Plant Based Food Group Supports Lower Obesity Rates Among Children

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Just a quick note to everybody who follows and watched what's going on with the childhood obesity epidemic in this country.

A new research was just published reporting that those kids whose diet was dominated by plant-based foods were on the lowest grid to become obese later in life.

The major points of this study are:

1. Specific plant-based foods play a significant role in preventing childhood and adulthood obesity
2. Consumption of Full fat dairy products may lead to higher rates of obesity in kids, and therefore, in adults later

What to do?

1. Add more vegetables and fruit into your kid's daily diet
2. Consume Low fat dairies as they are still necessary for the child's growth, but with less fat in them

One more thing for you, my dear women, to know about and remember.

Celebrate Your Healthy Chidlren Today!

References:
1. Gray, Nathan. Plant Based Diet May Reduce Childhood Obesity: Study

Sugar Or Not Sugar? Take Your Vote.

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Raising a toddler is fun and is a huge responsibility. Not just to raise him or her a good person who contributes to the society, but most of all to raise this child with reasoning.

A child with cravings for truly healthy whole foods like fruit and veggies.

A child whose compassion will heal the world around her and within.

Little do we realize that the majority of these and other values are “given” to our child very, very, very early in life. By that I mean from birth up to 3 years old. This developmental period is critical not only in mastering linguistic, motor, emotional control, social attachments skills. This is the window of opportunity to give your child a sense of foods surrounding her.

Reading a research article on sucrose exposure of mice showed in that experiment that:
1. The mice who were given unlimited access to sucrose or table sugar gained considerably more weight than those mice that were not exposed to sugar. Please note that the experiment was conducted on baby mice who were just weaned from their mothers. (See reference below)
2. Plus, this sucrose exposure was for a short period of time. Which suggests that it doesn’t take a lot of effort and time to give a child a burden for the rest of her life. Mainly, a burden of fighting for her normal weight.

One time more, it reminded me of importance to offer more whole foods, fruit and vegetables in front of my toddler son.

The biggest gift I could give him that would bring joy to him and the people around him year after year would be a sense of yumminess that is found in fresh fruit and vegetables.

Silly desire of mine? May be. However I am not afraid to seem silly, for the vibrant health is the only powerful force that could take him far and beyond on his path of living his own dream life.

Celebrate Your Child Today!

References:
Sucrose Exposure in Early Life Alters Adult Motivation and Weight Gain by Cristianne R.M. Frazier(1), Peggy Mason (1,2), Xiaoxi Zhuang (1,2), Jeff A. Beeler(2)
1 Committee on Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 2 Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America

Preventing Childhood Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in Kids

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Preventing Childhood Obesity:
The Early Intervention Imperative

Nick C. Smith, VP Research, GoZonkers

Editors Note: With the continued rise in childhood obesity unabated, many parents ask the question, “Why not wait for my child to grow out of their baby fat and cute chubbiness before I have to worry about it?”

Parents also raise the question, “What is an effective solution if my child is overweight?”

This article seeks to begin answering these key questions, for parents, teachers, and clinicians.

Evidence becomes inexorably more compelling that the current epidemic of childhood overweight and obesity is directly caused by lack of physical activity and increased caloric intake. Children are progressively exposed to less and less regular physical activity, while being over-exposed to calorie dense, nutritionally poor foods.

The solution to this world-wide problem lies in the schools and the homes of children. Each provide powerful opportunities to make the lifestyle interventions proven effective in changing the activity and eating patterns of at-risk children.

• With insufficient physical activity, children afflicted with overweight and obesity are at elevated risk of early onset of weight-related diseases like hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart enlargement, current and later cardiovascular disease, early cancer, limited cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal development, reduced cognitive development, social ostracism, bullying (both perpetrator and victim), decreased academic progress, anxiety, and depression.

• The most effective interventions are well-known; regular and vigorous physical activity, and a change from high calorie, nutrient-poor foods to low calorie, nutrient-dense foods. In todayʼs obesogenic, a concerted effort will be required to ensure the adoption of positive lifestyle changes.

• Schools are positioned to be highly influential in the development of healthy children. Rather than detracting from academic progress, time spent in physical activity during the school day actually improves learning capacity, and well-nourished children are clearly more receptive to instruction. School facilities and personnel can provide both. Preventing Childhood Obesity: Th Early Intervention Imperative

• The fundamental responsibility for child health lies in the home, where parents and siblings have a powerful effect on the kind of lifestyle adopted. Parental role modeling of foods eaten, meal settings, and exercise patterns are the foundation of a childʼs adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

More to come. Stay Tuned.

You can contact me via my LinkedIn profile

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Prevent Childhood Obesity. Save Generation of Kids.

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Become The Heroic Generation that Changed the World
A Manifesto for Changing the Cruel Fate of Our Children 

By Boyd L. Jentzsch

Who would you be without a dream, without a quest, without a consuming desire to change the world in some small or great way, a change only you can make?

Consider this...
There is a generation of children growing up in our country. Their dreams are mere fantasies now. Yet, in time these silent urgings will take root, blossom, and mature into great life-dreams. Like all the generations before these children will expect to pursue those dreams, fulfilling the ageless miracle of rebirth born into the hearts of countless heroes.

But this new generation will be different. Far different. And that difference will touch us all in ways we can barely imagine.

The newest generation was born into a mean world
This, the newest generation was born into a mean world. A very, very mean place. When you subtract the inevitable wars of their lifetime (there have always been wars), when you take away the crime, the poverty, the infectious diseases, (each in constant ebb and flow), this generation will bear the cruelest fate of all.

No other generation has been called to bear the terrible burden of a disease, an epidemic, they alone have already been singled out to carry. No other children in the history of the world will know the sure progression of their terrible agony. And it has already begun.

If you will listen closely, if you will observe with eyes wide open, you will see what has never been seen before. You will hear silent cries growing in every place children live. The cascading pain of your close attention will pierce your heart, and you will cry, cry shamelessly from your depths, and you will ask, "What can be done? What can I do?" From this will a new hero arise within you?

Understand the special tragedy unfolding around you, the epic proportions of it all, and resolve to do something about it.

This newest generation has the cruel fate to be the first full generation to be born into a world of plenty. A world of surplus. A world of nutrient overload. A place of advertised, appetizing enchantment wrapped around an abundance of food that will kill them. Is killing them. And you, and I, and the whole lot of us are unknowingly doing the poisoned feeding.

Children's bodies can't wait

Grasp the full power of what is happening to an entire generation of children. Comprehend the enormity of the tragedy. Then resolve to do something about it. If the world ever needed new heroes, if the world ever needed your resolve, your ardent quest, this is the time. Children's bodies can't wait.

Consider their plight. One out of three of today's children, our children, will get Adult Onset (Type 2) Diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One out of three. If they are Hispanic, African American, Pacific Islander, it will be one out of two. 50%. One half. If Native American, it is already over 80%. 80%. The devastating assault has just begun. It is rapidly becoming global. Diabetes is just one of the killers.

A child born above-normal in birth-weight has an 80% chance of being dangerously overweight by time they are 3 years old. A child that is overweight at 8 has triple the risk of being an overweight teen. An overweight teen, is 3 times more likely to be obese in adulthood, even if they slim down in their late teens and early 20's.

Obesity is not cosmetic

Obesity is not a cosmetic problem. It is a symptom of a pantheon of diseases. Diseases that kill slowly, but killers nonetheless.

Already one in eight of our children has Type 2 Diabetes or the precursors to it. (This devastating disease used to strike less than 3% of those over age 60.) Over 60% of these children also have deeply ingrained risk factors for heart disease. And if a child has even slightly elevated blood pressure at 8, they are highly likely to be hypertensive (high blood pressure) in their teens, only to see it dangerously rise in pressure as they grow older.

An obese 8-year-old has the quality of life of a child undergoing chemotherapy, according to studies by child psychologists. They are remorselessly teased, pointed at, chosen last for recess games at school, and have great difficulty playing sports and games with their friends.

Their difficulties have just begun.

Teen obesity follows hard on childhood obesity. Obese teens begin to show all the markers of heart disease, hypertension, and Type 2 Diabetes. The nearly irreversible damage to their bodies has already begun its pernicious work. It is deadly work that has only just begun to diminish their bodies. And destroy their dreams.

Grasp the enormity of this unfolding pandemic

Childhood obesity is more than a bunch of kids being less than ideal size. Despite fully 80% of mothers with an obese child not believing their child to be overweight, (according to numerous surveys), obesity has much worse consequences than size alone. The health effects of childhood of obesity are lifelong:
• Most children with diabetes will go undiagnosed
• Children with diabetes are at high risk of permanent small blood vessel damage, leading to later stroke, kidney disease, and limb amputations if not prevented
• Obese children are 53 times more likely to have the risk factors for diabetes
• Diseases like cancer and heart disease are closely linked to improper childhood nutrition
• Rickets (soft bones), once eradicated, is making a comeback
• 7% of apparently healthy children have 3 or more risk factors for heart disease
• Overweight children have inflammatory signs which predict future heart disease and diabetes
• Between 34% and 65% of five year-old girls have ideas about dieting (5-year-olds. Dieting.)
• 1 out of 4 of our 4-year olds are obese or overweight
• Dieting in pre-teens and early teens is the leading precursor to eating disorders and later obesity
• Irregular exercise, appetite suppressants, laxative use, vomiting, and binge eating predict excess weight gain
• Dieting girls have over three times the risk of obesity compared with nondieters
• The psychological stress and social stigma of being overweight may be as damaging as the health effects
• The more overweight kindergarten and first grade children are, the lower their math and reading performance – undermining their academic foundations, setting them up for later under achievement
• If current trends continue, this generation of American children will grow up to be the most obese adults in U.S. History

Long-term results of childhood obesity:

– Type 2 Diabetes
– Asthma
– Arthritis
– Liver disease
– Bowel cancer
– Sleep apnea
– Heart disease
– Lung disease
– Intestinal disorders
– Bone and joint complications

The prime symptom of all these terrible outcomes is childhood obesity

Childhood obesity confronts one in six of our children, today (not to mention those who are overweight and rapidly becoming obese). Soon one in three of our children will be obese. The number is rising rapidly, unabated – 85% of them will develop full-blown diabetes by time they are 40.

Adult Onset Diabetes is the fastest growing childhood disease in America

The incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in children and adolescents has increased 500% in the past decade. The rest of the world is rushing to catch up.

For the first time in history, more people worldwide will die of obesity, and related diseases, than hunger or malnutrition. Contemplate the irony of that.

And the data just gets worse:

• Obese adults make just 60% of the income of those with normal weight
• After 7 to 12 years of diabetes, most are on kidney dialysis (notice all the new places for this in the strip malls?)
• 80% of all limb and appendage amputations are of diabetics
• Diabetic men are much more likely to be impotent
• Obesity affects the quality and frequency of intimate relationships -- for many, it prevents them altogether
• Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness
• Heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity dramatically shortens the lives of all those affected
• The drugs used to control the symptoms of these diseases can be toxic themselves, causing other, often debilitating side-effects

Stop for a moment and reflect on how the confluence of these diseases, coupled with each person's personal challenges due to been severely overweight, will affect the emotional development and sense of self-confidence and well-being on these children. Then carry that thought over to emphasize with how that will affect them as adults. Daily. Hour by hour.

For the first time in history, we are facing the first generation of parents who will see their children die of chronic diseases before they do (CDC and World Health Organization, 2003)

The collapse of the dreams of parents

This epidemic is bringing about the tragic collapse of everything parenthood has ever stood for. Being a parent has always been about sacrificing to make the lives of their children better than their own. It has never been about watching them suffer and die before you do. How could we be letting this happen?

As a nation, as a world, as parents and grandparents, we are losing an entire generation. Where will our world be without them? What will our nation be like without children growing to find and live out their dreams?

These children will have dreams, to be sure. They will be grand, and glorious, and beautiful dreams. But they will be stopped short. Their hopes will be shattered.

As they ascend into their 20s and 30s, this generation will increasingly be called upon to manage the ravages of their chronic diseases... many of which can blossom into deadly cancers. They will be consumed by the drained energy, the loss of income, the strained relationships, the incredible expense, the shrinking family resources to do anything but try to live another day – another day with independence and dignity.

What of their dreams? We all live vastly improved and luxurious lives because of the realized dreams of previous generations. The heroic quests of generations-past improve, enrich, and make our lives wondrous, unlike any that have ever lived on this Earth.

But, this new generation will not live many of their dreams. While they will greatly enrich us by their having been here, they will have fewer years to make our world even better for generations yet unborn. Their dreams, their hero quests, will hone closer to survival than to creating new visions for the future.

We are losing an entire generation of dreams

An entire generation of dreamers, of heroic quests is being lost. We will all live diminished lives because of it, even while our hearts bleed for the continued pain of our children and grandchildren.

For those not afflicted, they will be drawn into caring for, and financing the diminished lives of so many chronic disease-stricken young adults, so few of whom will reach the ripe old age of 65.

A preventable tragedy

All of it, every bit of it, is totally preventable. Preventable. PREVENTABLE. The causes are known. The solutions are clear. It is not for want of caring this this is happening. It is not for want of knowledge that our children are suffering these undeserved calamities. It is for want of hearing, for want of seeing, for want of action that the already-devastating tragedy is fully upon us. And upon them.

If you will listen closely, if you will observe with eyes wide open, you will see the terrible calamity that has never been seen before in this world. And while you hear the silent cries growing in every place children inhabit, and while the pain of your close attention will pierce your heart, and you shamelessly cry from your depths, you will ask: "What can be done? What can I do?"

From this will a new hero quest arise within you?

The difference between a dreamer and a hero is ACTION

The solutions are known. The keys to a different future are readily in your hands. You just need to recruit, and join with a generation of champions – a generation of heroes to change the course of history.

Heroes must be informed as to the causes and reasons for their great quest. They must be well informed about effective solutions. They must prepare themselves for the arduous task. They must reach out with compassion. They must know. Understand. Act.

For the difference between a dreamer and a hero is action. Concerted, knowledgeable, effective ACTION.

This great cause, to save an entire generation, is the greatest single quest in the history of the world. The need is immediate – children's bodies can't wait. The stakes are enormous. The heroic effort required is infinite.

We cannot wait. We cannot waiver. We cannot allow our feelings of inadequacy, our fears, our pride, nor our vain ambitions to intercede.

If we succeed in this our collective quest, we will be known as the heroic generation that changed the world.

If we fail.......... if we fail..........

We cannot fail. We must not fail.

Will we allow ourselves to fail? Will we pick up and carry our fallen and weakened friends upon our shoulders until they, too, are ready to join us in this our collective quest? Will we allow ourselves to doubt that we each, together, individually, can make a difference?

Who would you be without a dream, without a quest, without a consuming desire to change the world in some small or great way, a change only you can create?

There is a generation of children growing up in our country. Their dreams are mere fantasies now. In time these silent urgings will take root, blossom, and mature into great life-dreams...
     ...but only with the fulfillment of your heroic quest to change their cruel fate.

If not you, who?

If not now, when?

Please sign and join this manifesto. Send it immediately to others. Tell us two things about yourself. Then share with us what you will be doing today, TODAY, to change the cruel fate of our children.

Don’t tell us about what others ought to do. There is no time to waste in talking. It is a time for you, and I, and all of us to take immediate action.

Epilogue

No matter what you personally may dream, build, develop, or accomplish in this life, remember now, you have been tapped on the shoulder to be a hero today.

Now tap someone else on the shoulder also. Childrens’ bodies can’t wait.

Sign This Manifesto in Comments Section. Twitt About It. 

Spread Awareness.

© 2007-2010 Boyd L. Jentzsch. All Rights Reserved.

What Are We Feeding Our Kids?

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Deep in the heart of every mother is a fear that something may go wrong with the health of their child, and threaten their life.

It is a gut fear, held deeply, hidden mostly, until some little health problem happens to your child, fear pops to the surface, and suddenly the gut wrenching comes over you.

You contain it, of course. Mothers do that – they hide from themselves and others the fear for their child that comes out of nowhere. There are moments when a health or hurt crisis unfolds, when you remain calm, and clear, and do the very best that anyone can do.

Yet, in the quiet moments, when reflection is finally allowed, you know it could have been far worse – and the fear – the "thank goodness it didn't get worse" floods in, forcing tears out. Thankfulness. Gratitude.

The deep connection a mother has with their child, especially very young ones, when every squeak and squeal has a meaning, is an indelible impression that never leaves you, even in the deepest of sleep.

Food Allergies Are Endemic
For some mothers there are moments when something very small quickly becomes so big – when your child eats something and suddenly there is a life-threatening event unfolding, when every second counts, and every fear must be put aside to make a series of very right decisions to save your child.

Every day this scene unfolds hundreds of times in our country. Food allergies are endemic. Kids are increasingly at risk.

Food allergies are quickly spreading among our young ones, and they are more dramatically life-threatening than a flu epidemic. Something in our food threatens to kill more than 1 in 10 of our kids, and the percent is rising faster than anyone can figure out why.

Nut Allergies Become A Growing Trend
A friend of mine called the other day. She was devastated. Crying uncontrollably, she told how earlier in the day her three-year-old daughter had her friend Caroline over for a fun Saturday lunch. Samantha helped the two little girls make a peanut butter and banana sandwich – her daughter's favorite treat. Within seconds, it seemed, tiny Caroline was on the verge of not breathing. Quick thinking, and a quicker 911 response, saved the struggling girl.

Caroline's mother got there just before the paramedics arrived – she had been out Saturday grocery shopping. She had no idea her daughter was allergic to peanuts -- they never served them in their home. She didn't blame Samantha. But Samantha blamed herself, even though she couldn't figure out what she could have done differently. Caroline's mother was a wreck, barely able to call her husband and have him meet them at the hospital emergency room.

Samantha was sick inside. The episode sunk deeply into her. It hurt. The fear – the "thank goodness it didn't get worse" flooded in, forcing tears out. Then a frantic call to me.

It is one thing to see your child in distress, quite another to see someone else's child, one in your care, almost expire in your clenching arms. The look in little Caroline's fear-filled eyes – eyes that pleaded for help – eyes struggling to understand – eyes desperately searching for her own mother. Those child-eyes would haunt Samantha, she knew it would for the rest of her life. And it made Samantha wonder what sudden life-threatening crisis could await her own child... and where she might be when it might happen, and who..., and....

After we talked, and she had hung up, I wondered... what are we feeding our kids that makes more and more of their little bodies react so violently – strangling them at the smallest taste of an everyday food?

And if certain foods do that to some children, could it also be doing something bad, but not as quickly dramatic, to other kids but we just don't see it yet?

What are we feeding our kids?

You can contact me via my LinkedIn profile

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2010 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Slow Arsenic and the Gift of Childhood Obesity

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Giving the gift of obesity to your child.

Someone talking about your child's weight can be uncomfortable. Especially if you don't think your child is overweight, and the other person does.

No one wants to think of their child as being overweight. In fact most parents don't see their child as being overweight even if the scales show otherwise. Parents are unable to tell the difference between puppy fat and childhood obesity. Non-judgmental parental love is the culprit here.

But discomfort and blindness aside, we are in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic that is growing worse daily. And the only way it is going to be solved is to acknowledge the difficult truth that childhood obesity has doubled in the last 20 years. Clearly something is wrong and getting worse. Clearly a new, ongoing conversation needs to begin about the seriousness of the problem, and start grappling with solutions.

So, can we talk about your child's weight today?

Because it does matter if your child is overweight. It does matter if your child is obese. It does matter, even if they are not overweight today, because their weight status can change dramatically, rapidly during their growing years. It matters because a child that is obese, that slims down during their teens, still has 2-3 times the risk of becoming obese in their middle years.

In the end, childhood obesity matters because your child's weight, their over-weight or obesity, is your gift to them. This is more, much more than simple genetics.

• If you are an obese woman, your daughter is 10 times more likely to become obese

• If you are an obese man, your son is 6 times more likely to become obese

This is not just genetics at work. It is your gift of lifestyle – exercise and food choices. Genetics just sets-up the over-weight possibilities. The rest is what you do teach them to do with those genes.

Let's talk about the food you feed your child.

Slow arsenic: It's what's on the menu.
Would you knowingly give your child arsenic if you knew it would kill them in a week? What about a month – would you give them arsenic if it took a month to kill them?

If you knew your child would be wonderfully happy for an entire year, the most happy they could ever be, because you found a form of arsenic that would make them exceptionally happy before it killed them in a year, would the tradeoff be worth it?

Would your choice be different if you gave your child happy-inducing-arsenic that took five or ten years to kill them?

Of course not – not if you KNEW it was slow arsenic, and even if it induced happiness along the path to their demise.

Yet, unknowingly, unwittingly, unwillingly, feeding your child slow arsenic is exactly what you are doing every day. The evidence for that is your child (or most children) are getting fatter. It not only makes them fat, it rapidly and lastingly destroys their health. It may look like ordinary food, but if your child is gaining unhealthy excess weight, you need to be in the hunt for slow arsenic in their diet.

The most difficult choice any parent makes is what to feed their child.

How do you know what is really healthy? What is supposed to be in a "balanced" meal? If you eliminate the trans fats, and lower the fat grams your child eats, is that enough to keep your child from becoming overweight or obese?

What about Vitamin D, omega-3, fiber, and whole grains? If you get all these, is your job done?

Not knowing the best answers to these questions, parents do the best they can, eliminate the worst foods from a child's menu, and give-in to their child's food choice requests.

The trouble is, this strategy isn't working. In fact it is making things worse. What mothers and fathers don't know about nutrition is killing their kids. Slow arsenic to be sure, but killing them nonetheless. That sounds harsh. It can certainly feel harsh when someone else is talking about you and your child. It is, however, all too true for most kids.

Consider the rapid rise of childhood obesity this last two decades – the rate has doubled.

Adult onset diabetes – as the result of obesity – is the fastest growing childhood disease. Isn't that frightening?

One in six children are clinically obese when they start elementary school. You probably only knew one kid, maybe two kids in elementary school that were obese. Your kids will know 1 in 6. Could your child be one of them? Could your child BECOME one of them?

What can be done? What can You do?

You have to start over. You have to overcome your reliance on what is clearly not working. You have to quit listening to all the bad dietary advice served up in magazines and on TV.

You have to quit dieting, especially if you are a woman, because your daughter, (as young as 5 years old, in many cases), and increasingly your son, will take your dieting as a strong clue that they should do the same. Your dieting is your child's path, THE PATH, to eating disorders. Or excess weight gain.

That advice won't get you far, but at least it will stop increasing the damage.

For the rest, you will have to look to your own diet. Because study after study is confirming that what YOU eat, how often YOU eat, how much YOU eat, what foods YOU eat together, are all "caught" by your children. They see what you do and follow suit. Of course they have their own variations and preferences. But, the main course of their daily fare is learned by watching YOU. By the time they are 9 or 10 or 12, that learning is a lifelong habit.

Before they are old enough to be taught "nutrition," they have "caught" their lifelong eating preferences from you.

So, if you want your child to eat healthily, you are going to have to learn to eat healthy yourself.

If you are already overweight, how YOU lose weight is the model your children will learn to follow.

Are you prepared to feed your kids Weight Watcher meals for the rest of their years at your table?


PS: Would more discussion on this crucial subject of childhood obesity be of interest to you? I would like to hear from you, please.