Are You Happy about the New Happy Meal?

Last summer McDonald's was in the news regarding concerns over toys served with Happy Meals. Earlier this year McDonald's was back in the news with concerns over a new commercial campaign. McDonald's has also recently made renovations to their look and has added foods intended to be healthier such as oatmeal and fruit smoothies.
 
Last week McDonald's hit the news again when the President of McDonald's USA, Jan Fields, introduced plans on Good Morning America for a new Happy Meal. The traditional Happy Meal of a hamburger, fries, and a soda has been tempting or satisfying children (depending on how you look at it) for the past thirty years. Relatively unchanged, the standard meal provides about 570 calories and 20 grams of fat. The new Happy Meal will reduce that total by about 100 calories and 6 grams of fat. Some see the changes as a positive response to concerns over childhood obesity. Others see it as the typical business of marketing.  Perhaps it is a little of both but it certainly can't hurt especially in light of the new Kids Live Well campaign. So is the new meal worth all the hype? Your answer to that may depend on whether you are "glass half-full" or "glass half-empty" type of person.

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How to Pack a Waste-free Lunch

Concerns continue regarding the number of overweight and obese children and teens in schools today. Trends in chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension affecting younger and younger populations also continue. Some have apprehension regarding the lack of plant-based choices in schools. Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver has shed light on just how unhealthy school lunch programs can be with several seasons of Food Revolution on ABC. Although some legislative proposals have made traction, school lunch programs still face strict governmental guidelines and deep school wide cost cutting that makes administering healthier meals a challenge. I hope we will begin to see healthier school lunches in schools across the nation but until then, our best hope for healthier children begins at home. The dog days of summer and trying to stay cool during extreme heat hardly seems like the time to think about school lunches. However, school supplies are beginning to line department store shelves. If you want your children or grandchildren to have healthy, waste-free, and cost effective lunches this school year, you will need to start planning now.

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Tips for Staying Cool and Healthy During Extreme Heat

Summer is in full swing and for much of the nation that means extreme heat and humidity that can make it difficult to spend time outdoors. Remembering basic tips like these from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can help you prevent heat-related illness during hot weather. Key things to remember include:

• Remember that infants, young children, people over age 65 and those that are physically or mentally ill are at greatest risk of heat-related illness.
• NEVER leave anyone (people or animals) in a closed, parked vehicle in hot weather under any circumstances even if you believe it will only be for a "few" minutes.
• Visit anyone that doesn't have air conditioning several times each day during extreme heat to monitor for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke especially the very young and very old. Warning signs of heat stroke include red, hot skin that is dry and not sweating, a rapid, strong pulse, and complaints of a throbbing headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion/unconsciousness, or a body temperature above 103 degrees F. Ask questions, check pulse and take their temperature if you are not sure of their condition. Get medical attention for them if several of these symptoms are found.
• Drink water throughout the day and do not rely on thirst as your guide to hydration. Watch extremely cold beverages that can cause stomach cramps when it is hot. Use your urine as your guide to monitor for proper levels of hydration. You should be urinating regularly and it should be light yellow to clear in color. If it is dark yellow with a strong ammonia smell, you need to get into the shade or a cool place and drink several cups of water or another low sugar, non-alcoholic beverage.
• Stay indoors in a cool place as much as possible. If you do not have air conditioning where you live, visit a nearby mall, community center, senior center, community heat shelter or public library during the hottest part of the day to cool off. 
• Be sure you have water with you when you load up the car whether heading to work or on vacation. Having water with you helps ensure you stay hydrated if you find yourself caught in construction traffic.

Here are several other tips to help you stay safe and cool when the temperature heats up.

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Are Healthier Kids Menus Coming to Your Favorite Restaurant?

It is difficult to listen to the news, read a newspaper, or review online blogs these days without hearing about the childhood obesity epidemic.  With a childhood obesity rate that has more than tripled in the past 30 years, the problem certainly is important to address. Last year the First Lady launched her Let's Move Campaign but more information and tools are necessary to teach kids healthy habits.
 
Last week there were two breaking headlines related to this topic. The first headline surrounding a renowned child obesity expert had Twitter feeds and news message boards lit up. A commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that states should intervene in life-threatening childhood obesity cases. The authors acknowledge many factors affect energy balance. They also site many aspects of modern society promote unhealthy lifestyles that contribute to childhood obesity issues. Their controversial opinion loosely links inadequate parental supervision and role modeling of healthy habits as a form of child abuse that contribute to issues of severe obesity in children. They suggest that some severely obese children in this situation would be better off in foster care than with their parents. The second health related topic leader of the week related to restaurants offering healthier food for kids. 
 
Some call the Kids Live Well campaign a restaurant marketing ploy while others consider it a positive response to a national crisis. Regardless of how you label it, the collaboration between the National Restaurant Association and the team of registered dietitians at Healthy Dining will help families make healthier choices when eating away from home. Helping families make healthier choices will hopefully decrease the need to even think about having to remove children from families for health reasons. Here is a closer look at what the new program includes.
 

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The Weight Loss Key You May Be Missing

In my younger days as a high school and college athlete, eating right and being active allowed me to maintain a consistently healthy weight. Working as a Registered Dietitian and maintaining an active lifestyle allowed me to maintain that healthy weight well into my thirties. However, when autoimmune disease was detected in 2002 that ultimately required the removal of two-thirds of my thyroid gland, I entered an unfamiliar battle with weight like millions of other people with thyroid disease.  
 

Over the last nine years, exploring and learning why I make the choices I do and why I struggle with certain things has been helpful as I continue living a healthy life and learn to accept what I cannot fully control. Likewise, connecting with others living with thyroid disease has allowed me to take control of my health like never before.  I have found that weight management is success and weight loss is a blessing that many times is influenced by things I never realized. Perhaps my newly discovered key to weight management success will be yours as well.

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4 Smart Strategies for Healthy Eating at College

In a few short weeks, we will take our oldest child to settle in for her first year of college. After a few tears from her father and I and possibly a few cheers from her, she will on her own and faced with many choices including what to eat and how to stay fit. Growing up as the child of a nutrition professional, she knows the basics of meal planning. Growing up with parents that have set an example for the importance of fitness for health, she knows the basics of a successful fitness plan. Regular fitness can easily work into her daily choices since she will need to walk or bike to and from classes each day, but what about meals. Although studies have shown providing nutrition information doesn't always alter college students unhealthy food choices, new students don't have to settle for the dreaded "Freshman 15" while adjusting to college living. Here are four basic strategies to help students eat healthy away from home.

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Should I Have a V8 Fusion Energy Drink?

Popular energy drinks like Monster, Full Throttle, and Red Bull have helped create a $7.6 billion United States industry over the last decade. Continued growth is expected with an anticipated growth to $19.7 billion in sales by 2013. These drinks typically contain the stimulant caffeine as well as other ingredients such as taurine, guarana and B vitamins all claiming to provide energy. The term "energy drinks" was created by beverage industry companies but is not a category currently recognized by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). There is limited evidence that these drinks improve physical or mental performance, improve mental fatigue or alertness. It is also unclear in the literature whether any improvements were the result of caffeine, the other herbal ingredients, sugar present in some drinks, or some combination of these ingredients.

Now two new energy drinks tempt us with the appeal of 100 percent vegetable and fruit juice in the new V8 Fusion Energy and V8 Energy Shot drinks. Offered in tempting flavor combinations such as pomegranate/blueberry or peach/mango some are already on shelves in over 2,400 Wal-Mart stores. Is the new mix of well-known vegetable juice with caffeine, vitamins, and green tea a source of energy packed fruit and vegetables servings you should including in your healthy eating plan?

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Tips for a Healthy Summer with Diabetes

It's summertime! Did you know that if you have diabetes you need to be extra careful during the summer? Do you know which summer footwear is better for people with diabetes? Do you know if sunburns affect blood sugar levels? Do you know how to protect your testing supplies and medications during hot weather? Trying to have an active summer with outdoor picnics or visiting amusement parks or hitting the road for short day trips or vacations while maintaining an eating and blood testing routine can be difficult. However, with a few precautions, you can enjoy the summer while also maintaining good blood glucose control. 
 

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Tips for Washing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

My aunt and uncle have a farm with a garden, and many fruit trees and bushes. They enjoy vegetables as well as fresh picked apples or pears and berries right off the bush. While it takes work, they enjoy their nutrient-rich bounty throughout the year.



Even with so many fresh, organically grown choices, they still purchase items from the dirty dozen list from time to time. Since it is important to wash all fresh produce whether conventionally or organically grown regardless if it comes from the "dirty" list or the Clean 15, it is important to know the most effective way.

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Do You Have the Courage to Help Stop Bullying?

Throughout junior high and high school, I was a three-sport athlete, which included school records and state level competition. I attended college on a volleyball scholarship and enjoyed competition and recognition on a national level. Athletics have provided me with some of my most memorable and teachable moments outside of being a parent. They have taught me life lessons that guide me still today.

Sports will be used to tackle the timely topic of bullying in the sixth Family Movie Night presentation sponsored by P & G and Walmart that airs tomorrow, June 11,2011, at 8:00pm EST on NBC. When the star quarterback learns some of his teammates have been bullying the new transfer student, Tyler has to decide what to do. When faced with the choice of standing up for the new student at the cost of friendship and the state championship, does Tyler have the courage to do what is right?

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National Food Icon Takes a New Shape

Last Thursday I watched First Lady Michelle Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin unveil the new food icon, MyPlate. I love the new icon that replaces the often times confusing MyPyramid image as a visual cue and teaching tool.

The intent of the new icon is to translate the main tips of the newly updated 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans into a visual that helps Americans build healthy diets, one meal at a time. The main take away tips from the Dietary Guidelines are to:

• Enjoy food but in the correct portion size.
• Make fruits and vegetables the focus of your meal.
• Include fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk and dairy products in your meals.
• Select foods lower in sodium.
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

This new icon is another in a long history of USDA Food Guides. In the 1940's visual tools started with the basic seven wheel that quickly became the Basic Four Guide to Good Eating in the late nineteen fifties. This educational tool was used for over twenty years. A fifth group was added in the late 1970's to provide guidance related to recommendations on fats, sweets, and alcohol. The Food Wheel was created in the mid-1980's for use in a Red Cross nutrition course which transitioned into the familiar Food Guide Pyramid in 1992. Although there was an update in 2005 to MyPyramid in an attempt to increase focus on activity, the triangular shape has been the national icon for nearly two decades, until now.

Here are some of the highlights of the new USDA circular icon.

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Three High-Protein Breakfasts to Boost Weight Loss

You have most likely heard it said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Some research suggests breakfast is an important part of a healthy eating plan that can help you achieve and maintain your best weight. A new study suggests that a protein-rich breakfast could also be a key to appetite control.

The study, conducted by assistant professor from the MU Department of Nutrition and Exercise and Physiology Heather Leidy and colleagues and funded by the National Pork Board and the American Egg Board—Egg Nutrition Center, found that a higher protein breakfast results in "improved daily satiety and evening appetite control."

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Water Safety Tips for an Active and Safe Summer

Last year shortly after school let out for the summer, our community suffered a tragedy. A happy, smart, and beautiful six-year-old little boy drowned in a swim club pool while attending a classmate's birthday party. What made this tragedy so shocking was the fact that he drowned while surrounded by lifeguards, adults, and a pool full of swimmers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "drowning is the sixth leading cause of unintentional injury death for people of all ages, and the second leading cause of death for children ages one to fourteen."

Swimming and other water recreational activities are very popular in the United States, especially during the summer and are great ways to be active. To help educate the public about safer water practices, May was named National Water Safety Month. Here are a few water safety tips to help keep your summer active, safe and enjoyable.

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Important Takeaways from Consumer Reports New Diet Ratings

Approximately 45 million people attempt to lose weight each year using a variety of dieting approaches. Although most diet plans use the general weight loss formula of calories in versus calories out, exactly how they use and apply that formula can vary widely.

Some programs focus on varying ratios of macronutrients (carbs, fat and protein). Low-carb diets advocate eating fewer than the adult RDA of 130 grams of carbs per day, while high-protein diets say that the key to weight loss is eating more protein than the recommended 35 percent of total energy intake. Other programs focus on strict week-by-week eating plans or use a meal-replacement approach as a way to control consumed calories.

To help consumers choose the best diet plan, Consumer Reports started rating diets in 2005. This year's review, published in the magazine's June issue, has sparked some criticism. Who came out on top? And why all the controversy?

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SoFAS Do Not Belong in the Kitchen

In the recently updated 2010 Dietary Guidelines, the term SoFAS is defined as solid fats and added sugars.

Solid fats are those that remain in solid form at room temperature. They tend to be high in unhealthy saturated fats that can increase total cholesterol especially the LDL's. Some solid fats are found naturally for example in lard. Others like stick margarine or vegetable shortening are the result of the hydrogenation process which also produces trans fats.

Many foods have sugar but not all foods have added sugar. Most carbohydrate containing foods contain sugars in the form of glucose, fructose, or lactose. For example, fruit and the juice squeezed from fruit naturally contain the sugar fructose that makes them sweet. Fruit drinks on the other hand contain added sugars that make them sweet.

Health experts recommend a daily calorie intake that contains 15 percent or less from SoFAS. However, Guideline studies found the actual intake for Americans of all ages and sexes to be more like 35 percent from foods and snacks such as pies, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, soda, fruit drinks, energy and sports drinks. Several health organizations, including the American Heart Association, suggest that added sugar should be limited to no more than 6-7 percent of your total calories. That would indicate that solid fats would contribute 8 percent or less of daily caloric intake.

In the old Food Guide Pyramid fats, oils and sweets were found at the top of the diagram and visually encouraged sparing consumption. In the new My Pyramid graphic, this group doesn't have the same visual prominence or reminder of limitation. Here are three basic keys to help you remove the SoFAS from your kitchen.

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