Kids and veggies; should you sneak them in or serve them openly? August 18, 2011

Earlier this month the New York Times published an article about a research project in which scientists found that kids who were fed “regular” food that had pureed veggies hidden inside ate more veggies and fewer calories than when they were just consuming their normal diet.

So now those moms that have been dutifully dumping jars of baby food in their spaghetti sauce and reading cookbooks like Deceptively Delicious and Sneaky Chef have scientific evidence that it works!

But are we missing the point?  Are we as parents supposed to be training our children to eat their veggies and like them too?

As a dietitian, I wish people would learn to like veggies and eat them in normal dishes like salads, stir fries, and on the side.  But as a person who has never really been very fond of veggies myself, I see the benefit of the puree and sneak method.  I do it to myself all the time:  spinach in blueberry or chocolate smoothies, extra shredded carrot or zucchini in a casserole or lasagna, even adding beans to meatballs just to increase fiber and minerals while decreasing calories.

As a mom, I approve of both methods.  I firmly believe that offering veggies daily, even the veggies kids say they don’t like, normalizes eating them and will help even the finickiest eater learn to tolerate and sometimes even enjoy their veggies.  Other research shows it can take 17 tastes before a kid decides they like a food.  Serving veggies with a yogurt dip, in a smiley face shape, or serving myself a huge helping first then telling them “Mommy really likes this.  I want you to try one tiny bit and if you like it you can have more, but only if you like it because I want to eat yours if you don’t want more of this yummy ____.”  Then I serve them about a teaspoon of whatever I’m eating.

That said, kids often have texture issues, difficulty chewing foods like broccoli and carrots, and small appetites that make it hard for them to want to eat a whole piece of broccoli or some “slimy” zucchini.  These are the times that it can be helpful to get creative, puree it up, and sneak it in.

I do not believe in lying about it to my kids, and sometimes they’ll even help blend up the veggies to add to our sauces.  Anytime we can fortify a good meal with extra nutrients without sacrificing flavor I am all for it!  I also think it’s important to teach that cookies, brownies, and other dessert foods still have sugar and fat and are fun foods, not health foods, even if they have a quarter cup of cherry juice or apple sauce in them.  Lastly, if my children eat something like sweet potatoes or applesauce or tomatoes without pureeing and hiding, I serve it plain and save the sneaking for the tougher stuff – like spinach, cruciferous veggies, and carrots.

What sneaky recipes and methods do your kids find delicious?

Kids Nutrition (Part 1): 7 Nutrients Even Healthy Kids Miss June 26, 2011

Kids Nutrition (Part 1): 7 Nutrients Even Healthy Kids Miss.

 

I love this article – and actually the whole website www.raisehealthyeaters.com.  I know when I have kept food records on my family (does that make me a nutrition geek?)  we have found that we can be low in vitamin E and iron as well.  We tend to take a multivitamin a couple times a week as well, especially if life gets crazy and our veggie or meat intake is lower than usual.

Some habits we have found useful:

- switch to almond butter instead of peanut butter to increase vitamin E.

- add wheat germ or ground flaxseed  to sandwiches, oatmeal, waffles, or any other food that allows for a sneaky addition.

- don’t mix milk and meals.  I know, many moms have insisted on a cup of milk with every meal for years, but milk and the calcium in it inhibit the absorption of iron.  As a rule of thumb, we have milk with breakfast, morning snack, and afternoon snack; lunch and dinner I focus on iron.

- sunshine time for vitamin D!  My kids eat better, sleep better, and are generally happier when we get a little sunshine time.  that may be an couple hours at the pool or a 15 minute stop at the playground on the way home from the grocery store.

Nutrition info for moms of preschoolers January 21, 2011

I recently gave a talk to a wonderful group of moms at our local MOPs organization. Mommy-ing the under 5 crowd can be a huge challenge, and this organization is such a blessing to those of us with preschoolers and babies. In this presentation I tried to address the biggest challenges and pitfalls that we young moms face. Enjoy! Click on the link below to view the slideshow.

Nutrition for Moms of Preschoolers

Flow of empty calories into children’s food supply must be reduced October 1, 2010

Flow of empty calories into children’s food supply must be reduced.

We all know that eliminating childhood obesity is on the first lady’s priority list, but here’s another article supporting the idea that it really is a public health crisis.  I agree.  Why?  We have overweight, undernourished kids who are establishing not only a poor health foundation, but poor eating habits for their entire lives.  Poor nutrition leads to poor health which leads to less productivity and lower quality of life.  Not a happy picture for the future of our country.  What to do if you are a mom or caretaker?  First, cut out the sugar… sugary “fruit drinks” (in which the top two ingredients are water and sugar), sugary cereals, and snacks.  Second, choose whole grains.  The label needs to say “100% whole wheat,” not multigrain, made with whole wheat, or simply wheat.  Try Cheerios, chex, and triscuits.  Or just go with brown rice, oats, or other whole grains.  Last, watch the fat.  Especially the added artificial fats.  Skip the fried foods, chips, and anything with hydrogenated oils in the ingredients.  Choose healthy fatty foods like nuts and seeds and fish.  Who knows, you may find that your two year-old just loves salmon and brown rice and broccoli…just like my 15mo does!

Iron deficiency in toddlers July 30, 2010

My precious daughter turned one last month, and I was pretty excited when her CBC (a lab test of the iron level in her blood) came back normal.  Whew!  I have to admit, she has only had iron supplements less than 5 times during her first year of life, but as a breastfeeding mom who will soon be switching her to cow’s milk, I know I have to be aware of the iron content of her foods.

Iron deficiency is more common in toddlers than any other age group, possibly because of the foods they eat, the amount of milk they drink, and the drop in iron stores after 6 months of age. 

Here are my tips:

1) Cows milk is a snack, NOT part of a meal.  Milk prevents your body from absorbing iron well.  Avoid drinking milk one hour before or after eating an iron-rich food.  Here’s our routine:

• Morning: have a glass of milk, followed by oatmeal and yogurt with flax or wheatgerm, and some kind of fruit, for breakfast.
• mid-morning snack:  either iron-fortified crackers or fruit, depending on the day.
• Lunchtime:  iron-rich – either meat, beans, or iron-fortified grains/cereals/snacks, along with fruit and veggies.  no milk.  sometimes we’ll have cheese, but I try to save that for snacks.
• After nap afternoon snack: cup of milk, or a fruit and yogurt smoothie
• Dinner:  iron-rich meal served with water, no milk.  Baby gets iron fortified cereal before the meal.

2) Iron-fortified baby cereals, molasses, liver, and meatballs are all good sources of iron that are easy to chew.  Raisins with seeds are good as well, but difficult to find.

3) if you are eating a non-meat source of iron, include a fruit or juice with vitamin C to help absorption.  For example, mixing baby cereal with applesauce (often has ascorbic acid or vitamin C added), add berries to your iron-fortified pancakes or oatmeal.

Iron deficiency is a serious concern as it can stunt your child’s physical and mental development, so it is important to follow doctor’s advice on supplements when necessary.  Iron supplements should be given with fruit or a small (1-2 oz) serving of juice, or an iron-rich meal, and not with cow’s milk or a fiber supplement.  Iron supplements can cause constipation and stomachaches.  Taking it with dinner can help minimize the upset tummies, and then give the fiber supplement at breakfast to get things going during the day…

Children Who Often Drink Full-fat Milk Weigh Less, Swedish Research Finds November 4, 2009

Children Who Often Drink Full-fat Milk Weigh Less, Swedish Research Finds.

 

Like many others, I have often told people the “2% milk by 2 years of age” guideline…but it seems like research is starting to tell a different story.  In 2003 I remember hearing a presentation on foods associated with obesity, and surprisingly enough, people that ate ice cream once a week or so were thinner than those that never  or rarely enjoyed this treat.  That got me thinking.  Another study in 2005 indicated that people who eat more full-fat dairy products (up to 4 servings a day) were less likely to get colorectal cancer.  Is it the CLA?  Something else?  I know for my active 2 yo son, I’m still buying the whole milk for him and making full-fat yogurt…and I’ve gone back to real butter rather than margarine for some of our cooking (I still use more canola and grapeseed oil than anything else.)  I’m definitely looking forward to more research on the relationship between milk fat and cancer, obesity, and even diabetes!

 

Tips for feeding toddlers December 12, 2008

Ahh, the joys of feeding the independent, newly opinionated toddler! While babies may at least try a food once and are generally predictable in their likes and dislikes, the toddler’s newly found will is often expressed in what he or she decides to eat. What’s a parent to do?
1) Continue to offer a variety of foods. It often takes 17 introductions to a food before a child will like it. Keep putting those peas on the plate, even if it’s just 5 peas, and one day she may just pick them up and eat them.
2) Be consistent. Some parents insist that their child eat one bite, some want them to clean their plate – whatever your rules are, be consistent so your child will remember and be able to follow through. We do one mandatory “taste;” the food may come back out, but at least he has tried it once!
3) Substitute. Is your child refusing to eat carrots? Try sweet potato, mango, or peaches instead to give her the vitamin A. Won’t touch milk? Try yogurt or cheese for calcium and vitamin D.
4) Disguise. While it is definitely important to keep offering the rejected food, you can also disguise it in a favorite dish. Carrot puree in pizza/spaghetti sauce, Spinach in a smoothie, or even pureed carrots in “peach” yogurt are creative ways to get your toddler used to a new flavor. The two books The Sneaky Chef and  Deceptively Delicious both capitalize on this theme.  Do the math to make sure it’s worth the effort though…if you are only adding 1/4 cup of cherry or spinach to a pan of brownies or a batch of cupcakes, it comes out to very little extra nutrition per serving and the child is still getting a lot of sugar and white flour.

5)  Don’t buy it.  If your child refuses to eat anything but animal crackers and apple juice, keep those items out of the house for a while.  I promise, your child will not starve forever if there are nutritious alternatives offered to him on a regular basis. 

6)  Set the example.  Toddlers are great mimics, and your child won’t want to munch on mixed veggies if you are chowing on M&Ms.   However,  if you both sit down to a snack of apple slices and cheese or carrot sticks with a lowfat yogurt dip she will be much more likely to give it a try.