Fast Food Nation

Have you seen Supersize me?

This movie is an excellent example of our society fast food reality and lack of portion controls. This movie shows how YOU can make a difference. After the movie was viewed throughout many households and in theaters, McDonald's was forced to take action. McDonald's no longer offer SuperSize portions and now try to offer more healthier options for its consumers. Awareness of issues can help make a difference!

According to the article Fast Food or Fast Fat? written by Katie Bogue, Americans dine out 4-5 times a week! Americans have a variety of choices when they want to select their meals on the go. They can go out for pizza, Chinese food, sushi, hamburgers, BBQ, Italian, wings, etc. All of these types of establishments have healthier options like getting a side salad or fruit instead of french fries. Ordering grilled chicken instead of fried. An option at at Taco Bell  is to order "fresco style" which means that your taco comes without cheese and sauce and instead comes with a mixture of tomatoes, onions, and cilantro for a healthier option.

What can you do?

1. Consult your family doctor on your child's current medical status.
Your family doctor and the rest of the medical community is aware of the rise in obesity. Medical professionals can help determine what your child should weigh and what is needed for their caloric needs daily.


2. Educate yourself and your family

Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010
Healthy Recipes
My Pyramid Menu Planner On the Go and at home
USDA's Myplate Blast Off game
MyPlate Healthy Food


3.Children involvement
 Get your child involved in the shopping and preparing of meals. A child can use this information later in their life to help out their own family.

Plan and prepare meals with your children
How to cook with your kids
Food Safety

4. Make good food choices while dining out.

Restaurants that have more than twenty restaurants must post the calories count of their menu items.

America's Healthy Restaurants
America's Healthy Fast Food

5. Lead by setting a good example

Note:: Please be careful when reading internet articles as some of them may be misleading. Government and medical websites are the best in proper educating yourself in your child and family's needs.

What can we do?

That is right America. We need to get our children to move it!

There are many forms of exercise that children can do. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, children should do an hour of exercise a day. This sounds like a lot! However, exercise comes in many forms and should of course be age appropriate. Meaning a child of six should not be lifting weights. Children however can just play outside. Some excellent examples are: running, walking, swinging on a swing set, playing red rover, jumping rope, biking, etc.

What does exercise do to your body? Exercise can help achieve a healthy weight, prevent diseases, improve moods, and increase self confidence.

Something for parents to consider is enrolling their child into a sport. Not only will sports get a child active but it can also increase confidence, team building skill, and coordination. One must consider that many school have cut their funding and school sports programs are being targeted. If you want your child involved in a sport and is not available from the school, parents may want to consider their local community's YMCA or community center.

Welcome

Welcome blog world to my blog! This blog is geared to helping our future, that being the children of America. It is not news that the childhood obesity rate is on the steady incline. Many reasons support the rise of obesity rates to include: sedentary lifestyles, poor diet, video games, poor school lunch programs, lack of nutritional knowledge, etc. Many efforts are being made to help in the movement to combat childhood obesity. The point of this blog is to help those efforts national to education Americans on way to keep our future healthy, our kids.