Sugar Overload: Do You Know How Much Sugar Your Kids Are REALLY Consuming?
Sugar and spice and everything nice. Isn’t that how the saying goes? We associate sugar with all that is good. We call people and actions sweet. We reward our children with sugary snacks when they do well. Who else remembers focusing on the lollipop prize for sitting still at the barber or being good at the doctor’s office? Sugar has been reinforced into our subconscious to mean good, well-deserved, and rewarding. We may even catch ourselves judging an anti-sweets person, trying to figure out what is wrong with them. For Americans, the use of sugar has become an extremely common and unhealthy habit.
Diabetes On the Rise: How to Minimize Your Kids Risk
When we discuss type 2 diabetes we often picture older adults struggling with declining health and “later-life issues”. This narrative never really transferred over to kids in the past in the manner it does now. The common understanding was that children develop type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes was reserved for adults. However, today’s standard American diet is resulting in a change to that preconception. The latest study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that the numbers for kids aged 10-19 diagnosed with type II diabetes have increased by five percent over the past decade. How is that possible?
Are Organic Snacks REALLY Healthy?
As parents, we want the best for our children – and that includes stocking the fridge and the pantry with the right meals and snacks. However, as functioning adults in the 21st century, we also know that there is barely enough time between work and life demands to create every meal from scratch. So, what are some things we tend to look for when searching for the best life-supporting nutrients for our offspring that would make our crunchy granola moms and dads proud?
Diabetes in Young Children
More White, American Children Getting Type 1 Diabetes Cases of type 1 diabetes are increasing among white American children, especially among 5- to 9-year-olds, according to a study published recently in the journal Diabetes. Almost 6,000 new cases of the disease were diagnosed in the United States among white teenagers and children, ages 19 and younger, between 2002 and 2009. Most new cases were in children between 5 and 9 years old; smaller increases were seen among children and teens 10 to 19 years old. No increase was seen in cases in children 4 years and younger. Boys were slightly more likely to develop the illness than girls.
5 Ways to Keep Your Children Healthy — Naturally!
It’s good to know that in our day and age, medical knowledge and the ability to obtain information have increased so vastly, compared to even just a few decades ago. But even now, prevention is a fundamentally important way to maintain our health and that of our children, so that we won’t need medical interventions too often. And what are some of the most essential ways to keep our children healthy the natural way? Here are five that should be on every family’s list.
Family Meals Keep Kids Slim?
Could Pleasant, Peaceful Family Meals Help Fight Childhood Obesity? You might not think of it, but having peaceful, pleasant family meals could help maintain children at a healthy weight, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Minnesota gave 120 families iPads to record mealtimes for 8 days; half the families had overweight or obese children, and half did not.
American Children Eat Too Much Salt and Sugar, According to Two Studies
Two recent studies examined sugar and salt consumption among American children, and found that American youths tend to eat too much of both. One study, published recently in the journal BMC Public Health, found that 60 to 90 percent of school-age children develop cavities, and the researchers concluded that sugar is the number-one reason for that tooth decay. (Adults have an even higher rate: according to an article published in TIME, 92 percent of adults aged 20 to 60 have had tooth decay in at least one tooth.)
Overweight Teens’ Life Expectancies Not Increasing?
It’s common knowledge that people’s life expectancies in developed countries have increased in the last 50 years, as science has uncovered new ways to prevent, treat and cure illnesses. But a study has found that people who were obese or overweight as teenagers are not living longer than similar people did five-plus decades ago. The life expectancy of an American born in 2011 was 78.7 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the average lifespan has increased by more than 10 years since 1950. But the death rate for people in the study who had been obese or overweight as teens did not show improvement during that time.
7 Healthy, Quick, Easy-to-Make School Lunches!
For parents who opt out of school-meal programs and prefer to prepare their kids’ lunches, the following are useful tips, plus some healthy, quick and easy lunch ideas. Choose Your Bread Carefully! A good lunch sandwich starts with good bread. Unless you bake your own bread (and most of us don’t), good bread choices at most supermarkets are unfortunately few and far between. A bread may have a wonderfully soft texture and even taste great … but the first thing you should look at before deciding whether to buy it is the ingredients label.
Heart Disease Begins in Childhood
Most people think of heart disease as something that only middle-aged or older folks have to worry about. But long-term studies from the last several decades have shown that heart disease sometimes begins in childhood. Therefore, preventing heart disease later in life begins with eating a healthy diet and developing healthy habits in childhood. Coronary artery disease, or CAD, is more commonly called heart disease. In truth, CAD can develop into heart disease. CAD is the development of plaques on the walls of arteries that feed the heart muscle. As more plaque is deposited, blood and oxygen flow to the heart are restricted, which can lead to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats and heart attacks later on.
Cheerios Cereal Will no Longer Have GMO’s … but that Still Leaves the Toxic Chemicals!
In January, 2014, General Mills foods announced that it would no longer use genetically modified organisms (GMO’S) to make its original cereal, Cheerios. While Cheerios has never contained GMO oats, the company will now use non-GMO cane sugar, instead of GM beet sugar. Growing numbers of consumers and advocacy groups are raising concerns about the safety of using genetically altered crops in our food supply; consumer pressure is behind the decision by General Mills.