Helping Our Kids Maintain a Healthy Weight, Part 1

The 2007 Expert Committee Recommendations on Childhood & Adolescent Overweight & Obesity included some great information to help families achieve and/or maintain a healthy weight.  The committee identified three behaviors with strong evidence showing the behavior caused excessive calorie intake.  Each behavior is modifiable so making these three changes can have a significant impact on helping all family members maintain a healthy weight.

Each of my articles for the next three months will discuss one of the behaviors and provide specific suggestions for families.

Behavior #1: Reduce the Frequency of Eating Out

From 1977 to 1996, children increased the calories they consumed outside of the home from 18% to 32%.  Restaurants and fast food outlets often serve large portions and research shows that children (and adults) eat more when served a larger portion.  One third of U.S. children eat at a fast food restaurant on a typical day.  Children who eat fast food, compared to those who don’t, consume approximately 187 more calories per day; consume more fat, added sugar, and sweetened beverages; and consume less fruits, vegetables, milk and fiber.

What can parents do?
The quick answer is to prepare and enjoy more meals at home.  But each family eats out for different reasons so here are some suggestions addressing common reasons families eat out.

“I don’t have time to cook.”
Research shows that the time to drive to a restaurant, order, and eat often takes longer than cooking at home.  There are many ways you can save time as you cook: Plan meals for the week so you don’t have to spend time figuring out what to cook each night.  Clean as you go.  Prepare enough for “planned-overs” (i.e. leftovers).  Cook extra meat to use in another dish the next night.  Make one-pot meals, such as Skillet Lasagna, that include a grain, vegetable, and protein.

“The food I make doesn’t taste as good.”
Start a recipe file.  Try different recipes and save your family’s favorites.  You can ask friends and family for their favorite recipes.  Web sites like http://www.kraftfoods.com/ and http://www.allrecipes.com/ let people rate the recipes so you can choose one that a lot of people have really enjoyed.  Not all recipes will be a hit, but you’ll end up with a nice file of recipes you know you’re family will enjoy.

“I never have the ingredients I need to make a meal.”
Take time to meal plan once a week.  It will save you so much time (and money!!) in the long run.  Check out my blog article from this past September on Meal Planning.

“I don’t know how to cook.”
As nutrition educators, we are seeing more and more adults with minimal cooking skills.  It’s not their fault; they simply never had the opportunity to learn how to cook because they grew up in families that ate out or ate convenience foods most of the time.  If you want to improve your cooking skills, check out classes available at your local Extension Office or Community College.  Consider buying a cookbook or checking one out from the library.  Choose a basic cookbook that teaches you how to cook.  One of my favorites is Mark Bittman’s cookbook entitled How to Cook Everything.

“We go out because everybody in my family wants something different.”
No parent wants to become a short order cook.  My friend has a family rule that they will go out to eat once a week.  Her three kids know the rule so once they’ve gone out during the week, they don’t pester her to go out on the other nights.  They know they get to choose what they want when they go out, and the other nights they eat what is served at home.

Another friend who’s a dietitian had this rule at her house:  If you absolutely don’t like what is served you can have a bowl of cereal with skim milk.  The cereal options in her house were all low-sugar, whole grain options.  Most of the time, her kids would eat the meal served.  If they didn’t, she didn’t have to do any extra work and her kids were still having a healthy “meal”.

We want you to share your suggestions too!  Post a comment below.