With three children at home and a solo medical practice, I know firsthand how hard it can be to make good food choices for yourself and for your family. Who hasn’t faced the clock at 7 p.m. with no dinner plans, an empty fridge and a grumbling stomach? When we’re hungry and tired, it’s easy to turn to the simplest, quickest options: fast food, frozen pizza or even a doughnut. With obesity rates rising alarmingly for both children and adults (and Type 2 diabetes now being seen in children), eating right is an important part of your family’s health. Unfortunately, we often just don’t have enough time and energy to focus carefully on it. The National Cancer Institute says that only one in five children
eats enough fruits or vegetables to satisfy the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which recommends five or more servings per day. And nearly one-fourth of the vegetables eaten by children are french fries. Poor eating habits sap your energy and can even affect your immune system. One medical study done by the Journal of Obesity Related Disorders shows that being overweight impairs the functioning of lymphocytes, a vital part of the human immunological system. When the weight comes off, according to this study, lymphocytes return to normal function. While it’s not well understood, there is evidence that being overweight and not eating right leads to more infections and to some types of cancer, like breast and colon.
One of my best suggestions to help families make positive food changes is simple yet effective: plan your meals each week. When you go to the grocery store, shop for each meal in mind, and be sure to include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. When the zucchini and carrots are there anyway, they’ll make it to your table. To handle really busy nights (and avoid expensive or unhealthy take-out food) check out the local meal-preparation services now available. You can go assemble multiple nutritious and lowfat dinners for your family and freeze them at home. Some of these companies will permit you to bring your older children to help with the meal assembly.
Planned meals are good for the family on multiple levels, but it truly leads to better eating than the grab-what-you-can food when you are exhausted and collapse on the couch to munch and watch TV. You’ll eat less and better, while enjoying each other’s company. Harvard Medical School says that children who join family dinners eat more fruit, vegetables, minerals and vitamins. They also eat fewer saturated fats and snacks, and drink less soda. Offer a variety of raw or still-crunchy cooked vegetables and let your kids choose what they want. If your children at least eat fruit, keep the fruits coming, while encouraging them to eat vegetables. Good fruit choices include those high in vitamin A, like cantaloupe, apricots and peaches.
The majority of your food choices should consist of fresh vegetables and fruit accompanied by reasonable portions of quality organic protein sources. Nuts and seeds are fantastic snacks and should not be shied away from because of their fat content. Wholesome grain choices include brown rice, soaked oats, and whole-grain products with as little additives and preservatives as possible. Refined carbohydrate consumption should be kept to a minimum, and hydrogenated fats should be avoided at all costs. Be sure you set a good example around your children, no matter how
old they are. If they see you enjoying your fruits and vegetables, it will make an impression. Offer vegetables routinely as snacks and in lunch boxes, and cut them into shapes your child prefers. Provide lowfat sauces for dipping. Lowfat salad dressings—even ketchup—make vegetables more palatable to children. To really simplify and improve your mealtimes—and teach valuable life skills in self-sufficiency and serving others—involve children in meal planning and preparation. A young child can prepare a salad from pre-washed lettuce and feel quite accomplished about it. Let your older kids shop with you and help in meal planning and preparation. You can teach the food groups, the value of planning, and install a great sense of accomplishment as your budding chefs begin to join in the meal process. Bon appétit!
