With childhood obesity reaching epidemic levels, learning how to make better food choices is essential. One way to help children avoid empty, extra calories in the home is to stop buying high calorie drinks. We all know to be wary of soda, but did you know that even beverages advertised as “healthy alternatives” to soda often have just as much sugar? Dr. Joseph Mercola recently published some information on his website (www.mercola.com) about sugary beverages. The entire article can be found on his website:
One 16-ounce can of Rockstar Energy Drink contains the same amount of sugar as half a dozen Krispy Kreme Original Glazed donuts.
Energy drinks aren’t the only culprits. The calorie and sugar content of flavored water and even juice often surprises people. Snapple Agave Melon Antioxidant Water, for example, has the equivalent sugar of two Good Humor Chocolate Eclair Bars.
ABC News reports:
“While experts say sugary beverages have a large impact on unhealthy diets that put people at risk for diabetes, it also may be the easiest change to make. ‘I would say 80 percent of the success we have in changing diets is taking away these sugar drinks,’ said Dr. Joel Zonszein, professor of Clinical Medicine”.
Staying away from sugary beverages is an excellent step towards raising healthier children.
Obesity is a national epidemic. It is estimated the one out of every three children is obese. With the long list of health problems associated with obesity it is simply a gaurantee that if these children remain obese they will face huge health problems in their lives. In an effort to raise awareness about the obesity epidemic and offer some solutions, First Lady Michelle Obama launched her “Let’s Move” campaign in February. The American Academy of Pediatrics also has a simple formula for helping prevent childhood obesity.
It’s 5-2-1-0, and it breaks down like this:
5: Eat five vegetables and fruits a day (the majority of this should be vegetables).
2: Limit screen time — TV in particular — to 2 hours or less a day. The AAP says to avoid any screen time for children under the age of 2.
1: Do one hour of physical activity a day.
0: Have zero sugar-sweetened drinks.
Dr. Mercola recently wrote an excellent article about the obesity epidemic and gave specific suggestions for how parents can deal with it. You can find it at the following link.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/06/how-to-win-the-food-battle-with-your-child.aspx
Obesity among children is on the rise, and this is a big concern for our entire country. With healthcare costs already on the rise, having generations of children suffering from obesity gaurantees that healthcare costs will continue to go up. In addition, children who suffer from obesity are at a significantly greater risk for conditions such as Type II Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gout, heart disease and certain types of cancers. Our bodies simply cannot operate optimally when we carrying large amounts of extra weight and this is especially dangerous for children. Their bodies are growing, their brains and organ systems are still developing. If their bodies can’t perform optimally during years of critical development, their health will suffer for the rest of their lives. Dr. Joseph Mercola recently wrote an article discussing one of the reasons children are suffering from obesity so much these days. The link to this article can be found below.
For more information on how to put together a healthy, balanced diet please contact our office.
http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2010/02/17/childhood-obesity–its-not-the-amount-of-tv-its-the-number-of-junk-food-commercials.aspx
