Search Results for: blog avoiding childhood obesity

Obesity Affecting Our Police Force

Obesity has become such a problem in America that it’s even affecting our police force. I recently read a story about police officers who are failing their physicals, having to retake them. To be honest, considering what we expect from police officers I was very surprised. Their physical is not that difficult, in light of what we expect them to do for our cities and towns, in protecting us. These fitness exams consisted of push-ups, one and a half mile run, obstacle course and a flexibility test. For someone who is going out to serve and protect, this really doesn’t … Continue reading →

Avoiding Childhood Obesity

Helping your children to make good food choices when they are young will help them to avoid future health problems and specifically problems with childhood obesity. From the day that they are born you are your child’s first teacher. It is only normal that they would want to mimic the people that they love most in this world—their parents. Your children will learn how to establish healthy eating habits most directly from you. Although it is tempting to grab a high-calorie, empty food snack try to avoid this whenever possible, especially when your children are around. During mealtimes, eat as … Continue reading →

Avoiding obesity in the teen years

By the time your kids get to their teens years, they have taken over control of their schedules, and keeping them active is a feat of monstrous proportions. With today’s’ technological advancements, they are much more content to stay inside than we were at their age. They are attached to their computers, video games, and cell phones. There is no need to visit with friends or to go outside and play. Back when I was a teen, I walked two miles to the library, or a half mile to my friends house and then took the stairs to her fourth … Continue reading →

Avoiding Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is on the rise. It’s an epidemic of grand proportions (no pun intended). In this society that values looks and idolizes anorexic models, we simultaneously abuse our children’s bodies and stand by as they grow larger and larger and become more and more unfit. Childhood obesity has got to stop but the cycle begins at home. How do you know if your child is obese or at risk of becoming overweight? Knowing is half the battle. So many parents are in true denial, believing their children are simply “built big” or “sturdy” or retaining “baby fat”. It’s time … Continue reading →

Smart Choices At McDonald’s

You rush from the bank to pick up the kids at school to drop one off at soccer and the other off at football. By the time you get home there will be no time to make a healthy dinner and with pennies in the back after paying for football cleats and soccer uniforms, there is no money to eat out. So what’s a mom to do? Can you in good conscience choose a fast food restaurant to feed your family? You know the content of fat, oil, trans-fat and who knows what else that will invade your kid’s bodies … Continue reading →

Chocolate Flavored Toddler Formula

The babies who have been in our care were all formula fed. They didn’t have any issues with the formula and tolerated the formula provided through WIC. These babies were good eaters and consumed enough ounces appropriate for their development. When babies turn one they move up from formula to whole milk. Their bodies aren’t ready for whole milk before one year. Formula manufacturers don’t want to lose this lucrative market just because a child doesn’t need formula anymore. To fill this niche, next stage toddler formula was created. Toddler formula has many of the same nutrients found in whole … Continue reading →

No More Toys in Santa Clara?

A little decision in Santa Clara County, California has restaurant marketers worried. Ok, they’re not that worried. After all, it’s only one little county. However, taking away from the toys from unhealthy children’s meals is something that many people see as a dramatic step towards healthy food, or towards limits on personal choice. This depends on your point of view, of course. I was listening to an interview with food marketers and childhood health advocates both debating the merits of such a ban. The food marketer spoke in favor of personal choice: parents should be able to choose what to … Continue reading →

Confessions of a Foodie Mom—Week 5

“I had to have some to calm myself down,” my nine-year-old sobbed. “They [her brother and sister] are eating my very favorite candy in front of me on purpose and it’s going to be TWO YEARS before my braces come off and I can have it again. So I had to take some cookies to calm myself down.” Whoa. It’s not that the statement is shocking. My friends and I have commiserated with each other over our tendency to eat under stress, when alone, or otherwise emotional. It’s even become a pop culture joke—witness all the T-shirts and coffee mugs … Continue reading →

Fitness Week in Review for October 13-19, 2008

What kind of music do you listen to while you workout? Would you consider running a marathon while you were pregnant? Do you skip over warm-ups and cool downs because you want to get out of the gym and on with your day as quickly as possible? Those are just a few of the questions posed last week in the FITNESS blog. To see what else you might have missed take a look at the following recap: October 13th—–How “Fit” is Your Child’s Cereal? Most of us are so concerned about getting our children off the couch and outside to … Continue reading →

Your Chubby Baby: Cute Roles or Dangerously Fat?

Of my five children, two of them have weighed in the 95th percentile up until about age 2. Interestingly, my oldest, who was exclusively breastfed, was the smallest at birth of any of my children and the fattest as a baby. The girl had triple rolls on her thighs! But eventually, like most normal children, she grew out of it and now she weighs just the right amount for her height and age. I had never given baby fat a second thought until I recently had a conversation with a mother in the park. She mentioned that she put her … Continue reading →