain’s dopamine path is activated, causing you to feel pleasure. You begin to associate these foods with pleasure, prompting you to crave them, whether consciously or subconsciously. You may not even realize that is why you are grabbing a certain snack!
This explains why we automatically reach for ‘comfort food’ when we are upset. Our bodies innately know that it will make us feel better. Break up with your boyfriend? Eat a doughnut. Lose your job? Go for a hot fudge sundae. Science can now explain why we tend to use food as an emotional crutch.
Some compulsive eaters experience such a strong urge to eat that it begins to overshadow their desire to do anything else; it simply gets harder and harder to stay in control. In many senses, this is what drug and alcohol addicts experience. They know that they should stop but are unable to. And like a drug or alcohol addict, a compulsive eater puts his life at risk!
While it is unlikely that differing dopamine sensitivity is the entire cause of the obesity epidemic, it does give us all something to think about. Are we eating because we are hungry or because it makes us feel good? If we are eating because it makes us feel good, perhaps we can turn to other activities that also make us feel good, like exercise or playing with our children. Simply identifying the reasons we eat certain foods can help us to make smarter choices. In a sense, we need to retrain our brains; we need to disrupt the connection between eating fatty, sugary foods and pleasure and reestablish the connection between healthier activities and pleasure. So go for a bicycle ride- it will make you feel better!
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Monday, April 20th, 2009
The main causes of obesity are eating too much and exercising too little. But a new study has found a link between child obesity and exposure to certain chemicals found in plastic. Is it possible that there is more to the obesity epidemic than we previously thought? Are there other steps parents should take to help prevent obesity in our children? How can a parent avoid the toxic chemicals in plastic when it seems that plastic is everywhere?
A long-term study of East Harlem girls performed by researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital found that exposure to certain chemicals used in plastic may be linked with childhood obesity. The specific chemicals are called phthalates, which are used to make plastics pliable and in personal care products.
Phthalates are absorbed into the body and affect the glands and hormones that regulate many bodily functions. In this sense, they are considered ‘endocrine disruptors’. Studies have long suggested that these chemicals may cause cancer but this is the first study that suggests that they may promote obesity, as well.
Animal studies also support the notion that these chemicals may cause obesity. Bisphenol A (also used in plastics)and perffluorooctanoic acid (used in non-stick surfaces) have been shown to promote obesity in mice. But this new study from Mount Sinai is the first to show a link between chemicals and obesity in humans.
In this study, researchers looked at the level of phthalates in the urine of 400 East Harlem girls, who range in age from 9 to 11. “The heaviest girls have the highest levels of phthalates metabolites in their urine,” said Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, a professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai, one of the lead researchers on the study. “It goes up as the children get heavier, but it’s most evident in the heaviest kids.”
Not only were the phthalate levels higher in the heavier children as compared to the leaner kids, but the levels in all of the kids studied were significantly higher than the average levels measured by the CDC for kids throughout the country. This may help explain why children in this neighborhood have a higher overall obesity rate (40%) than kids in the rest of the country (33%).
This study may change how we think about obesity. Perhaps diet and exercise are not the only major players involved. Environmental exposure to toxins, such as these chemicals found in plastic, may be more important than previously recognized.
It is important to point out, however, that this study does not prove that exposure to these chemicals causes obesity. Right now, it just seems to be linked to obesity. It could simply be an accidental finding that has no causal relationship with obesity at all.
This question will be looked at further in a larger study that will monitor 100,000 children across the country.
So what can a parent do now? It is likely best to reduce exposure to pthalates as much as possible. Unfortunately, these chemicals are so widely used that it is impossible to avoid them completely. Further complicating the problem, labels usually don’t identify phthalates.
Phthalates are used in a large variety of products, from enteric coatings of pharmaceutical pills and nutritional supplements to viscosity control agents, gelling agents, lubricants, and emulsifying agents used in products such as adhesives and glues, building materials, personal care products,medical devices, detergents, packaging, childrens’ toys, modelling clay, waxes, cleaning materials, paints, printing inks and coatings, pharmaceuticals, food products and textiles. Phthalates are also frequently used in soft plastic fishing lures, nail polish, adhesives, caulk and paint pigments. Phthalates are used in a variety of household applications (shower curtains, adhesives, perfume), modern electronics and medical applications such as catheters and blood transfusion devices.
The most widely-used phthalates are the di-2-ethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP), the diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and the diisononyl phthalate (DINP). DEHP is the dominant plasticizer used in PVC, due to its low cost.
As of 2004, manufacturers produced about 363 thousand metric tonnes (800 million pounds or 400,000 short tons) of phthalates each year.
The best thing a parent can do is to learn to recognize the abbreviations for the most common phthalates (mentioned above) and to opt for certain kinds of recyclable plastics over others. We also need to urge the FDA to mandate the identification and labeling of products using these chemicals so consumers can make knowledgable choices when selecting these products.
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Friday, April 17th, 2009
The psychological effects of being an overweight child are severe. Overweight children tend to suffer from low self-esteem, depression and loneliness. These children also face discrimination beginning at a very young age and are more likely to become suicidal.
Obesity and Self-Identity/Depression
Children get a sense of their own identity by monitoring how others perceive them. A child’s self-esteem is greatly influenced by how others respond to them. Since our culture looks down on the overweight, overweight kids tend to develop a low sense of self-esteem.
Depression is also common in overweight children. These kids often feel insecure and inferior to others. While some obese kids become ‘the life of the party’ to compensate, others become reclusive. An overweight child’s social life may suffer if she is uncomfortable interacting with other kids.
Overweight children and teens who are depressed tend to remain depressed throughout adulthood. Being overweight affects every aspect of one’s life. Overweight adults tend to have fewer years of advanced education, lower family income, higher poverty rates and lower marriage rates compared to non-obese adults.
Obesity and Discrimination
Children understand that being overweight is socially undesirable from a very young age. In studies, young children shown pictures of overweight kids describe the children in the pictures as ‘lazy’ and state that they would not want to be friends with them. These children would rather be friends with somebody with a visible handicap (i.e. missing an extremity) than with somebody who is overweight. Interestingly, even overweight children show the same bias in these studies! They themselves state that they do not want to be friends with the kids in the overweight pictures.
The situation only gets worse as the child grows up. Overweight teens are often teased, ridiculed and shunned, leading to social isolation and depression. In addition, chronic obesity often leads to an increase in high-risk behaviors and oppositional-defiant disorders, since the overweight youngster must work harder than others to fit in with the social crowd.
Even teachers tend to discriminate against overweight children. These kids are more likely to be labeled as ‘immature’ or ‘disruptive’ when they are behaving normally for their age because they often look older and are therefore held to the standards set for older children.
The obese individual encounters discrimination all over. It is not uncommon for an obese person to get disapproving stares from others. Discrimination against the obese is so rampant that normal-weight individuals will often let an obese person know that he or she is taking up more space than he or she should. In most cases, the effects of these incidents make an obese person feel more self-conscious and depressed than ever.
Studies show that overweight individuals are less likely to be hired for a job than normal-weight individuals. Wages of the overweight, particularly overweight women, are much lower than wages of normal-weight workers. Some overweight individuals are even denied health insurance due to their weight!
It is not just a child’s medical health that suffers from obesity. The psychological effects of being overweight are just as devastating. For all of these reasons, it is crucial to address a child’s weight issue as soon as possible!
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Thursday, April 16th, 2009
It seems that everybody enjoyed my top ten food myths so I decided to add to the list.
Pick up any magazine and you will read about the latest diet fad or the next wonder food. These tips often sound too good to be true because they are not! Read on to learn the truth about some more food myths. You will be surprised at what you learn!
11. Fruit juice is healthy
Fruit juice is a source of empty calories. Eating a piece of fruit provides vitamins, fiber and tends to reduce intake of other food. But most fruit juices are just sugary beverages, providing extra calories — all from refined carbohydrates — without sating appetite. And this goes for all juices, from apple and grape juice to acai berry or pomegranate juice.
12. Antioxidant water prevents disease.
Antioxidant water is a marketer’s dream come true because it really sounds like it should be healthy and naturally-occurring antioxidants in other foods have been shown to prevent illness. However, none of the antioxidant waters have shown any health benefits. Antioxidant water is just overpriced water with added sweeteners, flavoring, and supplements. Studies of antioxidant supplements have shown no benefits and their is no reason to believe that the antioxidant supplements in these waters will be any different.
13. Frozen vegetables are less nutritious than fresh ones.
The best time to eat a vegetable is right after it is picked. However, for those of us who do not live on a farm, this is not quite feasible. Nutrient levels drop during shipping and storage. They drop further as the veggies sit in your refrigerator. By the time you eat that fresh vegetable, is has far fewer nutrients and is not quite as fresh. Frozen veggies, on the other hand, are flash-frozen immediately after they are picked so they retain most of their nutrients.
14. Pork is fattening.
It’s true that sausage and ribs are loaded with calories, but three ounces of cooked pork tenderloin has only 140 calories ‑- exactly what you’d find in three ounces of skinless chicken breast. That’s why they call pork “the other white meat”!
15. You should drink eight glasses of water a day.
Studies show that people often mistakenly believe they are hungry when they are simply thirsty. They then eat unneeded calories instead of just drinking a glass of water. A good diet strategy is to make sure you are fully hydrated at all times. However, you do not need to drink eight glasses of water a day to stay fully hydrated. Four glasses of water a day should be sufficient.
16. Trans fat-free foods don’t contain any trans fats
There is a loophole in the FDA’s trans fat labeling law. Any food with less than 1/2 gram of trans fat per serving can be called “trans-fat free.” Manufacturers get to choose what a serving size is, and it rarely matches up with what you want a serving size to be. A cracker company can decide that one small cracker is a serving but if you eat 12 “trans fat-free” crackers, you could have eaten up to 6 grams of trans fat. The key is to look at the ingredient list. If the product contains hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils, it contains trans fats. Since trans fats are so unhealthy, these products should be avoided.
17. Sugar causes behavior problems in kids.
A 1995 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that “sugar does not affect the behavior or cognitive performance of children,” yet the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that 93 percent of parents ask about avoiding sugar when their children are diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. There is no evidence that sugar increases hyperactive behavior in children.
18. Wraps are a healthy lunch choice.
Whoever ran the marketing campaign for the wrap is a genius. How did this incredibly unhealthy and fattening product get the reputation of being a health food? A wrap (without anything in it) can have more than 300 calories. Wraps are never a healthy choice.
19. Exercise makes you hungry.
I have heard dieters say that they don’t exercise because it makes them hungry. The truth is, exercise does not significantly increase hunger. However, many people feel that they “deserve” to eat more calories because they exercised and so they allow themselves to indulge.
20. Skipping meals will help you lose weight.
Skipping meals is one of the worst things you can do when dieting. Yes, you save calories at that meal but studies show that you more than make up for those calories during the rest of the day. Also, you put your body into “starvation mode” so your metabolic rate lowers and your body tries to do whatever it can to hold onto calories. You are much better off eating small mini-meals every three or four hours.
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Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
Sometimes it seems that there is more nutrition misinformation floating around than actual truth. It is hard to distinguish between what is fact- and what is mere fantasy. Read on for the debunking of some of the more common food myths.
1. You will gain weight if you eat after 8 pm.
The bottom line for weight loss: calories in must be less than calories out. It doesn’t matter when you eat the calories. The problem with late night eating is that most people eat the appropriate number of calories during the day and then go overboard at night, especially when eating in front of the television. So feel free to eat at night- just keep your total number of calories in check.
2. Fat-free foods are healthy.
Not all fat-free foods are healthy. In fact, sugar is the quintessential fat-free food and nobody would dare say that sugar is healthy. Many fat-free products actually contain more calories than the original. To maintain flavor, anufacturers have to add something back when they take out the fat, and that something is usually sugar. Be wary of fat-free snacks and always look at nutrition labels.
3. You should not eat carbohydrates if you want to lose weight.
Carbohydrates are a part of a healthy diet! However, some carbohydrates are healthier than others. Whole grains, like brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and whole wheat bread, can help facilitate weight loss by keeping you full. Diets that don’t include any carbohydrates often fail because dieters get too hungry and feel deprived, increasing the likelihood of a binge!
4. Some foods have ‘negative calories’.
It is a commonly-held belief that chewing and digesting certain foods burns more calories than the foods actually contain. It is said that you can lose weight by eating these foods. These purported miracle foods include cucumbers, celery and grapefruit. Unfortunately, this is not true. No food truly has ‘negative calories’.
5. Decaf coffee has no caffeine.
Decaffeinated coffee contains caffeine; it just contains less caffeine than regular coffee. A cup of regular coffee has 100-150 mg of caffeine while a cup of decaf has 8-32 mg of caffeine. You are better off drinking herbal tea with is truly caffeine-free.
6. Margarine is healthier than butter.
Neither margarine nor butter is healthy. Butter has saturated fat that can increase LDL (bad cholesterol) levels, increasing the risk of heart disease. Margarine, however, often contains trans fats which not only increase LDL but also lower HDL (good cholesterol) and can increase the risk of heart disease even more! I recommend using a little bit of heart-healthy olive oil instead. Olive oil contains monounsaturated fats which are proven to decrease the risk of heart disease.
7. Bananas are fattening.
One medium banana has only 105 calories and is full of fiber, magnesium and potassium which can help manage blood pressure. Bananas also contain vitamin B6 which helps with immune function. It is true that, per serving, bananas may have slightly more sugar, carbohydrates and calories than some other fruits. But they are still a very healthy part of a balanced diet.
8. Cooking veggies destroys their vitamin content.
Cooking vegetables actually increases your body’s ability to absorb the nutrients in certain vegetables. Tomatoes are a great example of this. Lycopene, a phytonutrient that helps prevent cancer, is much stronger in cooked forms of tomatoes than in raw tomatoes. It is true, however, that overcooking some vegetables in large amounts of water can decrease their vitamin levels by allowing the nutrients to slip out of the vegetables into the water. To prevent this, do not overboil veggies. Try to steam, roast, or microwave vegetables with as little water as possible and keep cooking time to a minimum.
9. High-fructose corn syrup is more fattening than regular sugar
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and table sugar (sucrose) contain similar amounts of fructose. The two most commonly used types of HFCS are HFCS-42 and HFCS-55, which are 42 and 55 percent fructose, respectively. Sucrose is almost chemically identical, containing 50 percent fructose. The bottom line: there is no evidence to show any differences between these two types of sugar. Both will cause weight gain when eaten in excess.
10. Salt causes high blood pressure and should be avoided
The truth is that restricting salt in people with high blood pressure can help lower blood pressure. But that doesn’t mean that salt causes high blood pressure in normal individuals. There is no reason for people with normal blood pressure to restrict their sodium intake.
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Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
An overweight woman is putting her child’s health at risk! This simple fact should help motivate women to lose weight.
Women in America are more overweight than ever. But even more disturbing, their children are too. In fact, according to the CDC, this generation of children will be the first to die younger than its parents. It is not just mom’s health at risk. Women are usually shocked to learn that a child with two normal-weight parents has a 7% risk of being overweight. If one parent is overweight, the risk jumps to 40%. And a child with two overweight parents has an 80% risk of being overweight.
Moms can significantly lower their children’s risks of obesity by losing weight themselves! Children model their parent’s behaviors. Every mother knows that nothing is more attractive to a child than what is on mom’s plate! A child who sees that mom doesn’t value eating a healthy diet will learn to eat junk. On the other hand, when a child sees mom enjoying healthy foods, like fruits and vegetables, he will want to eat those foods too.
My own children taught me this lesson last summer! I was sitting in my kitchen with a mango. But not just any mango- a perfectly ripe, juicy mango. “What a treat,” I exclaimed as the juice ran down my face. “This is really the best.” The next thing I know, my kids had jumped onto my lap, begging to try it. Truthfully, I didn’t want to share- it was that good! But I gave them some and thus began my kids’ love affair with mango. It all has to do with how you react to the food yourself! Now, when I sit down with a new healthy food, I make sure to let my children watch me enjoy it. More often than not, it prompts them to want to try it too.
The same goes for exercise. Children of mothers who exercise are significantly more likely to enjoy exercise themselves. If moms don’t exercise or exercise begrudgingly, kids learn that exercise is a chore. But if kids see their mothers looking forward to working out, they want to join in too. My kids are thrilled when I let them join me on a morning run or an afternoon bike ride!
Mothers always want what is best for their children. We need to remember that our weight directly influences our children’s weights. It is not selfish for a mother to take an hour a day to exercise. In fact, in a sense it is selfish not to! Reminding mothers that they must lose weight to help their children is often all the incentive they need to begin, and continue, their weight loss journeys.
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Monday, April 6th, 2009
The average American child is at risk for bone problems like osteoporosis and fractures! According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the amount of calcium kids consume each day is “well below the recommended levels”.
It is clear that we need to increase the amount of calcium in our children’s diets. Yet we are also warned that dairy products contain large amounts of saturated (“bad”) fats that can cause heart disease. So what is a parent to do?
The answer is simple: low fat or fat-free dairy products!
Low fat or fat-free dairy products are delicious, low in calories, and a great source of calcium for kids. There are also many other healthy, non-dairy sources of calcium out there. Read on to learn more.
How much calcium does your child need?
Children age 2 to 6 need two servings of dairy a day. Older kids need three servings a day. Teens need four servings a day.
Serving size differs based on age. In other words, a serving of skim milk for a three year old is less than a serving of skim milk for a fifteen year old. A basic rule of thumb is that a 2 or 3 year old’s serving size should be 2/3 that of an older child’s serving size.
Total Daily Calcium Needs:
Age 1-3, 500 mg a day
Age 4-8, 800 mg a day
Age 9-18, 1,300 mg a day
Adults, 1,000 mg a day
Why You Can’t Go By A Label’s Percent Daily Value
The percent daily value on the nutrition label is based on an adult’s needs and do not accurately reflect a child’s.
For example, if you eat a yogurt that is 20% of the daily value for calcium, it would contain 200 mg of calcium. Referring to the table above, that would be 25% of a 6 year old’s requirement but only 15% of a teenager’s requirement.
Let’s look at some foods that contain high levels of calcium.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Non-fat Milk 1 cup, 300 mg calcium
Reduced fat Milk 1 cup, 300 mg calcium
Nonfat Yogurt 1 cup, 490 mg calcium
Swiss cheese 1 oz., 270 mg calcium
Mozzarella, part skim 1 oz., 210 mg calcium
American Cheese 1 oz., 140 mg calcium
Cottage Cheese 1 cup, 160 mg calcium
Parmesan cheese,grated 2 T, 140 mg calcium
Pudding, prepared 1/2 cup, 150 mg
Frozen yogurt 1 cup, 200 mg
Ice Cream, light 1/2 cup, 200 mg
Getting enough calcium can be a especially hard if your kids are allergic to milk. Many nondairy foods can be good choices for kids with milk allergies who need calcium. Food manufacturers help to make it even easier to give our kids the amount of calcium they need! Many non-dairy foods are now fortified with calcium and other vitamins. These are also good to check out.
NON-DAIRY / FORTIFIED FOODS
Black Beans 1 cup, 120 mg calcium
Navy Beans 1 cup, 130 mg calcium
Fortified Cereal 1 cup, 300 mg calcium
Fortified Orange Juice 1 cup, 300 mg calcium
Soybeans, cooked 1 cup, 180 mg calcium
Spinach, cooked 1/2 cup, 130 mg calcium
Bok Choy 1/2 cup, 80 mg calcium
Kale, cooked 1/2 cup, 90 mg calcium
Broccoli, cooked 1/2 cup, 20 mg calcium
Corn Tortilla 1, 6 inch, 50 mg calcium
Greens, mustard 1/2 cup, 100 mg calcium
Canned Salmon w/bones 3 oz, 180 mg
Fortified Cereal 1 cup, 300 mg
Waffle, fortified 1, 150 mg
Soy milk, fortified 1 cup, 400 mg
Greens, mustard 1/2 cup, 100 mg
Tofu 1 cup, 40 mg
Almonds 2 oz., 150 mg
Oysters 3 oz., 80 mg
Remember, new foods are constantly being fortified with calcium to look at food labels to find new sources of calcium.
If you are unable to get your child to eat the recommended amount of calcium, consider a calcium supplement. Most children’s multi-vitamins don’t supply enough calcium. So be sure to give a separate calcium supplement.
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Sunday, April 5th, 2009
A new study in the Journal of Pediatrics revealed that simply installing water fountains in schools, giving kids refillable water bottles and teaching kids the benefits of drinking water decreased the risk of being overweight by 31%.
The study out of Germany looked at 3,000 2nd and 3rd grade kids in 32 schools over the course of one year. Data showed that each child simply increased their water consumption by about 7 ounces!
The data is shocking! Simply drinking 7 additional ounces of water each day drastically decreased the risk of obesity. What an easy intervention for parents. Try to get your children to drink more water throughout the day. Remember, when preventing child obesity, every little bit helps!
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