http://www.facebook.com/pages/Easterndrugs/155062794562892

New report urges parents to invest early in childhood obesity prevention USAToday.com - Take the TV set out of the children's bedroom. Teach kids to eat only when they're hungry. Don't restrict their playtime as a punishment. These are among the recommendations in a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the first comprehensive studies analyzing what should be done to help prevent obesity in children up to five years of age. In recent years there has been much emphasis on fighting overweight in school-age kids, but weight problems often begin in younger children, the report says. About 20% of kids are overweight or obese before they go to school, with higher rates among low-income children and African-American and Hispanic children, the report notes. Government data shows a third of school-age children are overweight or obese. Many young children don't grow out of their baby fat, and that extra weight increases their risk of obesity later in life, says Leann Birch,chair of the IOM committee that prepared the report and director of the Center for Childhood Obesity Research at the Pennsylvania State University. Debra Haire-Joshu, a committee member and director of the Obesity Prevention and Policy Research Center at Washington University, St. Louis, says obesity is "a multifaceted problem for young children, just like it is for adults," and it needs to be addressed on many fronts. The report is aimed at child-care regulatory agencies, child-care providers and early childhood educators, but much of the advice could apply to parents, too. Read the recommendations here: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/diet-nutrition/story/2011/06/New-report-urges-parents-to-invest-early-in-childhood-obesity-prevention/48778300/1

This is incredibly scary... _____________________ How does a baby get to be obese? (CNN) -- A 4-year-old lumbered into a Boston pediatric clinic. He walked with a limp. "He was carrying so much weight, he displaced his hips," recalled Dr. Elsie Taveras, co-director of the Obesity Prevention Program at Harvard Medical School. The boy, an extreme example of childhood obesity, carried more than 100 pounds and had a body mass index that was over the 99th percentile for his age group. He is part of a disturbing trend among the youngest Americans. Poor diet, huge portion sizes, lack of physical activity, inadequate sleep and uninformed parents are contributing to larger numbers of overweight or obese young children. Last week, the Institute of Medicine released its first report focusing on obesity prevention policies for children under the age of 5. One in five kids (ages 2 to 5) is overweight or obese before entering kindergarten. "This is not school lunch causing this," said Dr. Sandeep Gupta, director of Pediatric Overweight Education and Research Program at Indiana University Health. "They're not in school yet." Families and adults who take care of children are well-meaning but unintentionally making poor food choices, Gupta said. The good news is that this is an ideal age to make lifestyle changes. Parents and adults have more control over what infants and toddlers eat, compared with teenagers. "It's phenomenal," Gupta said. "Even though the children are heavier, they improve better compared to older kids. The parent is the police at the point, setting the agenda." Keep reading: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/27/obese.toddlers/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6

What do you think of Burger King's new image? -- Burger King freshens fast-food image, kicks King to the curb By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY Even Burger King is embracing the freshy-changey thing. In the first of many steps to reinvent itself over the next year, the struggling fast-feeder Friday will announce that it's dethroning the creepy King character — and other wacky, teen-targeting stuff — and refocusing on a customer it had all but forgotten: Mom. In a new ad campaign set to air this weekend, Burger King will nationally roll out the California Whopper on Monday, made with what's arguably the gastronomic trend of 2011: guacamole. In a serious image twist, the entire commercial shows only the sights and sounds of the fresh ingredients being washed, sliced and diced. There are no words, just pulsating music. Industry experts say the move may be Burger King's (BKC) best bet of giving Ronald McDonald any hint of competition. In a world where Cheesecake Factory now has a low-cal menu and even Sizzler touts the freshness of its grub, Burger King is latching onto the all-critical fresh-and-healthy-food factor. "Call it the Whole Foods effect," says Ron Paul, president of consulting firm Technomic. Target's bragging about fresh food, he notes. 7-Eleven's touting it. And Subway's made billions from that premise. "Fresh is it," Paul says. Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2011/08/Burger-King-freshens-fast-food-image-kicks-King-to-the-curb/50046768/1

Study: World is getting fatter, needs to stop The problem of obesity is spreading around the world and poses serious health threats. The finding is part of a new special report on obesity, and how to combat it in the medical journal the Lancet. The editor, Dr. Richard Horton, calls obesity a pandemic, and said it is one of the “huge threats facing governments which are likely to derail all their best attempts to improve the health of their nations while at the same time controlling costs.” Obesity Around the World The first study says nearly 1.5 billion adults in the world are overweight, and half a billion more are obese. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) more than 30. That’s equivalent to an adult who's 5 feet 6 inches weighing more than 185 pounds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s BMI calculator. “It is occurring in just about all countries, apart from the lowest income countries,” says Professor Boyd Swinburn, with the World Health Organizations Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention in Melbourne, Australia. “There is quite a lot of evidence now coming out that this is being driven by changes in the food system,” he says. “The food supply: increasingly processed, available, affordable and highly promoted tasty food.” The Lancet report says that the obesity rates for different countries vary dramatically due to environmental factors in those countries. For example, they found “traditionally high levels of active transport," specifically bicycling, in the Netherlands contributed to a lower rate. Only 1 in 10 women there were categorized as obese, while high levels of car use in the U.S. contributed to obesity. In the United States one in three women are rated as obese. The authors believe that the most effective way to stop obesity is governmental policies, including things like banning unhealthy food for children, shifting agricultural policies to promote health. Keep reading: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/25/study-world-is-getting-fatter-needs-to-stop/?hpt=hp_bn6

Feeding the beast - Adventures in homemade baby food You don't ever want to meet Mungry. Trust me. My wife and I have been super blessed with the most unfussy, spirited and sleep-loving baby. Lucy has truly been the model infant. But, when that lower lip begins to quiver and Sophie the Giraffe is flung head over hoof from the Bumbo perch, we know Lucy has left the dining room. We are now face to face with her very angry alter-ego: Mungry (Her scowled face looks as if she's howling, 'Mmmm, Hungry!"). These genes came from her dad. An unfed Harlan is a very unhappy Harlan. For six months, my wife was able to satisfy the half-pint howler with breast milk. If she was not around, I had bottles of milk ready to go. But a month or so ago, we noticed Lucy was giving our food the eagle-eye. From her chair in the kitchen, she would stare at the chopping block while I cut colorful fruits and vegetables. We could no longer hold her at the dinner table because she would dive-bomb our plates. It was then we realized milk alone would not keep Mungry at bay. As a new parent, it's been hard to know when it's time to transition your baby to new things. They develop so quickly. Just when you're used to a routine, it's time to move on to something new. Food is no different. But where in the world do you start? "Your best place to start with a child is the very first spoon. You’ve got to start fresh," believes Tyler Florence. "Your child is a blank palate that will literally taste anything." Florence, the famed Food Network chef, has saved my spatula on several occasions with fantastic recipes from his cookbooks. I mean, who doesn't love bourbon peach cobbler in a cast iron skillet? But, as a new dad wanting to do right for his daughter, cobbler doesn't make Mungry's menu. So Florence, himself a father of three, has championed the cause of making fresh food for kids' developing taste buds. He's created a simple cookbook for baby meals, co-founded an organic baby food company and takes time to interact with parents via social media. "The best thing you could ever do for a child is to make homemade foods from scratch," he says. "The simplicity of just pure carrot puree, it’s one of the most useful flavors in the world. I think it’s just gorgeous and something your child will absolutely love. They’ll lick a bowl clean." Mungry does like her carrots. There are so many reasons to make food at home for the whippersnappers. Clearly, it's much healthier. We've found it to be cheaper and, it's really been pretty simple from the get-go; it doesn't require a laundry list of ingredients and kitchen appliances. Obviously the first step is finding a wide variety of fresh produce. Kids like anything sweet tasting. We started with apples, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, etc. If you make something and they don't like it, try something else and come back to it another time. Lucy has tried everything listed above plus broccoli, asparagus, mango, avocado and banana. She seems to like every one of them (her day care providers weren't too thrilled the day after she ate asparagus). The mango, avocado and bananas are great finger foods to practice her dexterity, too. When she really wants that mango, she finds a way to pick it up and put it in her mouth. Mungry will not be denied. Next is how to cook the veggies. Florence hammers home the point that roasting and steaming are the absolute best ways to prepare fresh produce. "When you boil, you’re not going to develop the sweet natural flavors in vegetables. So that means you need to roast and steam,” he stresses. So far, we've only steamed the fruits and veggies. If you don't have a pot with a boiler insert or some kind of steaming contraption, you can always take a large pot, fill it partially with water, set a colander on the rim (above the water), drop the veggies in the colander, cover it with a lid and steam away. Once the produce is soft, transfer it to a blender with some of the leftover water in your pot and flip the switch. The beauty of a blender is that it will puree the food to a very smooth consistency, so much so, we don't even peel apples or pears before steaming. The skins eventually disappear during blending. We usually pour the puree into small four-ounce containers and store them in the fridge or freezer. If you put it in the fridge, the food is only good for 48 hours before you have to discard it or freeze. On average, two steamed apples makes about 12 ounces of puree. Do the math and that's cheaper than jars of processed baby food you'll get at the grocery store. While cost and ease are important to us, it really comes down to the health of our daughter. "When they get a taste for the sodium level and artificial ingredients and fat embedded in fast foods and that's their kind of preference, get ready for a fight because they'll give you one,” says Florence. "When you feed a child food, you have to understand that you’re in charge. You have to understand you’re the parent. You really have to provide a healthy nutritious environment for your child to grow up in.” Hopefully that's an environment with more tasty vegetables and fewer flying giraffes. See the article: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/11/16/homemade-baby-food/?hpt=hp_bn8

Kid-friendly Thanksgiving recipes Parenting.com - Think your picky eater will turn up his nose at the Thanksgiving dinner spread this year? Check out our favorite kid-friendly Thanksgiving dishes, like turkey muffins, mashed potato ice cream, yummy apple stuffing muffins, kid-friendly turkey nuggets and more. See the recipes here: http://www.parenting.com/gallery/kid-friendly-thanksgiving-recipes?src=syn&dom=cnn&lnk=hp&hpt=hp_bn12

Food fails! 8 ways we're making our kids fat By Joy Bauer Bribing kids to eat their broccoli, banning sweets and offering too much 100 percent fruit juice can backfire on even the most well-meaning parents. Here are 8 feeding mistakes parents too-often make: Mistake 1: Telling kids to clean their plate For the most part, healthy young children eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. As a parent, you don’t want to mess around with their internal cues by encouraging or bribing them to “clean their plates” and eat past the point of fullness. Instead, provide small-moderate portions at meals and encourage your kids to eat until they are comfortably full. Teaching your kids to be “in tune” with their own hunger and fullness cues will allow them to have a comfortable relationship with food and avoid overeating as they grow older. Mistake 2: Offering sweet rewards Trying to get children to eat their vegetables can be downright frustrating – and parents often resort to bribery. Does this sound familiar? “Eat your broccoli and you can have ice cream for dessert.” But unfortunately, this technique teaches our kids that broccoli and other vegetables are “less appealing” because their consumption requires a reward. At the same time, this approach positions dessert as the prize, something to be valued over other foods. Plus, multiple studies have shown that, in the long run, preference for foods decreases when kids are given rewards for eating them. Bottom line: Keep dessert a separate entity versus the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Mistake 3: Serving up too many snacks Constant snacking throughout the day translates to calorie overload – plus, can leave kids uninterested in nutritious food (like chicken and vegetables) at mealtime when lunch or dinner rolls around. Try to stick to a consistent meal and snack schedule. Allow at least 2 hours between snacks and meals. No more than 2-3 snacks a day, and limit them to about 150 calories apiece. See the rest: http://moms.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/28/9057922-food-fails-8-ways-were-making-our-kids-fat