Anchorage Daily News

A big smack of "Supersize Me" with an extra dose of "Fast Food Nation" put the spotlight on the overconsumption of high-fat foods, but knowing the right way to eat and eating the right way are two different things.

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How can parents guide their children toward wise eating habits in a world of vending machines and low-value foods and drinks founded on coolness and ease rather than nutritional worth? By guiding themselves to better health first.

"What the studies show is that if the parents are obese or have poor eating habits, it trickles down to the child," said Dr. John Tappel, a pediatrician at LaTouche Pediatrics. "You can't talk about the child in isolation but the whole family."

By now, most parents and children know that eating a variety of healthy foods and getting ample exercise can invigorate the body and mind while reducing risk factors associated with obesity and poor nutrition. Studies indicate that being overweight as a child increases the risk of things like heart disease and diabetes in adulthood

"Everybody is now aware that obesity is one of the new epidemics in the United States," said Tappel. "You have to eat more healthy foods and move more often, and moving more means walking, riding a bike rather than driving, taking the stairs rather than the elevator. It's simple but not easy."

"Simple" because people know what to do; "not easy" because they find it hard to change their habits. Like the notion of meat as the centerpiece; or a sundae or cheesecake as the final course rather than fruit.

"We don't need as much meat and desserts and fried foods as we get," said Thad Woodard, a pediatrician at Alaska Center for Pediatrics and the host of "Line One: Your Health Connection" on KSKA Public Radio. "Modeling is extremely important. Parents are completely in control of diet when they're kids are young. Eat well and recognize that the problem in the United States is not vitamin deficiency but over-nutrition."

In truth, modeling good eating habits involves a commitment to good health before going to the store. Telling children not to eat chips and soda has a lot more weight when those food items aren't on hand in the first place.

"If you got cookies in the house, they're going to be eaten by somebody," said Tappel. "The trick is don't have it in the house. Or reserve them for special occasions."

By establishing healthy eating habits for the whole family, good nutrition becomes easier over time. Young children presented with good food choices tend to keep making good choices as they grow older.

Pediatrician and author Christine Wood wrote the book "How to Get Kids to Eat Great and Love It" and maintains a Web site (www.kidseatgreat.com) loaded with suggestions about how to get children to eat healthy. Lunches from home can provide the best nutrition, so she recommends giving children the task of planning them by choosing foods from five categories: main meal, fruit, vegetable, snack and dessert. Options would include fresh fruits and vegetables over canned options, pretzels over chips, and whole-grain bread over white.

For snacks, look for the same sorts of things, but with a little flair, like carrots and broccoli with a vanilla yogurt dip spiced up with honey and cinnamon.

As far as Tappel is concerned, kids can do without sweet drinks altogether, particularly energy drinks because of the caffeine.

"We're a caffeinated society and these energy drinks are prominent with teens," he said. They tend to have additives with no real health benefit and they're incredibly expensive. Kids will have one or more, like a latte every day. You can spend twenty bucks or more a week on them."

Worst yet, he said, "Kids get addicted to these drinks like we get addicted to coffee."

Not a lot of studies address the impact of energy drinks on health yet, but they are associated with more high-risk behaviors, he said, perhaps because the type of person who seeks them out might be more likely to do high-risk activities.

The studies are clear on one thing, however. A healthy breakfast can help kids get a jump start on the school day.

"Your brain doesn't like being starved," said Tappel. "Too many people get up just in time to hop on the school bus and maybe comb their hair, which leads to binge eating and the tendency to grab foods with high-calories and high-fat."

Wood's Web site defines a good breakfast as being low-glycemic, or full of foods that release sugar into the bloodstream slowly, like whole grain breads and pastas, lean meats, most fruits and vegetables, yogurt and milk, and cereals like muesli and oatmeal.

Whatever the choice, parents can step up to the nutritional plate by eating the most important meal of the day with their kids.

Find out more about nutrition by going to the Anchorage School District's interactive program, www.weigh2rock.com, and reacquainting yourself with the food pyramid at www.Mypyramid.gov.

Find Dawnell Smith online at adn.com/contact/dsmith or call 257-4587.

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