"parents" news and stories

The Boston Globe has a new interactive feature at their site, where they take a look inside the refrigerators of several local residents. They take a look into the fridges of college students, couples, and couples with several kids. There's also a fridge used by three adults that live together.

I think this is a great idea, though I don't think the Globe went far enough with it (and the fridge used by the single person isn't used by a single person at all, it's used by roommates). But the feature just seems to be a shot of the fridge, then buttons you roll over to see certain items. So we see beer and fat free cheese and meals, but I'm not sure what we're supposed to get out of it besides that, and it gets kinda boring.

Though I gotta say I really want that giant fridge owned by the family in Waban. Mine is 15 years old and falling apart. If you're wondering what's in mine, it's mostly Diet Coke, Perdue chicken, and Dove dark chocolate.

With trans fats in the spotlight most of the time, it is easy to overlook saturated fats, which have long been the nemesis of the health-conscious. They have been linked to atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease and are found in butter, ghee, suet, tallow, lard, coconut oil, cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil, dairy products (esp. high-fat ones like cream and cheese) and in meats.

One other place that saturated fats are found is in parents' diets. A study at the University of Iowa College of Medicine found that adults who live with children (just about all parents) ate more saturated fat than their childfree counterparts. The study looked at adults who lived with children under 17 and those with no children. Those living with kids ate an extra five grams of fat per day, including almost two grams of saturated fat. The extra fat came from snacks, cheese, ice cream, cakes, processed meats and bacon, high-fat and often high-calorie "convenience foods."

The problem, according to the study's lead researcher, is that parents are not influencing their children's eating habits enough and are allowing theirs to be influenced. If parents don't take the time to make dinner for their children, then they aren't going to eat a nutritious dinner themselves. To make up for this, especially when part of a very busy family, researchers recommend keeping healthier snacks (fruit, low fat milk, etc) in the house and fewer high-fat frozen/convenience foods, which will help compensate for less healthy meals.

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This Halloween, parents across the country might try to limit their kids' intake of candy from their Halloween haul, forcing them to limit themselves to one or two pieces a day. But does this teach children the wrong lesson about food? Some experts say that it does. This practice raises up the candies above the level of normal foods and they become something special, something coveted, something to sneak pieces of and hide the evidence. Such habits can set a precedence that will last for the rest of kids' lives and lead to problems with compulsive eating in the future.

Instead of making candy into this exotic and much-desired item, some parents let their kids eat as much candy as they want on holidays like Halloween. They eat fairly balanced meals the rest of the time, but on those few special occasions the kids can go all-out if they want to. This teaches kids to regulate their own intake (especially if they accidentally eat themselves sick once) because they know that indulgence isn't something to constantly be sought out. The kids aren't focused for the whole day on that one piece they will be permitted after dinner and are much less likely to binge eat when they actually do have free-access to treats.

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All the campaigns to encourage people to eat healthier are having an impact on mothers, but not necessarily in the way that you might expect. Instead of giving up fried foods or other things deemed to be unhealthy completely, some mums are not changing what they feed their kids - they're just lying about it. A new survey, which was sponsored by the British Potato Council, found that as many as 93% of mothers lie from time to time about what they feed their kids, and they mostly spin the tales to their own mothers and other relatives, since they make up the group that is most likely to criticize parenting choices.

The most commonly made claim is that the kids are not allowed to eat fried foods, followed by telling people that their children "eat mostly fresh food at home." Other untruths include assertions that the kids are only allowed candy at weekends, are never fed frozen food and get all the required servings of fruits and veggies every day.

Some are confused as to what foods are healthy, or simply give up due to lack of time or energy, opting for a TV dinner instead of frozen fish sticks with some fresh veggies. Fortunately, the kids aren't as confused as the parents, so it is possible that the "little white lies" won't be necessary any more. The study also showed that 58% of kids would question their parents about whether given foods were healthy or not, demonstrating that they are becoming more aware of healthy eating issues at a young age and will hopefully want to make better food choices as a result.

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The controversial energy drink, Cocaine, has been banned by 7-Eleven convenience stores, after the company received numerous complaints from parents about the drink. The drug-like effects promised to teens by a drink named after a drug crossed the line with them, especially considering that the beverage is marketed to teens. A spokeswoman said "the product's name promotes an image which we didn't want to be associated with." And 7-Eleven isn't the only company that feels this way. Many other stores in Chicago and New York have pulled the drink from shelves.

Representatives from the drink company said that "the company wasn't glorifying an illegal drug" - even though it seems that way to just about everyone. They also say that Cocaine will be available through Amazon soon, so teens in areas that don't sell it can get their fix that way.

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