We had low fat (97%) hot dogs for dinner tonight. Actually, I should say that I had low fat (97%) hot dogs for dinner. Even though this is usually one of my children’s favorite dinners, tonight they protested. My son wanted me to make him peanut butter and jelly instead. I refused, even though it would have been much easier to give in. Children must eat the healthy dinner that is served to them (as long as it is something they usually like). It is not acceptable for children to insist on eating different foods from the rest of the family. I may have made a different decision if we were eating salmon, since I know my son dislikes salmon. But these are hot dogs! Parents are not short order cooks. Parents can (and should) control their children’s food intake- even if it isn’t easy. Insist that your children eat healthy foods and they will learn to like them. Remember, it takes 5 – 10 experiences with some foods before children will begin to enjoy them. In this case, however, my son was just trying to be difficult. I did not allow him to take over; I did not make him PB&J. I simply told him that we were having hot dogs for dinner and if he didn’t want to eat them, he didn’t have to. When he gets hungry enough, I am sure he will settle for the hot dogs. I will let you know what happens. How would you have handled the situation?

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I am so frustrated with our schools. How can the institutions we trust with our children make such unhealthy choices for them? I saw two patients today who each loved to buy hot school lunch each day. I explained to each of them that school lunches are beyond unhealthy. My nutrition system divides food into green light (Go!), yellow light (Slow!), and red light (Uh Oh!) categories based on their caloric/nutritive values. Almost every school lunch served contains at least one red light food. Some even count as two or more! Each child gets two red lights to use each week. There is no way to eat school hot lunch each day and lose weight. I advised both patients to bring lunch instead of buying. I also gave them the option of buying other lunch options such as sandwiches or salads. One patient opted to bring lunch each day. The other refused to give in and bought hot lunch each day. Other than that, they both follow the plan. The patient that brought lunch lost about 2 pounds this week. The other patient gained half a pound. The bottom line is that school lunches are not compatible with a healthy diet. It is sad, but true. I tell patients that love school lunch to pick their favorite lunch each week and use it as one of their reds. There is no food that is completely off limits. But school lunch every day is too fattening… I urge you all to consider these thoughts when planning your child’s lunches.

By the way- please post comments… I have been hearing that you guys are reading the posts but not writing. Write something and let me know you are out there!

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Happy Mother’s Day! I hope everybody is enjoying this special day. I had a wonderful time with my family. I did notice, however, that every celebration centered around food- and not healthy food. I started the day with brunch at IHOP. As a “treat”, my children shared strawberry pancakes (pancakes covered with strawberry syrup and drowned in whipped cream and syrup). My son, Zachary, and I went to get haircuts where our hairdresser gave him a lollipop. He was very sweet and got one to give to his sister when we got home. Then we went to our family’s Mother’s Day party. Our hosts had bowls of M&Ms placed all around the house. You can imagine how my children were all over them. Even I was unable to monitor and curb the chocolate intake. The meal was served: mini pizzas, chicken nuggets, and French fries for the kids. After the meal, I saw that the kids were all congregated around the M&Ms again. By the time dessert was served, I had lost all control. My son immediately went to the chocolate cake. My daughter looked at all of the desserts and asked for fruit. I was elated. But when we got her to the kid’s table and she saw everybody eating cake, she began to cry for her own cake. After my son’s first slice of cake, he asked for another. I immediately told him that he had eaten enough junk for the day and that he would get a bellyache if he ate anymore. My mother immediately butted in. “Joanna, it’s a special day. Can’t he just have one more piece of cake?” I said, “No- he has had enough” but my husband piped in, “C’mon. It’s Mother’s Day”. I couldn’t win. Zachary had a second piece of cake. And then, you guessed it, “Mommy, I want a cookie”. I said no and again Doug said, “Well- he didn’t finish the second piece of cake”. Despite my protests, my husband handed him a cookie. I will note that he took one bite and then put it down.

What a frustration! It just is not healthy for children to eat this way. I guarantee that children growing up in the ’70s did not eat three pieces of cake. I am sure that mothers back then were not bullied into allowing their children to overdose on chocolate. How has this society gotten so out of control? How has three slices of cake become the norm. And it is not just Mother’s Day. It seems there is always an excuse for this kind of behavior. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, etc. And then there is mommy’s birthday, daddy’s birthday, grandma’s birthday- and everybody else in the family. Don’t forget about all of their friend’s birthdays. It really doesn’t end.

Children will keep on getting heavier and heavier unless we take a stand. This binge eating is not acceptable. We must be stronger for our children’s sake. It isn’t easy- even I fail from time to time. But we can’t give up the struggle.

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Children love to make independent choices, however their choices are not always (or usually) the healthiest. A good way to give your child some autonomy over his/her diet is to create a “Healthy Shelf”. Take all of the healthy snacks from your kitchen and put them in a place that your child can get to. Then when your child is hungry, he/she can pick anything they would like from the available (healthy) choices. You can also make a “Healthy Shelf” in the refrigerator. Mine is filled with low fat yogurt, low fat cheese, fruit, and cut veggies. Another benefit is that you don’t have to get up everytime your child is hungry (which in my house is all of the time!)

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How can a child learn healthy eating habits when his/her parents aren’t modeling the desired behaviors? I see many parents who are distressed about their child’s diet and weight but seem unwilling to make appropriate changes themselves. That type of attitude will never work. The entire family needs to make changes. You can’t expect a child not to eat chips when he sees his father sitting in front of the TV with an open bag. I find this with my own family. My husband and I took our children out for lunch last weekend and I ordered grilled cheese (made without any butter or oil) and sliced cucumber (instead of fries) for the children. My husband then proceeded to order a bacon cheeseburger with fries. What?? I knew exactly what would happen. My children wound up eating most of my husband’s food. It is very difficult to teach your children to eat well when some members of the family are not. This is especially difficult when one sibling is heavy and the other is thin. Parents routinely tell me that they can’t expect their thin child to forgo dessert simply because their other child is heavy. I strongly urge these parents to treat both siblings the same way. It is not fair to allow one child to eat things that the other is not allowed. It sets up bad feelings for everybody involved. Besides, nobody should be eating unhealthy foods on a regular basis. When starting a child on a weight loss program, the entire family must be prepared to make changes.
More tomorrow…

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