HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-07-22, Page 15The Legacy of
Ontario March
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— regardless of their physical disability from arthritis,
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Please consider how your legacy to Ontario March
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ONTARIO MARCH OF DIMES
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Telephone: 1400-163-3463
Fax: 416-425.1920
Website: wynv.dimes.on.ca
Email: infoOdimos,on.co
ONTARIO LA MARCHE
MARCH DES DIX SOUS
OF DIMES DE I:ONTARIO
Incirprxionor for Adults with Arica! Disoktildieu
Auloneml• pow oath. oyoni cn handicap phy.dqw
Honorary
Marching Mother
June Callwood (VI)
wIth volunteer
Wendy Brandi
The View When
Vision Fails
CATARACT MACULAR
DEGENERATION
Diseases and
conditions cause
specific problems
for patients.
Cataracts produce a
blurriness, macular
degeneration dimi-
nishes central vision
and glaucoma reduce
peripheral vision.
GLAUCOMA
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2004. PAGE 15.
Food & Health
cope with a picky pre-schooler How to
Mmmm
Teaching pre-schoolers to
enjoy a full range of
wholesome food can be
challenging. (MG photo)
By Dietitian Catherine Smith
Dealing with a picky eater can be
an exasperating experience,
especially by the end of a long day.
Yet the preschooler isn't necessarily
trying to be difficult; he or she may
be simply growing up and trying to
gain more independence. Refusing
foods gives a sense of control over
situations and choices.
Teaching children to enjoy a full
range of wholesome foods can be
challenging. But an appreciation of a
wide variety of tastes and textures,
learned now, will carry with them
over a lifetime.
Here are a few tips to make early
food experiences happy ones.
Make mealtimes enjoyable
Family meats are about more than
Tips to get
Today's teenagers are laying the
groundwork for future heart disease.
Forty per cent of teens eat junk food
more than three times a week and
some are pigging 'out on candy,
cookies and potato chips every day.
"It's time we make a real effort to
educate our teens on how to eat
right," says Evelyn Raab, author of
Clueless in the Kitchen, a cookbook
for teens, a popular columnist for
Today's Parent magazine. "What
we're seeing in teens today is a
recipe for unhealthy adult lifestyles."
When teens arrive home after
school they are usually hungry and in
search of the perfect snack. "Cookies
and chips are fast and easy snacks
that fill me up." says one teen. "So
that's the kind of stuff I usually eat
after school."
While busy parents say it's hard to
get their teens to eat right, Evelyn
has a few nutritious and simple tips
that might help.
1. Reduce the amount of junk
food in your home.
While you can't always control
what your teen eats at school or on
the weekends, you can control
what's stocked in your fridge and
sitting in your cupboards. Commit to
buying less junk food the next time
you go grocery shopping.
2. Stock up on quick, healthy
snacks.
Serve the after-school crowd
healthy. tasty and quick alternatives
to junk food: microwaved eggs with
a dash of salsa, celery sticks with
herb cream cheese, pita bread with
hummus or a plate of carrot, green
pepper and zucchini strips wilh
just sustenance. They should be
pleasurable social moments for
sharing ideas, experiences and
feelings. To children, however small,
taking part in the family meal
becomes one of their first social
activities. Include them in the
conversation and make them feel
like an important participant. Avoid
a tension-filled atmosphere filled
with reprimands, quarrels or
arguments.
Capitalize on curiosity
Preschoolers have a natural
curiosity to learn but their attention
spans are limited. Learning about
foods is a wonderful way to peak
their curiosity. Talk about where
foods come from, how they are
typically eaten and their unique
characteristics.
Introduce new foods slowly
A child must experience a new
taste about six times before liking it.
When serving a new food:
• Offer small quantities
(tablespoon amounts);
• Serve with a favourite food;
• Adjust the seasoning to a child's
taste buds;
• Don't offer a new food when a
child is feeling tired or sick;
• Be patient. Initial rejection
doesn't mean the child is picky: and
• If old enough, involve him or her
in the preparation and planning. This
will increase their sense of
ownership and will promote trial.
Set realistic expectations
Not everyone can be expected to
like every food or the same foods.
This goes for preschoolers too!
Respect their dislikes within reason
and plan meals and snacks with them
in mind. If your child fusses over
what's served tonight, suggest he can
tzatziki.
3. Start eating right yourself.
What you eat is more important than
what you say and healthy eating
habits start at home. With you as a
role model - not a preacher -
demonstrate to your teen what
healthy eating habits are all about.
You'll both benefit because a healthy
diet is good for you too!
4. Be adventurous.
To encourage healthy and
adventurous eating habits, don't just
stick to pasta and chicken for dinner.
have a turn choosing what the
family is going to enjoy tomorrow.
Count to four!
Include all four food groups for a
balanced meal. Start with the basics -
whole grains, vegetables, fruit, meat,
eggs, legumes and milk - and build
around them for satisfying meals.
Have some fun
Serve foods in creative ways:
• Baked potato boats with sails
made of red pepper and cheese;
• A mouse or clock face on a mini
pizza; and
• A fresh fruit shake.
Shakes are another way to help
preschoolers meet their fluid milk
' requirements. Health Canada
recommends that preschoolers drink
two cups (500 ml) of milk each day
to ensure an adequate intake of
vitamin D, which works with
calcium to build strong bones and
teeth.
Serve child-size portions
Remember, you can overwhelm
your youngster with portion sizes
that are too large. A child-size
portion is half of an adult-size
portion. Serve 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2
bagel, 2 ounces of juice at one time.
Let preschoolers experience the
consequences of their choices
Keep your cool if your child
refuses to eat. Forcing a food at a
meal can become a power-struggle
you are not likely to win. Dietitians
agree, while it is the parents'
responsibility to decide what foods
are offered as well as when and
where, it is the child's responsibility
to decide how much they are going
to eat, and if at all. Going to bed
hungry one night isn't going to
jeopardize his or her health.
Offer nutritious snacks
Instead, serve up egg bagel burgers,
hash brown fritatas or french toast,
Who said eggs were just for
breakfast.
5. Do it together.
Preparing snacks and meals with
your teen is a good way to spend
time together, Why not let your teen
set the menu and act as head chef
with you as sous chef?
A little role-reversal encourages
independence, provides a sense of
'accomplishment and can be lots of
fun.
If dinner is going to be late, offer
snacks that will add to rather than
take away' from the meal balance.
Include choices such as yogurt, fruit,
raw vegetables, milk, cheese, peanut
butter, bagels and buns. Then don't
chastise your child for not eating a
full meal later on.
Choose your battles
Simple-to-offer substitutes are
fine, as long as you don't set yourself
up to be a short-order cook. A child
who systematically refuses cooked
vegetables will often crunch away
happily on raw vegetables, and a
child who refuses milk will perhaps
accept it if it's flavoured. Offer on
the occasion chocolate milk instead
of white. It's made from fresh white
milk and contains the same nutrients
as white milk.
There's very little caffeine in
chocolate milk. and about the same
amount of sugar that you would find
in equal amounts of most
unsweetened fruit juices.
Remember, healthy eating is the
sum of all our food choices over
time. It is not one food, one meal or
even one day's intake that matters.
but what you and your family eat on
average that counts.
• • your teen eating right
Baby's teeth'*'*.
demand
attention too.
Your baby's teeth need
attention right from the start.
Plan a visit to the dental office by their first
birthday and a visit to the dental hygienist by
their second birthday. There's no better time
to begin prevention and learn proper
techniques than at the beginning.
Visit www.cdho.org or call the College at
1-800-268-2346 for more information on
dental hygiene and oral health.
College of Dented Hygienists of Ontario
Celebrating 10 years of self-regulation