vitamins Archives - Happy Healthy Kids

Healthy Summer Thirst Quenchers

June 29, 2016 by Kelley Leave a Comment

When most of us were kids, Coke was as common in the ‘fridge as milk, and thirsty Little Leaguers were as likely to be given Hi-C as water. But times have changed, and so has awareness when it comes to what our kids drink. Even wholesome-sounding juice has gotten a bad rap, and for good reason; a 16-ounce Ocean Spray Cran-Apple drink has 320 calories and 62 grams of sugar—more than three Twinkies.

“Think of juice like sugar water,” my friend, an obesity researcher at Harvard, recently told me while we watched second-grade soccer players suck down OJ and Munchkins after a recent game. Like the American Academy of Pediatrics, he advised that we should be offering children two beverages: milk and water.

Sound advice; but not much fun. Especially on a hot summer afternoon or evening.

I’m not ready to deprive my kids of soda and juice completely. Some of my warmest childhood memories involve Shirley Temples. I think lemonade is a rite—and right—of summer. But for those hot, not-so-special occasions, I wanted some refreshing options that don’t involve a snack-cake’s worth of sugar. So I fooled around with the blender and talked to my nutritionist and foodie friends. Then, I asked the kids to belly up to the kitchen island for some taste testing. Here’s what they say are worthy of second rounds.

Watermelon Slushie

This is a great way to use up the watermelon in your ‘fridge that’s become a little mushier than ideal. If grown-ups are involved, add a vodka or gin to the adults’ pitcher. Delicious.

3 cups watermelon chunks
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup cubed or crushed ice
1/2 cup water

If ice is in big chunks, add that to blender first to chop it up a bit. Then add other ingredients and blend until smooth but not too frothy. Serve immediately; give a quick stir if watermelon pulp floats to top.

Makes 4 cups

Lighter Lemonade

I have yet to meet a kid who doesn’t love lemonade, and to deny children this summer staple seems cruel and unusual. But to counteract the sour base fruit, lemonade typically includes loads of sugar—27 grams, or 2.25 tablespoons, per cup. Thankfully, the kitchen scientists at Cook’s Illustrated have come up with a simple trick to cut half the sugar out of lemonade without losing sweetness: adding the zest to the lemonade while making it (and straining before serving). It works!

5 lemons
4 tablespoons sugar
2.5 cups room temperature or warm water
a pinch of salt

Put the juice of five lemons and most of the zest from all of them into a pitcher. (If you don’t already have them, a Microplane zester and an enameled citrus press make these jobs easy, and will serve heroically in countless other recipes.) Let the zest and juice sit for five minutes. In the meantime, mix water, sugar, and pinch of salt in a pitcher. Then, strain the lemon juice into the sugar water so the zest is removed. Chill in fridge for at least a half-hour and serve cold or over ice.

Makes 4 cups

Ginger Iced Tea

While kids aren’t commonly fans of hot tea, many like cold tea, and it can be a real treat for a summer dinner, luncheon or picnic. I love this flavorful homemade version, adapted from healthy chef Ellie Krieger. The ginger doesn’t overwhelm, just adds a nice zip (and some stomach-soothing benefits).

1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup roughly chopped ginger
2 cups water (plus 6 cups later)
5 black tea bags (I use decaffeinated Lipton, but choose your favorite—Raspberry or Orange flavored black would be good)
Juice from half a lemon

Bring 2 cups water, honey, and ginger chunks in saucepan over stove. Once it starts to boil, lower heat and simmer for five minutes. Turn off heat and add tea bags, letting steep for a half-hour. Meanwhile, fill pitcher with 6 cups cold water and juice from half of a lemon. After tea has steeped, strain out solids and add warm tea into cold water and lemon juice mixture. Chill for at least half-hour in fridge and serve cold or over ice.

Makes 8 cups (a large pitcher’s worth)

Berry Bubbler

This is a simple idea that elevates plain old seltzer into something a little more special. While I’ve posted about making homemade fruity ice cubes before, you can also skip the dicing and the trays and just freeze whole, small, firm fruit, like berries or grapes, to create instant, easy ice cubes that are really fun to eat at the end of your drink. Challenge the soda-lovers in your family to replace diet or flavored soda with seltzer or plain club soda for a week. We find that once you wean off of it, regular soda tastes cloyingly sweet.

1 liter favorite flavored seltzer (we like raspberry-lime, cranberry-lime, or Polar seltzer’s new Watermelon Margarita flavor)
1 cup raspberries (or blueberries or blackberries)

Spread a cup of berries on a small tray, plate, or piece of waxed paper in the freezer for at least an hour. Pour seltzer into a pretty pitcher and float a few frozen berries on top. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 cups

Green Monster Water

HHK’s resident nutrition advisor, the fabulous dietitian and cookbook author Dana White, loves serving fruit-infused waters to her kids in the summertime. “My girls like experimenting with different colors and flavors so we make a bit of a game out of it— making small batches to see what we like best,” she says. Because we are Red Sox fans around here, and it just so happens that a handful of Fenway-hued fruits and veggies—green apples, cucumbers, and green grapes—happen to hold up extra-nicely in a pitcher of water over time, we’ve landed upon this as our favorite flavor combo this year.

1/2 cup while green grapes (frozen in freezer for an hour beforehand makes them extra cold and crunchy)
1/2 cup cucumber slices (about 1/4 inch thickness)
1/2 cup green apple slices (about 1/4 inch thickness)
8 cups water

Combine cold or frozen fruit and water in pitcher, and chill in fridge for at least one hour. Serve infused water alone or with a couple of the fruits and veggies floating on top.

Makes about 8 cups (a large pitcher’s worth)

The One Vitamin Worth Taking

May 5, 2016 by Kelley 1 Comment

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I’m skeptical of supplements. I echo the advice that most medical experts have given me time and again in my years of health reporting: The absolute best way for kids—and grown-ups—to get their vitamins is by eating a colorful variety of vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, low-mercury fish, and whole grains.

Except, it seems, when it comes to Vitamin D.

At my pediatrician’s office for my youngest son’s 4th year well visit in early January, I confidently checked off every box she presented to me in terms of monitoring his health. I was presenting him with (mostly) healthy foods, putting him to bed early(ish), etcetera. (The thumb sucking conversation was a can I kicked down the road). But then Dr. Gara asked if I was giving him Vitamin D each day. Yes, I told her; he drinks a lot of milk. No dice, she said. He—and his brothers—should still be taking a 400 IU supplement of Vitamin D each day, she told me.

Funny, I thought that Vitamin D were mainly for breastfed babies, and that once kids started drinking fortified milk, they got what they needed. So I double checked with my trusty pediatrician advisers at Two Peds in a Pod, and they confirmed what Dr. Gara said. In 2009, the AAP upped all kids’ daily requirements of Vitamin D to 400 IUs. But what about kids—like mine—who put away enough milk in a year to nourish a small city? “(400 IUs) is equivalent to 32 ounces of milk per day. This is TOO MUCH milk for anyone other than an older formula-fed baby who has not yet started solids foods,” the pediatrician bloggers wrote in a post on the subject.

And what about Vitamin-D-rich sun exposure? In the summer months, kids should be wearing sunscreen to protect against skin cancer, which blocks much of the penetration of the vitamin; in the winter months, most children don’t spend enough time outside in sunny climates to get enough of a benefit.

The reason this all matters is that sufficient Vitamin D is essential for healthy bone growth, and also seems to help protect kids against certain illnesses, asthma, and allergies. Add to that a new study showing that toddlers who took extra Vitamin D were leaner and had greater muscle mass, and supplements are—I totally concede, now—a no-brainer.

For the past four and a half months, I’ve given my kids a Vitamin D supplement every morning (along with a Culturelle probiotic, but that’s a post for another day). None of them has had more than a mild cold all winter, a fact I realize provides absolutely zero evidence beyond the anecdotal but, given our family history of pukey and flu-y winters, I’m mentioning just for kicks.

There are a ton of fine-tasting, kid-friendly supplements of Vitamin D3 (the kind best absorbed by the body). Some are folded into a “complete” multi-vitamin, but as long as your child has a reasonably healthy diet, there’s no need to pay extra for that if you don’t have to. In 2013, Consumer Reports rated options for both adults and kids, here. Their top recommendations for kids are:

Carlson Laboratory for Kids 400 IU drops

Nature Made Kids Chewable D3 400 IU

Nature Factors Vitamin D3 for Kids

CVS Children’s Chewable Vitamin D 400 IU (This product doesn’t seem widely available anymore; my kids take the CVS brand gummies, here.)

Bottom line: We should keep serving kids milk and making sure they have lots of time outdoors, in the sunshine. But when it comes to Vitamin D, a supplement is best.

Photo Credit: Mark’s vitamin via Photo Pin, cc

25 Superfoods For Kids

January 22, 2015 by Kelley 1 Comment

I love the idea of superfoods—produce and proteins that naturally pack a nutritional wallop in each bite. However, the typical superfood lists found in magazines and health websites aren’t exactly workable for my family of three boys. If I have trouble finding, much less enjoying, goji berries and kombucha, how am I going to get my six-year-old on board?

Thankfully, Dana White, R.D. who is on our advisory board, has compiled a go-to list of kid-friendly superfoods in her fantastic new book, First Bites: Superfoods for Babies and Toddlers, which includes tips and easy recipes for feeding children of all ages. Whereas many healthy food lists are compiled by sources whose expertise lies, er, elsewhere (i.e., bodybuilders and massage therapists), Dana is a certified dietitian and mom who knows her stuff and provides stats and delicious recipes to back it up. Click here or on the image link in our “Great Reads” column on the right to pre-order the book or its Kindle edition (it’s available Feb. 3), and check out 25 of her 50 favorite superfoods for kids, below. One of my New Year’s resolutions: adding one new food from this list to my shopping cart each week, and trying it out with my kids. (Next up: coconut milk smoothies.)

And here’s a hint: Go ahead and tell your kids that you are serving them a “superfood,” and explain to them how it benefits their bodies (“carrots can help your eyes have super vision”; “salmon is good for your brain and can help you learn,” etc.) They may be just a little more motivated to try it.

Apples

Full of fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants, this is a naturally sweet treat that’s great to always have on hand.

HHK recipe: Best Easy Applesauce, Six Ways

Avocados

A great first food, this creamy green fruit has heart-healthy monounsaturated fats as well as vitamin C, vitamin K, folate and potassium.

Beans

Black or kidney beans can pump up the protein and fiber in kids’ diets, and are soft and easy to eat.

Bell Peppers

There’s more vitamin C in a bell pepper than an orange, and kids who are opposed to cooked veggies often love to snack on raw red pepper strips.

Berries

Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and cranberries are all filled with antioxidants called anthocyanins, which protect blood vessels and the nervous system and improve eyesight.

HHK recipe: Summer Berry Corn Muffins

Broccoli

Served raw, steamed or oven-blasted with a bit of butter, these “little trees” contain cell-protecting antioxidants as well as fiber and other vitamins.

Brown Rice

Brown rice has 10 times more energy producing B-vitamins than the white kind. Get kids started on it early, and try brown rice crackers, breads, and pasta, too.

Carrots

These bright-colored veggies, served raw or cooked to bring out their natural sweetness, provide all kinds of nutrients important for growth, development, immunity and vision.

HHK recipe: Carrot-Apple Muffins

Cheese

Cheese packs protein plus bone-building calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus—try mild versions like Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or American at first.

Chicken

The flavorful dark meat contains healthy, polyunsaturated fat, and the mild flavor and tender texture makes it a great first protein for babies.

HHK recipe: Honey-Lemon Chicken Thighs

Coconut

Swap water for coconut milk as a cooking liquid for rice or noodles or add it to smoothies—it’s a natural source of electrolytes (sodium and potassium), and most boxed versions are fortified with calcium and vitamin D.

HHK recipe: Hummingbird Bread

Corn

Do you know corn is actually a whole grain? It’s full of the antioxidant zeaxanthin, which benefits vision, and also contains some fiber and protein. Opt for unprocessed versions—in popcorn or corn on the cob.

Cucumber

Low in calories, high in water content, and pleasingly crunchy and mild, this is a great choice for kids who turn their nose up at other green veggies.

Eggs

Hard-boiled, scrambled, or mixed into baked goods, eggs contain just about everything that’s good for growing bodies: protein, healthy Omega-3 fats, and vitamins A and D.

Honey

Suitable for kids over age 1, honey is a natural sweetener for oatmeal, cereal, and baked goods; a teaspoon or two can also help soothe coughs.

Kale

Surprisingly kid friendly when used as a crunchy salad ingredient or baked into chips, this leafy green vegetable contains oodles or vitamin K plus iron, potassium, calcium, and folate.

Kale Chips

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 6 to 8 cups

You can find these packaged in the chip section of many supermarkets, but making your own is quick, easy, and cost-effective. Excerpted from First Bites: Superfoods for Babies and Toddlers by Dana Angelo White. © 2015 by Dana Angelo White. A Perigee Book, Penguin Group USA, A Penguin Random House Company.

Ingredients

1 large bunch kale, stems removed and roughly chopped (about 6 to 8 cups)
1-2 Tablespoons of oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
A pinch of paprika, cumin or mild curry powder (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400. Place kale on baking sheets. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and toss well. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes, turning once or until leaves just become crispy.

https://www.happyhealthykids.com/superfoods-for-kids/

Milk

One cup provides about a quarter of the daily recommended amount of bone-building vitamin D, and is also a great source of vitamin B12 for DNA formation and energy metabolism.

Oats

Use it in granola, cookies, or muffins—it’s full of heart-healthy soluble fiber.

Oranges (and other citrus)

Oranges and clementines are sweet, simple treats most kids love; try dipping segments in dark chocolate for a special treat.

HHK recipe: Orange Juice Sherbet

Pasta

A classic kid-favorite food, pasta is enriched with vitamin B and iron, and is excellent fuel for active little ones. Start with easy-to-digest white versions, but introduce whole grains early so kids can acquire a taste for them.

Pears

A truly under appreciated fruit, pears are a serious source of fiber and vitamin K. Pearsauce is a great alternative to applesauce.

Pork

Chops and tenderloin are low in fat, and have more B vitamins than most other meats. Slow cook to make tender for tots—they’ll love the mild flavor.

Pumpkin

High in vitamin A and antioxidants like beta carotene, it can be pureed and served plain for babies or added to muffins and quick breads for the whole family. Don’t forget the seeds—a tasty source of iron.

Seafood

In June, the FDA increased their recommended amount of fish that children should be eating. Low-mercury choices like cod, salmon and shrimp are high in protein and a good source of Omega-3 fats that are vital for brain development.

HHK recipe: Kid-Friendly Fish Recipes

Yogurt

Each cup contains a hefty dose of protein, calcium, and gut-friendly probiotics, and many brands are fortified with Vitamin D.

HHK recipe: Popeye Smoothie

Be Wary of Supplements for Kids

December 16, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

Immune boosting. Brain healthy. Tummy soothing. Whole aisles in Whole Foods and other stores are filled with rainbow-colored bottles bearing these promises and others, and they are marketed to parents like you and me, who want nothing more than to have healthy, bright, gastrointestinally secure children—particularly this time of year, when bugs, moods, and too-rich foods can run roughshod over our carefully laid holiday plans.

Many parents “swear by” some sort of vitamin, mineral, or herbal blend, which is why 1 in 9 kids take some sort of supplement. But real research about the benefits—and more important, safety—of kid-targeted supplements just isn’t there. Dietary supplements aren’t tightly regulated by the FDA the way medications are, which means that companies aren’t required to meet a strict criteria of certain safety standards or prove certain health claims before their products land on a shelf near you. This truth was magnified recently, when a premature baby in Connecticut died after being given a probiotic powder that was contaminated with a fungus. Manufactured by the popular supplement brand Solgar, ABC Dophilus powder was marketed as a supplement for babies and children specifically before the contamination was discovered and it was pulled from the shelves.

This news shouldn’t incriminate probiotics on the whole: They are prescribed by many doctors to help replace the good bacteria in kids’ guts when they are taking antibiotics, and research has supported their use in premature babies with certain conditions. But it is a reminder that supplements are not without risk; and because regulation is so weak, it’s often unclear what those risks actually are in the first place. It reminds me of something a dietary researcher told me when I was editing a story about supplements for children as an editor at Child magazine: “Natural doesn’t mean neutral.” Many supplements sell themselves on being derived from nature or eschewing chemicals, but that shouldn’t lead us to believe they are necessarily harmless as a result. Moreover, while supplements suffer from a lack of testing in people generally, research on their effects in children is especially scant.

Cases like the one in Connecticut and many others will hopefully serve as a wakeup call that the government needs to rethink its position on supplement regulation in the U.S. In the meantime, it’s essential that when we choose over-the-counter supplements for our families, we do so caution and in close concert with a physician who knows your child’s medical history well. Some supplements may interfere with medications your child is taking—for instance, vitamin C interferes with the absorption of acetaminophen (Tylenol). Meanwhile, according to a 2012 report, children who take multivitamins are at greater risk than those who don’t of getting too much iron, zinc, copper, selenium, folic acid, and vitamins A and C, which is why the AAP does not recommend the use of multivitamins in kids with a reasonably varied diet. From time to time, a reputable, well-tested supplement may be just thing to help a child thrive. But in most cases, your pediatrician will probably tell you that supplement is unnecessary, in which case you’ll cut back on your grocery bill as well as unclear potential risks to your kids’ health.

photo credit: KitAy via Photo Pin, cc

Kids’ Nutrition Buzzwords—Decoded!

October 29, 2014 by Kelley Leave a Comment

Feel like you’re spending a lot of time reading in the supermarket lately?

And I’m not talking about the magazines in the checkout line. I mean the food: Beyond the produce aisle, it seems that almost every package is festooned with a health claim—or in the case of certain kids-oriented products, perhaps six or seven of them. Who knew a bunny-shaped cracker could be so complex?

I’m not imagining things: A 2010 study led by the USDA found that 71 percent of products marketed to children had nutrition-specific marketing—and yet, of those, more than half (59%) were high in saturated fat, sodium, and/or sugar content. Even more recent research, out of the University of Houston, showed that people assume foods with health-centric marketing buzzwords on their packaging (like cherry-flavored soda “with antioxidants”) are good for you, regardless of their actual nutritional value. Clearly, there’s a disconnect between what’s being sold to parents and what we think we’re buying.

As I’ve said before, I’m not “above” many foods; my personal philosophy (developed from years of health reporting and a perpetual quest for balance in parenting) is that the processed, sweet, and salty foods that dominate the middle aisles need not be eliminated from the table completely, but allowed in moderation. I do think it’s important to always understand what we’re buying into, however. Unfortunately, given the food industry’s increasing penchant for smoke-and-mirrors health marketing, that takes some detective work. Hence, more time squinting at boxes in the grocery store than you’d probably like (particularly if you have a small, impatient, and hungry child seated in your shopping cart).

I recently took a spin around our local supermarket to get a sense of what health claims tend to dominate the kids’ food aisles in particular. I snapped some photos of labels that came up again and again, and made a chart that breaks down the meaning and value of some of the most common nutritional buzzwords. Arm yourself with this buzzword decoder next grocery-shopping day—you just might find yourself shopping more healthfully, and spending less money, as a result.

How Important is Cow’s Milk for Kids?

October 21, 2014 by Kelley 2 Comments

Got milk? Maybe not, if you’re on trend with the latest federal data. What used to be an automatic addition to families’ weekly shopping list is being replaced by a widening array of dairy alternatives, such as soy, almond, rice, and hemp milks. Other parents are ditching the idea of milk altogether and just sticking to water, juices and other drinks. Since 1975, cow’s milk consumption has dropped 25 percent.

The problem: Kids who don’t drink cow’s milk often lose out on certain key nutrients, particularly vitamin D. Canadian researchers report that children who drink milk alternatives are twice as likely to have low levels of the vitamin, which is crucial for healthy bone development. (When vitamin D levels are low in our bodies, we’re unable to absorb bone-building calcium.) Five years ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics doubled its recommended daily intake of vitamin D for children from 200 IUs to 400 IUs. Virtually all cow’s milk sold in the U.S. contains D3, an animal-derived form of the vitamin that the body seems to absorb particularly well, and 3-4 cups will supply a child with his recommended 4oo IUs for the day. Many, but not all, alternative milks are fortified, and when they are, it’s usually with plant-dervied D2, which most experts believe to be a less potent source of the vitamin.

Most kids get a healthy dose of vitamin D during the spring and summer if their arms and legs are regularly exposed to the sun. But from now through March, sun-dervied D is in short supply in much of the U.S., meaning children in the northern half of the country must get their daily D through their diets. Kids can get some of the vitamin through fortified orange juices, cereals, yogurt, cheese and eggs, though those food sources rarely measure up to cow’s milk when it comes to the amount of D per serving. What does: fatty fish. Salmon, tuna, and mackerel contain as much or more vitamin D—the potent D3 kind, no less—per serving than milk. But these fish aren’t on kids’ menus for a reason. Milk is considered to be the “best” form of vitamin D mainly because most kids are happy to consume it; if they don’t or can’t, it’s tough to find an alternative children will get enough of.

If your child doesn’t drink a few glasses of D-fortified milk everyday and isn’t able to get enough vitamin D through the foods above, there is a solution: supplements. Yes, they are an added cost, and hard to remember to dispense in the chaos of a morning, but they can be an important investment, particularly now, when the leaves are starting to turn and the sun goes into hiding for several months. The supplement-review company Consumer Lab has rated Carlson Super Daily D3 400 IU for Kids highly. They are liquid, tasteless drops, so they should go down easy (or easily snuck into food or a drink). It’s $13 for 10 ml, and since only a drop or two is a daily dose for a child, the bottle will last awhile. (If your child already drinks fortified milk, be sure to consult your doctor before using a supplement, since there is a thing as too much vitamin D, points out HHK adviser Dana White, R.D. A blood test can confirm whether your child is getting adequate amounts.)

Also, if you have any recipes that have turned your kids into salmon or tuna lovers, please share below or here. I’m working on a post about helping kids like fish—many parents’ nutritional white whale—so your recipe could make it into an upcoming piece on the site.

photo credit: Hades2K via Photopin, cc license