Mackie's Weekly Tips

August 21, 2008

Parents, does your child weigh more than he or she should for their age? If so, I have a few suggestions that may help your curb the problem.

First of all, don’t use food as a reward for good behavior. Even though this approach may have been used by your parents when you were younger, that doesn’t mean it was a good idea. The treat you’ve been using a reward may be loaded with unhealthy amounts of sugars and other undesirable calories. If you are going to offer them anything, according to Julie Fortenberry, LDN, RD, Sports and Lifestyle Nutritionist with the Fitness Principle with Mackie Shilstone at East Jefferson General Hospital. “Offer your children snacks and meals that are healthy and pleasant tasting, but don't make it a reward for cleaning their plate, scoring in the big game or making an A in math. This behavior teaches a child that when we do something well, we deserve an unhealthy treat.”

The most successful approaches to maintaining a healthy weight for children target the goals of making them feel better, stronger and more energetic. Keep a careful eye on portion sizes. A good rule-of-thumb for kids is one tablespoon of food on the plate for each year of age. Avoid or limit the intake of artificially sweetened beverages, and encourage frequent consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables. And finally, stay away from quick fixes like weight-loss pills, potions and non-prescribed diets. Consult with your doctor on all medical matters related to your child. Their health is too important a matter to leave to chance.

Chocolate

Many people think that, in order to be healthy, they have to give up the sweets. However, this is not always the case. Especially not in the case of chocolate.

Studies are showing that small amounts of dark (or semi-sweet) chocolate may actually be good for you. Dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids. These are antioxidant-like compounds that protect the cardiovascular system. They are strongly believed to improve circulation by relaxing blood vessels. Endothelial cells in blood vessels are involved with blood clotting and regulating blood pressure. Flavonoids give these endothelial cells a temporary boost to improve blood flow. Flavonoids may also retard the inevitable processes of aging, like other antioxidants.

Make sure you keep the portions small, however. Like most sweets, dark chocolate is high in fat, sugar and calories. “If your calorie needs allow, look for a small amount of dark chocolate that contains at least 70% cocoa for the best health benefits,” says Julie Fortenberry, LDN, RD, Sports and Lifestyle Nutritionist with the Fitness Principle with Mackie Shilstone at East Jefferson General Hospital. Milk chocolate contains fewer flavonoids than dark chocolate and white chocolate has little to none, so you may want to avoid them. Other foods that contain flavonoids include green and black teas, Red Delicious apples with the peels on, grapes and apricots. See your doctor regularly for checkups and consult a licensed nutritionist for a meal plan geared toward your individual needs.

August 14, 2008

Fighting Childhood Obesity

One of the most serious contributors to today’s problem of childhood obesity is the amount of time young people are spending in front of a TV set. Each day, most 8- to 18-year-olds spend an average of four hours watching television, videos, and DVDs. They may also spend more than an hour on the computer, and about 50 minutes playing video games. This is too much time for them to be wasting each week on sedentary pursuits instead of physical activities that can help them lose weight and stay healthy.

As a parent or a caregiver confronted with this problem, you can control the amount of time your children spend in front of the television. You can do this by giving some quality time to them; entertaining them with other types of fun activities that challenge both their minds and their bodies. Make a decision to turn off the TV and video games in either your child's room or in the entire home. Don’t have them running in both places. You can also make a family agreement to limit TV and video watching to fewer hours each day. Then go outside and play ball with them, or take a walk, jog or bike ride together. “All family members must set good examples and should participate in this increased physical activity with their children,” says Julie Fortenberry, LDN, RD, and Sports and Lifestyle Nutritionist for The Fitness Principle with Mackie Shilstone at East Jefferson General Hospital.

Remember, the habits children develop when they’re young can carry into adulthood. Get them started on the right foot and there’s a good chance they will stay there.

Preventing Carpal Tunnel

Computers, as we all know, are wonderful tools that help us do our jobs better and also help us learn about the world around us. But computers also have their drawbacks if you’re spending too much time in front of them. “This condition can cause night pain, numbness and tingling into the digits.  With proper biomechanics, any of these symptoms can be alleviated,” according to Eric George, M.D., and orthopedic surgeon at East Jefferson General Hospital.

If you are spending too much time at your computer without taking breaks, you may be endangering your health. When you type at a computer or use a mouse for too long, your breathing may get faster and shallower. Rapid, shallow breathing increases muscle tension, which can lead to more serious ailments. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is more likely to occur when your hand, wrist and arm muscles are tense for too much time, which often happens while working too long at a computer keyboard. And your eyes can be adversely affected by looking at a monitor screen for too long.

To protect your health while at your computer, you should take frequent short breaks to stretch your muscles. Rest your eyes and breathe deeply. Every hour or so, get up and stretch for a few seconds and focus on something more than 15 feet away from you. Walk around a little bit to exercise your leg muscles and get your blood circulating properly. If you have trouble remembering to do these things, keep a log or post a small note next to your computer screen to remind yourself to get up and stretch.