"kid" news and stories

It is never too early to develop good eating habits and, by the same token, it is never too early to develop bad ones, either. Like most habits, children learn by watching and interacting with others, but it turns out that when it comes to food, these "others" might not be the best influence. In a study published online in The Archives of Disease in Childhood, researchers from the University of Michigan relate the results of a study they conducted that looked at a possible cause of childhood overeating. The researchers found, after looking at preschoolers in groups of 3-9, that the kids ate up to 30% more in the larger groups than the smaller ones. Not only did they eat more, but they also ate much faster. This frenzied eating is also exhibited by many different kinds of animals when placed in groups (albeit not with graham crackers to tempt them), so it is likely that it is some manifestation of the survival instinct. The problem is that it can be conditioned into an unconscious impulse if this is the environment that the kids are in all the time.

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All sorts of safety issue plague parents and children these days. Playground equipment and activities are carefully monitored and toys are painstakingly screened, especially if, unlike video games, they involve movable parts that the kids might play with too vigorously, thus injuring themselves, or eat, injuring themselves further. When it comes to food, most safety issues have to do with concerns about food allergies, but perhaps in light of the burns allegedly caused by Starbucks hot chocolate in the hands of a very small child, some groups are looking to ban hot drinks altogether, rather than supervise their consumption.

The Pat-a-Cake Playgroup, which meets at a library in Rawmarsh, South Yorkshire in England, has been "banned from serving tea and toast on health and safety grounds." The risk for burns is, apparently, far to high for the city council's liking, so the parents running the group have been told that they cannot boil water in the room where children are present, and that adults must drink their hot drinks in a separate area, far from the children, if not a separate room entirely.

As you can imagine, the parents are considering disbanding the group to escape from the oversight of the council before they demand that children be outfitted in protective gear at all times to avoid papercuts.

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Kid's television shows may be cheesy, but if one group has their way, the ads will be cheese-free from now on. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has requested that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ban cheese and cheese-related advertising from airing during children's TV programs. The Committee feels that cheese, as it is very high in fat, is "is not an acceptable food to be promoted to kids during the obesity epidemic." This means that cheese in any form - grilled cheese, string cheese, Laughing Cow cheese snacks and pizza, to name just a few - would be off limits.

Believe it or not, there is precedence to back up their request. The ban on junk food advertising during children's TV programs in the UK, which has been in place for several months now, includes cheese.

Despite a high fat content, cheese should not be made a villain. Cheese is high in protein, vitamins, and minerals like calcium, phosphorus and zinc. Eating cheese can also help prevent tooth decay - and let's not forget that there are plenty of low and reduced fat cheeses out there, including cream cheese, cottage cheese and sliced sandwich cheeses. The FTC is under no obligation to honor the PCRM's request, so we will just have to wait and see how things turn out.

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We already know that not all kids like vegetables and that preferences may even be genetic when it comes to overall eating habits, but that doesn't explain why kids entering adolescence eat fewer veggies than they did when they were younger.

In a report that appeared in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers noted that there were two big drops during a five year period in the amount of fruits and vegetables that teens, both jr. high and high school students, ate. One dip occurred early in adolescence and another occurred late. In both cases, consumption dropped by 1/2 serving - which could be a substantial percentage if the kids were not eating the recommended minimum number of servings a day to begin with. Researchers don't yet know why these drops occur, although it is possible that access to vending machines at jr. high schools (not present in elementary schools) and access to cars/fast food in high school may contribute.

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Over the course of the last year, schools have come under fire for putting unhealthy options in on-campus vending machines, prompting some states to ban junk food and others to try and work out healthy snack plans with the food companies. As a result, many schools have been left without snack and soda vending machines. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you can bet that at least some of the kids are disappointed.

To try and take up some of the slack that the departure of unhealthier fare left, the Dole fruit company has taken its own initiative to start a program "that will put vending machines selling healthy food products into schools." Dole's machines will stock fruit, fruit bowls, salads, sandwich wraps and milk. The salads and sandwiches will be prepared fresh at a nearby (or possibly on-campus, if available) cafeteria.

The machines will be launched in 15 schools in four states - Mesa, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Shawnee Mission, Kansas; Corpus Christie, Texas and Conroe, Texas - in February, but the company has high hopes and is already working on plans for expansion.

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