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Food for Thought Help your children develop healthy eating habits Nicole Kerr, M.P.H., R.D. “We are a nation of couch potatoes raising tater tots,” says Nicole Angelique Kerr, M.P.H., R.D., a registered dietitian and a member of Kapi‘olani Medical Center’s Childhood Obesity Task Force. “As a whole, Americans are moving less and eating more — it’s a recipe for disaster.” To help children embrace sensible nutritional habits, Kerr encourages parents to gradually implement these simple yet effective changes for their household: Strive for five — Make fresh, whole fruits and vegetables a staple of your family’s daily menu. Encourage children to eat five servings of fruits or vegetables each day. Limit fruit juices to a half cup (4 oz.) per day. A 12-ounce can of soda or juice contains 10 teaspoons of sugar. H2O alert — Drink more water. Provide children with water when they wake up and between meals. Stock bottled or filtered water in your house, jazz up a glass of water with a slice of lemon, lime or orange, and stash a six-pack of bottled water in your vehicle. Put a lid on soda — Don’t keep soda or sweetened drinks in your house — if you buy it, they will consume it! Instead, offer children water and save soda for special occasions. Special agenda — Limit snacks and desserts. Kids who eat high-fat, sugary snacks and desserts every day will likely carry the habit into adulthood. Replace potato chips, sweets or other unhealthy snacks with fruit or low-fat alternatives. Mom and pop operation — Dine at home as often as possible. Your home cooking provides comfort, love and better nutrition than fast food. By preparing your family’s meals, you can control the amount of fat and sodium, sugar and portion size. Keep it kid-sized — Instead of adult-sized helpings, provide youngsters with child-sized portions. If they are still hungry, let them ask for more. Remove the remote — The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that families limit children to two hours of television viewing a day. Watching TV often leads to snacking and prevents children from participating in calorie-burning activities. Remember: Parents determine what and when to eat, children decide if and how much to eat. Hawaii’s Epidemic Unhealthy eating habits have trickled down to our offspring: A recent study at the University of Hawaii of 6- to 11-year-olds showed that 26 percent of children of Hawaiian ancestry and 21 percent of non-Hawaiian children in Hawaii are obese. These numbers are especially shocking when you compare with the national average of 11 percent, according to the study. To help address the current pediatric obesity epidemic, Kapi‘olani formed a Childhood Obesity Task Force consisting of pediatric medical experts, university professors, community agencies and individuals, and members of the Department of Health. Jeffrey Okamoto, M.D. “The goal of the task force is to promote programs that help children and their families fight obesity, such as asking the Board of Education to add healthier choices to school vending machines,” says Jeffrey Okamoto, M.D., a Kapi‘olani developmental-behavioral pediatric specialist and chair of the Childhood Obesity Task Force. “We realize that losing weight is very difficult for adults, so we want to affect nutritional and activity changes starting in childhood.” For more information about preventing childhood obesity, visit the American Dietetic Association at www.eatright.org or the American Academy of Pediatrics at www.aap.org (click on Health Topics).