Is your child eating because they are hungry or bored?

Over the festive period, I got a chance to spend some ‘alone’ time with my 2year-old daughter and I observed a very interesting thing. Each time she would get bored or idle, she would ask for something to eat or drink. Other times when not near her, I would find her going through the kitchen cabinets or trying to open the fridge in the quest for something to eat. This would happen even a few hours after a heavy meal.

This made me think; do we always feed our children out of hunger or at times we do so because they need something to entertain them and keep them busy? When I realized my daughter was using food for entertainment, I put toys in the kitchen cabinets and a few in the pantry and from that day I didn’t hear her ask for something to eat before her meal/snack time. I realized that if she found a well-stocked pantry within her reach, she might have filled the empty time and space with food.

Children are supposed to be running around, climbing things, lifting things, moving up and down….. This is what they are meant to do during their free time, not sit around watching TV, or playing with gadgets. If they do the latter, they will somehow need something else to keep them busy and most of the time this ‘something else will be a snack, even when they are not hungry.

As parents, we should strive to keep our children busy with physical games and activities and make some lifestyle changes in our households. For some unhealthy reason, junk food tends to be more appealing to most people especially children. If you store these high caloric foods in the house, your child is going to want them. Get rid of them and replace them with healthy foods like fruits.

Children learn very well through emulation. If you as a parent are not physically active and you do not undertake any outdoor activity, how do you expect your child to be active? If you love relaxing on the couch and watch TV all day, how do you expect your child to be different? If you are on your phone and other gargets most of the time when in the house; how do expect your child not to love them too? Encourage your child to get involved more with outdoor activities and help by playing with them.

If your child has unlimited access to video games, the TV, phones and other gadgets, they are most likely to choose them after school or over the weekend. These gadgets are not bad and can be a form of entertainment for children as long as there is a set limit. Unless parents set guidelines for such children, they will more likely gravitate toward sedentary ways of entertaining themselves when idle or bored.

Eating out of boredom is a habit that, if left unchecked, could follow any child into their adulthood. Parents should help their children get involved in more physical activities. They may get annoyed now, but will thank you later.

Confused about fluctuating body weight and body fat: Feel like smashing your weighing scale?

Have you been worried about how your body weight and body fats keep fluctuating? Have you found yourself blaming the machine or the person who took the measurements? Here is the thing; your weight can fluctuate between 0.5kgs-2kgs in a day. These weight fluctuations are normal, and they happen to everybody. The amount of food you eat, how much water you drink, how much you exercise and how much you’ve gone to the bathroom can all temporarily influence your weight. Weight training, excess carbohydrate intake, salty food intake, hormonal fluctuations and constipation affect your water retention, temporarily making you a few pounds heavier than usual.

One thing you should know is that the extra weight that you see on the scale does not come from an increase in body fat; it can be water, waste products or other substances that are temporarily present in your body. Weight fluctuations can result in a temporary weight increase of up to 2 kilograms a day. It takes some time for your digestive system to process the food, fluids and salt that you consume, and the substances that are still being processed will contribute to your weight. If you had a big dinner the previous evening, your weight will still be up in the morning if you have not had a bowel movement.

Carbohydrates from the food we consume are stored as glycogen in various places within our body, like the liver and the muscles. The storage of glycogen in the liver does not vary too much from person to person; it ranges between 50-100g. On the other hand, storage of glycogen in the muscles depends on the individual’s bodyweight, body fat %, level of activity among other factors. Research shows that the range of muscle glycogen storage is between 350-750g with some studies showing we can store as high as 15g/kg of body weight. Each gram of carbohydrate storage can causes your body to retain up to 4 times that amount in water causing your bodyweight to increase.

On the other hand, your body fat percentage reading is affected by the amount of water in your body. Since the amount of water in your body is constantly fluctuating, so will the estimate of your body fat %. If the amount of water in your body decreases, your estimated body fat % will increase and if the amount of body water increases, your estimated body fat % will decrease.
The amount of water in your body decreases after: taking a bath, sitting in a hot tub, using a sauna, after exercising or after using the bathroom. The amount of water in the body increases after eating or drinking.

Hormonal fluctuations cause the body to redistribute body fat or draw in more water, resulting in fluctuating body-fat percentages over the course of several days to a week. Women are particularly sensitive to these fluctuations, so much that it is commonly recommended that you avoid measuring your body fat and weight a few days before, during and immediately after your menstrual period

So, when you are taking your body measurements it is important to have this in mind; that the time of day plays a role in irregular readings. If you weigh yourself in the morning one day and in the afternoon the next, you are more likely to get a different number than the day before. Take your measurements at the same time each day for a more reliable reading. To minimize fluctuations, get the measurements taken at the same time, in the same environment and under the same circumstances each time. Use other methods of assessments apart from weight and body fats % like waist circumference and changes in how your clothes fit.

Incredible Green Smoothie

A green smoothie is a blended drink made of fresh green vegetables, fresh fruits and sometimes with fresh green herbs such as mint or parsley among others. Green smoothies are high in antioxidants and phytonutrients; substances that help boost the body’s defense for disease and provide the body with a variety of natural substances that are essential for optimum health. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals. A significant percent of these vitamins can be lost with cooking, especially overcooking. The plant enzymes that function as phytochemical can also be destroyed by overcooking. Bottom line, a well prepared smoothie will supply you with high nutrient levels and low calories.

All leafy greens contain certain anti-nutrients as a defense against herbivores that prey on the plant’s leaves. In excessive amounts, these anti-nutrients can cause health problems. Those with pre-existing health conditions such as impaired thyroid hormone production or susceptibility to forming calcium-oxalate kidney stones might need to approach green smoothies with a little caution.

One such anti-nutrient is known as oxalates. Some foods, such as spinach and rhubarb, contain higher levels of oxalates than others. If your body absorbs high levels of oxalates and does not process it well, it may result in the formation of calcium oxalate stones, which most commonly form as kidney stones. Some people are more predisposed to this condition than others. Some foods like rhubarb, soy, dark leafy greens, beets, chocolate, wheat bran, and tea increase oxalate levels in the body more than others.

Since all leaves contain small amounts of toxins as a defense mechanism to protect a plant from predators, it is important to frequently rotate the greens you use in your smoothies to avoid a potential build-up of toxins over time and to give your body a break. Consuming a couple handfuls of spinach or kale in a green smoothie every day is perfectly safe for most healthy people who do not have a pre-existing health condition that could be aggravated by these foods. The problem, however, arises if you currently have a medical condition, aware or not, that may be exacerbated by certain compounds found in some raw leafy greens.

Another drawback to eating A LOT of raw vegetables is that they are more likely to cause food-borne illnesses. Cooking vegetables can kill many of the organisms that cause these illnesses, so people with compromised immune systems may want to limit their raw vegetable consumption. Washing your produce and keeping it away from utensils and surfaces that have been in contact with raw meat can minimize, but not totally eliminate, the risk of getting food poisoning from raw vegetables.

This may leave you wondering on the best way to prepare vegetables in order to maximize their nutritional content? There’s no easy answer, since cooking powers up the nutrients in some vegetables and does the exact opposite in others. Some vegetables are more nutritious uncooked, while others need heat to bring out the best in them. For example beets lose more than 25 percent of their folate when cooked, heating mushrooms helps the body absorb more calcium, iron and magnesium and when you eat tomatoes cooked, your body absorbs more of their cancer-fighting lycopene.

So, as you smooth away, make sure the vegetables and fruits are well cleaned. Clean them in running water then dip them in a solution of apple cider vinegar and rinse again in clean water. Alternate your smoothies with cooked vegetables and use different greens to avoid a build-up of toxins over time and generally give your body a break.

Positive or Negative Food Association?

The other day I was hosting some friends for lunch and wanted to wow them with my impeccable cooking and treat them to a four course meal. I spent a considerable amount of time making this cream of pumpkin soup to serve as the appetizer. I was however disappointed when my guests politely refused the soup and went directly to the main course. They mentioned pumpkins are children’s food and they consumed way too much when they were young. One of them actually said the sight of pumpkin nauseates him. Funny thing is, none could remember the last time they had them. Maybe some time back in their childhood.

The thing is, children can form positive or negative food association depending on the experience they have with the food.  As they interact with foods, they begin to form lifelong food associations that will affect their eating habits later. There is this common practice in Kenya where children are fed on pumpkins day in day out until they are able to share the family meal. After having a discussion with my guests I realized the problem was not pumpkins or how they taste, but an association they formed after being flooded with them when they were kids. Due to the boredom and monotony of consuming the same food, meal time was a struggle and more often than not accompanied with a pinch here and there as one was forced to swallow.

If a child gets in trouble for not eating a particular food let’s say vegetables or for not drinking water, they will associate that food with getting in trouble.  Later on, subconsciously, they may shy away from those particular foods because they give them unhappy memories. If you keep giving your child the same diet, they will hate food and meal time will be a struggle leaving you and the child exhausted and in a foul mood.

It is important to help children form positive associations with healthy foods. If you want your child to learn how to eat healthier foods you will have to do more than just telling them what to eat. Do not show your kid that you are getting frustrated and upset if they do not want to eat a certain food. This will only make mealtimes miserable for them and you and that won’t help improve their eating habits. Trying to force them won’t really help either. Remember, you don’t want to win the battle you want to win the war. Patience and persistence are the keys to your success.

Keep your child involved and try repeated exposure to that particular food they are not fond of. Children learn through observation and emulation so be a great role model and show your children how much you enjoy fruits and vegetables and the foods they don’t like to eat. Do not nag them in to eating that particular food; If you do, they will view this as punishment. Help your child associate fun and good memories with eating these foods. No food should be used as a reward, they may grow up thinking that is a very good food that should be eaten each time one does good. It is also important to avoid stocking the house with fatty and sugary foods to avoid competition with your healthy choices.

Helping your child develop healthy eating habits is the foundation to their overall health.