Tag Archive for: kids

Last Was First

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What was the roar I told you about in the last message? It was for the last runner of the Grand Rapids Kids Marathon. You can see him in the group picture: the kid on the far right with the walker in the cool shades. I don’t know exactly what his condition is; most likely a muscular disorder of some sort. But that didn’t stop him from participating.

His mom accompanied him the whole way. When he came through the aid station, he wanted a cup . . .

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Kids Marathon

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One of the requirements of a triathlon training group I belong to is to volunteer at a running or other event. This past weekend, the Grand Rapids Marathon held a Kids Marathon. I was in—not just to help, but experience what this type of event is like.

The idea is this: kids run or walk at least one mile, three times a week, with a friend or family member and track their progress on a training sheet that goes through mile 25. On race weekend, the children run or walk the last 1.2 miles of the marathon distance . . .

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Healthier Eating for Kids

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In the last message before Labor Day, I wanted to provide you with a few references to help your kids eat better. It’s something that I’ve never done before but frankly, I just don’t know everything and I’m not going to live long enough to learn it all. I hate that, but every man’s got to know his limitations. Yes, that’s one of my favorite movie quotes.

Two are books that I referenced in earlier webinars; the other two are books by long-time readers who are passionate about helping kids eat healthy. I . . .

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Kids’ Lunches

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Schools have either begun or are about to begin after Labor Day, so let’s stick to our topic from last week, kids and food.

School lunches have been in the headlines. In a recently published study, researchers compared the amounts of fruits and vegetables kids put on their trays and ate before and after the National School Lunch Program rules mandated every student should eat more fruits and vegetables. The headlines suggested that kids took more, ate less, and threw away more. Sounds bad? They took 0.20 cups more fruits and vegetables (about 24 blueberries), ate 0.06 . . .

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Teaching Kids to Cook

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When it comes to teaching kids to cook, the primary thing to consider is safety. I’m not giving a three-year-old sharp knives nor letting a five-year-old operate a stove. Common sense has to reign supreme. The best approach is to start with basics.

Before we get to that, you have to understand that it’s going to be messy and it’s going to take a lot longer. Those are givens. It may be better to pick one afternoon or evening to dedicate to cooking with your kids, creating soups, casseroles, and crockpot meals for . . .

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When I Was a Kid…

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I began cooking young, probably around 10 or so. My grandmother was a cook; not a chef by today’s standards, but a very, very good cook. She worked as the head cook in the cafeteria of a manufacturing company back in the day when they had such things. She also worked weekends at a private-park kitchen; think of it as a place where companies held summer picnics for their employees. In addition to that, she and my mother also catered weddings.

I had a single mom who worked second shift, and we lived with my grandparents who were . . .

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Kids and Cooking

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Many people are still finishing up their vacations so I thought I’d tackle something a little lighter than a complicated study this week. Sometimes I’m bombarded with so many events and observations, a message theme just appears; recent events are pointing me to kids and cooking.

First, it’s back-to-school time. What seemed to begin the day after school let out—the back-to-school sales—has kept kids in every ad and commercial.

Second, the NBC show Foodfighters featured a 12-year-old girl who was inspired to cook healthier meals when her . . .

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Further Research: Iron and ADHD

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The final study I’ll review this week turned into three. In my original research, a study from 2012 demonstrated a tendency for children with ADHD to have low levels of ferritin (1), a protein that can store iron until it’s needed to make energy as well as other functions. When I came across the study, I checked to see if any further research had been done. Sure enough, two more studies confirmed that some children with ADHD have low ferritin levels (2,3).

The low ferritin was also associated with insomnia and restless-leg syndrome. The association doesn . . .

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Further Research: Exercise and ADHD

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One of the characteristics of children with ADHD is that they seem to have plenty of energy. Too much energy. They want to talk, they want to move, they need to be doing something. Today’s study examined the research on children with ADHD and exercise.

Researchers conducted a meta-analysis on studies that examined the effects of exercise on the symptoms associated with ADHD. Those symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, anxiety, learning and memory difficulties. The analysis showed that even short-term aerobic activity improved almost every symptom of ADHD.

What constitutes short-term aerobic activity? Running, skipping, jumping . . .

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Further Research: Fat Intake and Learning

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I always find more research than I can actually use; either the study was too small or the study didn’t exactly apply to the topic. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t good research, but I have to stop somewhere. This week, I’m going to share my take on three research articles I found when I prepared for the ADHD webinar.

The first involves an examination of dietary fat in kids and their ability to learn. The researchers examined the diets of 70 children 9 to 11 years old. Their hypothesis was that as the ratio of omega . . .

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