Healthy Kids Challenge
Welcome to Wednesday WOWS! February 1, 2006
W-wonderful O-opportunities W-with S-schools
....Easy HEAR, SEE, DO action tips each week
HEAR >>>> Provide a message to increase awareness of
knowledge/skills
SEE >>>> Show people HOW to make healthy changes
DO >>>> Help people practice and make
healthy changes
The WOWS Message: Family Mealtime
is worth the Effort!
The traditional "home cooked meal" isn't a necessity
anymore with the many restaurants available, fast food options, and
pre-packaged meals. Add to the fact, parent's meetings and kid's
extra-curricular activities around the dinner hour cut into family meal
opportunities. Gathering for the evening meal or any meal becomes more
difficult all the time. Don't dismay! Try the tips presented below to
improve the quality and consistency of family meals! This WOWS provides content for you to
cut and paste a HEAR-SEE-DO
message about family mealtime into a parent newsletter or tip sheet!
Research tells us that
family mealtime improves our kid's food choices, supports healthy
self-esteem and academic performance. It's one of the most important
family habits to maintain!
We know families that eat
together are more likely to have five servings of fruits and vegetables
a day as those who do not. Family meals generally provide a healthy
balance of food choices (less high sugar and fat options) which gives
the many
nutrients growing kids need.
Shared meals strengthen communication and give family members the sense
of belonging and of being needed. Teaching and encouraging table
manners, social skills and family values can all take place at the
dinner table.
Academic performance improves when parents show interest in their kids'
school day events, class subjects and personal interests. Family
mealtimes provide a setting where discussion can flourish.
Try out some of the ideas below to improve your family mealtimes!
- Make family mealtime a
priority! Emphasize it's importance to each family member.
- Be flexible and
inventive about when and where to eat. Family meals can be shared at
home, in a restaurant, at a park, or near a practice field.
- Make mealtime a
positive experience for all. Save the corrections, negative comments
and punishments for another time. Aim to listen, share, understand and laugh.
- Ask for and include
family member's menu suggestions. Encourage teamwork from the start
with meal preparation clear through to clean-up. Preparing and cooking
food together can be fun!
In order to have a meal
ready when your family is available, include a few of these suggestions
below:
- Pack a picnic dinner
to eat together at the practice field, play practice, or music lesson.
Make some quick sandwiches at home with lean deli meats like turkey,
chicken, ham or roast beef. Fill the sandwiches with some healthy
veggies like spinach or lettuce leaves, tomato or cucumber slices,
green or red bell peppers for added nutrients! Include a pack of sliced
raw veggies like celery sticks, baby carrots, cauliflower or broccoli
florets, or whatever is available at home. Bring along fresh fruit or
individual canned fruit packed in juice as a healthy sweet! As a quick
beverage bring juice boxes or fill a thermos with water. Don't forget
utensils, plates, napkins, and cups as needed. This may turn into a
favorite family meal memory!
- If one parent needs to
work late, take dinner and the kids to the office. Turn the break room
into your family dining room. On the way to the office, stop at a local
grocery store with a salad bar or deli area and pull together some healthy choices
for your meal. A salad bar can serve as a whole meal for some family
members. Choose a variety of greens and chopped raw vegetables; add
some protein sources such as chopped cooked egg, chopped lean meat,
shredded cheese, canned beans and seeds or nuts; then include some
crackers, whole-grain if available, and your meal will cover many of
the food groups. Other family members may opt for a side salad, then
choose a roasted chicken from the deli or other meat option for the
main entree. Consider a fruit salad or fresh fruit added to the meal,
then stop at the bakery for some dinner rolls and your family meal
creation is complete!
- Learn to use a
crock-pot! Set it in the morning and you can come home to soup, pot
roast, stew or any number of meal choices to eat when everyone has
gathered to the table. Microwave some frozen vegetables, bring bread
and margarine to the table, and it's dinnertime!
- Serve a quick
breakfast meal of scrambled eggs, toast, cereal and milk, 100% juice or
fruit and you'll fill a hungry stomach.
Thought for the Day
"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not
reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them,
and try to follow where they lead." -- Louisa May Alcott
For questions about Healthy
Kids Challenge, please contact:
Vickie L. James, RD, LD, Director
vickie@healthykidschallenge.com
www.healthykidschallenge
1-888-259-6287