This page is for parents who are searching for ideas and suggestions to help prevent childhood obesity with their children. It can be a daunting task. If we all work together, we can achieve the goals and help our children!
It is recommended that parents and
guardians actively participate in changing their children’s lifestyle to
prevent childhood obesity. Some suggestions for parents are balancing calories
by encourage healthy eating habits, looking for healthier, favorite meals, and
remove the unhealthy temptations (CDC, 2011). The two main components of eating
healthy are to provide nutritious foods and provide those foods in appropriate
portion sizes. It is highly important to have your children eat vegetables,
fruit and whole grains, non-fat dairy products, lean meats and legumes. Encourage
your children to drink water rather than sugar filled sodas or sports drinks.
Limit the intake of sugar filled foods and foods high in saturated fat.
The difficult problem is removing
the high calorie foods that add no nutritional value to their diets. Such foods
are chips, ice-cream, candies and sodas. These foods can be enjoyed in
moderation, but try to substitute healthy snacks in their place to encourage
healthy eating habits. A substitute for something sweet could be a medium sized
banana or an apple. For a crunchy treat, try carrots or celery with hummus as a
dip (for that slight salty flavor). Instead of ice-cream, make a banana and
strawberry smoothie with non-fat yogurt.
How do we get our children to take interest in
healthy food options? Get them involved and have fun creating a special snack
together. Take a look at these fun recipes that can entice your children to be
creative and healthy. These snacks might become your child’s new favorite and
healthy meal.
Ingredients
pipe cleaners
1 clothespin
1 snack baggie
2 wiggle eyes
Dab of glitter glue
Instructions:
· Step one: Dab some glitter glue on one side of a clothespin. Stick wiggle eyes onto gluey side of clothespin. Let dry.
· Step two: Fill a snack-sized baggie with a healthy snack. Distribute snack to corners of the baggie.
· Step three: Clip the clothespin over the snack. Stick antennae-shaped pipe cleaner into jaws of clip.
Apple Bites
Ingredients:
Apples
Almond Slivers
Just quarter and core an apple, cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter, then press almonds in place for teeth.
Tip: If you're not going to serve them right away, baste the apples with orange juice to keep them from browning.
Simba Hummus Platter
·
¼
cup hummus, store-bought or from your favorite recipe
·
Wax
paper
·
½
red pepper, ribs and seeds removed
·
1
whole-wheat tortilla
·
1
flour tortilla
·
1
red radish
·
1
pitted black olive
Instructions:
| 1. Use a 3" round cookie cutter to cut circles from the flour tortilla and the whole wheat tortilla. |
 |
2.Cut
a crescent shape from the flour tortilla, for Simba's mouth. Trim the sides of
the whole-wheat tortilla to make the bridge of Simba's nose. Cut ears from the
scraps of the whole-wheat tortilla.
3.Put
a scoop of hummus in the center of a small plate and add the tortilla nose and
mouth.
4.
Cut a radish in half. Use two thin slices for the eyes, and trim the other half
to look like a red nose. Cut the red pepper into curvy strips, and place them
around the hummus face, as a mane. Add tortilla ears. Finish with sliced olives
as pupils, and strips of olive as eyebrows.
 |
Retrieved from http://family.go.com/food/recipe-1005690-simba-hummus-platter-t/?cmp=OTC_Shine_DisneyHealthySnacks_FCOM
Butterfly Snack Pack
Butterfly Snack Pack Materials:
pipe cleaners
1 clothespin
1 snack baggie
2 wiggle eyes
Dab of glitter glue
Instructions:
· Step one: Dab some glitter glue on one side of a clothespin. Stick wiggle eyes onto gluey side of clothespin. Let dry.
· Step two: Fill a snack-sized baggie with a healthy snack. Distribute snack to corners of the baggie.
· Step three: Clip the clothespin over the snack. Stick antennae-shaped pipe cleaner into jaws of clip.
Retrieved from http://www.squawkfox.com/2011/09/19/butterfly-snack/
Apple Bites
Apples
Almond Slivers
Just quarter and core an apple, cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter, then press almonds in place for teeth.
Tip: If you're not going to serve them right away, baste the apples with orange juice to keep them from browning.
Retrieved from http://scaryhalloweenrecipes.net/
Other great
websites for ideas are:
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/08/getting-kids-to-eat-healthy-without-them-knowing-it.html
http://www.FruitsandVeggiesMatter.gov
Reference
CDC. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/children/index.html
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