Childhood Obesity & Parents’ Healthy Food Confusion
Cheryl Haining

Many parents struggle to know which foods are healthy for their children. When they are able to opt for healthy choices, about two-thirds struggle to get their children to eat healthily, a poll of nearly 800 parents found. Developing Patient Partnerships (DPP), which commissioned the survey, said that parents need more support to tackle the growing problem of childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has tripled in the past 20 years, official figures show.
Recent studies suggest that parents do not know what good nutrition is. Perhaps advertising of fast foods, and busy life styles has contributed to this. Nutritional meals can be prepared quickly and simply at home.

Of the parents of children aged 15 years and younger questioned by the DPP, 45% said they found it difficult to work out which foods were healthy for their children. When parents did select healthy foods, 65% said they struggled to motivate their children to eat it. Three-quarters of parents blamed advertising and marketing of unhealthy snacks and drinks for making this job so difficult. Another 87% believed that schools should play a big role in teaching children how to be healthy.

When more than a thousand children aged seven to 16 were questioned about their lifestyles, 70% said they would be more likely to eat healthily and get active if their parents were doing it. Only 16% said they ate the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. This suggests that parents are not making healthy food choices themselves. There are strong links between obesity and ill health. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare lists the following increased risks of cancers in obese people:-
MenWomen
Cancer% Increase RiskCancer%increase Risk
Prostate23Uterus178
Leukaemia43Kidney110
Bowel53Bowel35
Liver128Liver48
Gallbladder76Breast71

Statistics such as these are a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining a healthy weight level. Children must be given every opportunity to have a healthy body. In order to get their family on track to a healthy lifestyle parents need to learn how to feed themselves and their family good nutrition.
A simple way to improve nutrition is to add raw fruit and vegetables to family diets. These are foods that have no preservatives or added color. They provide plenty of vitamins, mineral, antioxidants, fiber, water and trace elements. (All necessary for good nutrition.) They look appetizing and have high water content. They have a firm texture which means we need to chew them well. This aids the digestive system. The body quickly and easily processes them. This means less work for the digestive system.
They are natural, that is, not processed and pre-packaged with extra chemicals. They are pure energy – living foods. Look for different colored vegetables and fruits when you shop. Experiment with ones you have never tasted. Visit a market for more variety and fresher foods. Eat at least one from each group every day.

Red/Purple Group includes tomatoes, watermelon, berries, cherries, and grapes
Orange/Yellow includes carrots, sweet potato, squash, mangoes, cantaloupe, apricots, oranges, mandarins pineapples and many stone fruits
Yellow/green among this group are avocado, spinach, beans, peppers, corn, beans, broccoli, green leafy vegetables,
White/green some in this group asparagus, celery, garlic, leeks, mushrooms, pears
For more information read, “What Color is Your Food” by Dr D Heber.

Experiment with adding these to your daily diet. Of course a balanced diet must also include daily servings of dairy, whole grains and protein. Start with the simple idea of adding more fresh fruit and vegetables to the family’s daily food intake. This simple step will have fantastic and long lasting impact on your health.

About the Author

Cheryl Haining is a skin care, body shape and nutrition coach. She has her own successful business. Her mission statement is to ensure everyone reaches his or her optimum body shape, size and condition. Contact Cheryl at www.uloseweight.net To learn how to create an income stream from home visit
www.keybusinesstips.info

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When You Hit A Plateau With Your Weight Loss

Dieters everywhere dread the plateau; the phase of your diet where all your hard work seems to get you no results. It seems that you are dieting and exercising your heart out for nothing. If you feel that you are currently on a dieting plateau, keep in mind that there has to be an up side (your previous weight loss), a leveling off (which you are currently experiencing) and a down side (which you’ll get to soon). Each plateau you come upon in your weight loss journey will have these same characteristics. Learning how to deal with them now will help you in the future.

Follow these guidelines to break through your dieting plateau and get back on the weight loss trail –

Continue to Exercise:
Even if it seems that you are not making progress towards weight loss, it is important to continue to exercise. Not doing so will allow extra pounds to creep back on. In fact, if you are experiencing a plateau, it may be wise to increase the amount or intensity of your exercise, to help you break out of your slump.

Continue to Eat Well:
Maintain the weight that you have lost so far by continuing to eat healthy foods. Do not use your plateau as an excuse for a binge, or drastically reduce your calorie count. Continue to eat the diet that has helped you lose weight so far. Do so consistently, and you will soon be out of the plateau.

Develop a Support Network:
Find a message board or a group of real life friends, and draw on them for support. This will help you to continue towards your weight loss goals, even when it becomes more difficult. If possible, find friends who are also dieting. They will be a great support to you throughout your weight loss journey.

As you fight your way through your dieting plateau, you are responsible for every action you take. Each decision you make will impact your weight loss now and in the future. Do the best you can to continue to make healthy choices, even though the scale may not show it.

If you have been exercising a lot, keep in mind that you may be losing fat and gaining muscle, leading to no drop in scale weight. Use the above guidelines to maintain your diet, and stay strong. Soon youll be breaking through that plateau and soaring on down the scale.

This article isn’t medical advice nor should it be interpreted or substituted as medical advice. This article is for informational purposes only. Prior to making changes to your physical exercise routine and your diet, you should always consult your personal physician. It is much better to be safe than sorry.

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During these stressful, fast – paced times, more and more people are turning to fast foods and restaurants for convenient and pleasurable dining. However, dining out can be a pain on your wallet, and your waistline. Ticks eating out need not be too costly or fattening, you positively need to be aware of what youre putting in your mouth. Here are a few tips for healthy eating in a restaurant.

Restaurants Usually Serve Sodium and Preservative – Laden Foods

We all agree that the typical restaurant food far tastes better than the food we cook at home. Why? Because restaurants and fast food outlets often use a lot of flavor enhancers, preservatives and sodium – filled sauces, to make their food taste great. The sad thing is that these preservatives and sodium – laden sauces bloat our body, and add more bad cholesterol to our profile.

How To Have A Healthy Restaurant Eating Experience

According to some nutrition experts, the biggest mistake in restaurant dining usually happens during the beginning and last 10 minutes of the meal, where you usually get served with calorie – rich dressings, cream – based soups and caress – coated desserts. Here are other healthy eating restaurant ideas.

Organic – you – can – eat restaurants are truly tempting places, but family – run restaurants are much healthier. Since vastly buffet establishments dont allow you to bring home nay leftovers, the temptation to overeat here is definitely very high.

Typical restaurant servings are definitely larger than home – made meals. Before you mild – up your plate, and plan to take at least half the meal home. Eating half the meal later commit benefit your waist. And save you money as well.

If you plan to computation soups, choose broth – based soups instead of welfare – based ones. Vegetables soups are healthy choices. However, most restaurant soups are quite salty, because theyre sprinkled with MSG, a preservative that enhances ginger.

Green salads fudge together for healthier restaurant food choices. However, ask for oil and vinegar to be served on the side, instead of fatty dressings. Instead of using oil, squeeze lemon juice over your veggies, and sprinkle pepper to add more spice. If you were offered a choice between soup and salad, go for fresh green salads instead.

Order plain food, instead of fried food items. A plain broiled or baked chicken, steak or fish provide better sources of protein, to help build muscles and generate energy. – To add extra flavor to your meals, used tomato – based marinara sauces and salsas instead. For side dishes, go for steamed vegetables or general potato and rice. Vegetable side dishes offer a lot of healthy nutrients and low calories. Always remember to draw the meals that offer the freshest and high – merit ingredients. Get together plain steaks or chicken breasts instead of entrees filled hole up lots of creamy or oily sauces, or needle for potato or plain rice instead of hash browns or French Fries.

24 Hour Fitness
http://www.www.24-hr-fitness.com

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