By: Kim Peterson

CommonSenseHealth.Org

The statistics are jaw dropping. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years.
• The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period.
• In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.^1,2

Perhaps we can all agree that something or things needs to shift. Why is this happening? Have you eaten out or watched a food commercial recently? Our obsession with fast foods, packaged foods and outright non-foods has taken its toll on our health as individuals and as a society.

Going through a drive through and tossing a kids meal into the back seat while on the way to various appointment has become an all to common occurrence in the U.S.  What are we teaching our children?

The CDC states…

  Most U.S. youth

• Do not meet the recommendations for eating 2½ cups to 6½ cups* of fruits and vegetables each day
• Do not eat the minimum recommended amounts of whole grains (2–3 ounces* each day)
• Eat more than the recommended maximum daily intake of sodium (1,500–2,300 mg* each day) .^1,3,7

Empty calories from added sugars and solid fats (found most often in processed foods) contribute to 40% of daily calories for children and adolescents aged 2–18 years, affecting the overall quality of their diets. Approximately half of these empty calories come from six sources: soda, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, grain desserts, pizza, and whole milk.⁵

So what do we do about it? How do we reinforce positive eating patterns that last a lifetime? The consequences if we do not are nothing short of devastating.

Long-term health effects:

• Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults^11-14 and are therefore more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.⁶ One study showed that children who became obese as early as age 2 were more likely to be obese as adults.¹²
• Being overweight or obese is associated with increased risk for many types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.¹⁵

Always remember, meals don’t need to be elaborate to be nutritious. If you have only a few minutes to prepare a meal, try a turkey sandwich, a serving of green beans, an apple, and a glass of milk. A simple lunch or dinner like this takes less time to prepare than driving through a fast-food restaurant, and it is much healthier.

Portion Size Matters (http://portionsizematters.com/index.shtml) was started by Mrs. Deane Peck (MS,RD,LDN). Deane has worked in children’s obesity clinics, held positions on the Healthy Tomorrows grant that supported outreach obesity clinics specifically for children, earned her ADA (American Dietetic Association) certifications for Child and Adolescent Weight Management and Adult Weight Management training. Deane also owns and operates her own business, Weight2Go. Additionally, she also practices as a bariatric dietitian.

The Portion Size Matters plate teaches children recommended serving sizes that help to enforce healthy eating habits throughout the lifespan. The Portion Size Matters kids portion plate is designed for easy use. The plate has 5 sections, each one labeled for a different food group, with the correct portion measurements printed inside each section. And, each section was created to hold the exact volume of a correct portion. Just fill it to the top and you are ready to eat.

Having personally used the plate in my home, I can tell you that my three-year-old granddaughter was tickled to death to use a plate that was her size and would hold her grapes, carrots and ham sandwich in a fun way. It passed the dishwasher test like a breeze.

If we can instill a visual in the minds of our children that fruits and lots of multi-colored vegetables are the main attraction of their meals followed by some dairy, meat or beans and grains, then just a small amount of sweets or condiments; they can have a better understanding of what constitutes a healthy meal. Then perhaps when presented with a burger and fries in the future, they will recognize that it in no way represents what they are used to eating and perhaps make a better choice.