Battling for healthy kids
By Olivia Lohmann, 13, Maitri White, 12 and Rachal Hahn, 9, with contributions by Ryan Glover, 10

Imagine a scale that determines what you want most at snack time. The contestants are an apple and a cookie. The scale teeters back and forth but ends up weighing down the cookie for an easy grab.

Now imagine a scale that determines what is better for you. Again the scale is measuring an apple and a cookie. It takes exactly one second for the scale to lower the apple––no contest. Now, that’s not to say you can’t have a cookie once in a while but when you are faced with a choice such as this, nutritionists say it’s important that kids more often go for the fruit.

For many years childhood obesity in the United States has been on the rise and it appears the story is no different in this area. The recently released 2010 County Health Rankings show that Marquette County does not fare well with seventy percent of us (all ages included) medically classified as overweight or obese. According to Dr. Kevin Piggott, medical director for the Marquette County Health Department, along with not getting enough exercise, unhealthy eating is a cause for concern.

“ We can do better than that. I mean, why are we living that unhealthy?” He asked. “Why is it we don’t eat our five to nine fruits and vegetables a day? How do we make getting our fruits and vegetables the right and simple thing to do?”

Eating right gives children all the vitamins and minerals that they need to be energized and keep a healthy weight. But, how can we know if we are eating right? Well you could hire a nutritionist, or you could use a free nutrition website.

Three reporters from 8-18 Media: Rachel Hahn, nine, of Marquette; Maitri White, twelve of Marquette and Olivia Lohmann, thirteen, of Covington, experimented with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s site www.MyPyramid.gov and recorded all their meals for one week.

The results were examined by Rita Short of Marquette, a registered dietician and one of the authors of the book, “The North Shore Diet.” Short told the reporters that some of their choices were okay and some were not.

This was what was determined as the best food day for Rachel:

Instant Oatmeal
Milk
Cookie
Milk
Chocolate-covered pretzel
Turkey vegetable soup
Crackers
Milk

This was Rachel’s worse day.

Ramen Noodles
Fruit bar
Cookie
Chicken soft tacos (2)
Cup of taco chips with taco fixings
milk

This was what was determined to be the best day for Maitri:

Quesadilla
Bagel with turkey, lettuce and mustard
Manwich with bun
Vegetable soup

This is was Maitri’s worse day:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Pizza
Spaghetti

Meanwhile, this is what was determined to be Olivia’s best day:

Bagel with egg
Chicken nuggets (4)
Slice of pizza
Carrots
Pork chop
Green beans
Mushrooms and onions
Handfull of M&M’s

This was Olivia’s worse day:

Nachos with sour cream, tomatoes and guacamole
Diet Dr. Pepper
Four square pizza slices
Diet Pepsi
Oatmeal cookie
Handful of M&M’s

Short was not surprised by what was on the reporters’ food diaries.

“ I think they were very typical,” Short said. “I see the same eating patterns not only with children, but also with adults. Some of the days were healthier than other days, and that’s typical, too.”

What pleased Short about the choices on the diaries were things such as Rachel’s turkey vegetable soup, Maitri’s turkey sandwich and vegetable soup and Olivia’s carrots and green beans. She also was happy that Rachel drank plenty of milk.

The MyPyramid.gov website says the average young person should have two and a half cups of vegetables each day, two cups of fruits each day, three cups of milk each day, five and half ounces of meat and beans per day and six ounces of grains each day. Short agreed.

“ It seems like when we analyze diets the number one thing we see are not enough fruits and vegetables,” she said. “It’s very rare so see any American kid that doesn’t get their starch servings.”

To improve our nutrition, Short explained a “one thing at a time” goal. When people go to a dietician and they are asked to cut out all these different foods, people can get a little overwhelmed. Short thinks that a better approach is to have them cut out one unhealthy item at a time.

“ If someone could, for example, just cut out all the pop that contains sugar it would make a real improvement in their diets,” Short said.

She feels this method not only makes the person feel more relaxed, but also it keeps them from cheating while on their diets.

Since kids often learn many of their eating patterns from their parents, parents also need to work harder to get healthy food in the house. It’s understandable that many parents work a lot and sometimes an oven pizza is what fits in the schedule. But most of the time parents need to take the time to cook well-balanced meals. Short mentioned that the more colorful a meal is, the more nutritious it is.

Also, there are ways to sneak vegetables into dishes. Many cookbooks have been written on how parents can grind up vegetables and put them in their children’s food. In her book “Deceptively Delicious” author Jessica Seinfeld gives examples such as macaroni and cheese with cauliflower puree added or spaghetti and pizza sauce with broccoli puree added. These “deceptively delicious” ways to get kids to eat their vegetables are reportedly taking the parenthood world by storm.

There are critics of this approach, however. Some people point out that if the vegetables are always hidden, how will kids acquire a taste for them? So, parents are cautioned to try to include vegetables in their kid’s meals and snacks along with hiding them if they wish.

Short explains that moderation is an important concept in anyone’s diet. She said that you can have an unhealthy snack now and then, just not every day. Yet, snacks are important to keep us from overeating at meals. Parents should keep healthy snacks in the home and encourage their kids to eat them. The list includes raw vegetables and fruits of course, but also raisins, nuts, low-fat cheese and milk, a few pretzels or thin wheat crackers.

Short recommends using a food diary, writing down everything consumed each day, to people who are watching what they eat to help them stick with their plan. The diaries help people who are trying to improve their eating habits simply because everything is written down in front of them and they can see if they had a good day or a bad day.