Healthy Snacking for Kids
Today I was researching childhood obesity because I am interested in why it is increasing so rapidly. I think it has been on my mind lately because out of the 10 children under the age of 14 on my street, 3 are overweight. Out of the age 14 and over population (including adults), of which there are 30, 10 are significantly overweight/obese. When you see it around you I guess you start to wonder, what gives?!
So I randomly came across a YouTube video of a presentation called Current Issues in Pediatric Obesity Part 1 - which was absolutely fascinating and I am telling you is worth watching every minute of the hour-long video. It isn’t just about childhood obesity because, as the presenter states, the reasons for obesity are the same in both adults and children. In it you’ll learn that:
- Soda needs to be limited to one drink per week
- Fast food needs to be limited to 1 or fewer meals per week
- Exercise is the absolute best way to decrease insulin resistance
- Exercise only helps the insulin issue for 24 hours so you have to do it daily
When I watched it I couldn’t help but thinking about how our local elementary school and my child’s daycare have both, in the past year, held fundraisers for the schools at McDonald’s! I was appalled at this from the first but I found out that not many other parents were at all phased.
(I am getting to a point here…) So then I watched the second presentation - Current Issues In Childhood Obesity Part 2 - and thought I’d share the nutritionist’s snack advice for kids as we could all use some new ideas for kids snacks, right? She also has a lot of other practical diet guidelines on there as well if you are looking for more detail.
Healthy Kid’s Snacks
- Carrots and hummus
- Celery and peanut butter
- Apple slices and cheese slices
- Trail mix (nuts and fruit only)
The last take-home message I got from the two videos is that if you or your child wants to lose weight it is very beneficial to do it with a doctor’s counsel as opposed to trying to do it on your own.
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