Mark’s Daily Apple

Reader Response: Practical Advice for Parents8

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Caution: It is a dietary mine field out there. Kiddie junk food high and low! Parents, proceed at your own risk. And remember. Your seedlings deserve better.

Nancy S. offered these comments in response to last week’s News on the Seedling Front.

As a parent, I could really use some practical, realistic ideas about what to do for my kids. Specifically, lunch-box solutions that will keep them eating healthy and able to concentrate in school (and not trying to trade away their lunch for some kid’s HoHo). As a parent it is so easy to feel overwhelmed by all the stuff you are probably doing wrong, so having someone help you do what is right can go a long way to helping solve the problem!

Nancy’s comments really got us talking and sharing “war” stories. Many of us have been there or are in the midst of it now. Mark, himself, has a 14-year-old and 17-year-old. Parents’ jobs can often be thankless. Whatever it counts for, we understand – and empathize! We’ll devote a short series, in fact, to the seedlings questions Nancy and others have raised regarding day-to-day, in-the-trenches options.

Now for some practical tips and humble advice for all the parents and grandparents out there… But before we venture into these swampy, menacing waters, we should offer a fair warning. What’s that saying about “Beware those who enter here”? The subject of kids and food is not for the faint of heart. No mincing of words. In a recent post Mark had this to say about The Art of Compromise in the Primal Blueprint: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. This goes double when dealing with seedlings. With that said…

• Perhaps it goes without saying, but the first step is to make the commitment to a healthy diet yourself. As we all know, the “do as I say not as I do” philosophy just doesn’t cut it. Kids watch you like hawks and remember like elephants. Be honest and get your thinking out on the table – your personal health goals, your favorites, your failings. If they know you understand that making these kinds of changes can be difficult, they’ll likely be more open with you about their choices and concerns. As with everything in parenting, genuineness and credibility will get you further than some unapproachable projection of perfection.

• See the process as “training your child’s tastes” rather than imposing a certain diet from day one. Viewing the process through a “training” lens will encourage a little more fun and flexibility. The focus should be on the positive – incorporating the new – rather than simply slashing and burning everything they’re used to. Use the familiar to help switch gears. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Every kid loves comfort food, and it doesn’t always have to be unhealthy. Think about stews, meatloaf (with reduced or substituted breadcrumbs), hearty soups, flavorful salads with some creative condiments (e.g. veggie loaded homemade pesto or hummus). Look for specific foods and menus next week!

• Buck the processed and sugar laden beverages. Water, decaf tea, milk. You don’t need anything else. (But you can consider organic, no-added-sodium vegetable juice. Little ones especially may go for it.) Make regular drinks special by getting some natural mineral water (Gerolsteiner, Pellegrino, etc.) and putting a slice of lemon or some cherries in it. As for cocoa, it’s a dessert that’s at your discretion. Choose the genuine article (organic if possible), and barely, if at all, sweeten it. (This alteration may take some time – all part of the taste training.)

• You can never start too early. Skip infant cereal. Keep kids away from any form of sugar as long as humanly possible. Some parents/grandparents/relatives will give kids sweets before kids even know what they are or have any interest in them. These people tend to do it for entertainment or nostalgia sake. Here’s our take: milk your kid’s naive ignorance for all it’s worth. And tell well-meaning relatives that some things are just off limits (at least for now).

• You can never start too late. Parents can worry that once they’ve gone down a certain road with their kids that it’s impossible to turn it around. If parents can make the commitment, they can get their kids on board. Sure, expect complaints, but don’t get thrown by them. It will take extra time, but stick to your guns and don’t forget to make it fun for everyone. Which leads us to…

• Make the changes a family commitment and even an opportunity for family events. Strawberry picking season is coming up. Make a day of it at an area farm. Or let them help you shop at a farmer’s market (little to no processed foods here!). It’s a great opportunity for kids to see just how many vegetables and fruits there are and to find their favorites when all the “junk” is out of the picture.

• Make it fun. Try an “international dinner” one night a week when you fix healthy cuisine from a different culture. Decorate, download music, dance, go whole hog. The little ones will love it, and the older ones will enjoy it too (however much they roll their eyes).

• Give them responsibility. If your children are old enough, put them in charge of planning and preparing one healthy meal a week.

• Take it in steps. If you’re facing a major overhaul, take the “whole foods” step first. Out with the processed foods. It will do kids good to see what goes into real food. If they can’t make it or bake it from scratch, it’s not for dinner. Sugar (in all its forms) could be the next step. (But you’d be surprised how much sugar you already cut out going the “whole foods” approach.) We’d recommend putting fruit juice in this category, but keep plenty of actual fruit available for them. Another good “step,” as Nancy mentioned, is cutting gluten from your child’s diet. This may be particularly useful for children with ADD or ADHD, many of whom may be gluten sensitive. You can also experiment with reducing/eliminating dairy to see if it makes a difference for your child.

• As you continue to progress in stages, don’t worry about absolutes. Remember, the Primal Blueprint allows for personal compromises. Kids should have the same opportunity we do to practice a little indulgence. Children who are old enough to understand the conversation can and should have a say in what they want their indulgences to be. Let it be a continuing collaboration of interests and reasonable limits.

• Buy better quality. Take the money you save in chucking the processed food from the grocery list and invest it in better quality produce, meats, cheeses and other whole foods. Let’s face it: iceberg lettuce doesn’t inspire anyone. Baby romaine or this Spring’s fresh spinach – that’s what we’re talking about. Set up a mini salad bar and let them add their own veggies and other fixings.

• Don’t underestimate the power of presentation. Children are blessedly predictable in this regard. Shamelessly use it to your advantage.

• Allow a little give for special occasions, but don’t totally backslide. You might instigate a revolt if you suddenly scrap Thanksgiving pie or Junior’s favorite birthday cake. Believe it or not, they might be lobbying for more than a sugar opportunity. Traditions mean more to kids than we often understand. Choose your battles.

• Supplement wisely, as we always say. A quality, complete kid’s multi-vitamin can cover your bases. We’d recommend a fish oil supplement as well, but O.K. the idea and particular supplement with your pediatrician first. Look for an appropriate children’s dose that is guaranteed, independently tested pure from toxins. (The kids’ versions usually come flavored to boot.)

Thanks to Nancy and everyone who have offered seedling questions and comments. As said, look for more on this topic next week. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences with feeding the seedlings in your life.

fishy fish arcade, foreversouls, pengrin, Peter J. Zaki, elmada, roboppy, Nanon, yoppy, Erin Nealy Flickr Photos

Further Reading:

Seedlings and the “Need” for Nature

Questions About Soy Formula

Children and the Importance of Sleep

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Posted: Health, Health Challenges, How To, Raise Healthy Seedlings

News on the Seedling Front4

Protect those seedlings!

A report out this week offered some of the latest news on children’s health in the United States. Researchers from Duke University and the Foundation for Child Development studied trends in the health of children up to eleven years of age. We always want the good news first, right?

Researchers found some (very) positive trends, including “dramatic improvements” in mortality rates. The mortality rate for children one to four years of age in 2005 was 29.4 per 100,000 births compared with 42.9 per 100,000 just eleven years earlier in 1994. Death rates in middle childhood fell by 27% during the same time period. Finally, lead poisoning levels have fallen by 84%. Now that’s news worth celebrating.

On the flip side, however, researchers confirmed what other studies (and a quick look around the mall) have suggested. The report says the overall health of American children is now compromised by higher obesity rates and an increase in the percentage of babies born with low birth weight.

While U.S. children overall have seen improvements in their well-being in recent years, American children aged 6 to 11 are four times more likely to be obese than similarly aged children in the 1960s, the report found. …The researchers found obesity among children in middle childhood is nearly four times more common than in children of the same age in a national survey in 1960s. For children aged 2 to 5, it is three times higher. …They also found that the percentage of babies born with low birth weight rose 12.3 percent from 1994 to 2005, an increase they said was likely tied to delayed childbearing among working mothers and an increased use of fertility drugs. Low birth weight has been linked in large studies to a higher risk of developmental and learning problems and to lower academic achievement. It also has been linked with higher rates of chronic health conditions.

via Yahoo! News

Unfortunately, the bad news doesn’t end there.

Another recent report by a California-based health care provider estimates that the diabetes rate among pregnant women skyrocketed between 1999 and 2005, doubling in number. Researchers based their estimate on the records of over 175,000 mothers who gave birth in a consortium of hospitals between 1999 and 2005. Diabetes in pregnancy results in higher risk of birth defects, miscarriage, and stillbirth. As mentioned yesterday, women who have developed insulin resistance can pass that condition on to their children.

Clearly, we have the medical knowledge and resources available to ensure the health of our children and save lives. The improvement in mortality rate is a testament to that potential. Nonetheless, we struggle with the most basic principles of healthy living, and our children are suffering for it. Diabetes and its associated risks as well as childhood obesity threaten to undo the benefits modern medical developments offer. And as for the rise in low birth weight, though the researchers chose to chalk it up to fertility drugs and older mothers, there are plenty of other primary causes for low birth rate, including poor nutrition, abnormal pre-pregnancy weight, smoking, anemia, multiple gestation and medications or conditions that inhibit nutrient absorption. Hmmm. How common might those be in women of child-bearing age in our country today?

The bottom line is this: our society has yet to make a real commitment to children’s total health and well-being. Every player in the game (schools, parents, businesses, government, etc.) could do better. Our conceptualization of health care is too heavily based on a condition treatment model. No condition? No care or concern necessary. Health is more than a lack of symptoms and disease. It’s a spectrum of wellness with lack of disease and symptoms not on the positive end but smack dab in the middle. We’re failing our kids with our low health expectations, which we pass down to them like we apparently do our myriad of medical conditions.

Comments? Rants? Solutions? Share ‘em please.

Beppie K Flickr Photos (CC)

Further Reading:

School Menu Trends - ‘A’ for Effort?

That’s Fit: Babies Need Sleep to Protect them from Obesity

fitsugar: Gym for Kids?

Posted: Health, Prevention, Raise Healthy Seedlings

Doping/Dopey Scientists3

Maybe a bit melodramatic.

Last week the British science journal Nature reported the results of an online reader poll that sought to measure the number of scientists who used “cognitive enhancing drug” and readers’ attitude to the drugs themselves. The poll, which was supposed to be part of an April Fools’ feature, revealed some unexpected results. Twenty percent of the 1427 responders (most of them Americans) said they used cognitive enhancing drugs for “non-medical purposes.” Of course, an online poll hardly constitutes a reliable scientific study. Nonetheless, we’re not talking about Mad magazine or The Onion here.

Ritalin was by far the most popular drug of choice (at 60% reported use). Responders said they turned to the drug mostly for extra concentration on tasks. The next most commonly used drug (at 50% use) was Provigil, which promotes wakefulness and is commonly prescribed for narcolepsy. Coming in third were beta-blockers (at 15% use), which are prescribed for high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmia but were used in these cases for anti-anxiety effects.

The kicker: of the 20% who admitted taking the drugs, 60% reported that they used them daily or weekly. (Now there’s a Faustian pact if we ever heard one.) And get this: over 30% of this group said they would consider giving the drugs to their children if other kids were using them!

Our first response? Cognitive enhancing, our a—s! We can just hear Grandma Hazel knocking each of them upside the head yelling “Have you lost your mind, you fool? You don’t have a brain to your name!”

On top of all of this, a large majority of all responders (70%) reported a willingness to deal with minor side effects in exchange for the opportunity to “boost…brain power.” An even greater majority (80%) said they felt “healthy humans” should be allowed to take these drugs to boost cognitive function and work performance. Over half opposed any restriction on their use!

All this from scientists (O.K., why do we expect more from them??), no less. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan Health System is reporting that more high school and college students are turning to pill popping of the same sort for exams and other crunch times. Well, with all the great examples out there…. Another kicker: some medical practitioners, apparently, don’t even care.

It doesn’t seem to be causing too much trouble since most [students] use the drugs not to get high but to function better,” Brian Doyle, a clinical psychiatrist at Georgetown University Medical Centre, told a US newspaper last month. “When exams are over, they go back to normal and stop abusing the drugs.

via Yahoo! News

Where do we possibly begin with this? Has the world gone insane? Let’s just say many of us needed some serious “cool down” time after hashing this one out at the cooler. One person opted for the head-in-the-freezer treatment. The Fuming Fuji got the better of all of us.

And doesn’t this all sound familiar? Performance enhancing. The excuses. The lack of perspective. The disregard for basic health principles. The blind eye to risk of side effects. It’s all in the name of healthy competition! Apparently, cognitive reality isn’t good enough either. Commentary from Nature offered up this little nugget (real kicker – and kick in the head): “Like the rise in cosmetic surgery, use of cognitive enhancers is likely to increase as bioethical and psychological concerns are overcome.” Nice. Wonder if any of these guys work in the labs that test (and punish) athletes for performance-enhancing drugs.

We just want to tell these lab coats to buck up and deal. Learn to plan ahead and prioritize. Exercise for better sleep and concentration. Take a nap, take a walk. Cut the sugar and empty carbs out of your diet. Accept that sometimes (especially if you don’t plan ahead) you’re going to have a hard time getting it all done. Hindsight (and a little perspective) shows us that a lot of things we prioritize and worry ourselves over don’t end up seeming all that important later on. Life is messy, imperfect, and it can get a whole lot worse when you find yourself addicted to Ritalin or in the hospital because those beta blockers did a number on you.

And for Pete’s sake, don’t spread the insane thinking to children and feed them dangerous and unnecessary drugs all in the name of keeping up with the Jones’s! How about teaching them some self-respect, some self-discipline, some real coping mechanisms? How about learning some yourself?

The bottom line: When is someone going to cry uncle with this crap already?? Enough with the harried, strung out overachiever bit. This isn’t some 1980’s Michael Douglas film. How about some introspection? Some soul-searching? Hey, instead of Ritalin, how about a chill pill?

Our advice: Take the night off and watch The Big Lebowski with a nice glass of wine (not that we’re supporting that kind of drug use either). Ponder the balance of your life and the importance of your health. Contemplate the law of diminishing returns and the state of a culture that can’t accept reasonable human limitations or – at very least – refuses to take the healthy, stable approach to cognitive (and physical) achievement.

Your thoughts?

practicalowl Flickr Photo (CC)

Further Reading:

Do you have MDD (Motivational Deficiency Disorder)?

Cognitive Daily: Is it Cheating to Take Brain-Enhancing Drugs?

Eye on DNA: More Scientists Need Brain Enhancing Drugs

Posted: Big Pharma, Health, Personal Improvement, Raise Healthy Seedlings

Urban Gardening11

Those of us who live in larger cities value the diverse culture, the big-time arts and sports, the good job market, the easy travel access, and the many other lifestyle options city living provides. Among those aspects you don’t hear as often: the gardening. The fact is, you don’t have to live in Green Acres to raise a rich, plentiful, even income-generating (yes, you read that right) garden. Check out this video of the Dervaes family and their quest to live close to their 1/5 of an acre of land.

And this local news coverage of the family and their garden:

Now that’s motivation and ingenuity. Let’s just say their example is both humbling and inspiring to those of us who celebrate getting young berry bushes through the winter. Most of us can’t imagine what it would mean to grow even a fraction of our own food let alone enough to feed our families and the restaurant down the block. Four hundred food items! Now that’s veggie and fruit diversity!

While the Dervaes family is truly exceptional, urban gardens (popular for decades in Europe) are taking off in a number of American cities these days. Urban singles and families appreciate the simple enjoyment of the pastime as well as the budget-sparing fruits of their labors. City governments, on the other hand, value the “greening” and beautification of city lots as well as the increased social investment gardening residents make in their urban neighborhoods.

And the benefits don’t end there. A study published in this month’s Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior found that, among 766 surveyed adults in Flint, Michigan, those who participated in community gardens “consumed fruits and vegetables 1.4 more times per day than those who did not participate, and they were 3.5 times more likely to consume fruits and vegetables at least 5 times daily.”

Not only do urban gardens offer the chance and incentive for better dietary health, we’d argue they offer other health advantages as well, especially for young urban seedlings, who, as we shared last week, stand to benefit from the time outdoors.

For more information on the Dervaes family and their project, check out their website, Path to Freedom. You can find their online journal, Little Homestead in the City.

And send us your thoughts, experiences and tips for urban (or rural/suburban!) gardening.

Posted: How To, Personal Improvement, Raise Healthy Seedlings, Videos

Seedlings and the “Need” for Nature16

Nature Nurtures

Now and then we stumble upon research and ideas that, while they’re not at the heart of MDA focus, nonetheless grab our attention and get us thinking. (Variety is the spice of life, no?) We talk a lot about the carryover between our paleo ancestors and contemporary selves: the physiological patterns relevant to nutrition, fasting, exercise, stress response, etc.

So, what about other vestiges from Grok’s heyday? Some of us were familiar with the scientist, E.O. Wilson and his theory of biophilia, the concept that humans have an innate, biologically determined need for nature. Wilson’s theory has been around for years, but the concept is getting renewed attention lately. Turns out, as we round the corner to April next week, we have the opportunity to observe not just the first full month of spring (group sigh of relief) but “Children and Nature Awareness Month,” as declared by the national organization Children and Nature Network. The organization was founded by Richard Louv, noted journalist and author of a book called Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, a book we were inspired to pick up. Sine then, it’s been intriguing fodder for water cooler talk.

As Louv and an increasing number of child psychologists and education experts note, research suggests that regular time in nature (a.k.a. “green space”) is vital for children’s cognitive and emotional development in addition to their physical wellness. Louv and several studies he cites suggest it’s no coincidence that childhood obesity (as well as ADD/ADHD and depression/anxiety diagnoses) have risen in direct correlation with the significantly decreased time children spend outdoors due to increased activity schedules, the proliferation of media entertainment and more parental control/supervision over children’s time outdoors. (One interviewed child shared, “I like to play indoors better ‘cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.”)

Louv and others argue that this “need” for nature isn’t founded in modern or Western views of childhood. It’s allegedly in our biological blueprints themselves. Nature remains the default setting for our senses, our concentration skills and psychological/physical backdrop.

And while the concept would hold that we all (child and adult alike) benefit from time in natural settings, seedlings are especially vulnerable to “nature deficit” because of the continual succession of profound cognitive, psychological and physiological developments.

A Cornell University study compared the emotional well-being and educational performance of children grades three through five who lived in rural areas. Those children whose homes were surrounded by more natural, “greener” settings experienced fewer incidents of behavioral conduct disorders, anxiety and depression. This correlation was particularly strong when comparing children who were experiencing the “highest levels of stressful life events.” (Not available online) Other child psychologists have found that time in nature reduces the symptoms of attention deficit disorder, presumably by allowing children the restoration of “involuntary attention” (“sensing” attention found to be active during time in nature) between periods requiring “directed attention” (needed for academic work and most activities such as television viewing and sports). (article available here)

The compiled research seems to suggest, Louv says, that nature engages children physically and mentally in unique ways. It encourages physical activity and challenge. It invites creativity. It offers perspective and resilience.

Whatever your initial thoughts, we definitely think the book is worth a read, and the organization’s website is worth a look-see as well. It’s an intriguing idea, to be sure. No one is advertising nature deficit as the single answer to every problem plaguing all or any child, but parallel trends are harder to argue with. And we definitely can’t argue too much with anything that gets junior off the couch and out hiking.

As we always say, evolution is a measured and plodding process. A few thousand years, let alone a few generations, isn’t enough to put much of a dent in what was used and honed for millions of years before it. Does the nature deficit theory inflate or capture some of the detrimental contrasts between modern living and our biological imprint? Though no one’s arguing that we should be happier living without Grok’s daily challenges of saber tooth tigers, etc., are we or our children missing something essential stuck inside our offices, living rooms and indoor gyms?

Send us your thoughts.

Further Reading:

Raise Healthy Seedlings

Mind Hacks: Swimming with Dolphins Helps Depression

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Posted: Health, Primal Health, Raise Healthy Seedlings