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Archive for kids and toddlers

{Repost} Making, and Keeping, Traditions

Posted on November 29, 2016
by Elana Natker, MS, RD
No Comments

This post originally appeared last year. While the organization mentioned has changed its name to Britepaths, the mission and need remain the same. Please consider donating this Giving Tuesday.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This year I spent it at my sister’s house with her family, my mom, and lots of friends. We ate until we were stuffed, waited a while and ate some more. The next day there were plenty of leftovers for another Thanksgiving meal (“second Thanksgiving” is secretly my favorite dinner). We have our favorite foods and even our not-so-favorite (I’m thinking of you, pecan pie) which we can easily pass up because there’s a lot of other, tastier stuff to go around (ahh…cherry pie!).

What I love about Thanksgiving most of all is the tradition. Yes, traveling can be a hassle, especially with kids and all the gear they require. We eat too much and sleep too little. But it’s all worth it for the memories, the connections and the familiar scents from the kitchen.

But sometimes, “tradition” translates to “responsibility,” or worse, “burden.” I felt a smidgen of this when I was a young professional, living on my own for the first time. My entry-level job barely paid the rent, but the holiday season meant trips back home and presents to buy and extra tipping. For a while my holidays came with a little black cloud (let’s call it “credit card debt”) that I hoped a Christmas bonus that may or may not materialize would go directly to help make that cloud go away.

My holiday burden was nothing compared to a parent with kids depending on them. To this parent, the holidays mean trying to keep tradition alive even when it seems impossible. This is especially true for households already living from paycheck to paycheck, with income levels “too high” to be eligible for assistance. Many times these families were doing OK until circumstances led to a downward spiral, things like a job loss, divorce, injury or serious diagnosis. These families don’t necessarily need ongoing support, but they do need help to get back on their feet at minimum, and most certainly a little extra help around the holidays. And their kids…they need a sense of normalcy.

This year, my family started what I hope will be a new tradition. Through a local program called Our Daily Bread, families in Fairfax County are matched with a sponsor to provide essentials for a holiday dinner. As a dietitian, I can’t imagine not having a delicious meal at Thanksgiving, not to mention the aromas and togetherness and family time it can bring. That’s why we sponsored a family of six and provided them with provisions to cook their own Thanksgiving dinner. It was so easy: I was matched with a family, called the main contact, asked about food allergies and preferences, and arranged a drop-off. I knew I found a great match when I asked the mom if she wanted a pre-made meal, but she said no: she’d like the ingredients so she could make the Thanksgiving meal together with her kids.

Food insecurity isn’t a problem “out there” or in a city far, far away. It’s here. It’s everywhere. It may affect your child’s classmate. Or your favorite store clerk. It may be your coworker, who hides his debt behind a facade. A full 14 percent of households in the U.S. were food insecure last year. That’s 48.1 million people, 15.3 million of which are children.

“Finding the courage to ask for help is tremendously hard. Having no one answer that call is heartbreaking. This Giving Tuesday, please find a way to make someone’s holidays a little brighter.”

favorite foods, kids and toddlers, Traditions

The Easiest Recipe to get Kids in the Kitchen

Posted on August 22, 2016
by Elana Natker, MS, RD
1 Comment

trail-mix-73919_1920August is Kids Eat Right Month, a time to help kids learn more about nutrition and to give them the tools and skills they need to make better choices. As a dietitian you’d think my kids are the poster children for Kids Eat Right…but they’re not!
My kids love their sweets, prefer dessert over dinner, and could live off of snack food. Dinnertime is a challenge, trying to get them to eat anything except pasta with grated cheese or cherry tomatoes (whole – never cut! I learned my lesson). As a mom I do everything I can to get them into the kitchen with me, to help with dinner or assemble salads. Usually I lose to the television or iPad.

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon a brilliant way to get kids interested in exploring the kitchen and creating something delicious. And it involves no cooking and nearly no supervision. I wish I could take credit for this discovery, but alas it was an activity done in their summer camp/daycare that piqued their interest.

The theme for the week was Western, and my son made “cowboy chow” (otherwise known as trail mix). He brought home a white paper bag with a mixture of cereal, pretzels, raisins, dried cranberries, chocolate chips and marshmallows. For the next few mornings the kids wanted to make their own trail mix breakfasts, complete with cereal, whole-grain goldfish crackers, raisins, peanuts, almonds – whatever we had in the pantry. They explored, tried different textures (including taking a chewy granola bar and crumbling it up), mixed salty and sweet…and were completely self-sufficient.

While trail mix isn’t my favorite breakfast to serve the kids, and it certainly isn’t the most healthful choice in our kitchen, the lesson here was less about nutrition and more about discovery and self-reliance. It’s my job as parent (and dietitian!) to stock better-for-you choices in my pantry, and then my kids have the freedom to take it upon themselves to experiment. That’s what cooking – and creating – is all about: the discovery and the delicious final result.

You can make your own trail mix (or cowboy chow, or princess power food – or whatever will get your kids excited) with pretty much anything in your pantry. Let your kids explore and choose a few bite-sized finger foods, throw them into a bowl and see what happens. Ask them if they want it a little sweeter, a little more salty, or maybe a bit more colorful. When you go shopping, explore the dried fruits aisle and see if there’s something new your kids might want to try (try to avoid pre-sweetened or fried fruits, and opt for naturally-sweetened or dehydrated versions instead).

The clincher for me was the following Saturday morning. My kids were darling enough to let my husband and I sleep in, and when I woke up there were two very proud children with a buffet-like spread laid out on the kitchen table. They made their own breakfast bar for the family to enjoy!Kids buffet

healthy habits, kids and toddlers

Making, and Keeping, Traditions

Posted on December 1, 2015
by Elana Natker, MS, RD
No Comments

2015-churchill-quote

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This year I spent it at my sister’s house with her family, my mom, and lots of friends. We ate until we were stuffed, waited a while and ate some more. The next day there were plenty of leftovers for another Thanksgiving meal (“second Thanksgiving” is secretly my favorite dinner). We have our favorite foods and even our not-so-favorite (I’m thinking of you, pecan pie) which we can easily pass up because there’s a lot of other, tastier stuff to go around (ahh…cherry pie!).

What I love about Thanksgiving most of all is the tradition. Yes, traveling can be a hassle, especially with kids and all the gear they require. We eat too much and sleep too little. But it’s all worth it for the memories, the connections and the familiar scents from the kitchen.

But sometimes, “tradition” translates to “responsibility,” or worse, “burden.” I felt a smidgen of this when I was a young professional, living on my own for the first time. My entry-level job barely paid the rent, but the holiday season meant trips back home and presents to buy and extra tipping. For a while my holidays came with a little black cloud (let’s call it “credit card debt”) that I hoped a Christmas bonus that may or may not materialize would go directly to help make that cloud go away.

My holiday burden was nothing compared to a parent with kids depending on them. To this parent, the holidays mean trying to keep tradition alive even when it seems impossible. This is especially true for households already living from paycheck to paycheck, with income levels “too high” to be eligible for assistance. Many times these families were doing OK until circumstances led to a downward spiral, things like a job loss, divorce, injury or serious diagnosis. These families don’t necessarily need ongoing support, but they do need help to get back on their feet at minimum, and most certainly a little extra help around the holidays. And their kids…they need a sense of normalcy.

This year, my family started what I hope will be a new tradition. Through a local program called Our Daily Bread, families in Fairfax County are matched with a sponsor to provide essentials for a holiday dinner. As a dietitian, I can’t imagine not having a delicious meal at Thanksgiving, not to mention the aromas and togetherness and family time it can bring. That’s why we sponsored a family of six and provided them with provisions to cook their own Thanksgiving dinner. It was so easy: I was matched with a family, called the main contact, asked about food allergies and preferences, and arranged a drop-off. I knew I found a great match when I asked the mom if she wanted a pre-made meal, but she said no: she’d like the ingredients so she could make the Thanksgiving meal together with her kids.

Food insecurity isn’t a problem “out there” or in a city far, far away. It’s here. It’s everywhere. It may affect your child’s classmate. Or your favorite store clerk. It may be your coworker, who hides his debt behind a facade. A full 14 percent of households in the U.S. were food insecure last year. That’s 48.1 million people, 15.3 million of which are children.

Finding the courage to ask for help is tremendously hard. Having no one answer that call is heartbreaking. This Giving Tuesday, please find a way to make someone’s holidays a little brighter.

givingtuesday_logo2013-final1-1024x85

favorite foods, kids and toddlers, Traditions

‘Sup?? My thoughts on dietary supplements

Posted on October 22, 2015
by Elana Natker, MS, RD
No Comments

Vitamin C and mix fruit on white background

I was reading an article in my local paper last week about how kids should be eating foods, not pills, to get their vitamins. I don’t disagree with that thinking one bit (I might lose my dietitian’s license if I did!) but I also live in real life and see what my kids eat…and don’t eat. And I’ll tell you what – I give my kids (and myself) multivitamins and supplements every day.

I like to think that as a dietitian and mom with a reasonable ability to get healthy food on the table at most eating occasions, my kids are set up for success. If I do pack a lunch, my child knows it will include a main dish, a fruit, a veggie, a carton of lowfat milk and *maybe* a treat. If she buys school lunch it’s the same option: she must be served a fruit and a veggie, some milk and a main course. The difference is that I see what she eats and what she doesn’t when she brings lunch. I also see firsthand what she eats and doesn’t eat at breakfast and dinner. And let me tell you, it’s not the picture of perfection.

But I don’t push it. Why? Because I believe in the Ellyn Satter approach to feeding children. That is, as parents and children there are divisions of responsibility. I can choose what she eats, but the child will choose whether to eat it. If I push, force, cajole, etc., the result could backfire and instead I could be promoting an unhealthy relationship with food for my child. As much as I’d love my child to eat salmon with brown rice and wilted spinach for dinner (the omega-3s! The fiber! The vitamins!), most likely she’d eat the tomatoes and baby carrots she gets as a salad and maybe one grain of rice just to say she ate it.

Do I depend on supplements to give my child all the nutrients she needs? Not at all. Supplements are meant quite literally to supplement an overall (hopefully still healthy) diet. And yes, I will still serve her the salmon, rice and spinach over and over and over again. And one day she may eat it. Or not. But I know that at least for today, I don’t have to worry about lacking certain nutrients.

Disclosure: As a dietitian who consults with industry, I work with the Global Organization for EPA and DHA omega-3s, but I did not write this post as a result of that relationship nor was I asked to. I wrote this because of what I see in the media and my own take as a dietitian and parent. All views and words, as always, are my very own.

healthy habits, kids and toddlers, picky eating
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