Member Comments for the Article:A Parent's Guide to Nutrition for Kids - Part 1Lesson 1: Blueprint for a Healthy Diet43 Comments
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BPOPE20101
5/23/2012 10:09:59 PM
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I rember the old saying,you can lead a horse to water but you can"t make him drink.I try so hard to help my son to lose weight.I'll buy fruits and vegetables that he likes to eat.I don't buy chips, a person can't eat foods they don't buy. |
5/23/2012 3:11:31 PM
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This article presupposes that the food pyramid/food plate, or whatever the USDA is calling it, is the way to eat. I was a follower of the "eat low fat foods and lots of whole grains" for most of my adult life. I was even fairly active here on Sparkpeople. That is until last year, when my wife's Dr. suggested she increase her protein and reduce her carbohydrate intake in order to lower her cholesterol. I was skeptical of this so I did a lot of research and discovered the benefits many people have been getting by cutting out all grains and replacing that with full-fat dairy, meat, eggs, nuts and a healthy dose of veggies. The movie "Fat Head" (it's on Netflix streaming) opened our eyes and since March of last year we've essentially cut out all "healthy whole grains" as well as any food that comes from a box. The result? My HDL went from 62(already pretty good) to 89 and my Ttl Cholesterol/HDL ratio went from 2.82 to 2.39. My wife had similar dramatic results. I even managed to get my Father (a 25 yr follower of a Dr Ornish/Vegan diet who was having issues with increasing blood sugar) to make the same basic dietary changes and his results were the same-much higher HDL, lower LDL, lower blood sugar. The point of this is that there is an increasing amount of evidence that the "low fat, high grain" diet that has been advocated for the last 25 years or so may be the exact reason our rates of type 2 diabetes, childhood and adult obesity and heart disease are increasing dramatically. I personally believe that the "Experts" are so heavily invested in this that they can't/won't change for fear of losing the Government grant money they depend on. Just some food for thought! |
8/15/2011 6:40:27 PM
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Unlike some government guidelines which proceeded it, the food pyramid does not provide the cleares or healhiest approach to eating, The servings in the "grain" section, for example, is quite high for most adults -- yes, I do understand portion size -- and does NOT emphasize the need for complex carbs over simple starches like muffins and bagels and kid's cereals. I also concur that it's erroneous to think that any processed item mentioned -- including fruit juice drinks - are an appropriate substitute for "real foods" on a consistent basis. Nor does the vegetable section differentiate the colors/ nutrients/ types of vegetables. So, a heavy dose of potatoes -- ie., french-fires -- is often counted as meeting the veggie needs. And simlar thinking earlier led to ketcup (heavily processed and laden with high fructose corn syrup) and canned pickles being counted as the vegetable serving(s) when served on a burger in school lunches!! There are better guidelines available for healthier eating that consider "real" foods over processed junk-foods, yet are over-the-top fanatical, and are children-friendly. -- Maryjean |
8/15/2011 4:04:50 PM
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This article is in serious need of repair. The Pyramid never did make sense and the plate is only a hair better. 6-9 servings of starch for little kids? That's crazy. Three would be more than enough. Would you really let your kid eat 9 slices of bread or 9 tortillas in one day? I would hope not. |
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8/15/2011 11:34:15 AM
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Makes me sad to think that so many people are so messed up about food that they have no idea what to feed their kids. It terrifies me to hear about CHILDREN who are obsessed and worrying about how much they weigh, and what they are supposed to weigh, etc. Please, please, please people DO NOT do this to your kids and create another generation of messed up humans! Eat food, REAL food, not processed white garbage and fast food, and feed that to your kids, too. Let them eat when they are hungry: fruits, vegetables, and whole grains AS MUCH AS THEY LIKE. I have three kids, two are now adults, and one is still an active, wonderful ten year old. None of them have weight issues. They eat real food. Junk is discouraged. So is playing video games for hours. They ride bikes, participate in activities that interest them: interestingly NONE of them went for team sports, but I have a weight lifter, a SCUBA diver and a budding gymnast. If YOU don't eat crap, THEY won't either. Sometimes, they needed to eat a lot more for a period of time: I call it a growth spurt. Other times, their appetities wane. As long as they are eating mostly REAL FOOD they will be fine. I would have been, too, if my family wasn't brought up on white bread and a mother who obsessed continually about being fat and calories and weight loss. (She is still fat, BTW, after a lifetime of being grumpy, short with her children, and constantly dieting.....) Sorry: had to get all that off my chest :^) Love them, and give them good whole foods, and they will be beautiful! |
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HEALTHYISFUN
8/15/2011 9:22:21 AM
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As Becky surely must know, the food pyramid was finally let go and replaced by "choose my plate" which encourages filling half your plate with veggies and fruits, etc. Even her link goes there. Hopefully it is a more helpful message and fits beautifully with SparkPeople as fruits and veggies are great food value--more nutrients per calorie. |
8/15/2010 5:31:59 PM
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A site for Healthy lunch ideas I found. http://www.school-lunch-idea s.com/ |
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JBARONE
9/2/2009 10:41:05 AM
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Anyone got a site w/ good lunch bag recipes? Easy/Quick/Nutritious |
8/24/2009 12:44:41 PM
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I suffer from major PORTION DISTORTION!!! |
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MY2BABYANGELS
8/20/2009 2:43:18 PM
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I think alot of us don't really realize what a serving of grains look like. 1/2c of grains cooked is about the size of tennis ball. A serving on the food guide pyramid for grains is 1/2 cup cooked for many grains (oatmeal, barley, rice, pasta or in other words approximately 80 calories per serving. 5 servings of grains would only be 400 calories from grains. That is less than half of your calories if following 1500-1600 calories. Whole grains are important because they contain fiber and fiber is what helps us stay full and prevent constipation, diverticulosis, colon cancer etc. Whole grains also contain many B vitamins. Fruits and vegetables are also a great source of fiber but lack many B vitamins. If you choose not to have dairy in your diet, just make sure to take calcium and vitamin D from other sources. |
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8/17/2009 11:09:00 AM
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I totally disagree…according to the chart, a parent could misunderstand that if their child drinks 3 cups of fruit juice that they have met the minimum requirements for fruits and vegetables!! Never mind that the juice in most homes is from concentrate, ultra-pasteurized and refined to the point that it is essentially pure sugar juice, devoid of mostly all natural nutrients. Note to parents: Most apple juice sold in the market is just that – sugar juice. I believe that it is irresponsible not to explain that our children need more vegetables and fruits in all colors along with whole grains (not just white pasta or bread) and proteins. Note to parents: Find vegetables that your child likes to eat, then add new ones in as they adapt – I haven’t known a kid who will not eat at least a few. Greens are best. Fruits are easy. |
8/16/2009 5:19:42 PM
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I would love to see an article about how to "build" a good school lunch - the ones you bring with you. I don't have kids in school, but find such ideas helpful in keeping me creative w2hen it comes to work lunches. I am trying to keep costs down and look forward to some good ideas! |
8/16/2009 4:23:03 PM
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This is the way I understand things. An easy way to figure it is...if you put a zero on the end of what you weigh, that is the amount of calories you need to "maintain" with NO exercise. For instance, if you weigh 180, then you need 1800 calories a day just to maintain that weight. (This would explain why as your weight goes lower the Spark People calculator that says what your range is will also lower.) If you just cut 500 calories a day from that, bringing it down to 1300, you'll lose a pound a week. However, if you are exercising every day on top of that, for an hour, you will be burning off a lot more (depending on the ACTUAL intensity of the workout). 'Aerobic' exercise is when your heartrate gets up to a certain target. The main thing is that the values on any calculators is an average. It really does depend on the intensity if you meet, exceed or fall short of the calories burned that shows in calculators. But basically, If your exercises burn 500 calories a day, then you will be looking at another 1 pound of weight lost each week. That's basically because 3500 calories is equal to one pound. And 2 pounds of weight loss a week is healthy (although people who are much larger can lose more weekly, which is a whole different conversation). If the pyramid is suggesting you eat 2000 to lose weight, based on your height, weight, and amount of exercise, then I assume they think your body is expending about 3000 calories a day between the calories you burn just by being 'alive' and functioning (your maintaining value) and the extra exercises you put in. If that's the case, then you should lose 2 lbs a week. Hope that makes sense. |
8/15/2009 6:24:10 PM
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Wow, I went to the gov pyramid site and was shocked. According to their plan, for someone my height and weight (overweight) but exercising 30-60mins daily, I would be eating 2,000 calories to LOSE weight. At that rate, I would be gaining weight on a weekly basis. This cannot be right! ! |
8/15/2009 3:27:23 PM
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I agree with plumpmama milk products are not good for us, they are an addiction brought on by the dairy industry just as meat is not as needed as the meat producers say. Just look at many world class athletes they are vegetarians. I just started a vegetarian diet, no meat and chicken with restricted milk products. My goal is to become vegan |