4 Ways to Make Dinnertime Work

When you arrive home after a long workday, your mind is on your family … plus the stack of bills to pay, the pile of laundry to do and the list of phone calls to return. But dinner? It’s tough to imagine how you’re going to make this meal happen at all, let alone make it healthy, tasty and maybe even fun. But believe it or not, you can. Here’s how:

1. Get the Kids in on the Action

“Parents often park their children in front of the TV, then rush around making supper. Why not get the kids to help?” says Miriam Weinstein, author of The Surprising Power of Family Meals: How Eating Together Makes Us Smarter, Stronger, Healthier, and Happier (Steerforth Press). “Making kids part of the effort gets them invested in what you’re cooking together, so they’re less likely to complain about it later.”

Younger kids can:

• Get out the ingredients
• Pour them into pots or bowls (you measure, they pour)
• Wash fruits and veggies
• Tear lettuce for a salad

Older ones can:

• Chop fruits and vegetables
• Toss and dress the salad
• Make pasta or rice
• Measure and mix ingredients

2. Get Ready, Get Set …

To make fast, enjoyable meals each day that are still healthy, you have to prepare, and sometimes cook, in advance. For starters, buy extra of things you use often so you always have staples on hand. Choose dishes that don’t require you to stand at the stove: stews, roasts, casseroles that can be assembled the night before. While they are cooking or reheating, you can take the time to sift through your mail, check your child’s homework, or return phone calls or emails.

Things to do the night before:

• Make the sauce
• Chop the vegetables
• Sautee the onions
• Marinate the meat
• Wash the lettuce (store in a plastic container in the fridge)

3. Double up

Rather than making just one meal at a time, try doubling recipes when you cook. Freeze whatever you don’t use for a later dinner that can be reheated easily.

4. Commit to the Ritual

Studies show that eating together as a family reduces the risk of obesity and encourages children to try new foods. It also helps kids learn good manners. But the biggest benefit to having family dinner is that it brings everyone together — for perhaps the only time during the day. It provides a regular opportunity to connect: to ask your kids about their days, joke around or make family plans.

“Eating together is a gift you give yourself and your family,” says Weinstein. “It doesn’t matter if the food is perfect — just that you enjoy it together. Then mealtime becomes a chance to feel good about your family instead of just one more chore.”

The Big O – Part II

This is called the Big O part two because I previously wrote a post about the growing problem of obesity in the US- including among our children. Now the recent headlines are about young girls reaching puberty as early as 7 or 8 years old. Like ‘normal’ age onset, early puberty brings forth a surge of hormones. The result of these hormones is an early interest in and sexual activity.

In addition to this horrible thought, early onset puberty has additional risks including increase rates of breast cancer as well a confusing self image issues among an age group already confused about what a good or normal self image is.. There is nothing good about this trend. As doctors and scientists look for a specific cause, the thought right now is that this is a byproduct, a symptom of childhood obesity.

In my first ‘Big O’ post I introduced First Lady Michelle Obama’s program called, “Let’s Move” that provides information and support to help get the entire population up and moving, exercising and getting healthy. This site also offers healthy recipes from some of today’s top chefs.

The Food Network site also has a section about healthy eating. Eating Well also has a section for healthy kid recipes. There is so much about body measurements to determine health and obesity including BMI, waist to hips ratio and now neck measurements. When it comes to this- if you are concerned take your child to his or her pediatrician and be willing to have a frank and honest discussion. You are the parent.

In rare circumstances there is an underlying disease. In most cases it’s about consuming fewer calories than you burn in a day- or burn more calories than you take in. Its why get up and move and healthy nutrition are key. Get help, talk to grandparents. Join forces with other parents.

Really- puberty and sexual activity at seven due to obesity? Diabetes, unpopular, greater risk of cancer? Step up now for our kids.

PS Don’t forget to lead by example.

Pediatric nebulizers help the littlest patients relax

Modern Oxygen offers pediatric compressor nebulizer systems in fun designs like fire trucks, panda bears and building blocks that appeal to children and help reduce the anxiety of treatments.  The building block model also helps keep the child sitting still and entertained for the duration of the treatment.  Priced at $75 and eligible for insurance reimbursement, these machines can help manage your child’s condition in a fun way.  There is even a pacifier model for the youngest patients.  Modern Oxygen offers free delivery in the Los Angeles area and ships nationwide.  You can reach Modern Oxygen at 818-344-3434 or 888-77-OXYGEN (776-9943).

Childhood Asthma: Part II

In Childhood Asthma: Part I,  I presented ways in which Asthma can present and exactly what was the nature of the disease. Today we will deal with the diagnosis and various means of treating asthma.

Asthma may present in early infancy but is very difficult to diagnose for the reasons mentioned in part one. Also the signs and symptoms of asthma in the very young child can be caused by many other issues. So it is when the symptoms are very severe or they continue beyond two to four years of age that one begins to suspect asthma.

Let’s assume for the purpose of this article that all the other causes have been ruled out and that it appears that your child indeed has asthma. The first thing to realize is that the symptoms may vary from very severe to extremely mild requiring daily close control or only occasional use of medications and treatments to keep your child comfortable and active. The goal in treatment is twofold: first to allow your child to remain active, socially oriented, and happy. The second is to prevent the permanent secondary changes in the lungs from longstanding uncontrolled asthma.

Early in the course of treatment, a child who presented to the emergency room or physician’s office with symptoms of acute asthma usually needed to be admitted to the hospital for a few days in order to get the symptoms controlled. As time went on, newer systems such as nebulizer treatments that could be performed at home were implemented and admissions to hospitals dramatically diminished. Today it is not uncommon at all to see a nebulizer machine in the home of a child with asthma. The other issues that were improved upon were the level of education of a family in which there is a child with asthma, and the greatly improved medications available to treat asthmatic symptoms with fewer side effects and greater efficiency.

As more becomes known about asthma, through research and observation, the efficiency of treatments increases dramatically. Since we know from the previous article that the underlying problems causing symptoms of asthma are related to constriction of the small airways, mucus production and inflammation, there was a body of research that tried to find out which of these causes were more important, and which specific medications could be used for each symptom. At one point or another each of them were implicated but recently the inflammatory process seems to be very important. Also inhaled medications seemed to give the best results without some of the bothersome side effects, both long term and short term.

With the development of better mobile delivery systems for these medications and the increase in knowledge that families now have about the disease, the disease can now be managed very efficiently at home. Fewer and fewer hospitalizations have been the result with a greatly decreased cost of delivering medical care to these children.

Your Doctor is very familiar with the armamentarium of medications available to use for children with various degrees of the disease. The two main issues with the treatment of asthma is the immediate treatment of the acute problem, breathing difficulty, and then the long term control of the recurrence of those symptoms. There are many medications, or combinations of medications, available to gain and maintain control over the symptoms of asthma and your child should be able to live a perfectly normal life style.

You as parents will shortly become, with the help of your Doctor, the “expert” when it comes to asthma in your child.

Enjoy Breakfast as a Family

You’ve heard the saying so many times it seems trite: “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

But even though it may be cliche, nutritionists will tell you this tidbit is absolutely true. “Not only is skipping breakfast bad for a child’s metabolism, but it also means they’ll be so hungry later that they’re much more likely to make poor food choices throughout the day,” says Heather Cupp, a registered dietitian at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Anyone with kids knows, however, that weekday morning meals are usually the most hectic. With a limited amount of time to get everyone up, dressed and off to camp, school or day care, it’s no wonder that fitting in a healthy breakfast can seem like an impossible feat.

No matter how busy your weekday mornings, the whole family can still eat well. All it takes are a few key planning decisions and some smart food choices. Below, our experts’ strategies for turning the rushed (or nonexistent!) morning meal into a healthy, enjoyable group activity:

1. Prep ahead.

Do as much as you can ahead of time to minimize the morning rush. If you’re having blueberry pancakes for Sunday brunch, make a few extra batches that you can freeze and use throughout the week. If hot cereal is a favorite, prep a few days’ worth of servings in your slow cooker and keep a big bowl in the fridge. Save even more time by setting the table and packing the car the night before.

2. Optimize your kitchen setup.

Save valuable minutes in the future by taking time now to organize your kitchen so you can easily find the things you regularly need for breakfast, says Kim Cosentino, owner of The De-Clutter Box, an organizing company in Westmont, Illinois. “Think of the cabinets on either side of the stove as prime real estate, and use them for items that you use on a regular basis,” says Cosentino. “If you cook hot oatmeal a lot, put the oatmeal box in the cabinet next to the stove.” Similarly, store glasses near the fridge and sink, and stash dishes and silverware near the dishwasher to save time unloading.

3. Think outside the box.

If you’ve got a picky eater who turns up her nose at traditional breakfast foods, there’s no reason the morning meal can’t be a sandwich or even last night’s dinner. “When I have leftover pasta of some sort, I heat that up or make a point of cooking some sort of pasta the night before so I just have to nuke it in the a.m.,” says Susan McQuillan, a New York City-based registered dietitian, writer and mother. “Usually the pasta already has some sort of vegetable in it, like broccoli — or I just add chopped-up cherry tomatoes and olives before serving.”

4. Put the kids to work.

The more routine steps your kids do on their own, the more time you’ll have to prepare and serve a healthy breakfast. So make it easy for them to pick out their own outfits and dress themselves every morning by organizing their closets and drawers by type of clothing (underwear in one drawer, shirts in another, etc.). Also put a “clean or dirty” magnet on the dishwasher to get them involved in setting the table and clearing it afterwards.

5. Make it quick, easy and healthy.

“The ideal breakfast includes protein and fiber, both of which fill kids up and sustain them all morning,” says Elisa Zeid, a New York City-based registered dietitian and the author of Nutrition at Your Fingertips. By contrast, a couple of hours after eating a sugary, high-carb breakfast like a donut or pastry, “a child’s blood sugar will drop, and he won’t be able to concentrate.” Preparing a well-balanced, nutritious breakfast doesn’t have to take a long time. All of the following kid-friendly meals can be put together in just a few minutes:

• A peanut butter and banana sandwich with a glass of milk
• Trail mix made of nuts, dried fruit and whole-grain cereal
• Yogurt parfait made with high-fiber cereal and fresh fruit
• Slice of leftover veggie pizza, warmed in the toaster oven
• Corn tortilla with melted cheese and salsa
• String cheese, a handful of nuts and a banana

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