Consider Nutrition When Choosing Day-Care Center

When choosing a day-care facility, parents should take into consideration the center's overall nutrition program, including the content of meals and snacks, its nutrition education program and the mealtime environment, says Dr. Theresa Nicklas, a research nutritionist with the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center.

Meals and snacks: Day-care center menus often lack variety. And they tend to be low in calories, iron and zinc, and high in fat and sodium, says Dr. Nicklas, also a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. To avoid these nutritional shortfalls, check that a minimum of fat and sodium is used in food preparation, that menus feature a variety of foods from every group of the Food Guide Pyramid and that selections change frequently.

Menus are also more likely to be nutritionally complete if the center contracts with a registered dietitian to assist with menu planning. Day-care centers should offer children food a minimum of every three hours. Children who are in day-care for eight hours or more should receive at least one meal and two snacks.

Nutrition education: In addition to complying with regulations regarding food safety and sanitation, child-care centers should train staff members in the basics of children's nutrition and methods that promote healthy eating habits, Dr. Nicklas says. Centers that use resources from state, local and national programs like the American Cancer Society and the USDA's Nutrition Education and Training Program usually have effective nutrition-education plans. Dr. Nicklas also suggests that parents look for providers who emphasize good hand-washing habits and for centers with fun, food-related activities, such as a child-tended vegetable garden.

Mealtime environment: Child-care providers who are good role models make mealtime and snacktime positive, cheerful, unhurried events. Dr. Nicklas says providers should sit with children during meal periods, eat the same foods the children do, offer choices and give children an opportunity to serve themselves. They should also engage the children in upbeat food-related conversations, make positive comments about nutrition and encourage, but not require, children to taste all foods.

- From the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine

Be Your Own Portion Police: No More Supersizing

At a time when supersizing is the fast food restaurant norm, it's hard to pass up the temptation of more for your money.

Downsize instead and spare yourself unnecessary calories and weight gain. Eating healthier involves not only watching what types of food you eat but also how much you are eating, says Sue Thompson, R.D., manager of Methodist Health Care System's Institute for Preventive Medicine.

For example, by cutting one thumb-sized piece of meat out of your daily diet, you would lose six pounds in a year.

"The average person would be shocked if they saw their portions," Thompson says. "A steak serving is not the 10 ounces you buy from the butcher or get at a restaurant, but half of that."

Or think about pasta. Most people consider a plate of spaghetti a serving, when in fact, a fist-sized portion of pasta is a serving. The whole plate of pasta would probably add up to more than half of your daily allotment of carbohydrates. Here are some other comparisons than can help you visualize what a portion is:

• A serving of cheese is the size of three dominoes;

• A serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards;

• A serving of peanut butter is the size of a ping pong ball;

• A serving of cut fruit or vegetables is the size of a racquetball.

Mexican food lovers might be surprised to learn that five tortilla chips make a serving, adding up to 125 calories.

"It always comes down to the amount of food you are eating," she says. "In the perfect world, people would listen to internal signals and only eat when they are hungry, sleep when they are tired and stop eating when they are full."

She recommends practicing portion control by limiting what you put on your plate and leaving the rest in the kitchen. Tips on eating out include sharing a dish with a friend, ordering an appetizer instead of a meal and having a house salad before eating the main course. She also suggests avoiding buffets because the sight of the food triggers the desire to eat more.

A good tip for those who want to lose weight is to keep a food diary for a week to keep track of portion sizes. By looking at that, a person can determine where the cuts need to be made.

- From Methodist Health Care System

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/04_01_00/page_14.html