WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: School Lunch Tips for Parents

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS:  School Lunch Tips for Parents

"Higher sugar, fat, and salt make you want to eat more," a high-level food industry executive told me.  I had already read this in the scientific literature and heard it in conversations with neuroscientists and psychologists.  Now an insider was saying the same thing.  My source was a leading food consultant, a Henry Ford of mass-produced food who had agreed to part the curtain for me, at least a bit, to reveal how his industry operates.  To protect his business, he did not want to be identified."

-- David A. Kessler, M.D., The End of Overeating (Dr. Kessler served as commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration under presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton and is a pediatrician.)

It�s August and the kids are heading back to school.  During my talks in the southeast U.S. on how to prevent and reduce childhood obesity, I speak with lots of parents concerned about the quality of what their kids are (or are not) eating at school.  One suggestion I give parents of elementary age kids is to eat lunch with your kids (or breakfast if they eat it at school).  With all the changes in the school lunch program, a lot of schools have not figured out that kids don�t like changes and if you change something you better let the kids test it first or the food all goes into the garbage can next to the cafeteria door.  I liken it to �The Rule of Law� that says government needs to tell you well in advance of a change and not just spring it on you. 

Here are four back-to-school lunch tips for parents:

1.  If your child buys lunch at school or is on the free and reduced meal program, then schedule to eat lunch at least once a month (and at least twice a month during the first month that school is in session) with your child, selecting your lunch from the same choices your child has in the school cafeteria.

2.   Let your child pick out a new lunchbox that uses minicontainers.  These are great for including small portions of several healthy veggies, fruits, and proteins so that the foods don�t touch each other (kid rule number 1).  I was in Target last weekend and saw a cool Rubbermaid product for under $10 that included an icepack.  Pack a bottle of water instead of a drink with added sugar. 

3.  Create your own family test kitchen where your child can design his or her own lunchable staple such as a whole grain roll-up sandwich or a whole grain pasta salad.  Both can be made and packed the night before for an out-the-door-in-a-hurry school lunch. 

4.  Check the sugar content on the milk sold at your school�s cafeteria and steer your kids to lower sugar products.  In the school district where I live, most of the kids choose the chocolate and strawberry milks which have a whooping 7 teaspoons of added sugar (28 grams) per serving!  This is more sugar than kids under the age of 9 should have in an entire day!  Low fat white milk is a much smarter choice than the sugar-filled strawberry or chocolate milk served in schools.

I would love to hear from you about what works for getting your kids to eat more whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruits for lunch.  Send me an email at growinghealthykidsnow@gmail.com! 

Remember to keep a big bowl of fresh fruit and veggies on the table so the kids can grab a healthy snack on their way into the house after school!    

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.

PS - Moms and Dads, check out this site I found in last week's Relish magazine about a dad who prepares easy-to-make, everyday food for his wife and three sons.  Click here. 

Sugar, Fat, and Salt

Paradise greetings,

I am writing today from my mother's home in the Louisville area. We played in the Bardstown Road area yesterday (no, I didn't get to Lynn's Paradise Cafe). The weather is about as tropical as south Florida's weather only here you have the Ohio River valley effect, where the exhaust from combustion engines becomes trapped by sunlight, forcing those with respiratory illnesses to stay inside. Yuck. I don't have any respiratory illnesses but I don't want to be breathing in all that stuff either.

We stopped by the Floyd County, Indiana library so I could give them an autographed copy of my book, Healthy Living with Diabetes: One Small Step at a Time (http://www.ourlittlebooks.com/). While there, I checked out The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, MD. I have always admired Dr. Kessler, a pediatrician and former head of the FDA, and now I have one more reason to do so. In his book, published last year, he talks about the sugar, fat, and salt triad which the food industry uses to get us addicted to foods so we consume more calories than we need and they make more money than they need. Chapter 3 of The End of Overeating is titled "Sugar, Fat, and Salt Make Us Eat More Sugar, Fat, and Salt." This is exactly what I talk about with parents and employers who are feeding these (often hidden) ingredients to their families and their employees every day.

In Chapter 4, Dr. Kessler writes:
"Higher sugar, sat, and salt make you want to eat more," a high level food industry executive told me. I had alrady read this in the scientific literature and heard it in conversations with neuroscientists and psychologists. Now an insider was saying the same thing. My source was a leading food consultant, a Henry Ford of mass-produced food who had agreed to part the curtain for me, at least a bit, to reveal how his industry operates. To protect his business, he did not want to be identified. But he was remarkably candid, explaining that the food industry creates dishes to hit what he called the "three points of the compass." Sugar, fat, and salt make a food compelling, said the consultant. They make it indulgent. They make it high in hedonic value, which gives us pleasure.
"Do you design food specifically to be highly hedonic?" I asked.
"Oh, absolutely," he replied without a moment's hesitation. "We try to bring as much of that into the equation as possible."

Thank you, Dr. Kessler, for your courage to identify the root causes of America's obsession with overeating. If you are a parent and your family eats in restaurants regularly, such as Chilis or McDonald's, read Dr. Kessler's book. Before your next visit to a national chain restaurant, go to their website and look up the nutritional content (if they dare to let you see it) of what you and your kids usually eat there. Just remember that higher sugar, salt, and fat makes you want to eat more sugar, salt, and fat. We owe it to our children and to all of America's children to make informed choices about what we eat. Today, read a food label and choose to eat less sugar. And less salt. And less fat. Help reduce and halt childhood obesity.

Growing Healthy Kids - improving the health - and lives - of America's children, one child and one garden at a time.

To your perfect health,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids