Nutrition News

March is National Nutrition Month and the theme for 2009 is “Eat Right”.  The purpose of this campaign is to focus attention on the importance of making good food choices and developing positive lifestyle habits.   To support that effort throughout our district, you’ll learn about Eating Right through a series of nutritional nuggets.   Why not incorporate the suggestions?  Ask your family to join you.   Have fun with eating and living healthier. 

I’m just a kid.   Why should I care?   Remember that you’ll have the same body when you’re a grownup!  And how you treat it today, will impact it tomorrow!    But not only that—what is your favorite thing to do?  Whether you like soccer, spelling, band or art… everything you do, you can do better with a healthier body! 

It is my hope that you will take the information to heart.    I would LOVE to hear about your successes.  Tell me what positive changes you have made.  Send me your suggestions for future nuggets as well as any questions.

Let’s show the nation that the Dunlap School District knows AND DOES “eat right” and not only in March. 

To a healthier School District!   

Debbie Hucke,    debhucke@comcast.net

#1 - Complex Carbs

What do broccoli, wheat and white sugar have in common?  They are all carbohydrates and your body's favorite source for fuel.  Simple carbohydrates enter the blood stream very quickly and are absent of fiber.  Examples include white bread or many sugary cereals.  Whenever possible, choose complex carbohydrates.  Nature’s perfect foods come in their own wrapper.  Fruits and veggies.  They contain fiber and enter the blood stream slower.  If you've ever been sleepy in the afternoon, I bet you have had too many simple carbs. 

#2 - Importance of Breakfast

You would never leave for school without breakfast, would you?!   FACT:  It is the most important meal of the day!  With breakfast you Break-the-fast.   When you get up in the morning, your glucose or blood sugar level is at its lowest point in the day.   Glucose is the basic fuel for the brain and central nervous system.    Without breakfast you are running on fumes.  Your body will get the energy it needs by robbing muscle in your body because it can most easily convert muscle to energy.  You don’t want that!  What if your mom or dad drove to work without gasoline in the tank?   Without breakfast or with a junky breakfast (pop-tarts or sugary cereals) you will get tired and grouchy before lunch.   Research shows that kids do better in school with a healthy breakfast.

Is just any breakfast ok?  Remember that food is fuel.  Driving your car on good quality fuel, sustains the life of an automobile and makes it run better.  Putting good food (fuel) in your stomach (tank) sustains your life and makes you run better!  

Here are some good cereal suggestions…

--Choose a cereal with at least 3-5 grams of fiber per serving.

#3 - Drinking Water

Did you know that you are the first generation that DOES NOT choose water first as your preferred beverage?   That is not a first to be proud of.    60-70% of your total body weight is made up of water.  Water is the liquid that the body needs to hydrate itself; transport nutrients throughout your body and help get rid of toxins and bad stuff in your body.   Water cleanses the body and reduces constipation.   How much water should you drink?  Take your weight and divide by 2.  You should drink that many ounces.  For example,  A 60 pound kid should drink 30 ounces of water.    But I drink a whole lot of flavored water or Gatorade, does that count?  NO!   Would you ever take a bath in flavored water or Gatorade?  That is silly.  No sillier than thinking other beverages are as useful to cleanse inside your body. 

#4 - A Rainbow Diet

Do you like rainbows?  Have you ever heard that you should eat the rainbow?  What?!  That is actually very good advice.  What that means though, is that you should choose fruits and veggies that are all different colors of the rainbow.  It does not mean you should drink a blue slushy and have some rainbow colored cereal.   Fruits and veggies act like medicine for your body.  Have you ever wondered why a tomato doesn’t get sunburned?    That is because the tomato, along with all other produce, has phytochemicals.   These are disease fighting nutrients.   It is lycopene that protects the tomato.  Our human bodies cannot produce phytochemicals.   But we can eat them and receive the same benefit.    Eat your orange, purple, red, yellow and green each day to make sure your body is getting all the nutrients it needs.  

Make a chart to keep track of all the colors of the rainbow you eat this week.  Put a big star next to the fruit or veggie that you tried for the first time.   You will see how delicious rainbows can be. 

#5 - Dieting

You’re just a kid, but have you ever thought about going on a diet in order to lose weight?  Perhaps you see people who you think should go on a diet.  And probably there are some adults in your life who are or have been on a diet.  In our country, it is a phenomenon that, sadly, is here to stay!   As you get older the pressure to DIET will become greater and greater. 

Before you do, I would like to weigh in (no pun intended) on this very important subject!   Typically when you diet, you limit your intake of calories.  Your body actually reacts to this and says uh oh…. She is trying to starve us.  So it holds on to the calories you do eat more tightly.   Your metabolism slows which is your body’s mechanism to use energy.  And then when you get frustrated with dieting and go back to eating the way you did, you actually gain weight.   You treat your body like a yo yo.

Let me suggest an alternative to dieting to lose weight.   Don’t starve yourself, instead change what you eat.   Eat the most nutritious calories FIRST and lots of them.   You can eat all the fruits and vegetables that you want.    When you eat grains, be certain that they are whole grains.   Drink a whole lot of water and increase your physical activity.

If you do this, you will be living well.  You will be healthier and if you did need to lose weight it will happen without you ever “DIETING”. 

#6 - Exercise

When you come home from school in the afternoon, what is the first thing you do?  Grab a snack and head for something electronic… am I right?    It wasn’t hard to guess that because that is what over 80% of kids do, according to the surgeon general. 

We live in an electronic age with computers, cell phones, ipods, the internet etc. etc. etc.  And this is making us more sedentary.    My kids roll their eyes when I say this, but here goes anyway.  When I was a kid, we played outside almost every afternoon after school.  We didn’t have organized sports and teams and clubs like you do.  

Society has changed.  And we have to adapt to the change.  That means you will have to figure out a way to get more activity in your day.  Consider going outside to PLAY.  If it’s cold, bundle up and PLAY anyway.  You clear your head, breathe fresh air and get sunshine which helps your body to produce Vitamin D which helps to keep your bones strong.  And it can be fun!   If the weather doesn’t permit, turn up the music and dance.   

If you are in a sport and exercise daily, that is great.  When your season is over, stay consistent with some activity every day.  The behaviors you establish as a kid will follow you as an adult.    Maybe you can even be a positive influence on any couch potatoes in your family.