Eat, Save, and Be Healthy

The nutrition science has pointed to added sugar in the diet as a problem for a long time (linking it to high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, and obesity), but until yesterday, there was no set amount that was recommended.  How much is too much?  2 cookies or 5 cookies a day?  2 can of soda a day?  a single poptart? (I’ve eaten 3 pieces of chocolate since I started typing this article….too much?)

The American Heart Association is the first to release specific guidelines for added sugar intake.  Added sugars supply “empty calories” and tend to replace nutrient-rich foods.  New AHA guidance recommends added sugars account for 100 calories a day for women or 150 calories for men. For the average adult, that’s roughly 5 to 9 teaspoons of sugar per day, or about 20-40 grams of added sugars.

Added sweeteners are sugars that aren’t naturally part of the food we eat.  Added sugar not only includes the white table sugar you might spoon into a cup of coffee or a bowl of cereal, but also sugar added to food and drinks before you even purchase them. Some foods high in added sugar are not surprising – soft drinks, candy, cakes, and cookies, but would you have considered some yogurts and granola?  In fact, figuring out how many added sugars are in a food can be quite a challenge!  Added sugars are not listed separately on the food label.  The term “Sugars” or “Carbohydrates” will not tell you the amount of added sugar in the food.

Instead, look at the ingredients listing.  Some of the most common added sugars are corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, sucrose, and syrup.  How many are listed?  Is the sugar a main ingredient (one of the first ones on the list)?

The most common naturally occurring sugars are fructose and lactose, found in fruit and dairy products.  Fruit and dairy foods with naturally occurring sugars deliver nutrients while still satisfying our craving for sweetness. For example, fruits have essential vitamins and minerals as well as protective agents known as phytonutrients (e.g., carotenoids and lycopene); dairy products contain calcium, protein, and vitamin D.

Any easy way to cut back on added sugars: replace soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages with water, milk, and a small amount of 100% fruit juice.  Or exchange your signature coffee drink for a cappuccino or regular coffee.

For more information, check out this article from CNN.

Cheers, Julie

Other than homework, another way parents can help their children succeed is by getting involved directly with the school.  The more your child’s teacher and school administration are familiar with you, the more likely they are to keep in touch with you, and keep you aware of how your child is doing in school.  There are many ways that parents can get involved.  It is important to remember that as a parent, you are the advocate for your child in all circumstances, especially in the school setting.  Some ways that you can get involved are :

• Come to school meetings and PTO.
• Volunteer for the school.
• Know your child’s teacher, come to parent teacher conferences and meetings.
• Keep a calendar of school events, this makes your child feel like these events are important to you.
• If there is a problem, talk with your child’s teacher.

Are you beginning to care for your elderly parent? Care-taking is no longer limited to medical attention, making sure their house is clean or taking them to appointments. Adult children may be faced with the difficult task of managing their parents money. Not offering financial support, but assisting with paying bills, sorting out medical bills and decision making. Try these five strategies for assisting parents with money management.

Start the money conversation: This may be difficult and parents may resist  talking about how to manage their money or having their children manage their money. Be sensitive to their needs, ask if they need assistance, ask who they would like to handle their finances.  Plan ahead of time what needs to be covered during the conversation. Be firm that this is the time to make these decisions.

Request that parents prepare legal documents: Ask your parent if they have a power of attorney, health-care power of attorney, living will and a will completed and updated. Review these documents with your parents to ensure that you understand their wishes. If no documents are completed help them make an appointment to get them done. Most simple legal documents cost around $1,000 or less.

Responsibilities of a financial caretaker: Begin by reviewing monthly income sources and monthly expenses. Prepare a budget sheet. If monthly expenses exceed regular income from Social Security and pensions, where are the supplemental funds coming from?

Prepare a balance sheet that outlines the property owned, share certificates/certificates of deposit, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and retirement accounts and their fair market value. Also, a list of debts and outstanding balances. List the financial advisors, accountants, insurance agents, stockbroker, attorney and any other financial people your parents work with.

Reduce parental debt: Seniors have the fastest growing rate of personal debt problems. Stop using credit cards to pay for monthly needs. Investigate financial, medical, food and housing assistance programs locally.

Design and implement a debt reduction plan which may include paying off the high interest rates or low balances first on credit cards. Consider additional income using a reverse mortgage, selling assests, or reducing expenses.

Review insurance coverages: Obtain your parent’s insurance policies for health, life, auto and homeowners and review to see if the coverage is adequate for their needs. Adjust as needed.

Remember that you may want to consult with a financial adviser if the task of going through your parents financials and papers is overwhelming. Only hire advisers who are insured for errors and omissions and bonded if they have direct access to your parents’ funds or accounts.

Resource: How to Care For Your Parents’ Money While Caring for Your Parents, by Sharon Burns, CPA and Raymond Forgue

Thank you to everyone who shared their idea for how they help their family eat well, save money, and build healthy relationships!  We had fun reading your responses!  Check back often for future contests!

Marcia is the winner of the $25 gift card to Buckeye Corner.

Marcia’s winning post: “I find that planning a rough menu outline for the week helps to use food I already have on hand, guides my grocery shopping list and avoids the last minute decision on what to have for dinner (which often ends up not very nutritionally balanced when I don’t have a plan).  It only take a few minutes at the end of the week –before grocery shopping to make the menu plan.  Try it!”

***Reminder that our contest for a $25 gift card to Buckeye Corner will be open until Sunday Aug 16th.  Go to the “Share your Idea” post and make a comment about keeping your family healthy to win****

This is a time that many parents look forward to, and many kids dread: Going back to school.  This is a two post series on ways that parents and guardians can help their child succeed in school.

Richard Riley, former Secretary of Education stated the following:

“Parents and families are the first and most important teachers.  If families teach a love of learning , it can make all the difference in the world to our children.”

One way that Parents can help their children is through homework.  While it is never the parent’s job to do the homework for the child, there are ways that parents can help make homework time more successful. There are two important factors to making homework time productive.  First,

Where:

• Set aside a designated “homework space”
• Away from TV/Distractions
• Clean, able to work
• Stocked with school supplies
• Especially for younger kids, be available to help if needed

And Second,

When:

• Have a designated time, and be consistant
• Let them have some time to play after school
• Make sure they use the whole time- otherwise they may try to rush.  Use extra time for review or reading a book.
• Let children take breaks if needed

As children get older they may need less structure and more responsibility in working on their homework.  This self-accountability is a valuable tool as they graduate and enter into the workforce or go to college.  Try to find the balance between reminding them and asking about their homework, while allowing them the responsibility of getting things finished and turned in on time.

A new study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows what many experts suspected…children in the US are not getting enough vitamin D.  Overall, 9%, representing 7.6 million US children and adolescents, were vitamin D deficient and 61%, representing 50.8 million US children and adolescents, had insufficient vitamin D stores.  

We get vitamin D from milk.

Children who drank milk less than once a week or used >4 hours of television, video, or computers per day were most at risk.  That’s because we absorb vitamin D from sunlight or by eating vitamin D rich foods like milk (skim, 1%, 2%, or whole cow’s milk and fortified soy or rice milks) and fish (salmon, tuna, etc.).  The amount of sun exposure needed to meet vitamin D requirements varies, depending on skin color.  Fair skinned people need to average about 15 minutes on hands and face (without sunscreen) daily, while darker skinned people need 3-5 times the amount of time in the sun.

Obese children were also more at risk of having vitamin D deficiency.  The relationship is complex, but vitamin D is sequestered in fat tissue, and obese children may have a more sedentary, indoor lifestyle.

How much vitamin D do children need?  Many experts say 800-1,000 IU daily are needed for children to achieve appropriate vitamin D levels, but current requirements are 400 IU daily.  The American Academy of Pediatrics forsees a change in the official recommendations and has updated their guidelines to suggest all infants, children, and teens take a 400 IU/day vitamin D supplement.

Enjoy the August sunshine!  Julie

Football…soccer…volleyball…fall sports can keep you and your child busy.  Take time to provide your child with good nutrition.

1.  Give your child a balanced diet every day, including breakfast.

2.  Make sure they are physically active everyday, not just during their sports practice or event.

3.  Make sure they have plenty of sleep.  A good night’s rest every night keeps the brain clicking.

4.  Fast foods do not make you fast and they will not help your child perform better.  Too much fast food may even put your child on the sidelines.

5.  Choose healthy snacks:  think variety.  Good choices are foods like fruits and vegetables, low fat crackers and low fat granola bars.

6.  Give them water to drink.  Fluids are important for proper hydration and water is the best choice.  Be careful with fruit drinks.  Look for 100% juice and avoid drinks that contain caffeine.

Enjoy the Game!

Pre and Post Game Snacks

• Fruits and vegetables such as grapes, orange and apple slices, baby carrots, and celery sticks.
• Pretzels
• Dried fruits such as raisins, apricots, cranberries, and banana chips.
• Trail mix with soy or peanuts, dry cereal, dried fruit and a few chocolate chips.
• Popcorn
• Low fat granola bars
• Low fat crackers and peanut butter
• Yogurt
• Healthy quick breads and muffins
• Cheese sticks or cubes

Author:  Linnette Mizer Goard, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Lorain County.

The Eat, Save, and Be Healthy authors want to hear from you!  Share an idea that has worked for you or your family for eating well, saving money, or maintaining healthy relationships. 

What you could win: $25 gift card to the Buckeye Corner

How to become eligible to win: Respond to this post with your idea for eating well, saving money, or maintaining healthy relationships.  You must post a comment to be eligible to win. 

How it works: A winner will be selected at random from all entries posted between August 3-17, 2009.  Only one entry per person.  We will announce the winner on our blog page.  Log on Tuesday, August 18th to see if you’re the winner!

Keep checking back to read ideas from others and check out new blog entries from Cora, Julie, Kara, Linnette, Melinda, and Sharon!

The Eat, Save, and Be Healthy Blog Team