Description

In this health video learn from top fitness and nutrition experts who provide their insight regarding strategies to achieve optimum health.

Transcript

Female: Have you ever asks the child what there favorite foods are, chances are you won’t hear answer like apples or broccoli instead you will probably hear foods like pizza or candy. That’s because most children don’t understand the importance of good nutrition. Silvia Nunez: It’s important that are know about nutrition and need this healthy as they can now so that in adulthood they continue with that as adulthood they tend to eat what we ate when we we’re young so if they’re learning and they pick up those great habits right now they’re going to leave really healthy lives later. Female: Give her agrees her son Alex is only 12 years old and already he has high cholesterol. Lisa Gifford: His cholesterol level is stay the same for a few years but it always has been high and they were concern with this. Female: Though for Alex this was about more than just his cholesterol. Alex Gifford: I just pretty much took to look at myself and I didn’t think I was looking very good. Female: After several visits to his pediatrician Alex decided he wants it to make a chance. That’s when he joined the children’s physical fitness program. The program combines physical fitness with proper nutrition. Alex Gifford: It is help me very much and making the right decisions when it comes to time to eat. Female: Health expert say eating right doesn’t have to be a challenge but like everything else you have to know the rules of the game. That’s where the food guide pyramid comes in, in the bread group which includes cereal, rice and pasta the recommendation are six to eight servings per day. In the vegetable group you can have three to five servings. Fruits are two to four servings. There are only two to three servings recommended for dairy foods and meats and other proteins like eggs and nuts. Fats, oils and sweet are at the top, its recommend that you have as few of this in the diet as possible. Now comes the most difficult part, deciding what to eat. Look at food levels and compare products, what about vitamins and other nutrients? Look to see if there is any fiber, pick the product with less fat and sugar and that bring us to our kids health works Q and A. How can too much sugar affected child’s health. It turns out that many kinds are getting into some bad habits when it comes to added sugar. Too much sugar and too little exercise have been link to adult onset diabetes in children. Soft drinks contain about nine teaspoons of sugar per 12 ounce can so it’s important to monitor these calories. Here are some tips from dieticians. Give kids water instead of soda, when giving them juice diluted use half juice half water. After the age of two switch to low fat or skim milk instead of whole milk. Limit bread meats to three times per week, give them fruits and vegetables or even cheese and crackers as a snack instead of chips or other junk food. When it comes to packing lunches and preparing meals some parents worry whether there child is getting enough nutrients. While you might not be able to cut out all junk food there are ways to make some of kids favorite foods lower in fat by changing the original recipe. Silvia Nunez: Sometimes kids like chicken nuggets or the typical macaroni and cheese and I really like those kind of things and your use to making in the certain way and rebuying in the certain way you can make it healthier by using less fat in the recipe calls or sometimes they put for half a cup of margarine or oil you can use a quarter of a cup. The same thing with the fries let say you can make in other bake they don’t have to fry them. Female: For Alex changing the way he eat is been a change for the best. Alex Gifford: Oh I feel much better about myself because you know I have a little more energy and they say when you eat a lot they only want to do is to slay down or sit down or something now that I’m eating less than I use too I feel more energetic and you know I feel like doing stuffs. Female: And just as Alex learned good health means more than just eating rice, it also means getting enough daily exercise.