Tricks To Get Kids To Eat Healthy Foods

Your child's school cafeteria might start using a little trickiness to get kids to eat better lunches.

It's not unlike what grocery stores do to get you to buy certain foods---call it "tricks of the trade". But school cafeterias are going to start borrowing a page or two from that book.

Getting kids to eat a healthier lunch should go a long way towards not only helping them lose weight, but also getting them into what is hopefully a lifelong habit of making good food choices.

School cafeterias have come a long way since the days of "mystery meat" and sodas a plenty. But even now, it's a struggle to get kids to make the correct choices. So, borrowing something retailers have used for years, cafeterias are starting to make healthy foods look more appealing and sort of "hiding" the not so healthy choices. This means putting salad bars right next to the checkout lines, where students tend to linger, giving them more time to think about grabbing one. Also, they might place the regular milk in front of the chocolate milk, or place fruits in nice looking baskets instead of metal bowls.

They are also making express lines for healthy foods and putting the not so healthy choices, like ice cream, in freezers that don't have windows on them, making them harder to see.

Hopefully these "tricks" that retailers have been using for years to get us to buy things we might not initially want, will go a long way towards getting our kids on the healthy food wagon.

When You Eat & Weight Link

When you eat might be as important as what you eat when it comes to losing weight.

This isn't good news for those of us that work nighttime shifts, the light your exposed to could be causing you to eat at the wrong time.

A new study, using mice, found that when they were exposed to dim lights at night they gained more weight. Researchers found that when the mice were exposed to the night light they also tended to eat late at night. Even though they ate the same amount of food and had the same daily activity levels as the other mice, the mice exposed to the night lights gained more weight.

So, even though they didn't eat any more than the other mice and they exercised the same, for some reason these researchers can't fully explain, eating later at night because of the nightlights caused the mice to pack on the pounds.

Experts think the same might be happening to us, especially if working night shifts. And in the past weight gain from prolonged computer or television use at night was blamed on the lack of activity, but it might just be the lights they expose you to at night causes you to eat at the wrong time.

When You Should Take Medications

When you take your medicine might be as important as the medicine itself.

We are finding out more and more this is true, especially when it comes to blood pressure drugs.

Up until recently most patients were given instructions to take their medication a certain number of times per day. And with blood pressure pills, it was usually once or twice a day but the timing of when to take them didn't really come up so most take them in the morning. That's because we didn't realize they worked better at certain times. And this latest study is showing that taking blood pressure medication at bedtime not only keeps your blood pressure better controlled but might even save your life.

Researchers had volunteers take their medication in the morning, the recommendation most get from their doctors, or at bedtime. Five years later, the bedtime group had better control of their blood pressure and only had 1/3 of the heart attacks and strokes the morning medicine volunteers did.

But, before you switch to nighttime doses, talk with your doctor. You want to make sure that timing doesn't interfere with other medications or treatment plans you're on.

Bone Density Tests For Women

Screening for osteoporosis might become something you start at an even younger age.

Back in 2002, the US Preventative Services Task Force released guidelines stating that all women over 65, plus those 60 to 64 at a higher risk for fracture, should get bone density tests. These tests are used to determine how thin a woman's bones are and whether she should start treatment.

But in this latest release, they are now saying that younger women might need a bone density test as well. They say all younger postmenopausal women should get checked if their risk of a broken bone is the same or greater than the average 65 year old.

Some factors that can increase their risk include low weight, certain drugs, smoking and heavy alcohol use. Also having a parent who broke a hip make having osteoporosis more likely.

If a woman has these higher risk factors, the task force is recommending she get the same screening as a 65-year-old, regardless of how young she is.

This task force did stop short of recommending screening for men, although other groups, including the National Osteoporosis Foundation, and the American College of Physicians both recommend the screening of men if they meet certain criteria.
Currently, this task force, which received plenty of heat for its prior recommendation to delay mammograms for some women, are releasing their recommendations in draft form only. They are seeking public comment.

Get Flu Shot When Pregnant

There is new information out about one way mom's to be can protect their newborn once that happy day arrives---get the flu shot.

This year the CDC has recommended the flu shot for most people 6 months old and on. And for years they have recommended pregnant women get the vaccine. A new study shows just how important that vaccine during pregnancy can be for a baby once it arrives.

During most flu seasons, babies less than 6 months old get some protection from their mom's natural antibodies. But during severe flu seasons that doesn't seem to be enough since more of them get hospitalized and die from flu complications than older babies do.

This new study found that when a mom to be gets the flu vaccine while pregnant, the chances of her baby getting hospitalized or getting a respiratory illness during those first six months was much lower. Babies blood tests also showed they had more antibodies to the flu during this same time period. According to the researchers involved in this study, these finding give more support to the benefits of a mom's flu vaccine protecting infants from the flu virus up to the age where they can get the shot themselves.

New Weight Loss Information

When it comes to losing or gaining weight there is more information about what it takes to keep slim and trim.

We are talking about 2 new studies. One shows just how important sleep is to dieting and the other overturns some common thinking about fat cells in our body.

In the first study, researchers found that not getting enough sleep can sabotage your weight loss efforts. Even though all participants in the study lost the same amount of weight, those getting enough sleep---around 8 hours---lost the most amount of fat. The ones getting less sleep ended up losing more muscle mass which means they ended up with more body fat just by not sleeping enough.

Researchers have also started to overturn the common belief that adults don't make new fat cells. We used to think we have the same fat cells as adults we had as children, just that these fat cells grew in size as we gained more weight. But in this new study participants that gorged on food ended up developing new fat cells on their thighs. Also contrary to what we used to think, both men and women gained weight in their thighs at the same rate.

The important take home points from these studies is that gaining and losing weight is a very complicated process inside our bodies, and that's why simple dieting won't work long term. Instead your best bet is a lifestyle change that includes better eating and exercise.

Kids & Junk Food

Just about every kid likes junk food. But the amount they eat every day might astonish you.

So, how bad can an occasional snack be for them? Occasional is the key word here. It seems like most kids are eating what are called empty calories more often than most of us thought.

Empty calories are just that, food that can help add calories to a daily diet but won't do much for a kids health. As a matter of fact, these empty calories, or junk food, are one big reason we're seeing heavier children than ever.

A new government study found almost half of what a kid takes in to their body every day comes from just six different types of food that experts have called empty calories. They are soda, sugary fruit drinks, grain desserts like cake and cookies, dairy desserts like ice cream, and whole milk, which is much fatter than skim.

It's hard to blame just one source for this bad diet. Kids don't always have the best lunches at school, fast food is readily available and cheap and kids are bombarded with commercials advertising these empty calorie choices. But the head of the CDC is calling the current obesity epidemic a "winnable" battle and getting this empty calorie issue under control is one way to start off on the right foot.