healthy eating for children and teens: how to get your child to eat better

Open up and say…AHH!Children, eating and you

Presented by:

David Levine MD

4/29/14

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Pop Quiz, Hotshots!

1) Is 2% milk better than whole milk?

- How much decrease in fat is this from whole milk, 98% or 1%?

2) Is there cheese is cheez wiz?

Which is worse? Salt, sugar or fat?

- need to know about food in order to understand how to feed your child

- need to know how food is manipulated in order to educate your child and protect them and their health

• Real, unprocessed food, sends signals to the brain that make you feel full fast

• Processed foods (Coke, Doritos, etc..) don’t send the same signals so you end up consuming more!

• and the food processors know and exploit this

Worry about predators…

Food and Family

Hopefully not this…

Nutrition

• Prenatal• extremely important• you don't fix things with 9 mths of

healthy eating after a lifetime of bad

Newborn/Infant

• breast is best

-but there is reality

-different formulas

-marketing vs. reality

Introduction of complementary foods

• no right or wrong way to start• we all prefer sweets• some evidence to support meat early (iron)• not before 17 weeks (allergy)

• Solids (finger foods) start with pincer grasp (9-10mths)

One Year

• switch to whole milk?• dairy (yogurt, cheese)>>milk

• ok to continue breast• ever expanding diet

Toddlers

• food rules• options/menu

• don't reward with bad

food for eating good food

• eating after the toddler period is determined very much by this developmental period and how you interact with the child

Are YOU picky? • anxious about your weight?• dieting?

It’s good to play with food!

BMI

• body mass index (wt for ht)• measured after 3 years of age• healthy weight/overweight/obese/morbidly obese

• a child who is overweight/obese at 5 years of age is likely to have weight problems as an adult

• not a guarantee

To organic or not to organic, that is the question.

• less pesticides• better for you?• more expensive, or is it?• the type of animal you eat may be less

important than what THAT animal ate while it was alive

• -omega 6:3 ratio should be roughly 1:1

-grass fed is 1:1

-corn fed is 14:1• heart disease risk?  cancer risk?

• THERE IS A DIFFERENCE!

Vegetarianism

Vitamins can make this a non-issue in the US• should consult with a trained nutritionist to insure that

there are no gaps, especially in children with growing bodies (different from adults)

i.e. vit B12, fatty acids, iron• vegetarian vs vegan (too restrictive for child?)• leaner bodies, probably will live longer and healthier

lives

Beef is Bad! (sorry hamburger lovers)

• especially commercially produced• E. Coli 0157:H7•     -In and Out Burger (1980's)

• byproducts fed to animal include bits from the same species

-cannibalism

-mad cow disease

Reading is fundamental...

Antibiotics

• superbugs

    - MRSA

   - E. Coli • overuse of ABX leads to resistance

• all promoted and approved by your government and the FDA/USDA

What's a parent to do?

FOOD = HEALTH

• top causes of death, most are food related

   - heart disease

  - cancers

• we all want what is best for our kids• so why do we place so little care on what they eat?• why do we not trust our own instincts when it comes to

food?

   - internet?  fad diets? mistrust of MD's?

- lack of education/information from MD's?

Do we need these?

Maybe not…

• science has not yet provided concrete answers• many different theories exist • confusing to doctors and patients

• epidemics of obesity and diabetes cannot be ignored• all of us have our biases (mine is added sugars)

-added sugars will soon be noted on nutrition labels

A spoonful of sugar?

• More like a few gallons

- soda consumption has doubled since the 70’s

- each person consumes about 40,000 gallons soda/yr

= 60,000 calories

= 3700 tsp sugar/person (about 22 tsp/day, goal is 5-10)

- 5 tsp = 6oz Coke, one Twinkie, 1.5 Fig Newtons

-How? Marketing and Conditioning (expect sweet, reject when not)

- Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Lebron James….

• why does BK and McD's cost less than real food?

    - corn subsidies

   - business invades science (remember tobacco?)• lack of real oversight• lack of caring by government (more business than

people)

Speaking of corn

• High fructose corn syrup Roughly the same sweetness of sugar, but way cheaper More stable, keeps packaged goods fresher, longer Worse than sugar?

• May lead to increased trigylcerides, LDL and other heart disease markers (Fructose = Fat?)

• Doesn’t mean table sugar (sucrose: ½ glucose, ½ fructose) is better

Obesity is the new smoking

• it is costing us billions right now• may have peaked, but still a major

problem

• trying lots of different methods

-none are proven to work

And a little about fat

• Bliss points Fat has none, just keep eating it Usually don’t even know it is there

Don’t be so Cheesy!

• Milk fat must go somewhere• Consumption has increased• Average person: sat fat increased by

200 gram/year• Finds it way into more foods as an

additive (not high quality cheese, i.e. American cheese PRODUCT)

Prevention always trumps treatment

• harder than it looks• requires commitment• watch TV, or play

• priorities!• Time?

What to do?

• teach your kids• take them food shopping• cook with them• microwaving is NOT cooking!

• your job is to provide, their's is to eat• young children can adjust their intakes, but cannot

choose a well-balanced diet

• aim for 3 meals/day (age appropriate)• avoid sodas and teas

-water

-100% juice (in moderation)

-milk (no more than 8 oz, low fat unless 12-24 mths)

-routine use of vitamins NOT necessary

• NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP!

• EAT WITH YOUR KIDS!• don't get caught up in lower percentiles if your kids is

happy and energetic• gaining wt on bad food is worse than being skinny or

stable on healthy food• petition your school and elected officials for better

food

Don't do this!

It isn't easy, but it is worth it