Restaurants Take Role In Childhood Obesity
by Connie Guttersen, RD PhD,
author of the Sonoma Diet
A look at menus and trends finds that the food industry is taking on a greater responsibility for the epidemic concerns of childhood obesity. Exciting nutrition education programs for chefs and food professionals are available at leading culinary schools, universities and via special conferences. Chefs are expanding healthy food choices for hotels, restaurants, food companies and fast food establishments to include nutrient dense foods and kid friendly themes and games, which stand for positive messages such as energy, power, and smart eating.
The movement toward kid gourmet enthusiasm is exemplified by Chef Emeril Lagasse's Baby Bam, designed to introduce the younger set to the joy of cooking. This is a great motivator for kids since they feel good about creating the dish and having control about what goes in their body, thereby making them more responsible for their health. By inspiring a joy of cooking, families may actually eat more at home together thus fostering healthy eating habits.
 California Chef Alice Waters is the unquestioned leader in culinary inspiration for kids. Take, for example, her edible garden in Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. This program directly involves children in planting, gardening, harvesting, cooking and eating of the fruits of their labor. And her vision just grew appreciably larger with the announced launch of a new program with the Berkeley Unified School District, which will result in offering student academic credit for lunch and will bring the study of food and agriculture into all aspects of classroom learning. She has even backed this program with a $3.8 million start-up grant from her own foundation.
The James Beard Foundation is also involved in a children's culinary program, "Spoons Across America" which provides food and nutrition education to children, families, and school based programs.
The California Olive Industry has also taken the lead in nutrition education with their newly launched nutrition education online interactive game for elementary school kids at www.oliville.com. It features a group of oddball cartoon characters, living in a land called Oliville and includes a good measure of nutrition information spiced up with lots of goofy kid-humor. TOP
Children and Fat
Fats are certainly a large part of many kids' diets. They are eating more fast food--much of it super sized--consuming more calories and experiencing less physical activity. The numbers tell the story. An average 12-year-old requires 1500 calories per day, yet studies have found that average consumption in the US is 3500 calories per day.
Not surprisingly, techniques that work for adult weight loss do not necessarily work for children. For example, it is well known that restricting calories for children doesn't lead to long-term success. In fact, studies have shown that weight loss in children achieved from diets results in a 90% failure rate.
It is also interesting to note the their responses to fat intake. Information presented at the March 2004 American Heart Association Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease, Epidemiology, and Prevention found that children who eat very high levels of fat or very low levels of fat gain more weight than kids who eat moderate amounts of fat. The Framingham Children's Study analyzed dietary habits of 106 families who had one child 3 5 years old at the start of the study. The children kept food diaries with description of foods, portions, brands, and recipes consumed over a 12-year period until they were adolescents. The diaries were then analyzed and cross-tabulated with excessive gains in body fat during that period. Children for whom dietary fat represented 35% of total calorie intake, as well as for those whose dietary fat represented less than 30% of total calories, gained more weight than those who took in moderate amounts of dietary fat meaning 30% to 35% of total calories. Children who ate really low fat diets, defined as diets in which less than 20% of calories came from fat, added about a third of an inch of fat to teenage bodies.
The findings of this study are similar to those published by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health study in the International Journal of Obesity, 2001. The results of this long term study provide valuable information regarding the supportive use of a calorie controlled, moderate fat diet (primarily monounsaturated) as an alternative to the standard low fat diet for weight reduction. It also emphasizes the importance of taste and variety of foods for long-term success. Dietary fat, primarily from monounsaturated sources, enhances the flavor of foods and provides satiety. This may have contributed to the increase in vegetable intake within the moderate fat group. The role model in this case, the traditional Mediterranean cuisine, has long been regarded as a healthy and delicious way to enjoy meals.
There is an enormous amount of research which validates the importance of the type of dietary fat rather than the total amount for health benefits and weight loss. A greater emphasis on monounsaturated fats over hydrogenated and saturated fats is very important for ensuring good health. Children who ate the low fat diet compensated by eating more carbohydrates. This did not occur in the moderate fat intake group. Another interesting finding was that the moderate fat intake group consumed more vegetables, fruits, and dairy. Minerals such as calcium and magnesium, found in dairy, vegetables, and whole grains may have a role in preventing normal weight children from becoming overweight adolescents.
 Perhaps one of the most disturbing trends is the use of low carbohydrate/high protein diets to promote weight loss in children. While a low carbohydrate diet may add up to weight loss for an adult, children who cut back on their intake of carbohydrates are likely to end up as overweight teens, according to new findings within the Framingham Children's study. It is important to recognize that there is merit to decreasing the intake of simple carbohydrates, those with a high glycemic index, such as refined breads, sugars, cookies, potatoes and white rice, while increasing the intake of more fibrous carbohydrates such as whole grains, beans, legumes and vegetables. This will diminish the risk of insulin resistance in overweight children. Fibrous carbohydrates prevent the surge in blood sugar associated with high glycemic carbohydrates. A growing child needs the type of calories provided by carbohydrates to support the energy costs of exercise and growth.
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What Makes a Food Healthy?
Foods offer a wide array of nutrients, therefore it is important to consider the variety, nutrient density and amounts required for growth and maintenance--especially, when we consider the increased nutrient needs of growing children and adolescents. Serving a wide variety of fruits and vegetables is important because different fruits and vegetables are rich in different nutrients such as antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals and fiber. For example, a fresh orange has 27 times more fiber than a glass of orange juice. Many less frequency consumed vegetables and fruits such as blueberries, cranberries, papaya, kale, beets and greens contain protective phytochemicals such as carotenoiods, and flavonoids. Other foods such as spinach, kiwi, cabbage and citrus are great sources of vitamin C, whereas dark green leafy vegetables, lentils, and blackeye peas are good sources of folate. Different whole grains from oats, wheat and barley not only provide more fiber, vitamin B, magnesium, and vitamin E, they are also good sources of protein. Heirloom grains such as farro from the Italian Tuscan region, spelt, kamut, and quinoa also provide higher amounts of B vitamins and protein. Choosing the right balance of dietary fats is also important. Monounsaturated fats have been found to be beneficial in improving insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes while saturated and hydrogenated fats have been found to actually increase the risk factors for these metabolic conditions. TOP
Healthy Habits at Meal Time
The way we eat, that is: - the importance we place on family meals, exposure to different flavors and foods form the basis of how a child relates, tastes and accepts different foods as they grow into adults. Many children who grow up with healthy eating habits learn to taste, recognize flavors and appreciate food at a higher level. Restaurants can play a large role in introducing children to new types of foods--as well as attitude about food and enjoyment.
As food professionals, many of us have taken the endeavor to make a difference in our nation's health by starting with children. The following is a list of healthy and helpful suggestions to share with young children and adults.
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