by Heidi Copeland | Nov 30, 2016
Many of us can agree, being around family can make simple things in life more special! Whether it’s time spent together during holidays, celebrating birthdays, or simply enjoying togetherness, family events can make life memorable. Why wait until special occasions to show your family that they matter? Dining together can make simple things feel special every day!
Dining in with your family is one of the easiest ways to incorporate spending quality time together… on a daily basis. Knowing that schedules can make this task very difficult to implement but understanding the benefits will help encourage us to make the time for this important ritual. Research studies show that frequent, positive mealtime experiences can lead to better communication among family members, improved performance at school, and enhanced reading levels, as well as better overall nutrition. During meals, parents are able to teach their children how to actively listen and express themselves through conversation. As a result, these mealtime conversations expand children’s vocabulary and increase their reading skills. Equally important is that eating together helps encourage healthy eating habits.
Make plans to set aside December 3, 2016 as Dine in Day. This initiative, started three years ago by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) promotes the importance of group meals in fostering family and community relationships, encouraging healthy diets and stretching food dollars. AAFCS cares about family mealtimes and is spreading awareness.
Here are some Dine In Day conversation starters and tips to create an enjoyable and relaxing atmosphere for your family:
- Start with minimal distractions. Turn off all devises…televisions, iPads, laptops, and set aside cell phones.
- For families with preschoolers here are some conversation starters
- If you could be any animal in the world for a day, which animal would it be? Why?
- What made you happy (or sad) today? Why?
- Who did you sit next to (or play with) at school today? What did you talk about?
- Would you like to help plan dinner for tomorrow night? What foods would you like to help cook for dinner?
- For families with adolescents and young adults here are some conversation starters
- Ask about their hobbies, clubs, or extracurricular activities
- If you could have one day free of all responsibilities what would you do?
- Share funny stories and discuss light current events
Remember, eating together matters. Try to create a positive atmosphere before and during meals.
- Respect and involve every family member giving everyone an equal opportunity to share an opinion without teasing or criticizing.
- Download free conversation starters at www.school-wellness.org
- Background music can be a nice addition!
Individuals, families and groups can pledge to dine in December 3 at http://bit.ly/2dPj58G . Diners can also participate on social media by sharing photos and using the hashtags #FCSdayFL and #healthyfamselfie.
Build stronger relationships and positively impact your children’s growing values. Don’t wait until special occasions to reap the dining together benefits, dine in now!
For more information on the importance of family meal
- Lyttle and E. Baugh, The Importance of Family Dinners (FCS2286), Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences (Archived).
- Paredes and K. Shelnutt, Raising Healthy Children: The Importance of Family Meals (FCS8925), Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences (06/2010).
Tamarah Ulysse FSU Intern, Family and Child Sciences
Edited by: Heidi Copeland
Extension Agent I
Family and Consumer Sciences
615 Paul Russell Road
Tallahassee, FL 32301-7060
850/606-5200
by Ginny Hinton | Nov 25, 2016
It’s a fact. We need salt in our diets. Our bodies need sodium, which we usually get through salt, to maintain fluid balance and blood volume. Unfortunately, most of us consume at least twice as much sodium as we need.
The main culprit for sodium intake is not the salt we sprinkle on food, nor is it the salt we use when we cook. It’s the processed foods we grab to make meal preparation quicker and easier – the breads, soups, pizza, cheese, snacks, and more. For example, most of us require only 1,500 mg of sodium, or ¾ teaspoon, per day. Just one slice of a typical frozen pizza contains more than half that amount.
It’s a good idea to buy fresh, frozen, or low sodium veggies, choose roasted meats over processed lunch meats, and read labels to find low sodium choices when possible. How do you know your item is low sodium? It should contain 140 mg or less of sodium per typical serving. If that’s hard to remember, just look for foods with a Daily Value (DV) of 5% or less.
Soup is one of the worst offenders when it comes to sodium content. Unfortunately, when commercial soups are cooked at a high temperature long enough to kill potentially harmful bacteria, the soups lose some of their flavor. Salt offers a cheap and easy way to make up for that loss. Still, many soups can be a great choice, especially if you’re counting calories. How can you enjoy a quick cup of soup without loading up on the salt? Start with a can of light or reduced sodium soup then add your favorite fresh or unseasoned frozen veggies. You’ll still get more sodium than you would with homemade soup but you’ll get much less than in typical canned soup, with an added nutrient and fiber boost.
With a few changes, you can reduce your sodium and still enjoy tasty meals!
References:
University of Florida IFAS Extension, Keeping the Pressure Down, Lesson 4: DASH Diet – Balancing Minerals.
Dahl W & Foster L. Shopping for Health: Sodium
Nutrition Action, Do You Want to Discover Ways to Cut Salt from Your Diet? 10/17/2016
by Amy Mullins | Nov 16, 2016
Ever feel like you’re moving through your work day at the speed of light with barely enough time to eat, much less eat healthy? The combination of stress, poor eating habits, and lack of exercise can lead to becoming overweight and the development of chronic health conditions such as type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. Numerous studies have shown that stress can lead to poor nutritional choices including:
- Choosing a sugary and/or caffeinated drink over water
- Grabbing convenience foods more often, which usually are not healthy choices
- Forgetting meals and making poor choices later in the day, ultimately eating more calories, sugar, fat, and sodium
The fact is we are all busy. But, if we don’t take the time to care for ourselves, we may be headed down a dangerous path of self-destruction. It only takes a small amount of time to take the right steps toward better health.
Here are some tips to get you started:
- Simplify! Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories or measuring portion sizes, think of your diet in terms of color, variety, and freshness.
- Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time.
- Every change you make to improve your diet matters!
- Think of water and exercise as food groups in your diet.
- Moderation is key. Try not to think of certain foods as “off limits,” but, rather, think smaller portions.
- It’s not just what you eat, it’s how you eat. Mindful eating – listen to your body and take time to enjoy your food and mealtimes.
- Fill up on fruits and vegetables.
- Choose whole grains.
- Focus on healthy fats and limit saturated fats and fried foods.
- Try different types of lean protein.
- Limit sugar and salt.
- Plan Ahead
- Take the time to make a grocery list before going to the grocery store
- Plan and pack nutritious snacks for work
- Prepare meals for the week ahead of time
- Consider your options when eating out
- Portion out meals and snacks ahead of time
- Have water available all day
- Incorporate Exercise into Your Daily Routine
- Choose the stairs over the elevator
- Walk during breaks
- Turn housework into exercise
- Walk the dog
- Park further away when you drive to the store
- Play outside with your kids
Remember, nothing is more important than your health and the health of your family. Set a good example for those you love by taking care of yourself. They will be thankful you made plans to be around for many years to come!
For more information about this topic or other nutrition and wellness-related topics, contact Amy Mullins, MS, RDN at amymullins@ufl.edu.
by sbouie | Nov 16, 2016
Photo credit: www.thailandblog.nl
Maybe you know someone in your family, a friend, or a co-worker that has diabetes. Diabetes affects not only the person but the entire family. This article will discuss the types of diabetes and symptoms. Education concerning diabetes begins at home. Once we are educated, we can teach our family and the younger generation.
Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults and was previously known as juvenile diabetes. Only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. The body breaks down the sugars and starches you eat into a simple sugar called glucose, which it uses for energy. Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. If you have type 2 diabetes, your body does not use insulin properly. This is called insulin resistance. At first, your pancreas makes extra insulin to make up for it. But, over time, it isn’t able to keep up and can’t make enough insulin to keep your blood glucose at normal levels.
Gestational Diabetes – During pregnancy, usually around the 24th week, many women develop gestational diabetes. A diagnosis of gestational diabetes doesn’t mean that you had diabetes before you conceived or that you will have diabetes after giving birth. However, women who’ve had gestational diabetes have a 35 to 60 percent chance of developing type 2 diabetes in the next 10 to 20 years after giving birth.
Some common symptoms of diabetes include urinating often; feeling very thirsty; feeling very hungry – even though you are eating; extreme fatigue; blurry vision; cuts/bruises that are slow to heal; weight loss – even though you are eating more (type 1); tingling; pain; or numbness in the hands/feet (type 2).
Food selection is a key element of living with diabetes. It is easy to find diabetes cookbooks and recipes online to assist in adjusting your diet. It is easy to find a list of starchy vegetables to avoid as well as other foods that should be eliminated from one’s diet.
Exercise also is a very important factor when living with diabetes. A good exercise program along with a proper diet will help decrease your risk of diabetes.
Source: American Diabetes Association
by Angela Hinkle | Oct 19, 2016
It’s that time of year: going to Friday night football games, decorating with pumpkins, welcoming in some cooler weather, and harvesting our locally grown peanuts and cotton. This also means it’s time for the Peanut Butter Challenge. We collect jars of unopened peanut butter throughout the Northwest Panhandle of Florida through November 23rd. (Contact your local UF/IFAS Extension office for details and peanut butter drop-off sites.)
Peanut butter is a locally grown (okay, we don’t actually grow peanut butter, but we do grow the peanuts that make peanut butter), protein packed, tasty food that is safe to eat and store at room temperature. For these reasons, it is one of the most requested items at food pantries. After Thanksgiving, we will distribute to food pantries and organizations that give food to hungry families in need.
Okay, so what role do socks play in this? Cotton, another great locally grown agricultural product, is used to make socks. And even though UF/IFAS Extension does not have a “Sock Challenge,” the homeless and limited-resource families are often in desperate need of new white socks. There are plenty of shelters and schools who would really appreciate donations of clean new socks – any time of year.
So…Peanut Butter and Socks – they really are the Florida Panhandle’s perfect combination!
by Marie Arick | Jul 29, 2016
![Sleeping_boy_at_desk_with_books[1]](https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/fcs/files/2016/07/Sleeping_boy_at_desk_with_books1-300x199.jpg)
Are your school kids getting enough sleep? With the new school year starting and routines being established, are things going smoothly? If you are sleep deprived, then the chances are your children may be sleep deprived as well. The following is an excerpt from the University of Michigan Health System:
School-aged children still need somewhere between 9 and 12 hours of sleep at night. At this age, kids usually start a trend toward becoming more and more sleep deprived. As the parents, you will need to help figure out how much sleep your child needs. Your child is getting the right amount of sleep if they:
- Can fall asleep within 15 to 30 minutes.
- Can wake up easily at the time they need to get up and don’t need you to keep bugging them to get up.
- Are awake and alert all day, and don’t need a nap during the day. Check with your child’s teacher and make sure your child is able to stay awake and alert during school.
In other words, if your child can go to bed, fall asleep easily, wake up easily, and not be tired during the day, then they’re probably getting enough sleep.
So, does your school-age child fit this bill? Obviously, the younger the child, generally, the more sleep they require. The amount of sleep required does vary from person to person, regardless of age. Are you aware that sleep deprivation is linked to poorer school outcomes as well as some behavioral and emotional problems? Adequate amounts of sleep for children (and adults, too) lead to healthier outcomes and better productivity.
Some simple steps to help your child to establish a better sleep routine is to set a bedtime and a ritual that cues the child that he/she is preparing for bed. Providing the appropriate environment to indicate to the child it is time to sleep is also important. Keeping the mood calm and relaxed can aid in allowing the child to unwind. Other hints include avoiding television one hour prior to bedtime, dim lights about two hours prior to bedtime, and limit or eliminate your child’s consumption of caffeinated beverages, such as soda and tea. The ideal bedroom setting is dark (a night light is ok), comfortably cool, quiet, and with few stuffed animals on the bed. If getting the bedtime ritual established is proving difficult, do not vary your waking times in the mornings, regardless if it is the weekend. Establishing and enforcing the waking time is easier to manage and will lend itself to eventually aiding in the establishment of a solid bedtime ritual. Teenagers and weekends will prove more challenging. But as parents, we are able to discuss sleep habits and the negative effects of sleep deprivation with them to allow them to participate more actively in improving their own sleep habits and become more responsible young adults along the way.
Remember, people in general need different amounts of sleep and the best way to determine if a child (or adult, for that matter) is sleep deprived is to ask the following questions the UMHS staff research has established:
- Does your child fall asleep in the car almost every time you drive with them?
- Do you have to wake your child up almost every morning?
- Does your child seem overtired, cranky, irritable, aggressive, over-emotional, hyperactive, or have trouble thinking during the day?
- On some nights, does your child “crash” much earlier than their usual bedtime?
A “yes” answer to any of the above can be an indication of sleep deprivation according to UMHS. It truly is a health benefit for your child to be well rested every day and this can be achieved with a good sleep routine.
Check out the University of Florida IFAS fact sheet to help address sleep needs for teens. Another great resource is the National Sleep Foundation.
Sweet dreams!
