Category Archives: healthy kids

Do your kids eat a lot of snacks?

Are they healthy snacks?

A new study published in the International Quarterly of Community Health Education finds that U.S. Children consume about a quarter of their daily calories from snacks.

Children in the study reported consuming an average of 302 calories per day from calorically dense, nutrient poor snacks such as cookies, potato chips and candy. At the same time, children consumed only 45 calories per day from fruit and vegetable snacks. This is far too much unhealthy snacking!

We have discussed the need to snack throughout the day… Read the rest

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Anyone can plant a vegetable garden – and I mean anyone. You don’t have to live in the country or even the suburbs. You can train vines like cucumber or melon to grow up a trellis. You can grow a small tomato plant in a container on your back porch. If space is really limited, you can even plant herbs in a single clay pot on your windowsill.

One of the best ways to have healthy kids is to introduce them to growing their own veggies. Children love to be involved in selecting and preparing meals, if you… Read the rest

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We talk a lot about the importance of establishing healthy habits early in life. It’s so important that our children are taught to develop and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. A wide range of studies show that eating habits developed in childhood often last into adulthood – both good and bad!

It should be no surprise that healthy kids have a much higher probability of being healthy adults. When we talk with overweight adults, we often hear “it’s in my genes.” This may be true in some extreme cases, but for the vast majority of adults, this just isn’t the case.… Read the rest

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There is almost unanimous agreement that obesity is an issue today. We have written about it before in this blog, and it seems like you can’t turn on the TV or read a paper without some mention of it.

What many articles don’t really talk about is the long term cost in terms of dollars. It is estimated that eating healthier and exercising more would reduce obesity and save $150 billion a year in increased medical costs. Yes, “billion” with a “b” dollars per year! Think what could be done with that money!

What we do know is that it… Read the rest

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Having healthy kids really starts with you, the parent. As parents, we have so much influence over the lifestyle that our kids adopt. This is especially true when it comes to eating.

It has been said that kids are terrible listeners, but they are great imitators! This may sound familiar. It’s difficult to get your child to do much of anything you say to do. In fact, there are several ages during childhood development that they will do exactly the opposite of what you ask them to. Have you ever told your toddler to sit still, or to stop bugging… Read the rest

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