ParentDishhttp://www.parentdish.comParentDishhttp://www.parentdish.com/media/feedlogo.gifParentDishhttp://www.parentdish.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Sneak Veggies Into Your Kids' Mealshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/07/27/sneak-veggies-into-your-kids-meals/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/07/27/sneak-veggies-into-your-kids-meals/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/07/27/sneak-veggies-into-your-kids-meals/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Credit: AP

Can't get your kids to eat their veggies?

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have a cunning plan. They suggest you discreetly add broccoli, zucchini and all that other green stuff to kids' meals.

Reuters news service reports their research found kids get more vegetables that way. And, while most of us might detect puree of broccoli on our macaroni and cheese, the little rubes don't even seem to notice the difference.

"We think of it as not deception, but recipe improvement," Barbara Rolls, one of the researchers, tells Reuters. "In this group of kids, we got most of them meeting their daily vegetable requirements -- that's pretty amazing."

Although the study was done in day care centers, researcher Maureen Spill tells Reuters parents could easily pull the same stunt at home. All they need is a blender.

Rolls says the technique can even work on older but equally stubborn children ... like husbands.

Adding pureed vegetables into adults' meals meant they ate more veggies and fewer total calories, she adds. Most of them couldn't taste the extra veggies, either.

According to Reuters, researchers fed prepared meals to 40 kids ages 3 to 5 one day a week for three weeks. The meals looked the same each day -- zucchini bread at breakfast, pasta with tomato sauce at lunch and a chicken noodle casserole at dinner.

One day's worth of meals was prepared normally -- with a typical veggie in each entree. On the other two days, researchers added pureed cauliflower, broccoli, squash, zucchini and tomatoes to triple or quadruple every dish's dose of vegetables.

After each meal, researchers weighed the food to determine how much kids ate. The preschoolers were also allowed to eat non-doctored side dishes and snacks during the day -- including fruit, cheese and crackers.

Compared to the day when they ate standard meals, Reuters reports, kids almost doubled their total vegetable intake on the day they ate high-vegetable dishes.

"I would urge parents to try to get vegetables into their kids' meals wherever they can," Rolls tells Reuters. "This is an additional strategy that you put on top of exposing kids to real vegetables, eating the vegetables with the kids, (and) being persistent in exposing them to vegetables."

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]]>healthy eatinghealthyl lunchesnutritionsneak in vegetablessneak in veggiesvegetablesTom HendersonWed, 27 Jul 2011 15:00:00 ESTHealthy Snacks for Kids From Jillian Michaelshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/07/12/healthy-snacks-for-kids-from-jillian-michaels/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/07/12/healthy-snacks-for-kids-from-jillian-michaels/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/07/12/healthy-snacks-for-kids-from-jillian-michaels/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Leading health and wellness expert Jillian Michaels joined Marlo Thomas on Mondays with Marlo for a terrific chat about fitness, weight loss, self-improvement, and more! Here are ideas for some not-so-terrible "junk food" snacks.



Don't miss from Marlo Thomas:

Tips and Tricks for Vegetable Haters
Health and fitness expert Jillian Michaels helps vegetable haters get their daily dose of greens.

Modifying Your Dreams
Jillian Michaels shares her advice on achieving your dreams.

The Effect of Weight Training Before Cardio
Jillian Michaels explains the benefit of doing weight training before your cardio exercises.

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]]>healthy snackshealthy snacks for kidsJillian michaelsmarlo thomasthe editors at MarloThomas.comTue, 12 Jul 2011 09:00:00 ESTFight Fat Even in Toddlers, Report Warnshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/23/fat-in-toddlers/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/23/fat-in-toddlers/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/23/fat-in-toddlers/#commentsFiled under: , ,

baby fat

Credit: Keith Brofsky, Getty

WASHINGTON (AP) - A food pyramid just for the under-2 set? Contrary to popular belief, children don't usually outgrow their baby fat - and a new report urges steps to help prevent babies, toddlers and preschoolers from getting too pudgy too soon.

That's a growing problem: Already, one in five preschoolers - 2- to 5-year-olds - is overweight or obese.

Topping the list of proposed changes: better guidelines to help parents and caregivers know just how much toddlers should eat as they move from baby food to bigger-kid fare. And making sure preschoolers get at least 15 minutes of physical activity for every hour they spend in child care.

Thursday's recommendations, from the Institute of Medicine, aren't about putting the very young on diets. But those early pounds can lead to lasting bad effects on their health as children grow, says the report.

"It's a huge opportunity to instill good habits at a time when you don't have to change old ones," said Leann Birch, director of Pennsylvania State University's Center for Childhood Obesity Research, who chaired the IOM panel.

Consider: Babies drink milk until they're full and then turn away. But children as young as 2 or 3 are sensitive to portion size, important in not inadvertently training them to overeat.

"If you give them larger portions, they eat more," Birch explained.

Pediatricians generally give pretty explicit directions on how to feed babies. And the nation's dietary guidelines include a special section for preschoolers, including information that a portion size generally is about 1 tablespoon of each food type per year of age.

But overall, those national guidelines are aimed at ages 2 and older - though surveys show even very young children eat too few of the fruits and vegetables they need. So the institute called on the government to create consumer-friendly dietary guidelines for birth to age 2.

That would capture the "dramatic dietary transition that occurs, from consuming one single food to, by the time they're 2, ordering up things from McDonald's and, we hope, having also learned to eat a lot of healthy foods," Birch said.

That will be part of the discussion during the next dietary guidelines update in 2015, said Robert Post, deputy director of the Agriculture Department's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, which oversees that process. But developing guidelines for these younger children is complex because their nutrition needs are based in part on developmental stage, he cautioned.

Of course, parents have the biggest influence over whether healthy eating and being active become a child's norm.

But the report makes the case that children's habits are influenced by far more than their parents - and thus it's time to expand obesity prevention to more of the other places youngsters spend time. For example, nearly three-fourths of children ages 2 to 5 spend at least part of their day in some form of child care.

Among the recommendations:

-Day care and preschool operators should be trained in proper physical activity for young children, provide at least 15 minutes of it per hour, and avoid withholding physical activity as a punishment.

-Child care regulations should limit how long toddlers and preschoolers sit or stand still to no more than 30 minutes at a time - and limit holding babies in swings, bouncy seats or other equipment while they're awake.

-Day care and preschools should practice what's called responsive feeding: providing age-appropriate portion sizes, teaching children to serve themselves properly, requiring adults to sit with and eat the same foods as the children and following babies' cues as to when they've had enough.

-Breastfed infants are less likely to become obese later in childhood, so doctors and hospitals should encourage breastfeeding and limit formula samples aimed at new moms.

-At checkups, doctors should consider the parents' weight in assessing which children are at risk of later obesity, and then alert parents early that preventive steps are needed. About 10 percent of infants and toddlers already weigh too much for their length.

-To increase healthful eating among the poorest children, the government should take steps to get more families who are eligible for federal nutrition-assistance programs to sign up.


Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. This article was written by Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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]]>baby fatchild obesityAssociated PressThu, 23 Jun 2011 18:00:00 ESTKids Really Only Need 2 Cups of Milk a Day, Study Sayshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/16/kids-milk/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/16/kids-milk/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/16/kids-milk/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

milk

Kids only need two cups of milk and not a gallon! Credit: Getty Images


"Fresh, wholesome milk ... Vitamin D, calcium, essential for good strong bones and healthy teeth. But that's all Greek to you, isn't it, Mr. Gingivitis?" -- Sgt. Joe Friday in "Dragnet," 1987

Sgt. Friday probably spent a little too much time listening to Captain Kangaroo.

Jonathon Maguire, a pediatrician and researcher at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, led researchers to find out just how much milk children should really be drinking. The Canadian television network CTV reports he concluded that two cups of milk per day is just about right.

Sgt. Friday was right: Milk is rich in Vitamin D. But previous studies have found too much milk can decrease the iron level in children's blood.

Researchers looked at 3,800 children at St. Michael's Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children to find out how much milk would give kids the Vitamin D they need without risking iron deficiency.

"So it struck us that, wow, if you drink milk, there's some good parts and some not good parts," Maguire tells CTV. "So how much milk would you need to balance those two things out. And what we came up with is about 470 milliliters [16 ounces] of cow's milk is the balancing point. So it's roughly two cups.

"So this really gets to that, saying to parents that two cups of milk is a healthy amount of milk," he adds. "You're getting great benefit from vitamin D and your child's not in harm's way from being iron-deficient."

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]]>iron deficiencykids milkmilkvitamin dTom HendersonThu, 16 Jun 2011 16:00:00 ESTFirst Lady Targets Healthy Habits for Toddler Sethttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/09/first-lady-targets-healthy-habits-for-toddler-set/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/09/first-lady-targets-healthy-habits-for-toddler-set/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/09/first-lady-targets-healthy-habits-for-toddler-set/#commentsFiled under: , ,

michelle obama

First lady Michelle Obama visits CentroNia, a bilingual child care facility in Washington, Wednesday, June 8, 2011. Credit: Charles Dharapak AP


WASHINGTON (AP) - Michelle Obama dropped in on lunch and circle time at a Washington child care center on Wednesday and used the occasion to announce a new national initiative to encourage child care centers to promote healthy eating and exercise habits starting with the littlest Americans.

The first lady watched as toddlers ate a healthy lunch of fish, fruit and salad greens, did the bunny hop with youngsters in a P.E. class and clapped along with singing time at CentroNia, a bilingual child care center that stresses just the kinds of healthy practices that Mrs. Obama is trying to encourage.

The first lady said instilling good health habits through child care centers and home-based care can be "a real building block for an entire generation of healthy kids." She noted that more than half of obese children first become overweight before they reach their second birthday.

Mrs. Obama announced that 1,600 child care centers nationwide already have committed to standards that promote healthy eating, exercise and limited time in front of TV, computer and other screens. And she released a checklist that parents and child care centers can use to make sure they're hitting the right notes.

The first lady said child care centers run by the Defense Department, the General Services Administration and Bright Horizons, a private company that manages child care centers for many corporations, hospitals, universities and government agencies, all had signed on to the program.

She was joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Cartwright recalled that when his children were young, military child care centers were sometimes "just a corner of a hangar" without clear standards. Some 200,000 children use military child care centers daily.

The first lady's Let's Move child care checklist stresses five principles:

-Provide one to two hours of physical activity daily.

-No screen time for children under 2. Limit screen time for older children to no more than 30 minutes per week during child care, and ensure children have no more than one to two hours of quality screen time per day overall.

-Serve fruits and vegetables at every meal, eat family-style when possible and no fried foods.

-Provide access to water throughout the day, and do not serve sugary drinks.

-Support mothers who want to breast-feed by providing mother's milk to infants and welcoming mothers who want to breast-feed their children during the child-care day.

___

Online:

http://healthykidshealthyfuture.org

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. This article was written by Nancy Benac, Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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]]>Michelle ObamanutritionAssociated PressThu, 09 Jun 2011 09:00:00 ESTPrescription for Milk Allergies? Baked Goodshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/03/milk-allergies-baked-goods/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/03/milk-allergies-baked-goods/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/03/milk-allergies-baked-goods/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Prescription for Milk Allergies

Cooked milk, baked into muffins, could wipe out milk allergies in children faster than just avoiding milk products entirely. Credit: Getty

Not all cures and remedies taste yucky, kids.

For instance, you know what might help you get over your milk allergy? Baked goods!

That's right. Pass the chocolate muffins.

Reuters news service reports cooked milk, baked into muffins, could wipe out milk allergies in children faster than just avoiding milk products entirely. Of course, it still takes years, so you might have to eat a lot of muffins, boys and girls.

Thank researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. They're the ones who found the Muffin Connection.

Bear in mind that a milk allergy is not the same as being lactose intolerant. When you're lactose intolerant, you can't digest milk products. Kids with milk allergies (affecting some 3 percent of children) react to proteins in milk and cheese with everything from mild itching and potentially fatal anaphylactic shock.

Reuters reports kids with milk allergies in the study who were able to tolerate muffins were more likely to grow out of the allergies. According to the news service, there might eventually be a Muffin Test to tell transient allergies from more serious ones.

Researchers gave 88 children with milk allergies between the ages of 2 and 17 baked goods that included milk. Then they compared them to a group of 60 allergic children who simply abstained from milk entirely.

Reuters reports just under half of children in the experimental group were able to consume dairy products such as skim milk or yogurt without having allergic reactions by the end of the study period.

Researcher Anna Nowak-Wegrzyn, of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, tells Reuters she is optimistic about the potential of muffins. Cautiously.

"One approach is not right for all children with milk allergy," she adds. "The majority does not need to and should not strictly avoid milk."

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]]>food allergieslactose intolerancemilk allergiesmilk allergyPrescription for Milk AllergiesTom HendersonFri, 03 Jun 2011 13:00:00 ESTFood Pyramid Out, 'My Plate' in For Healthy Eatinghttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/03/food-pyramid-my-plate/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/03/food-pyramid-my-plate/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/03/food-pyramid-my-plate/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

my plate

A sample plate of the new food icon My Plate, is unveiled at the Agriculture Department. Credit: Susan Walsh, AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - There's a new U.S. symbol for healthful eating: The Agriculture Department unveiled "My Plate" on Thursday, abandoning the food pyramid that had guided many Americans but merely confused others.

The new guide is divided into four slightly different-sized quadrants, with fruits and vegetables taking up half the space and grains and protein making up the other half. The vegetables and grains portions are the largest of the four.

Gone are the old pyramid's references to sugars, fats or oils. What was once a category called "meat and beans" is now simply "proteins," making way for seafood and vegetarian options like tofu. Next to the plate is a blue circle for dairy, which could be a glass of milk or a food such as cheese or yogurt.

Some critics, including congressional Republicans, have charged the Obama administration of reaching too far in trying to make Americans eat healthier, especially when it comes to new rules that tell schools what children can eat on campus.

The new plate is simply guidance for those looking to improve their diet, however. It's supposed to be a suggestion, not a direction, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

"We are not telling people what to eat, we are giving them a guide," he said. "We're not suggesting they should not have a cookie or dessert, that's not what it's about."

Vilsack said the new round chart shows that nutrition doesn't have to be complicated. After almost 20 years of leaders preaching good eating through a food pyramid the department now says was overly complex, obesity rates have skyrocketed. He showed off the new plate with first lady Michelle Obama, who has made healthful diets for children a priority through her "Let's Move" campaign.

"Parents don't have the time to measure out exactly three ounces of protein," Mrs. Obama said as she introduced the new graphic. "We do have time to look at our kids' plates."

The department is planning to use social media - posting advice every day on Twitter, for example. The address of the accompanying website, choosemyplate.gov, is written on the chart. That website will eventually feature interactive tools that help people manage their weight and track their exercise.

The new chart is designed to be "more artistic and attractive" and to serve as a visual cue for diners, said Robert Post of the Agriculture Department's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. He has spent two years developing the plate and the website.

Even though the plate is divided into four different-sized sections, the servings don't have to be proportional, Post says. Every person has different nutritional needs, based on age, health and other factors.

The graphic is based on new department dietary guidelines released in January. Those guidelines, which are revised every five years, tell people to drastically reduce salt and continue limiting saturated fats. They say diners can enjoy food but should balance calories by eating less. The guidelines also suggest making half of your plate fruits and vegetables - a message easily translated on the dinner plate.

"We know Americans want to be healthy, but making those healthy choices is not easy, it's hard," said Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, who joined Mrs. Obama and Vilsack to unveil the plate. "We're trying to make it easier."

The guidelines and the icon were subject of lobbying by food industries who want to see their products promoted and not discouraged. Fruit and vegetable growers were celebrating their victory over half of the plate Thursday, while dairy producers said they were also pleased with the cup beside it. The president of the beef industry group National Cattleman's Beef Associaton, Bill Donald, said he is not concerned about the elimination of the word "meat" because beef is so associated with the word "protein."

The first food pyramid was introduced in 1992, with detailed descriptions of recommended foods and their portion sizes. The tip of the pyramid represented fats, oils and sweets, cautioning diners to "use sparingly."

After research showed the pyramid wasn't working, the department worked with a public relations firm and came up with an all-new pyramid in 2005 that was characterized by vertical lines of color and a stick figure walking up a staircase to symbolize exercise. At the time, officials said they wanted something motivational and recognizable. But the Obama administration eventually ditched that model, opting for something fresher.

Many nutritionists and nutrition groups praised the newest effort, crossing their fingers that people will listen.

Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, said there are already a lot of symbols out there telling people what to eat. She said the new model isn't perfect, it's a good step forward.

"This brings it all together," she said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. This article was written by Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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]]>food pyramidMichelle Obamamy plateAssociated PressFri, 03 Jun 2011 10:00:00 ESTResearchers Take Aim at Energy and Sports Drinkshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/05/31/energy-sports-drinks/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/05/31/energy-sports-drinks/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/05/31/energy-sports-drinks/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Energy and Sports Drinks

Energy and sports drinks often contain dangerously high levels of caffeine and herbal stimulants. Credit: Getty Images

Distilled water remains safe for your kids to drink. For now.

But it seems doctors, researchers and Mindy down at the food co-op have systemically eliminated all the other beverage choices on the menu.

Milk? It's fattening and, let's face it, your kid is probably allergic to it, anyway. Soda pop? Oh, good Lord! Juice? Well, maybe. If you pick the fruit and squeeze it yourself.

Of course, there's always energy and sports drinks. Or not.

"There's no place for energy drinks for kids," researcher Marcie Beth Schneider, an adolescent physician in Greenwich, Conn., tells U.S. News and World Report. "There's a place for sports drinks, but that place is very specific."

Swell. So, what's the problem with these beverages?

Schneider and her fellow researchers say the drinks often contain dangerously high levels of caffeine and herbal stimulants. Sometimes, she tells the magazine, a single energy drink contains 500 mg of caffeine. That's the equivalent of 14 cans of soda pop.

Such high amounts of caffeine can lead to high blood pressure, high heart rate, insomnia and scraping your child off the ceiling, Schneider tells U.S. News & World Report.

While caffeine perks adults up, children's bodies are smaller. We're talking crazy time in the monkey pen.

"Kids don't need to have this," she tells the magazine. "This is not something they should be drinking."

Her prescription for a tired child? More rest.

The makers of Red Bull tells U.S. News & World Report a can of their product contains more caffeine than a cup of coffee and contains ingredients approved by European health officials.

Researchers point out that kids tend to drink more than one can at a time and chug the stuff like they were at a frat party. They add that half the caffeine overdoses reported in the United States in 2007 were by kids younger than 19.

So, that's the knock on energy drinks. What's the problem with sports drinks? Red Bull may gave you wings, but Gatorade is just supposed to replenish your electrolytes.

The problem is, kids think energy drinks and sports drinks are interchangeable. They're not.

Researchers, who compiled a report for the American Academy of Pediatrics, also tell U.S. News & World Report that sports drinks have too many calories and increase the risk of obesity and bad teeth.

"We want kids to be focusing on water and calcium," Schneider tells the magazine.

Good luck with that.

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]]>caffeinecaffeine and kidsEnergy and Sports Drinksenergy drinksgatoradered bullsports drinksTom HendersonTue, 31 May 2011 14:30:00 ESTSchools May Ban Chocolate Milk Over Added Sugarhttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/05/10/schools-may-ban-chocolate-milk-over-added-sugar/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/05/10/schools-may-ban-chocolate-milk-over-added-sugar/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/05/10/schools-may-ban-chocolate-milk-over-added-sugar/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

chocolate milk

Some school districts have prohibiting flavored milk, and Florida considered a statewide ban in schools. Credit: AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Chocolate milk has long been seen as the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down, but the nation's childhood obesity epidemic has a growing number of people wondering whether that's wise.

With schools under increasing pressure to offer healthier food, the staple on children's cafeteria trays has come under attack over the very ingredient that made it so popular - sugar.

Some school districts have gone as far as prohibiting flavored milk, and Florida considered a statewide ban in schools. Other districts have sought a middle ground by replacing flavored milks containing high-fructose corn syrup with versions containing sugar, which some see as a more natural sweetener.

Los Angeles Unified, the nation's second-largest school district, is the latest district to tackle the issue. Superintendent John Deasy recently announced he would push this summer to remove chocolate and strawberry milk from school menus.

But nutritionists - and parents - are split over whether bans make sense, especially when about 70 percent of milk consumed in schools is flavored, mostly chocolate, according to the industry-backed Milk Processors Education Program.

Many, including the School Nutrition Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Dietetic Association, American Heart Association, and National Medical Association, argue that the nutritional value of flavored low-fat or skim milk outweighs the harm of added sugar. Milk contains nine essential nutrients including calcium, vitamin D and protein.

A joint statement from those groups points to studies that show kids who drink fat-free, flavored milk meet more of their nutrient needs and are not heavier than non-milk drinkers.

"Chocolate milk has been unfairly pegged as one of the causes of obesity," said Julie Buric, vice president of marketing for the Milk Processors Education Program.

Others note the nation's child obesity epidemic and say flavored milk simply needs to go.

Eight ounces of white milk served in Los Angeles public schools contains 14 grams of natural sugar or lactose; fat-free chocolate milk has an extra six grams of sugar for a total of 20 grams, while fat-free strawberry milk has a total of 27 grams - the same as eight ounces of Coca-Cola.

"Chocolate milk is soda in drag," said Ann Cooper, director of nutrition services for the Boulder Valley School District in Louisville, Colo., which has banned flavored milk. "It works as a treat in homes, but it doesn't belong in schools."

Flavored milk is also a target of British TV chef Jamie Oliver, who has made revamping school food a signature cause.

For a segment to be aired on his "Food Revolution" TV show, he recently filled a school bus with white sand to represent the amount of sugar Los Angeles Unified school children consume weekly in flavored milk.

"If you have flavored milk, that's candy," he told The Associated Press.

Oliver cheered Deasy's proposal to remove flavored milk from schools during a recent joint appearance on the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show.

If the school board adopts the ban, Los Angeles Unified would join districts including Washington and Berkeley, Calif.

But efforts by some other districts turned sour after children drank less milk. Milk consumption drops by 35 percent when flavored milks are removed, according to the Milk Processors Education Program.

Cabell County, W.Va., schools brought chocolate milk back at the recommendation of state officials, and Fairfax County, Va., did the same after its dairy provider came up with a version sweetened with beet sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup.

The Florida Board of Education also backed away from its proposed ban on chocolate milk after the state agricultural commissioner urged the board to look at all sugary food and beverages served in schools.

The Los Angeles district has worked with its dairy supplier on flavored versions using the sweetener Truvia and chicory, district spokesman Robert Alaniz said.

Cooper and others argued children will drink plain milk if that's what's offered.

"We've taught them to drink chocolate milk, so we can unteach them that," Cooper said. "Our kids line up for milk."

Boulder Valley hasn't been barraged with complaints since removing chocolate milk two years ago, but it hasn't tracked whether milk consumption has dropped, she said.

Parents line up on both sides of the issue.

Deborah Bellholt, a South Los Angeles mother, said none of her six children ranging from pre-school to high school age will drink plain milk. "By allowing kids flavored milk, they still get the calcium they need," she said. "If not, they'd bypass it."

But Mimi Bonetti, a suburban Los Angeles mother with two elementary school-age children who drink plain milk, said she gets angry that chocolate milk is portrayed as nutritious. Children can get calcium and other nutrients from other foods, she said.

"If you offer them the choice of chocolate or plain, of course they're going to choose chocolate," Bonetti said. "When you're telling kids that drinking chocolate milk is a healthy choice, it's sending the wrong message."

Ask kids, and most vote for chocolate. Suburban Los Angeles seventh-grader Nacole Johnson said plain milk tastes yucky. If there were no chocolate milk, "I wouldn't drink it," she said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. This article was written by CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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]]>child obesitychildrens healthchocolate milkschools may ban chocolate milkAssociated PressTue, 10 May 2011 15:30:00 ESTGetting Kids to Try New and Healthy Foodshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/05/06/getting-kids-to-try-healthy-foods/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/05/06/getting-kids-to-try-healthy-foods/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/05/06/getting-kids-to-try-healthy-foods/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Getting Kids to Try New and Healthy Foods

"How do I get my child to eat fruits and veggies?" "Is it OK for my child to take a vitamin supplement and then eat anything he wants?" "My child only eats five foods: chicken fingers, fries, applesauce, cereal and milk."

Do any of these questions and comments sound familiar? As a registered dietitian, I hear them on a weekly basis from parents. I am amazed how many "picky eaters" I encounter. I see it from infancy through adolescence. (Actually, I meet plenty of adults, too, who eat the same foods over and over again.) So what are parents to do when their kids are reluctant to try new foods?

Children learn their habits, attitudes and beliefs from their parents and other caregivers, and that includes their willingness to try new and healthy foods. For National Nutrition Month, the American Dietetic Association encourages parents to be good role models and teach their children how to appreciate nutrition and enjoy healthful eating.

Here is what sometimes happens: A parent introduces applesauce to baby. Baby likes it and eats the entire serving. The next week the parent offers pears. Baby tastes it, spits it out and makes a face. The parent does not force it and thinks, "OK, baby does not like it, so I won't offer it again." So baby is only eating the applesauce.

It is true that it often takes multiple tastes of a new food before a child accepts it -- of course, some foods require more offerings than others, and some foods are never accepted. The most important thing you can do is offer your children as many new foods as possible, as early in life as possible.

It takes much longer to accept new foods when you are older, as you may already know. I meet 10-year-old children who have never tried a fresh pear or red pepper. I am also discouraged by the statistic showing that the number one vegetable consumed by toddlers is the fried potato.

Let's commit to changing that statistic -- these tips will get you started:

  • When infants are at the stage of trying new foods, offer new foods every few days to see if there are any reactions or allergies. By the time baby is 1 year old, hopefully, baby has a varied diet of fruits, vegetables, grains and protein foods, including beans, tofu, soft meats and yogurt.
  • When toddlerhood (and independent eating) arrives, stick with meal times and avoid filling the child up on cheese, crackers and milk, or juice, before mealtime.
  • Let your child see you try new foods. Children are copycats, so if you model an interest in trying new things, there's a stronger chance that your child will, too.
  • The most important tip I can give to help get kids to taste new foods is to make sure they are hungry at mealtime. Halt snacking at least one to two hours beforehand and even longer for older children.
  • If children are labeled as "picky eaters," guess what? They will be! Let's stop the labeling and eat with our children the most nutritious meals we can provide.
If you're looking for more fun ways to get your kids excited about trying new (and nutritious) foods, see what's cooking at Fizzy's Lunch Lab on PBS KIDS GO! There are lots of great ideas and activities to inspire kids to give new foods a try.

This article was originally published on PBS Parents by Sarah Krieger, MPH, RD, LD. A national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, Sarah Krieger developed and is lead instructor for All Children's Hospital's Fit4AllKids Weight Management and Fitness for Families program in St Petersburg, FL. The program targets families with 8-12 year olds and has a teen program for 13-18 year olds. Krieger and a research team of physicians at the University of South Florida completed a study that determined the outcomes of the program for obese teens. She continues to work per diem for All Children's on the clinical side by working with children at nutritional risk.

More From PBSParents.org:

Child Development Tracker

Expert Q&A

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The Parent Show

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]]>eating healthyhealthy foodshow to get kids to eat healthy foodspicky eatersPBSParents.orgFri, 06 May 2011 17:00:00 ESTFederal Regulators Take Aim at Toucan Sam, Calling for Healthier Foodhttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/29/ftc-healthier-food-guidelines/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/29/ftc-healthier-food-guidelines/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/29/ftc-healthier-food-guidelines/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

healthy food

The FTC is making food manufacturers and restaurants an offer they can't refuse: Provide healthier food or the toucan gets it. Credit: Getty Images

Cap'n Crunch forced to walk the plank? Toucan Sam stuffed and mounted? Lucky the leprechaun deported?

It could happen.

The rabbit better watch out. He could find himself in the stew if he tries to steal one more box of Trix.

Silly rabbit. You don't mess with the Federal Trade Commission. Those people are potential cereal killers.

And they have the Cap'n and the rest of his cartoon cohorts in their cross-hairs. Think they're kidding? Look what they did to Joe Camel.

The New York Times reports the FTC is making food manufacturers and restaurants an offer they can't refuse: Provide healthier food or the toucan gets it.

"Toucan Sam can sell healthy food or junk food," Dale Kunkel, a communications professor at the University of Arizona who studies the marketing of children's food, tells The Times. "This forces Toucan Sam to be associated with healthier products."

The new FTC guidelines cover television, print and Internet marketing as well as food pushed through online games and product placement in movies.

The Times reports the guidelines are voluntary. But let's just say there are consequences if companies and their animated friends refuse to play ball. ("Those are some nice charms you got there, Mr. Lucky. Be a pity if some of them were to get ... broken.")

"There's clearly a demand hidden behind the velvet glove of the voluntary language," Dan Jaffe, executive vice president of the Association of National Advertisers, tells The Times.

Companies that do cooperate have five to 10 years to healthy up their food and get all their cuckoo birds in a row.

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]]>advertising to kidscerealFederal Trade CommissionFTSE 100healthmartketing to kidstoucan samtv adstv marketingTom HendersonFri, 29 Apr 2011 12:30:00 ESTPicky Eaters? The Sneaky Chef Offers Tips to Get Your Kids to Try Healthy Foodshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/28/picky-eaters/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/28/picky-eaters/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/28/picky-eaters/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Mac N Cheese muffins from The Sneaky Chef

Mac N Cheese Muffins from The Sneaky Chef. Credit: Photograph (C) Jerry Errico

As The Sneaky Chef, Missy Chase Lapine has spent years perfecting hundreds of recipes for foods kids love -- only sneakily fortified with hidden superfoods such as fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, wheat germ and more.

The trick is to add the superfoods invisibly. Lapine urges you to try these Sneaky Chef tips to get your picky eaters to eat healthy meals:

  1. 1. Don't plead, beg, threaten or bribe. This will only result in a power struggle. The less you show them that you care about what they are eating, the more likely they are to try the healthy foods you secretly want them to eat.
  2. 2. Shh! Don't tell them it's healthy! Defying some sort of logic, when children know something is good for them, they think it can't possibly taste good, even if it really does.
  3. 3. Hide healthy foods in kids' favorite meals. Puree cauliflower and zucchini and mix them into the cheese sauce for mac 'n' cheese, or puree yams and carrots and mix them into tomato sauce served over pasta.
  4. 4. Borrow smart packaging concepts from the food manufacturers. Let kids make up a funny new name for a vegetable or serve veggies on a skewer, in an ice cream cone or on toothpicks with fun dips. Make eating a new vegetable an adventure by serving a whole artichoke and allowing kids to peel the leaves and scrape the flesh against their teeth. Serve fresh green peas in the shell and let your children pick the sweet peas out of the pod, or cut open a fresh pomegranate and let them pick out each juicy seed. Hint: always serve the new vegetable alone, with no competition from a favorite, less healthy food, and serve it to kids when they are hungriest.

RECIPE: The Sneaky Chef's Mac N Cheese Muffins with Hidden Orange Puree

A handy lunch box alternative for kids who are tired of sandwiches or just won't eat them, The Sneaky Chef mac 'n' cheese formula is tried and true. This version becomes a hand-held meal that can be popped into kids' lunch boxes. No fork is needed -- eat them just like a muffin. (For some reason, children prefer to give up flatware whenever they can, to eat with their hands.) Kids don't mind them cold, so make ahead and freeze, then take them out and put into the fridge the night before.

Makes 8 muffins
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup Orange Puree (see make-ahead recipe below)
  • 2 cups low-fat shredded cheese
  • 2 cups cooked macaroni
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Below are two ways to cook the muffins:

Oven-baked method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper liners. Lightly spray liners with oil.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and Orange Puree. Mix in the macaroni and ¾ cup of the cheese. Divide the mixture evenly among the 8 muffin cups. Top each with about 1 tablespoon of cheese and bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Microwave method: Line 8 microwave-safe ramekins or custard cups with paper muffin liners. Lightly spray liners with oil.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and Orange Puree. Mix in the macaroni and ¾ cup of the cheese. Divide the mixture evenly among the 8 lined ramekins. Top each with about 1 tablespoon of cheese and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The Sneaky Chef Orange Puree

The following make-ahead recipe blends excellently in pizza, pasta and cheese sauces, bringing a big nutritional boost to meals that usually aren't thought of as health foods.

  • 1 medium sweet potato or yam, peeled and rough chopped
  • 3 medium to large carrots, peeled and sliced into thick chunks
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons water
In a medium pot, cover carrots and potatoes with cold water. Boil 20 minutes until tender. (Thoroughly cook carrots or they'll leave telltale nuggets -- a gigantic no-no for The Sneaky Chef). Drain vegetables. Puree on high in food processor with 2 tablespoons water, until completely smooth. Use the rest of the water to make a smooth puree.

Makes about 2 cups of puree. Store in refrigerator up to 3 days, or freeze in ¼ cup portions in plastic containers.

Missy Chase Lapine is the author of "Sneaky Fitness: Fun, Foolproof Ways to Slip Fitness Into Your Child's Everyday Life."

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]]>eatevergreenmac-n-cheesemealspicky eaterspicky-eatersrecipesuperfoodsJulie Z. RosenbergMon, 28 Mar 2011 17:30:00 ESTSmile While Eating Your Veggies and Your Kids Might Just Eat Their Broccoli, Study Showshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/24/vegetables-and-kids/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/24/vegetables-and-kids/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/24/vegetables-and-kids/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Watch Video Related to This Article
vegetables and kids

Want your kids to eat their veggies? Smile next time you chomp on a carrot. Credit: AP


If you want your kids to warm up to kale and carrots and not sneak their veggies under the table to the dog, smile the next time you scarf down a salad.

Mmm, mmm good is what your facial expression should convey if you want your kids to enjoy healthy foods. On the flip side, try wincing at the site of chicken nuggets and french fries to seal the deal, Reuters reports.

French researchers asked 120 adults and children ages 5 to 8 to study photos of people eating and discovered kids paid much closer attention to the facial expressions of people while they ate. Adults, on the other hand, zeroed in on body weight and were less likely to eat a food if an obese person was eating it, according to the news service. The findings were published in the journal Obesity.

Kids' food choices were influenced by their emotions, so, if they saw a happy person eating something, regardless of whether the person was thin or fat, they wanted to taste test it, too. If the person looked "disgusted," it turned the kids off, Reuters reports.

Also, if a child disliked the food, seeing a diner with a pleasant expression made the child more open to that food. But that pleasant face was more effective when the person was thin, rather than obese, leading researchers to believe that kids, too, pay attention to some of the negative stereotypes, but are less influenced by them than adults, according to the news service.

"The children's reactions were unexpected," researcher Sylvie Rousset, of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, tells Reuters in an email. "To our knowledge, no experiment has shown the influence of 'disgusted' or 'pleasant' faces on children's desire to eat."

The findings suggest parents should put on a happy face when eating healthy foods, Rousset tells the news service, adding that the results should lead researchers to examine more closely the psychological factors involve in eating.

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]]>brocollieating studyhealthy eatingvegetablesvegetables and kidsveggiesMary Beth SammonsThu, 24 Mar 2011 13:30:00 ESTGovernment Issues New Dietary Guidelines, Advises Americans to Cut Down on Salthttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/31/government-issues-new-dietary-guidelines-advises-americans-to-c/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/31/government-issues-new-dietary-guidelines-advises-americans-to-c/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/31/government-issues-new-dietary-guidelines-advises-americans-to-c/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

salt picture

The Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments are telling those 51 and older to reduce daily sodium intake. Credit: Corbis

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is telling half of the U.S. population to drastically cut their daily salt intake.

That's the advice to consumers - and the food industry - as the government issues new dietary guidelines, which are the recommendations behind the popular food pyramid.

For the first time, the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, which issue the guidelines every five years, are telling people who are 51 and older, all African-Americans and anyone suffering from hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease to reduce daily sodium intake to little more than half a teaspoon.

That group includes about half of the population and those who are most at risk of having higher blood pressure due to sodium intake. For everyone else, the government continues to recommend about a teaspoon a day - 2,300 milligrams, or about one-third less than the average person usually consumes.

The assault on salt is aimed strongly at the food industry, which is responsible for the majority of sodium most people consume. Most salt intake doesn't come from the shaker on the table; it's hidden in foods such as breads, chicken and pasta.

It has long been known that too much sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and other problems. But cutting the salt won't be easy.

The prestigious Institute of Medicine has said it could take years for consumers to get used to the taste of a lower-salt diet. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the government is trying to be realistic while targeting the highest-risk groups.

"I think it's important for us to do this in a way that doesn't create an immediate backlash," he said. "If we fail to get our arms around the obesity epidemic, especially in our children, we're going to see a significant increase in health care costs over time."

Several large food companies have already introduced initiatives to cut sodium and introduced low-sodium alternatives, but it's unclear if the industry will be able to cut enough to satisfy the new guidelines. The Food and Drug Administration has said it will pressure companies to take voluntary action before it moves to regulate salt intake.

Dr. Howard Koh, assistant secretary at the Health and Human Services Department, said food companies will have to make cuts for the reductions to work.

"Even the most motivated consumer can make only a certain amount of progress before it's clear that we need extra support from the food industry," Koh said.

Consumers still have some control. To reduce the risk of disease from high sodium intake, the guidelines say people should:

-Read nutrition labels closely and buy items labeled low in sodium.

-Use little or no salt when cooking or eating.

-Consume more fresh or home-prepared foods and fewer processed foods, so they know exactly what they are eating.

-Ask that salt not be added to foods at restaurants.

-Gradually reduce sodium intake over time to get used to the taste.

Other recommendations in the guidelines are similar to previous years - limit trans fats, reduce calorie intake from solid fats and added sugars, eat fewer refined grains and more whole grains, consume less than 300 mg per day of cholesterol. The guidelines also recommend eating less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fats - full-fat cheese and fatty meats, for example.

The government promotes these guidelines to consumers by using a symbolic pyramid. Introduced more than five years ago, it doesn't specify recommended amounts of foods but directs people to a USDA website that details the guidelines. That replaced an old pyramid that specified what to eat after surveys showed that few people followed it.

Vilsack said USDA may come out with a new icon, but that won't be for a few more months. For now, the government wants consumers to focus on the guidelines themselves.

He says the recommendations - coupled with efforts from industry and other government campaigns for healthy eating, such as first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative - should bring about some change in the country's diet.

"I don't think it necessarily has to take a generation or two to see some progress," he said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. This article was written by MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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]]>dietary guidelines for americansDietaryGuidelinesForAmericansAssociated PressMon, 31 Jan 2011 12:36:00 ESTNew Guidelines Would Make School Lunches Healthierhttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/13/new-guidelines-would-make-school-lunches-healthier/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/13/new-guidelines-would-make-school-lunches-healthier/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/13/new-guidelines-would-make-school-lunches-healthier/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

New federal standards could have your kids eating healthier at school. Credit: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - Schoolchildren would have to hold the fries - and pick up more whole grains, fruits and vegetables - on the lunch line under proposed new federal standards for school lunches.

The Agriculture Department proposal applies to lunches subsidized by the federal government and would be the first major nutritional overhaul of school meals in 15 years. It is expected to be announced Thursday.

The guidelines, which were obtained by The Associated Press and confirmed by USDA, would require schools to cut sodium in those meals by more than half, use more whole grains and serve low fat milk. They also would limit kids to only one cup of starchy vegetables a week, so schools couldn't offer french fries every day.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the new standards could affect more than 32 million children and are crucial because kids can consume as much as half of their daily calories in school.

"If we don't contain obesity in this country it's going to eat us alive in terms of health care costs," Vilsack said Wednesday, prior to the release of the guidelines.

While many schools are improving meals already, others are still serving children meals high in fat, salt and calories. The new guidelines are based on 2009 recommendations by the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

The announcement comes just a few weeks after President Barack Obama signed into law a child nutrition bill that will help schools pay for the healthier foods, which often are more expensive.

The subsidized meals that would fall under the guidelines proposed this week are served as free and low-cost meals to low-income children and long have been subject to government nutrition standards. The new law for the first time will extend nutrition standards to other foods sold in schools that aren't subsidized by the federal government, including "a la carte" foods on the lunch line and snacks in vending machines. Those standards, while expected to be similar, will be written separately.

The announcement is a proposal, and it could be several years before and schools are required to make changes.

The new USDA guidelines would:

- Establish the first calorie limits for school meals.

- Gradually reduce the amount of sodium in the meals over 10 years, with the eventual goal of reducing sodium by more than half.

- Ban most trans fats.

- Require more servings of fruits and vegetables.

- Require all milk served to be low fat or nonfat, and require all flavored milks to be nonfat.

- Incrementally increase the amount of whole grains required, eventually requiring most grains to be whole grains.

- Improve school breakfasts by requiring schools to serve a grain and a protein, instead of one or the other.

Some school groups have criticized efforts to make meals healthier, saying it will be hard for already-stretched schools to pay for the new requirements. Some conservatives, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, have charged that telling children what to eat is a case of government overreach.

Vilsack says he understands the new standards may pose some challenges for school districts, but he believes they are necessary. He compares obesity and related diseases like diabetes to a truck barreling toward a child, and the new guidelines are like a parent teaching that child to look both ways before he or she crosses the street.

"You want your kid to be able to walk across the street without getting hit," he says.

According to the USDA, about a third of children 6 to 19 years old are overweight or obese, and the number of obese children has tripled in the past few decades.

The Agriculture Department also is planning to release new dietary guidelines for the general public, possibly as soon as this month. Those guidelines, revised every five years, are similarly expected to encourage less sodium consumption and more grains, fruits and vegetables.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. This article was written by MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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]]>Associated PressThu, 13 Jan 2011 10:30:00 ESTPicky Eaters: Pathological or Just Particular?http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/06/picky-eaters/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/06/picky-eaters/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/06/picky-eaters/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

picky eaters

For picky eaters, there can be no food substitutions. Illustration by Dori Hartley


Harrison Bloom, age 5, will eat macaroni and cheese only if it's Kraft brand. A friend's mom once resorted to pulling the iconic blue and orange box out of the garbage as proof. Relieved, he tucked into the day-glow orange heap with gusto.

"Harrison's a typical picky eater in that the foods he will eat are starch foods [and dairy]," says his mother, Californian Toni Bloom, a registered dietitian (and no, the irony is not lost on her). "So we do lots of grilled cheese, cheese toast, bagels and cream cheese, cheese quesadillas," she says in a phone interview with ParentDish. She also has 3-and-a-half-year-old twin boys.

The morning of the interview Bloom served a new food to her sons: mini bagels from Trader Joe's. This was a departure from the regular-sized bagels she usually serves. Harrison refused to eat one, "because it was a differently shaped bagel," says Bloom.

She admits she bought the mini bagels knowing he'd have an issue with them. Through her own research, she came upon a treatment philosophy that made sense: offer variations of foods the child already eats. "One small tweak," she explains. "A slightly different colored cheese than the Havarti white cheese. It's this painful, thoughtful [process]. You have to think this through. 'Let's see. What's one degree different than that?' And who likes to do this? I'd rather short-order cook."

Bloom is on to something. According to Dr. Brad Riemann, Clinical Director of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Center and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Services at Rogers Hospital in Wisconsin, one of his center's most successful treatments, mirrors Bloom's approach. "We apply strict, graduated exposure therapy to this problem. We spend a lot of time with the child and sometimes their family developing a food hierarchy. We get an idea of what they can eat and then we develop these hypothetical challenges -- exposures -- to try to spread their wings a little bit."

There's no official diagnosis called "picky eating," as it's often a symptom of a larger problem, says Riemann in a phone interview with ParentDish. "Some picky eaters we see in our facility have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), meaning they may be concerned for example, about contamination -- who touched my food, who prepared it, what germs might be in it ... Another child may significantly reduce his or her food intake and what they eat, just like this person with OCD, but they don't care about germs at all. They're concerned, say, about the fear of choking. Their fear is so intense they only drink soup broth and malts."

Another cause is Sensory Processing Disorder, which involves sensitivities to texture, smell and sight.

When dealing with a finicky eater, "It's a matter of being flexible," says Long Island mom Cristina O'Keeffe in a phone interview with ParentDish, although she admits to having good days and bad days when dealing with her elder daughter, age 4-and-a-half: "I have times when I'm open and creative ... and there are days when I'm rushing and I'm frustrated and I'm chasing her around and I'm like, 'I'm only asking you to eat three pieces of an apple.'"

How can a parent tell the difference between generic picky eating and something more serious? According to Riemann, "When it interferes with the child's life: Children going over to other people's houses, friends' houses, sleepovers, and they can't eat anything."

"There seems to be a sincere, true, anxiety fear-based problem about how parents" try to address picky eating in the child's early years, says Riemann. "I'm clearly not saying it's the parents' fault by any stretch, but when [picky eating behaviors] start popping up they don't seem to be very significant [so] parents say, 'Well, OK, if Johnny doesn't like that food let's not go there. We'll pick and choose our battles.' So they give up a little bit of ground ... Johnny pushes back a little bit further and they give up a little bit more ground and the next thing you know, you may have a problem on your hand."

Riemann explains why this happens: "Part of it is because we care about our kids, we want our kids to be happy. Part of it is, do we really want to be going to war again at the dinner table? And part of it is that preparing food these days is so much easier."

Yes, convenience foods have made things a lot harder -- for parents of picky eaters that is. Once upon a time parents told their children to eat what's being served or else go to bed hungry. This was before microwaves and two-minute enchiladas made it easy to cater to individual tastes.

O'Keeffe tries not to fall into the trap of preparing separate meals for her two daughters, but does take advantage of prepackaged foods: "I will offer them an easy thing I can grab out of the pantry," she says, listing items like fruit, yogurt, cereal and cheese sticks. "But I won't make them another meal. That's not going to happen."

Riemann's suggestion to parents who suspect their child is a picky eater but without pathology is to be firm but reasonable. He also recommends using rewards when necessary. And no, he doesn't consider that a bribe. "There's a big difference between bribes and reinforcement," he says. "Reinforcing your children and providing rewards can be a key role in this. For example, you can tell your son if he tries a little bit of this cutlet he can have extra time playing video games or an extra book at bedtime. Those kinds of things can be powerful for children and can sway their decision."

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]]>picky eatersPickyEatersJulie Z. RosenbergThu, 06 Jan 2011 12:00:00 ESTCan You Control What Your Children Eat?http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/04/can-you-control-what-your-children-eat/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/04/can-you-control-what-your-children-eat/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/04/can-you-control-what-your-children-eat/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

what kids eat

Just try and stop him. Credit: Corbis




A new study from Johns Hopkins University makes a somewhat startling claim -- that parents don't have much control over what their children eat.

Or maybe this finding shouldn't be all that surprising. Study co-author May A. Beydoun says that she concluded that "parents' influence was weak" in terms of determining what was on their kids' plates, especially with older children who ate out a lot.

So what do you think? Can you control what your children eat? Or will you have to wait until they have kids of their own before they eat a bite of broccoli?

Got an idea for the Chatterbox? Talk to us!

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]]>chatterboxfoodkids and foodKidsAndFoodBrett SingerTue, 04 Jan 2011 10:01:00 ESTAre Happy Meal Ads Too Tempting for Children?http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/16/are-happy-meal-ads-too-tempting-to-children/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/16/are-happy-meal-ads-too-tempting-to-children/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/16/are-happy-meal-ads-too-tempting-to-children/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Happy Meal Picture

Do Happy Meals ads work too well? Credit: Eric Risberg, AP

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has filed a lawsuit claiming that McDonald's Happy Meal ads are simply too tempting for children.

The advertising, according to the lawsuit, is "circumventing parental control." In other words, "Parents, you're no match for plastic toys and a pitchman clown," writes David Knowles on AOL News.

Earlier this year, we wrote about a lawsuit that tried to get the toys of the Happy Meals. that tried to get the toys of the Happy Meals, and now Happy Meal toys have been banned in San Francisco. Now it's the advertising. What's next? The fries? (Not the fries!)

What do you think? Are Happy Meal ads too tempting? Or is it up to parents to decide what their children eat, no matter how much they might whine?

Got an idea for a Hot Topic? Talk to us!

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]]>happy mealHappyMealmcdonaldsmcdonalds happy mealmcdonalds lawsuitMcdonaldsHappyMealMcdonaldsLawsuitBrett SingerThu, 16 Dec 2010 09:52:00 ESTObama: Nutrition Bill Vital to Children's Futurehttp://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/14/obama-nutrition-bill-vital-to-childrens-future/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/14/obama-nutrition-bill-vital-to-childrens-future/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/14/obama-nutrition-bill-vital-to-childrens-future/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

President Barack Obama Nutrition picture

President Barack Obama, center, with first lady Michelle Obama, right, applaud after the president signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Act of 2010, during a ceremony at Harriet Tubman Elementary School in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, Monday, Dec. 13, 2010. Credit: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - Thousands more children would eat lunches and dinners at school and all school food would become more nutritious under a bill President Barack Obama signed into law Monday, part of an administration-wide effort to combat childhood obesity.

"At a very basic level, this act is about doing what's right for our children," Obama said before signing the bill. The ceremony was moved from the White House, where most signings are held, to an elementary school in the District of Columbia to underscore the point.

Besides Obama, the bill also was a priority for his wife, Michelle, who launched a national campaign this year against childhood obesity.

"We can all agree that in the wealthiest nation on earth all children should have the basic nutrition they need to learn and grow and to pursue their dreams," said Mrs. Obama. "Because in the end, nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our children. Nothing,"

The $4.5 billion measure increases the federal reimbursement for free school lunches by 6 cents a meal at a time when many school officials say they can't afford to provide the meals. The bill will also expand access to free lunch programs and allow 20 million additional after-school meals to be served annually in all 50 states. Most states now only provide money for after-school snacks.

Many Republicans, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, have criticized the effort and the fundraiser limits in particular, saying the bill is too expensive and an example of government overreach.

Supporters say the law is needed to stem rising health care costs due to expanding American waistlines and to feed hungry children in tough economic times. Mrs. Obama cited a group of former generals and military officials who have said unhealthy school lunches are a national security threat because weight problems are now the leading medical reason that recruits are rejected.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. This article was written by MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press.

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]]>nutrition billNutritionBillschool lunchesSchoolLunchesAssociated PressTue, 14 Dec 2010 11:00:00 ESTHouse to Vote on Bill to Improve School Luncheshttp://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/01/house-to-vote-on-bill-to-improve-school-lunches/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/01/house-to-vote-on-bill-to-improve-school-lunches/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/01/house-to-vote-on-bill-to-improve-school-lunches/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

school lunch photo

First-grader Kiarra Baker chooses her lunch from the new salad bar during the C.H. Robinson and United Fresh Foundation "A Salad Bar In Every School" event at Community of Peace Academy in St. Paul, Minn., on Oct. 19, 2010. Credit: Craig Lassig/AP Images for C.H. Robinson

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress is poised to give President Barack Obama - along with his wife, Michelle - a congressional victory as the House takes up legislation to push greasy foods off the school lunch line and sugary drinks out of vending machines.

The president met with liberal Democrats Tuesday in a last minute push to unite his party in support of a $4.5 billion child nutrition bill that would improve lunches in schools and expand feeding programs for low-income students.

Many Democrats signaled opposition to the legislation in September because it is partially paid for with cuts in future funding for food stamps. But several of them have now said they will support the bill after the Republican victories in the November elections.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., was one Democrat who came around after meeting with Obama Tuesday. The White House has said it will find other vehicles to restore the food stamp cuts.

"I am very pleased we were able to work together with the president and his team to address concerns regarding cuts to the food stamp program," Lee said after the meeting.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also rallied Democrats, holding a news conference with Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts in anticipation of House debate on the bill this week. The two Democrats led 100 of their colleagues against the bill two months ago after the Senate approved it with the $2.2 billion in food stamp dollars. But they now say they will support it after the White House promised to restore the food stamp funding.

Pelosi called passing the bill the "right, moral thing for us to do."

While Democrats have come together in support of the legislation, it is unclear if Republicans will try to use procedural maneuvers to stall it. A spokesman for House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he will vote against the bill but would not say if the GOP planned any procedural votes.

The first lady has lobbied for new school lunch standards as part of her "Let's Move" campaign to combat childhood obesity. The standards would not remove popular foods like hamburgers from schools but would make them healthier, using leaner meat or whole wheat buns, for example. Vending machines could be stocked with less candy and fewer high-calorie drinks.

Creation of new standards, which public health advocates have sought for years, has unprecedented support from many of the nation's largest food and beverage companies. The two sides came together on the issue as public pressure to remove junk foods from schools increased.

Congressional passage of the bill would be only the first step. Decisions on what kinds of foods could be sold - and what ingredients may be limited - would be left up to the Agriculture Department.

The legislation would also increase the number of children who receive free or low-cost lunches at school and increase the amount of money schools are reimbursed by 6 cents a meal.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. This article was written by MARY CLARE JALONICK, AP Writer.

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