JUST FOR PARENTS
Holiday Tips
Was Thanksgiving
really last week????? I don’t
know about all of you, but the
last I knew school was just
starting!!???!!! But yes,
the holidays are really
here. Is it really is
possible to keep from gaining
weight over the holidays?
Absolutely!! The trick is
to just have a little bit of
everything, but not to
overindulge. But how to do this??
Easier said then
done. For many of us, the
holidays and holiday foods remind
us of our favorite childhood
memories. Also, many people see
the holidays as almost a license
to eat, AND to eat a lot.
One can almost feel like a social
outcast during the holidays
because of pressure from family
and friends to eat. It is
helpful to realize that food has
emotional ties for almost all of
us, and that wanting to re-enact
childhood memories as adults
while visiting families is
common. Becoming aware of
this and planning ahead can help
you become more conscious of your
eating through the holiday
season.
A few simple
guidelines will help you maintain
(even with a little
cheating):
- Limit yourself to one
plate. Select an
appropriate serving size of
each dish and load up your
plate, but that’s
it. You’ll do
better if you take one heaping
plate of food and eat it all
than if you show restraint and
then go back for seconds (or
thirds!!). If you limit
yourself to just one plate,
you can see everything you
will be eating.
- Watch those
desserts!! If you can do
without or substitute some
fruit, even better. If
not, try to limit yourself to
one serving of dessert A
DAY!!! To justify an
extra dessert saying you’ll
“work it off” is unreasonable. Many desserts are
350-500 calories a
serving. That’s
4-5 miles of walking in
addition to what you are
hopefully already doing for
your daily activity.
- Move away as far as
possible from the serving
table once the food is on your
plate and make a point to
socialize with other
guests.
- If bringing a dish to a
party, choose a healthy
alternative. That way,
you know there will be at
least one healthy food at the
party for you to eat.
The Role of the Parent ( Last
Newsletter)
I know I seem like a one-track
broken record on this topic, but
I continue to validate my sense
of this vital piece. My current
reading has brought me to the
book Generation Extra
Large: Rescuing Our Children
from the Epidemic of Obesity
by Lisa Tartamella,
Elaine Herscher, and Chris
Woolston. Mentioned in this book
is a landmark study in 1990 in
the Journal of the American
Medical Association that
looked at three different
educational programs for
overweight children, but only one
involved both parents and
children. Ten years later, in the
group that took a family approach
to the problem, the proportion of
children who were overweight had
dropped eight percent. In
contrast, the rates of obesity
had climbed significantly in the
other two groups.
Link to the rest of this
newsletter
Links to PDFs
Reprinted with permission from
Sothern, et al (Trim Kids, 2001,
Harper Collins Publishers).
The above documents require Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
Web Links
Weight Loss for Children
www.weightlossforchildren.com
Center for Nutrition Policy
and Promotion
www.cnpp.usda.gov
More links on the Resources
page
Recommended Reading
A Parent’s Guide
to Childhood Obesity
Editor: Sandra G. Hassink,
M.D.
American Academy of
Pediatrics
Girls on
Track
Molly Barker
Underage and
Overweight
Francis M. Berg, M.S.
Fat Land: How
Americans Became the Fattest
People in the World
Greg Crister
Preventing Childhood
Eating Problems
Jane R. Hirschmann, C.S.W.
Fit Kids
Mary L. Gavin, M.D.
Real Kids Come in
Normal Sizes
Kathy Kater
We’re Killing
Our Kids: How to End the
Epidemic of Overweight and
Sedentary Children
Todd Hollander
Helping your Child
Lose Weight the Healthy
Way
Judith Levine, R.D., M.S.
The Don’t Diet,
Live-it! Workbook
Andrea LoBue, LMFCC
Marsea Marcus, LMFCC
Slim and Fit
Kids
Jody Mazel
John E. Monaco, M.D.
Food
Politics
Marion Nestle, PhD.
How we
Eat
Marion Nestle, PhD.
Outwit your
Weight
Cathy Nonas, M.D.
Fed Up: Winning
the War on Childhood
Obesity
Susan Okie, M.D.
Child of
Mine
Ellyn Satter
How to get your Kid to
Eat…but not too
much
Ellyn Satter
Fast Food
Nation
Eric Scholosser
Chew on This:
Written for kids 9-12
Eric Scholosser
Dr. Sears’ Lean
Kids
William Sears, M.D.
The Family Nutrition
Book
William Sears, M.D.
Generation Extra
Large: Rescuing Our
Children from the Epidemic of
Obesity
Lisa Tartamella, R.D., Elaine
Herscher, and Chris Woolston
Eat, Play, and Be
Healthy
W. Allan Walker, M.D.
Generation Extra
Large: Rescuing Our
Children from the Epidemic of
Obesity
Lisa Tartamella, R.D., Elaine
Herscher, and Chris Woolston
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