Back to School Nutrition Basics

With kids going back to school, many parents have a renewed focus on proper nutrition for their children. But with all the conflicting information available on the internet, TV and magazines, how do you know what is best to feed your children? With the rising rates of obesity and diabetes in children, many parents put their children on restrictive, low-fat, low-calorie diets. Still, others believe that it doesn’t matter what a child eats, because children are active, resilient and can burn off whatever sugar or fat they eat. So who’s right and where do you start?

 

The reality is that although children have different and specific nutritional needs, compared to adults, the same basic nutrition “rules” apply. Start with healthy, well-balanced meals that include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, essential fats, and complex carbohydrates from whole grains such as 100% rye, spelt, kamut, oatmeal, quinoa or brown rice, but not wheat products. These foods provide the most nutrients needed for health and growth. Numerous research studies have shown that kids, who eat healthy meals with their families and especially a healthy breakfast, do better in school, have better nutritional status, and greater immunity than those who don’t.

To fuel their long day, kids require:

Give your kids the best start to the day by providing a healthy breakfast that includes some fresh fruit, vegetables, and protein, as in one of the following examples:

In one study published in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, children who received a healthy breakfast for six months showed significant improvements in their attendance, math grades, and behaviour. In another study in the Archives of Family Medicine, researchers found that children who ate dinner more often with their families had better quality diets. Children who ate more often with their families were more likely to eat the five or more recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, and were less likely to eat fried and processed foods or drink sugary soda and juice away from home. Dinner with family also meant better intake of several vitamins and minerals, with less intake of altered, rancid, and trans fat. 

 

Healthy snacks are also important for a balanced diet and to balance blood sugar and insulin. According to a recent USDA survey of 10,000 children, twice as many kids today eat snack foods, such as crackers, popcorn, pretzels and corn chips as kids did just 20 years ago. These types of snacks do not provide the nutrients kids need as they primarily contain high amounts sugars (especially High Fructose Corn Syrup-HFCS), sodium, chemicals, dyes, preservatives and food colouring. 

 

Don’t be fooled by the labels. Just because it says “fruit snacks” or “fruit juice” doesn’t mean it’s made with real fruit. Many of these “fruit snacks” contain no real fruit and are simply a combination of sugar, oil, artificial colours, sweeteners, and preservatives. 

 

The food and beverage industry doesn’t want you to realize how truly pervasive HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) is in your children’s diet. This is not just from soft drinks and juices, but also in salad dressings and condiments and virtually every processed food. The introduction of HFCS into the Western diet, in 1975, has been a multi-billion dollar boon for the corn industry. 

 

Fruit juice is marketed as a healthy, natural source of vitamins, and children like it because of its sweetness. Parents need to know that fruit juice does not replace adequate water intake or required amounts of whole fresh fruits. Commercially prepared fruit juice lacks fibre, vitamins, and minerals. It can be consumed more rapidly and in larger quantities than whole fruit. This causes a rapid influx of sugar into the blood stream. Commercial juice consumption has been linked to both overweight and poor nutritional status.

 

The American Pediatrics Association recommends no juice for infants under 6 months and no more than 6 ounces a day for older infants (Health House feels this is too much). If you give juice to older children, it is better to serve 100% fresh squeezed juice and not a juice-like product that is mostly sugar and water. Juice should not be given if a child is dehydrated or has diarrhea. The problem with fruit juice is that it contains different types of sugar that may worsen diarrhea and stomach pain. The four major types of sugar are sucrose, glucose, fructose, and sorbitol. Sugar puts and extra burden on their little bodies and reduces immunity. Juice and other foods that have sorbitol or high levels of fructose (such as grape, apple, or pear juices) are the worst culprits.

 

Kids are attracted to how foods look, so it’s worth creating lunches and healthy snacks that appeal to them aesthetically as well as through their taste buds. Cut up fruits and vegetables into fun shapes for dipping and letting them help pick out and prepare their snacks. Use colourful bento boxes, thermos and cutlery. Hide notes and riddles, or one of their small toys in the lunch box so kids are excited to see what’s inside. Make interesting shapes, letters, or animals out of some foods. Most importantly, get your kids involved in deciding what healthy foods they want to eat; nothing works like empowerment!

 

In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, some suggested healthy lunches and snacks include:

The trend of grabbing what you can when you can get it for meals is associated with a poor nutritional profile among both adults and children. Early nutritional patterns set the tone for habits during adult life. You can help your children create good nutritional habits early by ensuring that they eat a healthy breakfast and dinner at home, with family, and keep healthy snacks available.

 

Kids do not need: refined sugars, flours, or oils; such as, white or whole wheat breads or pasta, white rice and refined oils; such as, vegetable, corn, or soy oils. Processed or packaged foods, that contain colours, additives, and preservatives. 

 

These foods do not contribute to our kids' good health and are known to reduce concentration, reduce immunity, and increase hyperactivity and mood swings. 

 

A Quick Look at How Some Countries Advertise Food to Children:

And, you can bet that Canada is not far behind! Source: New York Times 1/12/2005

 

In 2004, a coalition of Canadian health groups led by the Centre for Science in the Public Interest called for a ban on advertising aimed at children 13 or younger. Quebec has already banned print and broadcast advertising aimed at children under 13 years old, although children certainly see advertising from other sources as well.

Read more: http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/en/news/newsandfeatures/pages/target-market-children-as-consumers.aspx 

 

Edmonton Researchers from the University of Alberta are leading a charge among Canada’s obesity experts and call on the federal government to ban food and beverage ads that target children. Read more: http://uofa.ualberta.ca/news-and-events/newsarticles/2013/march/banning-food-ads-targeted-at-kids#sthash.Eeu5m2sf.dpuf

 

Globe and Mail: Advertising food to children moves from TV to online games. Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/advertising-food-to-children-moves-from-tv-to-online-games/article14916729/