Starting Solids? Not So Fast!

One of the most anticipated milestones in the first 6 months of age is that first bite of solid food. I can still picture the faces of my kids with sweet potato or green peas smeared all over them!

Working with parents, I find that starting solids is still something parents and grandparents REALLY look forward to. It's also something to be touted in those conversations of "my baby's doing this--what's your baby doing?"

Well as exciting as that first bite might be, research shows that it's one Kodak moment that may be best put off--at least for a month or two. The research, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, looked at the BMI of 42 year olds and compared it to the age at which they started eating solids. The study showed that the later the introduction of solid foods,(up to 6 months) the lower the risk of overweight at age 42.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months--meaning breastfed infants don't need solids until about that time. That said, there are a small number of infants who are ready for solids before 6 months. In my experience, that usually includes babies who are born large and are developmentally ready for solids before then. On the other hand, when babies go through a growth spurt, it is easy to confuse this short period of increased demand in breastfeeding to a need for solids.

The bottom line: use your baby's developmental cues, not his age, to determine if he is ready for solids. If he has good control of his head and neck, is sitting with support and seems genuinely interested in what you are eating, it may be time to consider solid foods. Remember that rushing this milestone may not be good for your child's waistline in the future!

HEALTHY KITCHEN HABITS FOR EARTH DAY--AND EVERY DAY!

Happy Earth Day!

Every year Earth Day becomes more top of mind as it becomes more prominent in the media. Habits that we start now for Earth Day can help save the planet for our kids and grandkids--and can improve your health NOW.

Let's face it--the kitchen is probably the one room in the house that produces the most trash and uses a whole host of unpronounceable chemicals too. We make hundreds of buying decisions for the kitchen--and they can either help or hurt the environment. Below are my favorite ways to help mother nature, while at the same time, putting money in your pocket and improving your health too!

1. Grow Your Own. Growing your own vegetables, herbs or fruit not only gives you orgnically grown produce, it also dramatically reduces your carbon footprint for eating those foods. Think of the transportation costs saved--your personal ones and also the trucks that transport produce sometimes thousands of miles! Plant a peach tree today. It will be a few years before you can enjoy the fruits, but at that time you can enjoy organically grown peaches. (Peaches are one of the fruits with the most detectable pesticides.) The health benefit of growing your own? Gardening is great exercise and is very good for your mental health too! (for those gardening or time challenged: start with a cherry tomato plant on the patio!)

2. Decrease Your use of Chemicals. Baking soda and vinegar or lemon make a great substitute for an abrasive cleanser. (and there are entire books on natural cleaning recipes.) There are many biodegradable, natural cleaning products on the market too. Seventh Generation (most grocery stores) Method (Target) and Meyer's Clean Day (Bed, Bath & Beyond and Natural food stores) are just a few. My personal favorite for the kitchen is Meyer's Clean Day--completely biodegradable and cruelty free. You can also have a single (natural) fragrance for the whole house. I like the Geranium scent.


3. 3. Be Picky about Packaging. Sometimes you just can't get away from individually packaged foods. Some of the single serving cookies, crackers etc can help save us from ourselves! It's best when you can get away from layers of packaging or purchasing larger or refillable packaging. For example, Method hand wash and Mrs. Meyers comes in a bag so you can refill your pretty soap dispensers. When you buy the Meyer's Countertop Spray, the bottle suggests refilling it with water and 2 Tb of their All Purpose Cleaner to have the same cleaning effects. Biodegradable packaging is also on the horizon. Sun Chips now comes in a biodegradable bag!

4. Use Reusable Bags. OK-I'll admit that I have the reusable bags in my car but I often forget them. I usually remember when I'm checking out, so I'll instead just put the food back in the cart and bag it when I get to the car. When I buy a few small items at Walgreens, etc, I'll just walk out with the product and receipt in my hand. If you find yourself forgetting the reusable bags more than remembering them, you can now recycyle the extras at Target and Walmart.

5. Buy Recyclable. In most communities that's #1 or #2. I've found that many of the organic products (box of organic greens at Sam's) are recyclable. Take advantage of curbside recycling and if you don't have it, encourage your community to start it.

6. Buy BPA Packaging. If it's BPA free it will most likely be labeled as such. Many plastic products have BPA, a chemical that has been found to have estrogenic effects on the body. (Hint-I've noticed that a lot of the plastic plates and glasses made in China specify that they are not dishwasher safe or only safe on the top rack. This probably means that they contain plastics that are more likely to come out with high temperatures.)

7. Stop buying Water Bottles. We stopped buying individual water bottles a few months ago because it was just too easy to grab one on the way out the door. Instead I just take a glass of water in the car with me or use a reusable bottle.

8. Buy larger packages of food. True, a family of two may not be able to use 2 quarts of artichoke hearts that you can find at Sam's! Then, find a friend to share it with--which is exactly what I did with my artichokes!

9. Cut down on Plastic Wrap. Plastic wrap has been known to also contain BPA and other plasticizers not good for health. It's mostly a problem when it comes into contact with a high fat food. I'd guess that most of us use plastic wrap in the microwave at times--just don't let it touch the food.

10. Keep Baggies to a Minimum. What do you do with that half of avocado, lemon or onion? Well if you're like me, you probably put it in a zipper bag. Recently I began using a small refrigerator container instead. I've noticed that putting it in a container also keeps it from getting pushed back in the produce drawer and getting lost.

Enjoy Earth Day and remember: your choices today can make a healthier planet tomorrow!

If you have more ideas, please post a comment!

Become a Fan of Cereal!

I've been a cereal eater all my life. It's a quick breakfast and an easy way to start the day with a whole grain, a serving of dairy and it's a great vehicle for a fruit serving too. My bowl is usually a smorgasbord of cereals--some Cheerios, with a bit of granola and some ground flax seed to top it all off. Or Raisin Bran with a sprinkle of oats. I also love Go Lean Crunch with a sprinkle of ground flax seed or wheat germ.Generally I slice up half a banana on top in the winter or some fresh berries or peaches in the summer.

My new winter favorite is what I call blue oatmeal. You cook the oatmeal 'til it's just about done and then put in about 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries and cook another 30 seconds to a minute until the blueberries just start to pop.

So now you get the picture--a cereal breakfast doesn't have to be the same day in and out. And the good news is it's super healthy. Besides the benefits mentioned above, research says that it's a habit you should stick with:

• Frequent cereal eaters have healthier body weights--that includes men, women and kids--even if the cereal is pre-sweetened. In the 7-9 year old age group, 50% of kids who ate fewer than 4 servings of cereal in 14 days were overweight compared to only 16% of kids who ate more than 7 servings in 14 days.
• Eating cereal is associated with better nutritional status--especially calcium and fiber intake.
• Cereal can help lower your cholesterol. The soluble fiber found in oats, oat bran and Cheerios can reduce bad LDL cholesterol levels. I've always been a fan of cheerios--for toddlers, it's a perfect finger food, for kids, it's a fun to eat, low sugar cereal. For adults it's a tasty way to start the day.
• Girls who continue to eat cereal regularly are less likely to become overweight during adolescence.
• Because ready to eat cereal is quick to eat, it encourages breakfast eating. Kids who eat breakfast do better on test scores and have fewer problems paying attention in the morning and have reduced absenteeism and tardiness.
• People who have lost 30 pounds or more and kept it off have one thing in common--90% of them eat breakfast and 80% eat cereal and fruit for breakfast.

Just one more word of advice which I think I'll follow: Go Pour Yourself a Bowl!

New York City Ban on School Bake Sales--Moms Say "No Fair"

Today moms held a "bake-in" recently in New York City to protest the ban on the selling of home baked goods at school. In an effort to curb rising childhood obesity rates, NYC banned the sale of home made desserts. Moms say this is an important way for PTA's to raise funds to help with school arts programs and other needed projects that schools can't pay for. On the other hand, packaged snacks that meet certain nutrition criteria (such as no more than 35% fat) can be sold.

Is the NYC restriction on bake sales pushing kids in the wrong direction--towards packaged snacks instead of home made food? In my opinion--YES! I sit firmly on the mom's side in this debate. However, I do understand what the officals are thinking--they can control food intake if they know what's in the food--which you can do more easily with a packaged food that has a label.

In fact, I crafted a "Healthy Snack Guidelines" for the El Paso ISD, as the chair of the School Health Advisory Council. In Texas, the school day is already well regulated--no sodas in elementary or middle schools and part of our health policy allowed kids to buy water any time of the day. What I had a problem with was what was sold after school--it was a junk food free-for-all! Kids could buy candy, soda, chips--any of the food not allowed during school--once the bell rang and school was out. I saw this as a mixed message to students--the PTA is raising money to do plenty of good things--but they are doing it at the peril of student health. The guidelines are to help PTA's find healthier snacks--to steer clear of sodas, candy etc---but it doesn't regulate bake sales, which don't happen that often anyway.

The sad thing about the NYC ban is this: Cooking is a lost art and many kids never get the pleasure of smelling a cake baking or the joy of eating a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven. Bake sales give kids an opportunity to taste "real food." The point of school is to educate children--bake sales teach kids what wonderful things you can do with a few ingredients and a little motivation. Sure, they have sugar and fat but let's face it--don't we all like to indulge occasionally. Besides teaching our kids to read the label on packaged snacks, it's also vital that we teach them to enjoy high quality food--but to eat it in moderation!

Three Healthy Habits that Say No to Childhood Obesity

In health, as in life, sometimes the formula for success is simple. In this case, it's about some family routines that are fairly easy for most families:

• Eat together as a family
• Sleep enough
• Have minimal of screen time

These three habits may be important in preventing childhood obesity. In the March 1 issue of Pediatrics, a study which looked at over 8000 children found that the 4 year old children who were regularly exposed to 2 or 3 of the routines were about 40% less likely to be overweight than those children who had none of the routines.

Did the routines have to be practiced to perfection? No. With regularity? Yes. They looked at eating together as a family 5 nights a week, the preschooler sleeping 10.5 hours and having less than 2 hours of combined screen time. These are practical targets for most families and simple enough.

Childhood Obesity Prevention: Start before Pregnancy

A new study in Pediatrics highlights some of the risk factors for childhood obesity that begin during pregnancy or the two first years of life:

• depression during pregnancy
• more rapid weight gain during first 6 months of life
• introduction to solid foods before 4 months
• more restrictive feeding practices
• television sets in a toddler's room after 2

There are other risk factors during and even before pregnancy that increases a baby's risk of being overweight:

• Being underweight or overweight before pregnancy
• Not gaining enough weight--or gaining too much weight during pregnancy
• Having gestational diabetes--or abnormal blood glucose levels during pregnancy

I believe that to really halt childhood obesity, we need to start before pregnancy--and at the very least early pregnancy. Women often don't see their health care provider right when they learn they are pregnant. This is a missed opportunity for education about health habits and weight gain, that could help a mom have a healthier pregnancy and a smaller chance of a newborn who will grow up to be overweight.

Six Baby Products I wish I'd Had!

I've "been there, done that twice"--had babies, that is. But lots of cool products have come out since the days my boys were crib-size. Here's my wish list of things I wish I'd had--but it's not too late for you to try them!

1. Diaper Wipe Warmer: yep that sure would have come in handy in Colorado, where I lived when my kids were born. But no matter what climate you live in, those wipes ALWAYS seem to be cold!
2. Baby Bath with attached spray head. Ok, let's just call it a baby spa!
3. Bottle that's more breast-like. I'm impressed with the look of the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottle, which looks more like mom's breast. My youngest had the hardest time drinking from a bottle--this may have done the trick. I'd love to know what moms out there think of it.
4. The Boppy Pillow--with it you don't have to pile up a bunch of different sized pillows to get the right effect!
5. Organic Infant Formula--my boys were mostly breastfed--but when they did have formula it would have been great to have a pesticide-free choice.
6. Video Baby Monitor; no more guessing is he waking up or just making noise?