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HEALTHY KIDS (FROM AIR 1 RADIO SEGMENT)

Everyone knows lots of American kids are not as healthy as this little girl about to enjoy a delicious orange. Much to our collective shame, there are a lot of kids in America today that are overweight.

In the 1960s, 1 in 25 kids was overweight.  Now, it’s 1 in 5 according to the U.S. CDC National Center for Health Statistics. 

What are they eating? A recent survey on school lunches reveals that the cafeteria is a little on the fattening side but not too much.  So what is the real culprit?

In my opinion it is - quite simply - too much fast food and not enough home cooking.  Those little fast food meals hide incredible – unbelievable -  amounts of calories and fats.   Poke around my Fast Food Guide and you can really see just how bad a little restaurant burger, fries and Coke can be.

If you eat one full fast food meal 4 or 5 nights a week, you will gain significant weight no matter what else you do.

So what can we feed our kids?  One thing is to go back to brown bag lunches.  Give kids not only a lunch but healthy snacks as well to keep them away from the vending machines. 

Here are a few suggestions for brown bag lunches and snacks:

1.  Turkey sandwich on whole wheat loaded with your favorite veggies served with fresh fruit (like a baggie of blueberries and blackberries) and a dill pickle spear. Maybe throw in a small baggie of baked chips.
2.  Peanut butter (natural peanut butter) and jelly sandwich with a low fat string cheese stick to add a little more protein (this helps to stabilize blood sugar - the key to steady energy and metabolism). Include a baggie of grapes.
3.  (at home) Whole wheat bagel spread with your favorite pasta sauce topped with fat free mozzarella cheese and low fat turkey pepperoni. Serve with orange wedges.
4.  Egg white salad and whole wheat crackers.
5.  Turkey jerky and dried fruit such as apricots or apples.
6.  Greek low fat plain flavored yogurt combined with fresh berries and a little honey. This simple parfait is creamy, delicious, high in protein and low in fat. Great for adults as well.

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THE GREAT FALL TRADITION

One of our great Fall traditions is to send our kids to school where they catch the sniffles, colds and flus. Then they bring them home and share them with all of us. Believe it or not, there are two weapons for battling back against the bugs right in your kitchen. One is the refrigerator and the other is the vitamin cabinet.

From the fridge, you should eat lots of superfoods that are loaded with antioxidants and vitamins.  Blueberries and blackberries like I mentioned are some of the best but also apricots, plums, apples and tomatoes.  Basically all your fruits.  And don’t forget oranges for the vitamin C.

From the vitamin drawer, I highly recommend you try a probiotic.  Good bacteria in a probiotic basically helps your body fight off bad bacteria.  Not only that but it improves digestion and helps upset stomach pains.  A great probiotic supplement can really optimize your health and the health of your kids. My recommendation is BioGaia. BioGaia is a medical-grade probiotic that has worked wonders for me. Click here to learn more.

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IF YOU HAVE OVERWEIGHT KIDS

If your kids are overweight, it is a very helpless feeling. By trying to withhold food, it makes them upset and seems to make them want food even more. By talking about it, you are just rubbing salt in a wound. So what do you do? One of the best books I have found is by Dr. David Ludwig. Dr. Ludwig is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and one of the world's leading voices in obesity research. Dr. Ludwig's research is the basis of the bulk of my nutrition advice. For parents who are grappling with overweight kids I highly recommend his inspiring and compassionate book Ending The Food Fight. Click on the book to see more information.

 

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