Family Meals - A Lost Art?

What is something you can do as a family (that's not too hard) that can help your children have better eating habits? Eat meals together! A great book (pictured above) talks about the "power" that family meals can have. Studies have also shown that kids who eat family meals together eat more fruits, vegetables, dairy, and have better overall nutrition. There are many other benefits including better grades and less risk of alcohol or drug use. It doesn't have to be a fancy meal - it's just the fact of being together. Once you have that accomplished, you can work on improving the nutrition of your meals. Of course, you wouldn't want to go out to eat or bring fast-food home each night in order to eat together as a family.

Many families have both parents working and children are able to eat whatever and whenever they want or graze. Also, families have so many activities going on that it is hard to all sit down together and eat. Often times individuals are eating on the go . In both of these situations, junk food is usually eaten. Just taking a few minutes here to come together and sit down and talk with each other will provide better nutrition and time to communicate. The following websites provide healthy and easy recipes as well as meal plans that you may like to try:

• http://www.never2early.org/fpf_meal-plan.html
• http://kidshealth.org/parent/recipes/
• http://www.mealsmatter.org/
• http://www.3aday.org/Pages/Welcome.aspx

You may not be able to eat together as a family everyday, but even aiming for a few times a week can be beneficial. Weekends may be a great time to get together for a family brunch or maybe eating breakfast together in the morning works better for your schedule. Research has shown that eating family meals together during adolescence is associated with better diets during adulthood. This simple activity will provide so many benefits long after the meals are over and your children are grown. Don't let family meals become a lost art! Check out this website for more benefits of family meals and ideas on how to get together.

The Media

On average how many hours of TV do children and teens watch daily? I posted a poll a while back and most people thought about 2-3 hours or more than 5. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), kids in the U.S. watch about 4 hours of TV daily! By the time one graduates from high school, more time will have been spent watching television than spent in the classroom. Time in front of the TV, computer, or playing video games takes away from other important activities such as homework, reading, playing, exercising, and interaction with family and friends. Children are also exposed to thousands of commercials each year. A study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that one-third of commercials aimed at children are advertising candy or snacks.

Kids who spend more time in front of the television are at more of a risk of being overweight or obese. First of all, they aren't exercising or being active. Many kids come home from school and go straight to the TV for hours rather than going out to play. Oh and don't forget the snacking that takes place as well. Second, kids are influenced by the junk food advertisements. According to the AAP, children in the U.S. see about 40,000 commercials every year. These advertisements encourage unhealthy foods such as chips and empty-calorie beverages that children start to prefer.

What can you do as a parent?
- Limit amout of TV each day and week
- Don't allow TV during family meals
- Set a weekday as a "no TV" day
- Don't allow TV while doing homework
- Limit snacks when watching TV and choose healthy snacks
- Offer fun alternatives to watching TV
- Treat TV as a privilege that your child can earn
- Don't have a TV in a child's bedroom

Health Consequences

For the first time in history, American children could have a shorter life span than their parents…

Obese and Overweight Children are at Risk for Serious Health Problems
• Obesity is associated with more chronic (continuing) medical conditions than smoking or excessive drinking. (Colditz GA, 1999)

• Diabetes on the rise- Type II Diabetes was once called “Adult-onset Diabetes.” Now, what was once thought to be an adult only disease is now affecting a number of overweight and obese children. (Daniels SR, Arnett DK, Eckel RH, 2005)

• If current childhood obesity trends continue, adolescents with type II diabetes may experience heart troubles beginning as young as 30 or 40 years old. (Rand Health, 2004)

• It is estimated that children who are obese have a 70-80% chance of becoming obese adults (Preventing Childhood Obesity: The Need to Create Healthy Places, LA County Public Healthy,October 2007).

Obesity Related Healthcare Costs are Soaring
• Severely overweight people often spend more on healthcare than smokers do. (Rand Health, 2004)

• The direct national costs of treating obesity-related diseases are estimated at $61 billion. (American Heart Association, 2006)

• The indirect national costs of obesity (such as missed work days and future earnings losses) have been estimated at $56 billion dollars per year. (American Heart Association, 2006)

• The number of people filing for disability is rising rapidly, and the fastest growing cause of disability is type II diabetes, which more and more children are suffering from because of obesity. (Rand Health, 2004)

• Treating a child with obesity is three times more costly than treating the average child (Daily Herald, 2008)

The Damaging Effects of Eating Out
• Of the money spent eating out, over half of it is spent on fast food. (Fetto, 2002)

• Over the last thirty years Americans’ spending on fast food has increased from $6 billion[15] to $110 billion - or more than 18-fold. (http://restaurant.org/)

• Kids and Fast Food: The average teen eats fast food twice a week. (Paeratakul S, Ferdinand D, Champagne C, Ryan D, Bray G, 2003)

*Over a 15-year study, adults who ate fast food more than twice a week gained 10 pounds more than those who ate fast food less than once a week. (Pereira MA, Kartashov AL, Ebbeling CB, 2005)

• Adolescents today are eating on average 8% more than they were less than thirty years ago. (Enns CW, Mickle SJ, Goldman JD, 2003)