Eating for A's

This is a must read for anyone with children and I wanted to share it with you.
http://annlouise.com/

BREAKFAST FOR CHAMPIONS:

Three quarters of American children decide what - if anything-
they'll eat every morning. That is a problem. "Even nutritional
deficiencies of a relatively short-term nature will influence
children's behavior, ability to concentrate, and to perform
complex tasks,". Tufts University researchers find.

Starting the day with something as easy as a cereal bar can improve
memory, mood, and recall, another study shows.

Research among junior-high girls find that those who got iron and
vitamin B-3 (Niacin) at breakfast had better memory scores.
And vitamin B-12 intake was linked to better grades at school.

There's more: Eating breakfast also means kids are less likely to
be overweight. Consider the dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes. Any
American born from 2000 on has a one-in-three chance of developing
what was only a few years ago known as adult-onset diabetes.

Starting the day off right with a good breakfast has been linked to a
healthy body mass index (BMI). With one-third of today's children
either overweight or fast becoming overweight, that is important
since packing on the pounds leads to type 2 diabetes. For young
people with a family history of diabetes, a healthy breakfast stalls
surges in blood sugar. Recent Swedish research finds that whole-
grain breakfast cereal helps balance blood sugar throughout the
day.

Boys who eat cereal for breakfast have lower total and LDL(bad)
cholesterol levels, as well as a lover BMI. And college women who skip
breakfast experience irregular periods and menstrual problems.

Here is Dr. Ann Louise's Take:

Parents need to talk with their kids about the importance of good
nutrition. It's essential for children to understand why they need
a good breakfast-and to have plenty of healthy foods from which
to choose.

With today's hectic lifestyle, it is critical to have a comprehensive
plan in place with a detailed shopping list of healthy foods your
kids will actually eat. Navigating through the thousands of
products on store shelves can be a daunting task, but a few
simple tips can help:

1. Buy fiber rich cereals with no added sugar and provide fruit,
(bananas, berries, sliced peaches) and flax seeds or nuts to
toss on top.

2. Read labels: 4 grams of sugar=1 teaspoon. (The American Heart
Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar
a day. I think 2 teaspoons is plenty!)

3. Keep almond, rice, or soy milk on hand to add to cereal or as boxed
drinks for kids' lunches.

4. Hard boil free-range eggs for breakfast and healthy snacks.

5. Whip up smoothies with protein powder, fresh, or frozen fruit,
and yogurt with live, active cultures.

6. Keep energy bars that are low in sugar and high in fiber on hand.
Some brands are beginning to add essential fatty acids.

7. Not every child likes standard breakfast foods. If yours doesn't,
offer him soup or a sandwich with whole-grain bread instead.


Making time to buy and prepare quality foods does take effort- at
least initially. But the payoff is enormous.

Well-nourished children have more robust immune systems. Their
concentration is sharper and they head to school ready to learn. Kids'
moods remain more stable-something parents of teens can especially
appreciate. And children are less likely to have problems with
constipation.

As parents, you put great effort into raising healthy children. When
you make healthy eating a priority, those efforts pay off by giving your
kids important ingredients for success!

Ann Louise Gittleman is known as the First Lady of Nutrition. Here programs
have transformed many people's lives.