Feed Your Kids Right

This information is provided by the Prevent Cancer Foundation:

1. Limit junk food.

• This includes most processed foods, convenience foods and fast foods - e.g. sugary junk cereals, cookies, candy, chips, donuts, pastries, fast food burgers, fries, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, etc. Junk foods are bad because they:
  • Provide little to no nutritional value.
  • Almost always contain excessive calories and ingredients known to directly contribute to poor health (trans fats, saturated fats, high fructose corn syrup, refined flour, excessive sodium).
  • Crowd out other more nutritious, health promoting foods.
  • Perpetuate appetite.
  • Replace these "food artifacts" with "real" foods, as illustrated below.

2. Provide your child with as many and as much variety of fruits and vegetables as possible.

• A child requires 5 or more servings a day for optimal health (age 4-8: 3 cups; age 9-13: 4 cups).
• Plant foods are the "magic bullet" when it comes to health and disease prevention.
• They are loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber; naturally low in calories, and packed with disease-busting phytochemicals.
• The superstar fruits - berries, cherries, plums, any whole citrus, mangoes, kiwis, apples, cantaloupe, pomegranates.
• The superstar veggies - all cruciferous (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, collards), tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, asparagus, spinach, dark salad greens and sweet potatoes.
• A serving of fruit includes: ½ cup cut up fruit, 1 medium sized piece of fruit, 1 slice of melon, 2 smaller sized pieces of fruit, or ¾ cup 100% juice.
• A serving of vegetable includes: ½ cup of cut up vegetables in any form with the exception of leafy greens (1 cup of leafy greens is 1 serving).

3. Provide your child with the right FATS! The type of fat in a diet is a major determinant of health!

• Strictly avoid trans fats: partially hydrogenated oils (in processed and fast foods), stick margarine, and shortening.
• Minimize saturated fat: fatty cuts of beef, pork, and lamb; whole dairy products, butter.
• Provide the majority of their fats from the monounsaturated oils: extra virgin olive oil, canola oil, nuts/seeds and avocados.
• Strive to provide a serving of superstar omega 3 fats daily: oily fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring and sardines), walnuts, canola oil, flaxseeds, omega 3 eggs, wheat germ, and small leafy greens (arugula, watercress, etc.).

4. Minimize consumption of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

• Like trans fats, another food technology development that promotes ill health.
• HFCS is the #1 sweetener in processed foods - sodas, juices, cookies, candy, sugary cereals, cakes, pastries, etc.
• Frequent consumption of HFCS promotes weight gain, elevates triglycerides, causes gastrointestinal distress is susceptible individuals, and taxes an already overworked liver.
• You must read labels to avoid it. 

5. Provide your child with the right CARBS!

• Minimize the highly refined, high glycemic index "bad," white carbs - white flour products, white rice, white potatoes, sugar, and products containing them.
• I refer to these foods as the "Great White Hazards" because they promote obesity, increase cardiovascular risk, promote type 2 diabetes, promote certain cancers, and lead to rapid fluctuations in blood glucose that aggravate the brain.
• Provide the majority of their carbohydrates from the following 4 categories: 100% whole grains, beans/legumes, fruits, and vegetables (the "right carbs").
• Consumption of carbohydrates as above has proved to:
  • Lower the risk of heart disease
  • Improve gastrointestinal health
  • Lower the risk of cancer
  • Protect against type 2 diabetes
  • Help maintain a healthy body weight

6. Provide protein in the "healthiest packages" - skinless poultry, fish, shellfish, beans/legumes, nuts/seeds, omega 3 eggs, wild game, soy, low-fat dairy products, and lean red meats.

• Limit fatty cuts of red meat (beef, pork and lamb). Avoid processed meats (bacon, sausage, bologna, etc.).
• Limit whole dairy products - whole milk (except children under 2), full fat cheese, ice cream, etc.
• Strictly avoid the larger carnivorous fish - shark, marlin, king mackerel, tile fish and swordfish.

7. Limit beverages to clean water, 100% fruit or vegetable juice, low fat/skim cow's milk, and calcium fortified soy milk.

• Soft drinks, "sugar fortified" juices, and sports drinks have no nutritionally redeeming qualities and are a major source of weight promoting, liquid calories. They should be consumed sparingly. It is best to never bring them into your home.
• Be very leery of artificially sweetened foods/beverages - at a minimum, they exploit a child's highly developed taste for sweet.

8. Limit TV.

• Television viewing has emerged as the most powerful behavioral predictor of obesity.
• The more TV your child watches, the more fat, calories, sugar and sodium they tend to consume, and the less calcium, fruits and veggies they consume.
• Good Parenting 101 - get the TV out of your child's room!

9. Minimize exposure to potentially harmful chemicals - pesticides, antibiotics and hormones.

• Thoroughly wash/rinse all fresh produce.
• Consume organic varieties if your budget allows.
• Place fresh produce in diluted soapy water (1 tsp/gallon) for 30 seconds, swish, then rinse. Studies show this effectively removes 90% or more of the external chemicals.
• Always peel cucumber (can't get herbicides out of the wax).
• Beware of the "dirty dozen" - apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, red raspberries, spinach and strawberries.
• Buy organic milk.