Just last week, a new section of www.mypyramid.gov was revealed - MyPyramid for Preschoolers. Now, specific healthy eating information exists for four groups: preschoolers (ages 2-5), kids (ages 6-11), adults, and pregnant or breastfeeding women. If you haven't seen one or more of these sections, you should really take a look. The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (an organization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) has done an excellent job of developing practical dietary recommendations from current nutrition research findings. Here are some of the things you'll find for each of the "featured" groups:

Preschoolers - MyPyramid Plan (customized eating plan based on age, gender, and physical activity level); customize growth chart based on child's height and weight; answers to common questions from parents including coping with picky eaters and helping children know when they've had enough; guidelines and suggestions for physical activity; food safety advice; and two examples of a healthy meal and snack pattern with menu ideas.

Kids - MyPyramid Blast Off (game); MyPyramid poster with healthy eating and physical activity messages; healthy tips for families; MyPyramid for kids coloring page; meal tracking worksheet; and a link to the Team Nutrition classroom materials for grades one through six.

Adults - MyPyramid Plan (customized eating plan based on age, gender, weight, height, and physical activity level); MyPyramid Tracker (for logging and analyzing foods eaten and physical activities performed); MyPyramid Menu Planner; information on weight management; tips and resources for each of the food groups; sample menus; MyPyramid PodCasts; and ideas for communities and companies to partner with MyPyramid.

Pregnant/Breastfeeding - MyPyramid Plan (customized eating plan based on age, date of baby's birth, breastmilk/formula feeding, height, weight, and physical activity level); information on nutritional needs and appropriate weight gain during pregnancy and breastfeeding; and additional sources of information for a healthy pregnancy.

In an earlier blog we shared how walking workstations are helping sedentary office workers burn extra calories while doing computer work, talking on the phone, or attending meetings.  And research shows that this innovative approach to multitasking may just work. 

But the video clip provided in this blog shows that you can take healthful multitasking too far.  Host of “Let’s Paint TV,” John Kilduf, is shown running on a treadmill, making a soy smoothie, and painting a picture of a soy plant.  None of which he does very well.  The bottom line?  There might be limits to multitasking. 

Still, in a tongue in cheek sort of way, Kilduf has shown us that you can take normally sedentary activities – cooking and painting – and make them more physically active.  So let’s applaud him for burning calories, preparing a healthful snack, and beautifying the world with art. 

What are ways you have turned sedentary or low-intensity daily activities into moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activities?

When there's a niche and a need, food companies will fill it! The niche? Families on-the-go. The need? Meals and snacks that are healthier than fast food. The result? Dozens of new healthful (or seemingly healthful) handheld foods.

With breakfast paninis and pocket bread sandwiches and portable snacks like pretzels and salsa, many families are joining this forkless food movement that makes eating away from the dinner table easy. While some forkless foods are made with whole grains and other healthy ingredients, caretakers do need to read more than the claims on the front of the box. For example, just one of Kraft's Bagel-fuls microwavable frozen bagel sticks filled with cream cheese will jab you with 200 calories. And Smucker's Uncrustables (cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) contain countless "less healthy" ingredients like partially hydrogenated soybean oil (trans fat), white flour, and high fructose corn syrup. 

Beyond reading food labels to find the healthiest forkless foods, what's a family carting kids from school to soccer and soccer to dance to do? Some argue to stop over-enrolling kids in sports and activities and bring the family and fresh, home cooked food back to the dinner table. Several studies have shown that family meals improve diet quality (more fruits, vegetables, calcium-rich foods and less soft drinks) in children and adolescents. And a recent study showed that family meals during adolescents may have a lasting positive influence on dietary quality and meal patterns (eating breakfast and regular meals) in young adulthood. 

What are your thoughts? Is it more important to enrich the lives of children with outside activities or focus on family meals? Or, can caretakers do both? Do you have any good-for-you-on-the-go foods to recommend to others?

Larson, N.I. (2007).Family meals during adolescence are associated with higher diet quality and healthful meal patterns during young adulthood. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 107, 1502-1510.

In this day of billion dollar bailouts of collapsed financial institutions that have the gall to still send executives on extravagant “retreats,” wouldn’t it be nice to hear good news about how your tax dollars are being spent?  Well, would you believe that there is one single federal program that promotes healthier living for kids, reduces traffic congestion, conserves fuel, and improves air quality?

It is the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program that was established by Congress in 2005.  With funding through 2009 at a 5-year total that is less than one-tenth of a percent of the recent federal bank bailout, this program provides funding to states to improve the ability of children to safely walk and bike to local schools.  Each state is required to establish a full-time SRTS coordinator who works with state entities to determine how to distribute its money across engineering, educational, and enforcement activities.  Click here to find out how your state was funded.

The Congressional funding also set up a national clearinghouse to develop and disseminate educational materials, provide assistance to states, and coordinate efforts across the states.  The National Center for Safe Routes to School, located at the University of North Carolina, has:

A few weeks ago in a Stand Up & Eat blog, we encouraged you to participate in Walk to School Day.  But healthy, calorie burning habits are more than a one day affair.  Use the links provided in this blog to find out how your federal tax dollars are being used in your state to support safe routes to school.  Then take action using the resources you have already paid for to activate a SRTS program in your local community. 

There's not a lot you can do to change the financial crisis in this country but getting involved with a SRTS program will help you see how some of your taxes are being used to help make our children and our environment healthier.

Which would you rather your tax dollars be used for - more financial bailouts or healthy eating and active living programs like SRTS?

Photo source:  www.pedbikeimages.org / Dan Burden

If you walk down the chip, cracker, or cookie aisle of the supermarket today you will see shelves stocked with 100-calorie "snacks." While many calorie-conscious consumers believe these single-serving packages are perfect for controlling portions, new research shows that the 100-calorie "snack" can quickly turn into a 400- or 500-calorie "meal."   

In a previous post we described research that found that people consume more when given more and that one way to cut down on high-calorie foods is to serve them on smaller plates. Given this, you would think that eating chips from a 100-calorie snack pack instead of 28-ounce bag would be a good choice. While the verdict's still out, some marketing studies are saying "No!" After performing a series of experiments in which researchers served study participants tempting foods in smaller and larger bags, a few conclusions were made:

• People perceived the savory snacks in the small bags to be more like "diet" food.
• People also believed that four smaller bags contained more calories than one large bag.
• This conflict between thinking that the smaller bags are both "diet" food and higher in calories created anxiety and stress for some study participants (e.g., dieters), leading to a lapse in self-control and overconsumption of the food.
• Study participants that were chronic dieters (labeled "restrained eaters" in the study) consumed more calories from smaller bags than "unrestrained eaters."
• When tempting foods come in large packages, consumers think before they eat and are less likely to consume the food; small packages that contain small amounts of food, on the other hand, may be thought of as "small sins" that don't have to count toward one's daily calorie intake.

What do you think? Do 100-calorie packs help you control your portions? Or, are you more likely to say "okay" to a 100-calorie pack of cookies (thinking it's a "small sin") than opening up a large tray of cookies?  

Scott, M.L. (2008). The effects of reduced food size and package size on the consumption behavior of restrained and unrestrained eaters. Journal of Consumer Research. 35(3), 391-405. 

Coelho do Vale, R (2008). Flying under the radar: perverse package size effects on consumption self-regulation. Journal of Consumer Research. 35(3), 380-390.

For the first time ever, the federal government has issue a single, unified set of guidelines specifically focused on getting Americans to move more. The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans is an important document because it sets forth recommendations that individuals, organizations, communities, policy makers, and legislators should use to promote better health through increased physical activity. Americans’ current inactivity puts us at unnecessary risk for a multitude of health problems and premature death.

The new guidelines are the result of a comprehensive review of the latest research on the benefits to body and mind of regular physical activity. The review confirmed that physical activity is good for just about every body – young or old, healthy or with chronic illnesses. They also definitively answer the question on a lot of people’s minds. Namely, “How much is enough?” The answer is:

Children and adolescents – One hour or more of moderate or vigorous-aerobic physical activity a day, including vigorous physical activity at least three days per week. Muscle and bone-strengthening activities should be done on at least three days per week.

Adults – Two and one-half hours of moderate-intensity OR one hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity OR a combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. Aerobic activity should be done in bouts of at least 10 minutes preferably spread out during the week. Muscle-strengthening activities should be done on at least two days per week.

Older adults – Follow the adult guidelines as their chronic conditions and physical abilities allow.

Guidelines for other populations are offered as well and are designed so people can easily fit physical activity into their daily lives by doing activities they enjoy. The bottom line? For all people, some activity is better than none. Additional benefits – especially weight management benefits – are provided by doing more than what is described above.

Are you or your family members meeting these guidelines? If not, take a look at the "Be Active Your Way" guide for how to get started and links to related sites. Don’t forget, the Stand Up & Eat web site offers many active living resources, including the “Get Active Program,” a 12-week e-newsletter designed to help couch potatoes get up and get moving.

While we know that the physical environment (fast foods, portion sizes, elevators, etc.) influences our eating and physical activity behaviors, new research from Harvard University indicates that our social environment may also be linked to our behaviors, attitudes, and weight status.
 
In this study, weight and height data from more than 12,000 socially interconnected adults who had participated in the Framingham Heart Study were analyzed. Researchers found that thin and overweight people tended to be clustered together, and that a person's odds of becoming obese increased by 57% if he/she had a friend who became obese over a certain time interval. Additionally, if one sibling became obese, the chances that the other sibling would also become obese increased by 40% and if a spouse became obese, the other spouse had a 37% increased likelihood of following suit.
 
The study also found that social networks were more influential than geographic location and that people of the same gender had a greater influence on each other than people of the opposite gender.
 
So what does all of this mean? Having obese friends and family members may cause you to change your tolerance for being obese or influence your adoption of unhealthy weight related behaviors like overeating or being sedentary. In other words, you may unconsciously say to yourself, "I see you've gained weight, it is okay for me to gain weight."
 
Thus, the problem of obesity cannot be addressed just at the individual level. Social ties within families, neighborhoods, communities, workplaces, and schools should be targeted as a means to spread healthy (vs. less healthy) attitudes and behaviors about weight, eating, and physical activity.

What healthy behaviors could you get your family members, friends, and co-workers on board with? Here are some of our suggestions:

• Meatless Mondays. Make nutrient-rich, low-calorie plant foods the focus of your family dinner at least once a week.
• Hip Hop instead of Happy Hour. Recruit your friends to try one of the fun new exercise classes (like Hip Hop/Funk, Boot Camp, Kick Boxing) offered at a local fitness center.
• Walking (or standing) work meetings. Ask your co-workers to meet in a room without chairs or outside for an "active" meeting.
• Physical Activity as an appetizer. Instead of snacking before dinner, get your family to go outside and play while the casserole's in the oven.
• Leafy greens for lunch. Invite a friend or co-worker to go out for lunch at a restaurant that serves good salads or has a salad bar.

For tips on finding and recruiting physical activity "partners" download this worksheet from our Stand Up & Eat library.

Christakis, N.A. (2007). The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years. New England Journal of Medicine. 357(4), 370-379.

On October 8th – this Wednesday – thousands of children in America will burn extra calories walking or biking to school for Walk To School Day.  For some of us boomers, walking to school was a daily “workout.”  In fact, in 1969, 42 percent of students walked to school.  In 2001 (the most recent year for which data are available), only 16 percent of kids walked to school.  Hmmm.  Childhood obesity rates have soared since the ‘60s and ‘70s.  Wonder if there is a connection?

Walk to School Day is a part of an international movement (pun intended) to encourage healthier habits, promote safer streets, and to take action to pollute less.  With today’s high gas prices, walking to school can save a little money as well. 

Walk to school?  “I don’t have time to walk my child to school.” “It’s not safe.”  “It is too far.”  These are common reason people give for not taking steps to make walking – to school or otherwise – a part of their daily routine.  Before you let these excuses keep you in your car in the drop off queue at your child’s school, take a look at the wonderful information provided at the International Walk to School in the USA web site.  There you will find information on how to:

• plan a walk to school event at your school (including partnering with others and classroom activity ideas), 
• network with other schools to see what they are doing,
• use ready-to-go promotional materials including banners, flyers, and a media toolkit, and
• locate other related resources

Additional background information is provided in this comprehensive “Talking Points” document.

With only two days before this year’s Walk To School Day, it may be tough to plan an event.  So simply walk your own child/grandchild/neighbor kid to school on Wednesday.  If even that is too much for this week, the entire month of October has been designated International Walk to School Month so you can create your own Walk To School Day (or Days!) later this month.  In fact, why not make walking or biking to school a year-round activity? 

If you've purchased new plates (for yourself or maybe a bride-to-be) in the past couple of years you've probably noticed the trend toward supersized tableware. Dinner plates that used to be 8 or 9 inches across have expanded to 11 or 12 inches. Some mugs and glasses hold 15-plus ounces and bowls are so wide and deep you could fill them with five cups of dry cereal.

What's wrong with large plates, cups, and mugs? Nothing if you're filling them with leafy greens, water, and broth-based soup!

Research from Cornell University and Penn State has shown over and over that the larger the amount of food that is in front of you, the more you will eat. For many people, eating more when faced with large amounts of food is tied to their membership to the "Clean Plate Club". They have been taught to not waste food by eating everything that is on their plate. For others, recognizing extra-large portions is difficult because they have become accustomed to oversized serving/eating dishes and portions.

So do we need to switch back to smaller plates, cups, and bowls? For some, it may be a good strategy to control portion sizes of high-calorie foods. In other words, eat your main dish on a salad plate and your salad on a dinner plate. Other food portion control tools that have shown to be effective include The Diet Plate, which is a plate that is divided into sections designed to contain predetermined volumes of carbohydrate, cheeses, sauces, and vegetables, and The New American Plate placemat developed by the American Institute for Cancer Research.

We challenge you this week to take a close look at your tableware. Do you have small plates, cups, and bowls that you can use to serve high-calorie foods and beverages? And do you have big plates, cups, and bowls that you can use to serve low-calorie foods and beverages? As basic as it sounds, this strategy can help you cut out some calories.