March 22, 2001

Prairie Fare: A Weighty Issue for Parents

By Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist
NDSU Extension Service

"My, your baby must have quite an appetite." "She hasn’t missed a meal, has she?" Fortunately I don’t remember these comments from well-meaning friends about my weight as an infant and toddler.

Yes, I was a "chunk" with multiple chins and an ample layer of insulation by the time I was six months old. Maybe it was a good thing, too, because I was born in November and had to survive the harsh Minnesota winter. When I learned to walk and grew taller, my height eventually caught up with my weight.

Chubby babies don’t necessarily grow up to be overweight children or adults. Most overweight children under age 3, with parents of normal weight, will grow into a normal weight. Some studies have shown that if an overweight child remains overweight after age 4, the child is likely to remain overweight, especially if the parents are overweight. While this suggests that your genetics are your destiny, the tendency to be overweight can be managed with healthy eating and physical activity habits.

Children’s early habits can have lifelong health implications. About 40 percent of children ages 5 to 8 show signs of three cardiac risk factors: high blood pressure, elevated blood cholesterol or obesity, according to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. In a 1999 study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, about one-fourth of Americans under age 19 were found to be overweight. This weight increase has prompted an increase in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes, from about 4 percent of childhood diabetes cases in 1990 to 20 percent in 1999.

What’s a parent or care provider to do? If you’re concerned about a child’s weight, it’s a good idea to check with a healthcare provider. New growth charts were recently released, and there’s a wide range of "normal." It’s never a good idea to impose adult weight loss diets on children of any age. Rather, help children grow into their weight with healthy food choices and plenty of physical activity. Keep nutritious snacks, like fresh fruit, veggies with low-fat dip, whole grain crackers, cheese, fruit juice and low-fat milk, readily available. Try to minimize soda pop consumption. If your child likes the "fizz," consider adding sparkling water to juice, or reserve soda pop as a special treat.

Children, just like adults, need plenty of variety in their diets, but introduce new foods gradually, one at a time with familiar foods. It often takes many exposures to a new food before a child accepts it. Involve children in food preparation. They usually will taste something they helped create. Sit down at the dinner table together as much as possible, and be a good role model.

Lack of physical activity among people of all ages is a health issue in the U.S. The Surgeon General recommends that we get at least 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity on five or more days of the week. Many experts recommend at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day for children. Children today have many distractions that affect their physical activity level as well as their nutrition. Countless hours of TV, videos and computer games burn very few calories. Not only are the children immovable objects in front of the TV, but they’re also enticed by commercials promoting high-calorie, low-nutrient foods.

A recent study done in California showed that preschool-age children are significantly influenced by food commercials. The children in the study requested the foods they saw on TV significantly more than children who weren’t exposed to the same commercials. In fact, certain brands of donuts and candy bars were requested twice as much by the group of children who viewed the commercials compared to those who didn’t.

Make physical activity a fun part of a child’s day. Physical activity doesn’t have to mean organized sports. If you were a high school athlete, are you still actively playing football, basketball or other sports? Take a walk outside or in a mall in cool weather. Go skating or rollerblading. Turn up the music and dance. Pull out the jump ropes, balls and bats or Frisbee in the summer. Teach children games, like hopscotch, from your childhood.

Being the mother of two young children, I’m sometimes presented with the dilemma of what to serve as a quick and nutritious evening meal. My kids love pancakes, so here’s our favorite recipe. Serve them with syrup, applesauce or another fruit topping. A serving (one-sixth of the recipe) of Buttermilk Pancakes contains 485 calories, 13 grams of fat and about 40 percent of the recommended daily calcium from the buttermilk.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 quart buttermilk
4 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Procedure:
Preheat griddle to 375 degrees. Stir or sift dry ingredients together. Mix buttermilk and eggs together. Stir in dry ingredients and add butter. Mix thoroughly. Drop from ladle onto hot griddle, baking each side approximately 2 minutes or until light brown.

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Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu