Resource Guide Final English

Food for Thought

a parent’s resource guide

about this guide Food for Thought: A Parent’s Resource Guide is about helping you make smart food choices for your children. Remember, healthy kids become healthy adults! This Resource Guide is designed to raise awareness and provide information about your food choices, particularly on how the media influences your family’s food preferences. The Resource Guide is packed full of information and ideas to help you make healthy decisions at the grocery store, as well as at home. Look for these useful resources throughout Food for Thought: Watch for ideas on how to become a Food Detective when you see this symbol!

• Fast facts about the media and food • Healthy and delicious recipes • Tips for understanding and reading food labels • Basic nutrition information and ideas for healthy eating • TV Food Diary • A fun nutrition activity for kids

EDUCATION

Produced by Action for Media Education (AME) www.action4mediaeducation.org

did you know? Children spend about 6.5 hours a day with media (TV, Internet, radio, magazines, books, computer games, music, etc.)

The average child views about 10,000 food commercials a year, just on TV! Saturday morning commercials show a food commercial every five minutes.

Supported by the Steps to a HealthierUS Cooperative Agreement of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Your feedback is very important to us. Please send us your ideas and suggestions for our next edition of Food for Thought. Email your feedback to [email protected]

1

Designed by Vivian Hua

y m m o m pleeeeease

!

Saying “NO” to your children when they request certain foods can be challenging. Knowing the facts and a few tricks ahead of time can eliminate some of the frustration. Keep these ideas in mind!

• Avoid the center aisles of the grocery store — everything you really need is located on the outside aisles (fruit, vegetables, dairy, etc). • Many food companies use popular cartoon characters on the packages of junk food in order to sell products — don’t be fooled. • Many kids usually just want the toy that comes in the package or with the meal. Instead of giving in, give them $1 to buy a small toy at your local store. • Tell your child that he/she can have one product of their choice (for example, a sugared cereal); however, it should last for a given period of time (e.g. two weeks). • Make a shopping list with your child before you go to the store and stick to it! Have your children help you find the items on the list. • Give your children the job of picking out one special fruit or vegetable at the grocery store for your family to try!

don’t forget! During a typical trip to the grocery store, a child will make about 15 requests. In addition, they will make about 5 requests a day at home, and 10 requests a day while on vacation — in all, about 3,000 requests a year!

2

media + FOOD food media Ads are everywhere! Advertisers use many tricks to get us to buy their products! Knowing the tricks (and teaching them to your kids) is a great way to be one step ahead of the advertisers and not get fooled!

DID YOU KNOW? • Up until about age five, children have a hard time telling the difference between fantasy and reality, which is why advertisers rely on advertising tricks, such as cute characters, to get kids to request their products.

• About 74% of the ads during children’s programming are for foods high in sugar, fat, and salt. Only 2% of ads are for fruit and vegetables. • Kids who watch four or more hours of TV a day are most likely to be overweight. Kids who watch the least TV are less likely to be overweight. Don’t eat meals in front of the TV: especially dinner!

KNOW THE TRICKS Look for these tricks the next time you are watching TV! • Bright colors • Cute and loveable characters (including cartoons) • Fun toys (included in product packaging) • Lively music • Humor • Celebrities & beautiful people • Slogans and health/nutrition claims 3

Get the TV out of your child’s bedroom!

READING PRODUCT PACKAGING

What do you notice about the front and back of this cereal box?

BACK

FRONT

Knowing the tricks advertisers use on product packaging will prepare you for how to say NO when your children start begging for products (remember the “mommy pleeeeease” factor?).

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT! Candy & cereal are the two most requested items at the grocery store, and also the two most advertised products on TV!!

• What about this box appeals to kids? • What about this box appeals to parents? • What tricks are used on both the front and on the back of the box? • What words are specifically used to make you think this product is healthy and nutritious? • Do you notice the pictures of fruit? What does this lead you to believe? • How healthy do you think this product really is? • How can you find out?

More than $33 billion every year is spent advertising food products that are mostly loaded with sugar, fat, and salt!

Turn to page 9 to find out!

4

TERRIFIC & TASTY TIPS We know that getting kids to eat healthy can sometimes be challenging! Use these tips for some ideas. • Put slices of vegetables (carrots, celery, etc.) in small plastic bags. For every day that your children eat all of the vegetables, put a sticker on the bag. • Use the same idea above to encourage your children to drink more water. Place stickers on their favorite water bottle. • Make a fruit sundae bar or banana “split” with chopped fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, and granola. • Add vegetables to your child’s favorite foods (e.g. add broccoli to macaroni and cheese). • Cut sandwiches in shapes. A cookie cutter makes a healthful sandwich special. • If you buy canned fruit, be sure to buy it unsweetened.

RECIPES Raspberry & Blueberry Tango Smoothie Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Makes about two servings.

5

Salad Shakers Have you ever prepared and eaten a salad out of a plastic bag? If not, here’s your chance!

8 oz. carton of non-fat raspberry yogurt 1 ripe banana 1/2 cup orange juice 1 cup fresh or frozen berries of your choice (we like mixing raspberries and blueberries!)

Place lettuce and other veggies of your choice (carrots, tomatoes, onions) and a small amount of low-fat salad dressing into a zip-lock plastic bag (sandwich size or bigger) and give it a few shakes. Have your kids help in the preparation and shaking! Eat salad right out of the bag.

Experiment with different berries and flavors of yogurt. Vegetarians can replace yogurt with tofu.

Optional items to include: apple slices, red or green peppers, cheese, croutons, almonds, kidney beans, raisins, or dried cranberries

TV FOOD Diary Use the TV Food Diary to keep track of the food products advertised while you and your children watch television together. You’ll probably notice that most of the ads during children’s programming are for products high in sugar, fat, and salt. Use this as an opportunity to discuss with your kids the types of food products advertised, as well as the tricks used to capture their attention. At the end of one week, add up the total number of hours of TV your children watched. Think about ways to reduce your children’s screentime. TV Show

Start/End Time

Product Advertised

Media Tricks Used

Where in the grocery store are most of these products located? 6

a s ’ at

wh

? E RI

O L CA

Don’t Forget:

“Not all calories are created equal!”

A calorie is the amount of energy that food provides. One of the best ways to ensure our child’s health is to make sure that the calories he/she consumes come from wholesome and nutritious foods!

Everything we eat contains calories — but don’t forget that not all calories are created equal! Have you ever heard of the term “empty calories?” The quality of food your child eats is very important! Sugary sweets such as cookies, candy, and soda pop offer little in terms of nutrition — just plain old “empty calories.” Notice how these two foods have the same number of calories but are very different in terms of their nutritional value? 8-OUNCE LOW-FAT FRUIT YOGURT

PACKAGE OF LICORICE Calories: 140 Calcium: 0 Protein: 1g Potassium: 0 Iron: 0 Vitamin C: 0

VS

Calories: 140 Calcium: 25% Protein: 8g Potassium: 90mg Iron: 2% Vitamin C: 3%

Which one do you think is the better choice? Which one could be considered “empty calories?”

7

For tips on reducing calories, see “Food Make-overs” on Page 17!

SIMPLE WAYS

TO

INCREASE ACTIVITY

LEVELS

Having children engage in a few simple lifestyle changes or fun activities like these are an easy way to burn calories without even knowing it! • Take the stairs as often as possible. • Park in spaces away from the front entrance of grocery stores, shopping centers, and other areas. Obviously, this one requires your help! • Do jumping jacks or jump rope during commercials. • Start dancing to your favorite tunes on the radio or CD while at home. • Take walks after dinner instead of turning on the TV.

DID YOU KNOW?

HEALTHFUL HINT

If your child drinks one 20-ounce bottle of pop a day, he/she will consume about 1/4 of his/her daily calories just from soda!

Make sure that your kids drink plenty of water! Make sure your children eat a nutritious breakfast daily. For ideas, see page 15. 8

understanding food labels SERVING SIZE Tells you what the serving size is for one person, usually how much you should eat at one time.

SERVINGS PER CONTAINER Tells you how many servings are contained in the package. If the package contains two servings, you will have to double everything if you eat the whole package.

CALORIES Refers to how many calories are provided in one serving (See page 7 for what a calorie is!).

9

Don’t be fooled! Advertisers like to make you think that the product is healthy — be sure to read those food labels to find out!

Just because this “Swirled Berries” box says “1/3 less sugar” does not mean the product is automatically healthy!

words to watch out for:

CALORIES FROM FAT Refers to how many of the calories are from fat (keep this number low!).

% DAILY VALUES (DV) A high DV means a food contains a lot of that nutrient. A low DV means that the product contains only a small amount of that nutrient. Remember: In terms of the % DV, 5% is low and 20% is high

CHECK IT OUT! The 2nd, 4th, and 5th most important ingredients in the cereal are sugars!

Where’s the fruit? Notice how the front of the box has pictures of fruit and the name of the cereal is “Swirled Berries?” Look at the ingredients on the food label — do you see any fruit listed? Nope! Not a one!w

Food manufacturers often disguise the “true nature” of their ingredients by using unfamiliar words. As Food Detectives, we can learn the truth behind the words! WATCH OUT FOR THESE Artificial (e.g. artificial flavoring) Hydrogenated (see pg. 12) OTHER NAMES FOR SUGAR (Often ending in “ose”) Cane Juice Dextrose Fructose Glucose High fructose Honey Lactose Maltodextrin Maltose Molasses Sucrose Syrups (e.g. corn syrup)

10

Just like our cars needs fuel to run, our bodies also need fuel. However, the type of food (fuel) we put into our bodies can make a big difference.

What’s a Carbohydrate?

A carbohydrate (or carbs, as they are commonly known) is our body’s main source of fuel. There are two main types of carbohydrates — complex and simple. “What’s the difference?”

SIMPLE Carbohydrates This type of carbohydrate can also be referred to as “simple sugars” because the fuel is in the form of sugar. Foods in this category include honey, jams/jellies, table sugar, cookies, syrup, candies, soft drinks, and also fruits, & fruit juices. Although fruit and fruit juices are considered “simple carbs,” these foods provide other important nutrients like fiber! Buy juices that are 100% fruit juice! The calories contained in most simple carbohydrates offer little nutrition — they go straight to the blood; that’s where we get the term, “sugar rush.”

COMPLEX Carbohydrates Complex carbohydrates are the main fuel our bodies need. They come from plants, and include grains, vegetables, and beans. Unlike simple carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates provide much more nutrition. The sugar is created during digestion, so it is released into the body at a slower rate. 11

What’s Fat? We know the term and know that we should limit it (at least the bad kind), but what exactly is fat and what’s the difference between the four types of fats — monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated, and transfat?

the GOOD... the unsaturated MONOUNSATURATED FAT These are the good guys! They include foods such as olive, peanut, sesame and canola oils, and avocados. They are heart-healthy and may help lower cholesterol. POLYUNSATURATED FAT These are the most important for maintaining a healthy body. Polyunsaturated fats include corn, cottonseed, safflower, sunflower, and soybean oils, and fish oil. They have also been shown to help reduce the risk of heart disease. the BAD... SATURATED FAT These are considered the “bad” fats because they can raise cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease. Saturated fats are found in meats, poultry, dairy products, such as whole milk and cheese, as well as in some vegetable oils, such as palm kernel oils (found in cookies, cakes, crackers, and other baked products). the very BAD... TRANS-FATTY ACIDS (TRANSFAT) This type of fat is the worst! Transfat is created when unsaturated fats undergo a manufacturing process called hydrogenation — when a liquid or semi-soft fat is transformed into a more solid state. They are dangerous because they act like saturated fats in the body and raise cholesterol. 12

RECIPES When kids help you cook and prepare meals, they will learn to appreciate healthy foods!

Best Black Bean & Veggie Burrito Layer all the ingredients on the tortilla, starting with the beans. Put in the microwave for about 1 minute to melt the cheese. * Package of whole wheat flour tortillas 16 oz can of black beans Lettuce, shredded Tomatoes, chopped Onions, chopped Low-fat cheese, shredded (a small handful per serving) Salsa Non-fat plain yogurt (great substitute for sour cream!)

Boppin’ Basil Dip 1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise 2 tablespoons skim milk 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped (1 tsp. dried basil) 1 teaspoon onion powder

Black beans are an excellent source of fiber, iron, and protein, and have less than 1 gram of fat per serving!

* For variety, add chicken

Pairing vegetables with a healthy dip is a great way to get kids to eat more veggies!

Combine all ingredients in a blender (or food processor) and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for about one hour. Serve with veggies. Suggestions: broccoli, cauliflower, red or green peppers, celery, tomatoes, carrots 13

think about the clues Many packages contain phrases or words that can be misleading, making us think we are purchasing a healthy product. As Food Detectives, knowing what these terms really mean can reduce the likelihood of being fooled!

FIBER

SUGAR

Added Fiber Contains at least 2.5 grams of fiber per serving.

Sugar-Free Contains less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving.

Good Source of Fiber Contains 2.5 to 4.9 grams of fiber per serving.

Reduced Sugar At least 25% less sugar than the original version of the product.

High-Fiber Contains 5 grams of fiber per serving.

No Sugar Added No sugar added during the processing or packaging, including ingredients that contain sugar, such as juice or dried fruit.

CALORIE

FAT

Reduced Calories Has at least 25% fewer calories than the regular version of that food item.

Reduced Fat At least 25% less fat per serving than the original version of a food product.

Low Calorie 40 or less calories for most food items; 120 or less for main dish products.

Fat Free Less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving.

Calorie Free Less than 5 calories per serving. Light or Lite Contains one-third fewer calories or 50% less fat than the original.

Low Fat 3 grams of fat (or less) per serving. Light or Lite Contains one-third fewer calories or 50% less fat than the original product.

Did You Know?

Sometimes frozen fruits and vegetables are more nutritious than fresh ones! The longer that fruits or vegetables sit around waiting to be sold or eaten, the more nutrients they lose. But fruits and vegetables grown for freezing are usually frozen right after they’re picked. Therefore, they have less time to lose their nutrients.

14

kid activity This activity is a great way to reduce, recycle, and reuse your grocery bags!

Supplies Needed: • • • • • •

grocery bag creation fun! Here’s a great way to get your kids thinking about fruits and vegetables while encouraging their creativity. Before you head to the grocery store, have your kids create pictures of the fruits or vegetables that they want to eat. Be sure that they draw or glue their pictures right on the grocery bag! Take the bag with you to the grocery store. Have your kids match the fruit or veggies they created with the ones at the store and place them into their special shopping bag!

Brown paper grocery bag Markers Crayons Construction paper Glue Scissors

recipe ideas

Try these quick and nutritious ideas for breakfast. • Peanut Butter Surprise: Toast a whole-grain frozen waffle and top with peanut butter, bananas, and cinnamon. • Cantaloupe Bowl: Cut cantaloupe in half, remove seeds, fill the hole with yogurt and top with raisins and nuts. • The Standard (with a Twist): Dry cereal of your choice (chose one low in sugar)—dress it up with dried fruit or fresh berries (use low-fat milk). • Cloud Crunch: Mix together low-fat cottage cheese, fresh fruit, and granola. • Breakfast Scramble: Whisk together milk and eggs. Mix in green peppers, tomatoes, and black beans. Scramble until cooked. Top with salsa and low-fat cheese. 15

healthy snacks Eating healthy can have long-term benefits for your children! Use the list below for healthy and delicious snack ideas. Have fun and be creative with your food choices. Get your kids involved in the preparation!

Most people need to try a particular food about 5-10 times before acquiring a taste for it. Don’t give up!

-

Applesauce Plain popcorn Graham crackers Frozen yogurt bars Celery and peanut butter Fruit smoothie (see recipe, page 5) Veggies and low fat dip (see recipe, pg. 13) Whole wheat toast or crackers with peanut butter - Yogurt and granola - Pita bread with hummus

healthful hints

- Veggie juice (e.g. V8) (low sodium option available!) - Whole wheat fig bars - Fresh fruit dressed with condiments (e.g. peanut butter, yogurt, cottage cheese) - Cucumbers with lime juice, light salt, or chili powder - Nuts (almonds are great) - Dried fruit - Fresh fruit - Yogurt-covered pretzels or raisins - Low-fat string cheese - Rice cakes - Salads (see recipe, page 5)

BE CREATIVE AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN IDEAS!

To encourage healthy food eating, give your children a choice between two different “healthy foods.” This can help prevent arguments about junk food versus healthy food. Show your kids how much you enjoy eating healthy food!

Some foods might not be appropriate for kids under 3 — check with your doctor!

16

food “make-overs” instead of... try Whole milk

1% or skim milk (for kids 2 years and older)

Cookies

Whole wheat Newton Bars

Chips

Home-popped popcorn or low-sodium pretzels

White bread

Whole wheat bread

Ice cream

Frozen yogurt or yogurt with fresh fruit

Pop

Water with lime or lemon

Cheese

Low-fat or mozzarella cheese

Juice

Diluted juice (1/2 water and 1/2 juice)

White rice

Brown rice (or other options, such as couscous)

healthful hint 17

Be sure to look for the words whole wheat on the packages and food labels; select foods with a good amount of fiber and low levels of sugar and sodium.

Use these resources to further help guide you in becoming Food Detectives.

local

resources

Action for Media Education (AME) (www.action4mediaeducation.org): Learn how you can get involved in media literacy education from this Seattle-based non-profit organization. Community Resources Online Database (www2.ci.seattle.wa.us/crisisclinic/): Search by topic or organization to find information about health issues important to you. Healthy Choices for Kids (http://www.healthychoices.org/): Developed by the Growers of Washington State Apples; this website is jam-packed with nutrition information and kid-friendly activities. Public Health Seattle & King County (http://www.metrokc.gov/health/portal/nutrition.htm): Here is your local connection to nutrition information in Seattle and the greater Seattle area.

national

5-A-Day (http://www.5aday.com): User-friendly website for both parents and kids. Get ideas for how to include “colors” in your daily diet. American Diabetes Association (http://www.diabetes.org): Learn more about diabetes, as well as get connected to local resources. Kids Health (http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy): Nutrition information and ideas for keeping kids healthy. Includes kidfriendly recipes. This website is also available in Spanish. Media Awareness Network (http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/): Learn more about how advertisers use tricks to reach kids. This website includes a section on advertising and food. Nutrition Facts & Calorie Counter (http://www.nutritiondata.com): Provides nutrition information for many foods, including fast foods. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—We Can! Program (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/ obesity/wecan/): The We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity & Nutrition) website is loaded with nutrition information and ideas for making fitness fun. A very special thanks to all of our parent educators from ESD 121 who helped in the preparation of the Food for Thought project. We couldn’t have done it without you! The following resources were used in the preparation of this guide: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating for Kids: Eat, Play and Be Healthy (W. Allan Walker, MD); Don’t Eat this Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America (Morgan Spurlock); Food Fight: The Inside Story of the Food Industry, America’s Obesity Crisis, & What We Can Do About It (Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D.); The Kids Market: Myths and Realities (James U. McNeal, Ph.D.); The United States Department of Agriculture.

18

Supported by the Steps to a HealthierUS Cooperative Agreement of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

EDUCATION

Produced by Action for Media Education (AME) www.action4mediaeducation.org