Raising Heart-Smart Kids
Raising Heart-Smart Kids
It's never too early to start good family habits -- at the dining table and in the gym.
The big message is that parents need to help their children lower their risk of future heart attacks and strokes. And researchers are emphasizing what I already knew: that eating a low-fat diet and getting regular exercise are the best ways to do this -- for children as well as adults.
We decided it was time to get our family on the right track and to try to be a heart-healthy family for a week. As for diet, this meant taking a look at what we were eating and choosing lower-fat alternatives. On the exercise front, it meant a major change in our lifestyle because we didn't have a consistent exercise program, either individually or as a family.
My kids being only 2 years old, I hadn't considered that it might be time for them to cut down on fat, but apparently it was. Before the age of 2, many doctors think kids do need to get more of their calories -- about 40% -- from fat. Jeff Hampl, PhD, RD, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association and assistant professor of nutrition at Arizona State University, says that quantity of fat is essential for the rapid growth and brain development that occurs during this early phase of life. Others, such as Finnish researcher Leena Rask-Missila, MD, of the University of Turku, have found that even babies benefit from a 30% to 35% fat diet.
But once they hit 2 -- and for the rest of their lives -- everyone agrees their fat-bingeing days should be behind them. At that point, Hampl says, "there should be a gradual reduction in fat until it's [only] 30% of the diet."
The first step was to figure out healthy meals that a 2-year-old would actually eat. I logged onto the American Heart Association (AHA) web site (www.americanheart.org) and clicked on the Heart-Healthy Recipe section. At the recommendation of a friend, I also picked up a copy of Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites by Pam Krauss. Face it: I was going to have to give up our frozen-food dinners and start cooking.
Raising Heart-Smart Kids
It's never too early to start good family habits -- at the dining table and in the gym.
The big message is that parents need to help their children lower their risk of future heart attacks and strokes. And researchers are emphasizing what I already knew: that eating a low-fat diet and getting regular exercise are the best ways to do this -- for children as well as adults.
We decided it was time to get our family on the right track and to try to be a heart-healthy family for a week. As for diet, this meant taking a look at what we were eating and choosing lower-fat alternatives. On the exercise front, it meant a major change in our lifestyle because we didn't have a consistent exercise program, either individually or as a family.
What's Cooking?
My kids being only 2 years old, I hadn't considered that it might be time for them to cut down on fat, but apparently it was. Before the age of 2, many doctors think kids do need to get more of their calories -- about 40% -- from fat. Jeff Hampl, PhD, RD, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association and assistant professor of nutrition at Arizona State University, says that quantity of fat is essential for the rapid growth and brain development that occurs during this early phase of life. Others, such as Finnish researcher Leena Rask-Missila, MD, of the University of Turku, have found that even babies benefit from a 30% to 35% fat diet.
But once they hit 2 -- and for the rest of their lives -- everyone agrees their fat-bingeing days should be behind them. At that point, Hampl says, "there should be a gradual reduction in fat until it's [only] 30% of the diet."
The first step was to figure out healthy meals that a 2-year-old would actually eat. I logged onto the American Heart Association (AHA) web site (www.americanheart.org) and clicked on the Heart-Healthy Recipe section. At the recommendation of a friend, I also picked up a copy of Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites by Pam Krauss. Face it: I was going to have to give up our frozen-food dinners and start cooking.
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