nutrition Archives - Page 4 of 4

The Problem with Salt

October 2, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

My kids bicker over any number of household items, and the salt shaker, I’m not proud to say, is one. They love to shake extra salt on pasta, potatoes, rice, and eggs; I’ve even caught one of them licking the top of the shaker before. But they aren’t alone, apparently, in their taste for the stuff. According to the CDC, 90 percent of children between ages 6 and 18 consume an unhealthy amount of salt. This is a big reason why 1 in 6 kids over age 8 have too-high blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for stroke and heart disease.

This report was a bit of a wake-up call to me. I’ve always associated sodium concerns with older Americans, and frankly, health experts have been so busy decrying the amount of sugar in our kid’s diets, salt awareness has gotten little play as of late. If anything, salt seems to be experiencing a “moment”; I just spied something called Pink Himalayan Sea Salt among other exotic variations in the spice aisle of my not-fancy supermarket the other day. Upon having babies, neither our pediatrician nor the parenting books I read made much mention of sodium restrictions. I had a vague notion that I shouldn’t salt my baby’s food; until one day, when I told my neighbor down the hall, who was from Spain and also had a baby, that my son was picky about meat and fish. “Are you adding salt to his food?” she asked. When I answered no, she said, “Would you like to eat meat or fish that didn’t have any salt?” This made sense. I started adding a pinch of salt to his food during cooking, and sure enough, he did seem more interested.

But according to the CDC, salt used in home cooking isn’t even the problem when it comes to sodium in our kids’ diets. The perps include the usual suspects in the realm of kids’s junk food: frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, and chips, as well as deli meats and prepared Mexican foods. These processed convenience foods are loaded with salt, among other questionable ingredients. Problematically, to children’s taste buds, they are also like manna from heaven, which is why it’s unrealistic to take things like pizza and nuggets off our kids’s plates entirely. But you can make some healthier swaps, and your children’s hearts may be healthier for it. “Reading labels may take a little extra time, but it’s a must,” says Dana White, R.D., nutrition adviser for HHK and author of the forthcoming book, First Bites: Superfoods for Babies and Toddlers. “There’s an incredible amount of variation across brands, especially for things like snack foods.”

Here’s a cheat sheet for cutting back on salt in your house:

For more tips for reducing sodium in your family’s diet, check out the CDC’s helpful page on the subject, here.

Honey-Lemon Chicken Thighs

September 29, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

Chicken is what’s for dinner in many of our households tonight: It recently surpassed beef as the most common meat purchased in America. And chances are, if you’re eating chicken, it’s all-white-meat breasts. Pan-fried, breaded, or stuffed into casseroles, breasts are America’s favorite cut of chicken. But what’s interesting is that this preference for white meat chicken is decidedly American—most other country’s cuisine favors richer, more savory dark meat, according to an investigation into worldwide poultry consumption on Slate.com.

We might want to follow suit. Dark meat—like on the chicken’s legs—has more nutrients, and only marginally more calories and fat. I was first lured to the dark side after talking to dietitian Colleen Pierre, R.D., for an article I was writing for Fitness magazine about healthy postpartum eating. She called dark meat poultry a new-mom superfood for its high amounts of iron and zinc—two nutrients which aren’t just great for nourishing postpartum bodies, but growing bodies, too. So I started buying boneless, skinless thighs and occasionally drumsticks instead of breasts to eat during pregnancy, and later, to mince into baby food; and lo and behold, along with being more nutritious, they’re more delicious, too.

My sister Julie, a former professional chef, introduced me to lemon-garlic marinated chicken thighs long ago, and it’s amazing how everyone loves the recipe. What’s more amazing is how much kids—some of whom have never enjoyed a piece of chicken that wasn’t smothered in a crunchy coating—enjoy it, too. I add a little honey to the marinade to balance the citrus with a little sweetness. It’s a winner with pasta, rice, roasted carrots, or any other veggie, and then diced into a salad with some green apple slices and goat cheese crumbles for a grown-up lunch the next day.

Two tips: use fresh lemons rather than bottled lemon juice (the zest is key); and marinade the thighs at least a few hours, or even better, overnight, for extra flavor.

Honey-Lemon Chicken Thighs

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: Serves 4-6

Honey-Lemon Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

1 lemon
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup canola or olive oil
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (available in many supermarkets; you can also ask a butcher to remove the bones and skin from the thighs.)

Instructions

Halve lemon and squeeze juice into small bowl. Using a zesting tool or the fine side of a box grater, remove zest from half the lemon, and add to juice. Whisk in honey, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Slowly pour oil in, whisking briskly to emulsify the marinade. Place thighs in dish or in a plastic Ziploc bag, and pour marinade over, distributing evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours, or as long as overnight.
You can grill or sauté the thighs, using medium heat. Cook 4-6 minutes on both sides, until golden brown. Add more salt to taste if desired.

https://www.happyhealthykids.com/honey-lemon-chicken-thighs/

Data source: American Chicken Council, Earth Policy Institute

Make-Your-Own Trail Mix

September 7, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

A lot of us came of age in the carbophile era: Indoctrinated by the idea that fat was the enemy, we stuffed our faces with rice cakes, plain bagels, and low-fat cookies, and sluggishly made our way from the dining hall to class, wondering why we felt so tired and bloated all the time. Snackwells? Perhaps never in human history have we collectively snacked so poorly.

Over the past decade, there’s been mounting research suggesting that fat is, in fact, our friend, and what we really should be avoiding are these so-called “simple carbs”: quickly digested starches and sugars, often found in pasta, rice, potatoes, and processed snacks. These foods can cause our blood sugar to spike and our energy, not long after, to plummet. If you’ve read or seen the news last week, you’ve probably come across the latest study showing that a diet that’s low in simple carbs is better than one that’s low in fat when it comes to weight control, heart function, and other health markers.

Now, this presents a real snacking conundrum. With things like olive oil, lean meats, eggs, and dairy, it’s fairly easy to work some more healthy fats into mealtime. But if you’re like us, your pantry is stuffed with questionable pouches of shelf-stable carbs: pretzels, chips, puffs, graham crackers, fish crackers, bunny crackers, and some round, unidentifiable crackers I’m quite sure no one has touched since I purchased them in July. These white, tan, and orange snacking staples have been in regular rotation since we gleefully presented our first child with finger foods, and it’s hard to break the habit. Kids like salty, filling, quick-to-digest snacks, and to be honest, I do too—they require no preparation, are easily transportable, and placate a growling belly quickly.

So, I’ve been thinking about ways to satisfy that crunchy-snack craving with some more healthy fats and protein, and landed upon one potentially satisfying solution, particularly for high-activity days when their bodies require a little extra energy: trail mix. But I didn’t present it to my kids in those exact terms. For many of us, “trail mix” conjures up visions of the dusty raisins and shriveled almonds wasting away in vending machines and airports. I rounded up and, in some, cases, purchased a variety of fresh nuts I know they liked, as well as dried fruit, semi-sweet chocolate chips, plain popcorn, and low-sugar cereals. In the spirit of the sundae bar, I lined up the ingredients in little bowls on the kitchen table, handed them some Ziploc bags, and let them go to town. I even sprung for a few airtight acrylic canisters and wrote my kids’ respective initials on my fave chalkboard labels so each child had their own special mix to draw from at snack time.

The possible combos are almost endless. A trip to Whole Foods or Trader Joes will give you a dozen ideas, many nut-free, as may be required in your family. Here are some potentially kid-friendly inclusions:

Nuts (peanuts, macadamia nuts and Marcona almonds tend to go over big in our house)

Seeds (sesame, pumpkin)

Dried fruit (golden raisins, dried cherries, dried cranberries, dried apricots)

Coconut chips (we like the Dang brand; and dang, they are addictive)

Sweet chips (to sprinkle in judiciously: semi-sweet chocolate chips, yogurt chips, peanut butter chips, M&Ms)

Low-sugar cereal (Cheerios, Kashi Go Lean crunch)

Plain popcorn (it’s a whole grain, you know)

Bringing your child to the store to help you pick out ingredients can be part of the fun. My sister recently took her daughter shopping for trail mix ingredients in anticipation of a weekend soccer tournament. They came up with the sweet-and-salty combo below, and made individual bags for all of my niece’s teammates. Now, for a rainy Sunday on the couch, a calorie-dense mix like this might not be the best choice. But for a busy day of sports and other activities, it’s hard to beat.

Sophie's Soccer Mix

Ingredients

1 cup peanuts
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup low-sugar granola clusters
1/2 cup M&Ms

Instructions

Mix ingredients in a large bowl to help distribute salt from peanuts. Makes about six servings.

https://www.happyhealthykids.com/trail-mix-kids/

It Ain’t Easy Eating Green

August 17, 2014 by Kelley 1 Comment

Photo by Garen Meguerian via Flickr

The good—dare I say, great—news: More than 9 in 10 kids eat vegetables on any given day, according the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) in a new report. The not-quite-as-fabulous news: Only 12 percent are consuming green veggies. While three-quarters of kids eat red or orange veggies like carrots and more than half consume starchy picks like potatoes (read: french fries), green picks—spinach, broccoli, and the like—remain tough for kids to swallow.

Still, it’s worth it to keep adding greens to their plates, as they are the most nutrient-packed natural foods we can buy (or better, grow). “Green vegetables offer a high dose of fiber, vitamins A and C, plus vitamin K for healthy blood and bones,” says HHK advisory board member and nutritionist Dana White, R.D. She lauds broccoli, kale and spinach as being the superstars of these superhero veggies.

Instead of forcing greens on kids, White suggests that we simply resolve to stick with it by continually introducing our little ones to new and exciting ways to eat them. “Just like adults, they get bored with steamed spinach night after night,” she says.

My kids’ favorite way to eat green lately is in a smoothie. My sister-in-law Hwashing was the first one to give me the idea that even a healthy handful of tender baby spinach in a fruity smoothie goes largely unnoticed. While I’m not always a fan of sneaky nutrition, this easy application of what I consider to be a pretty grown-up veggie is irresistible. I call it a Popeye Smoothie, and while my children are clueless about the cartoon that inspired it, the Creamsicle color and promise of big muscles seem to be enticement enough.

I’d love to hear readers’ ideas for helping their kids eat—and enjoy—their greens. A secret recipe? Zippy dressing? Comment below.

Popeye Smoothie

Ingredients

One cup plain or vanilla yogurt
One cup frozen mango (Trader Joes' sells big bags at a good price)
1/2 cup frozen banana chunks
One tablespoon honey
Two cups OJ or milk

Instructions

Put frozen fruit and spinach into bottom of blender, than yogurt, honey, and finally the liquid. Add more liquid to desired consistency. Blend until smooth.

https://www.happyhealthykids.com/green-vegetables-kids/

How Siblings Influence Kids’ Weight

August 15, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

Lending new meaning to the term “big brother”: A recent study of more than 10,000 families finds that siblings are even more powerful than parents when it comes to predicting kids’ weight. Having an obese brother or sister makes a child about five times more likely to be very heavy too, say the study’s researchers, from Massachusetts General Hopsital, Cornell, and Duke University.

Photo by: Johan Sunin via Flickr

There are some obvious potential explanations: Siblings grab snacks out of the same pantry, and usually sit down to the same meals. They often play together, in either sporty or sedentary ways. But the data suggests that some psychological factors may also play a role. Younger siblings are most influenced by an older sibling’s weight if that big brother or sister is the same sex. Kids really do model themselves after the elders closest to them, in so many ways.

So if one child is gaining more weight than is healthy, what can you do to help him—and in turn, his impressionable brothers and sisters? Rather overhauling the heavier child’s diet, take a close look at what you’re feeding the whole family, says Suzanne Rostler, R.D., a nutrition specialist in the Optimal Weight For Life (OWL) clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital, and co-author of Ending the Food Fight. “All family members should be eating in a healthy way, regardless of where they fall on the weight scale,” she says. While sibs may be the focus in this study, she adds, the onus is really on parents, not children, to set family food trends, such as eating mostly fresh, whole foods and limiting highly processed snack foods. (A good rule of thumb: If a snack food has the shelf life of years, it probably isn’t good for your body, regardless of fat and calorie content, Rostler says.) “These habits will trickle down to the oldest child, which will trickle down to younger children,” says Rostler. “And the more you can model good habits, rather than talk about them, the better. A lot of kids we see feel ‘the more you tell me to do this, the less I want to do it.'”

And what if one child has developed a newfound interest in a healthy habit, like eating fruit salads or riding bikes? Excellent: Encourage her to let her sib join in. “Just make sure you don’t frame it as, you (or your sister or brother) need to do this to lose weight,” says Rostler. “Food is emotional, and a comfort for many kids and adults too. If a child is feeling bad because of weight, you risk making them turn to food to feel better, and the cycle continues.”