Parental/Family Health
Family Nutrition
An important factor of health is the basic maintenance of eating the right kinds of foods. Nutrition can be defined as the process of taking in food or other substances necessary for growth, health and good condition. As primary caretakers, parents are largely responsible for the health and good condition of their children. Parents control which foods are available in the house, prepare meals, and set examples for years to come. With the right education, eating healthy can be the easiest and most important way to shield oneself (and one’s family) from the many diseases that are becoming more and more common, such as diabetes and heart disease.
How to…
Get started.
This starts with some very simple planning. The first tip is to let the new USDA food pyramid be your guide. Also, let your kids join in on choosing the right foods. There are limitless options and new ideas that can focus on the fruits and vegetables a healthy family needs. Many people tend to underestimate the amount of food they eat and tend to overestimate the recommended portion sizes for many foods. Relating the portion size of a serving to everyday items is an easy way to visualize what a true portion size looks like:
- Woman's fist or baseball - a serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist.
- A rounded handful - about one half cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta - this is a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels
- Deck of cards - a serving of meat, fish or poultry or the palm of your hand (don't count your fingers!) - for example, one chicken breast, ¼ pound hamburger patty or a medium pork chop
- Golf ball or large egg - one quarter cup of dried fruit or nuts
- Tennis ball - about one half cup of ice cream
- Computer mouse - about the size of a small baked potato
- Compact disc - about the size of one serving of pancake or small waffle
- Thumb tip - about one teaspoon of peanut butter
- Six dice - a serving of cheese
- Check book - a serving of fish (approximately 3 oz.)
Children need adequate calories to meet their needs for growth. On the other hand, portions that are too large could lead to overeating or seem overwhelming. Serving small portions to young children is often the best way for them to learn to eat only until satisfied, instead of overeating. Start kids off with less and encourage them to ask for more if they're still hungry.
Incorporate healthy eating on a tight budget.
A possible barrier to purchasing fruits and vegetables is that they can be expensive and spoil quickly. Remember that all forms count, so canned, frozen, dried and 100% natural juices are all good. Buy fruits and vegetables that are on special, and try to take advantage of canned and frozen sales to stock up. Buying from local farmers or farmers markets is an economical way to get fresh fruit in season.
Other ways to save on money include using leftovers. Leftover chicken can be used in salads, soups, pasta dishes, quesadillas or sandwiches. Rice is great for stir-frys, pilafs, rice pudding, soups or salads. Cold veggies can be tossed in salad or added to sandwiches or casseroles.
Serve picky eaters.
4 Comments:
I really like your blog!!! Monitoring portion sizes is a great way to control how much you eat!!!
I like the links - you get more info if it's oemthing you don't understand
this is great! the portion size thing really makes it understandable.
-emilyk
Great information... eating right is so important for your overall health!-Sheryl
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