Whole Kids Project

Healthy Kid's Nutrition- Without Hefty Costs

USA Today offers these tips for helping your kids to maintain a healthy diet without a lot of cost:

Parents and children should work together to come up with other cost-effective ideas for improving family eating habits. Some food for thought:

•Cut back high-fat fast food. Limit foods like burgers and fries to no more than once a month, and try to have them on days when the children are active, Ayoob says. That will save calories and money. One study showed that overweight teens consume about 400 more calories a day when they eat fast food compared with other days.

•Go to restaurants with a dining plan. Don't order soda or bottled water but have tap water, Ayoob says. Encourage children to get a doggy bag and explain that they can order once and dine twice.

Or encourage children to split healthful adult entrees, which may be cheaper than ordering off the kids' menu, Ward says. Skip dessert and have something at home, such as 100-calorie frozen fudge bars.

•Take advantage of the child's positive eating habits. Most children like five to 10 fruits and vegetables, and parents should offer those foods more often, Ayoob says. If they like apples, snap peas, baby carrots or tomatoes, offer them every day. That will prevent some food fights.

•Re-evaluate beverages. Serve skim milk instead of whole milk, says Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and author of The World Is Fat. Whole milk adds unhealthful saturated fat and extra calories to a child's diet, he says. Besides milk, water should be the main beverage, he says. Forget soft drinks, vitamin waters, sports drinks and other sugary beverages.

•Rethink snacking habits. Parents used to give preschoolers two tiny snacks a day and children under 10 one snack after school, but now kids get 300 calories or more from two to three snacks a day, often with soft drinks, chips and cookies, Popkin says. Parents should serve fruit and cut-up vegetables instead, which would save hundreds of calories and add valuable nutrients, he says.

•Teach children how to plan and prepare meals. They can learn how to scramble eggs, bake chicken or make a soup, Ayoob says. It takes a little time in the beginning to teach them these basic skills, but it pays off in a big way. "Kids become more competent in the kitchen, more invested in eating what they prepare, and learn life skills that will benefit them for years to come," he says.

Girls Growing Up Too Fast

From Family Circle Magazine via MSN:

The Sexy-Girl Syndrome

The job description for parent says you prep yourself for the dicey stuff kids are likely to ask for. So I was ready for the day my daughter would beg for a fashion doll of notoriously unrealistic proportions, or even for one of those skimpily dressed Bratz dolls. Instead, last fall my 7-year-old freaked me out a whole different way-by begging for a bra. "Two girls in my class have them," she argued.

Skeptical that she'd gotten her facts straight, I checked out a local children's store. Yikes! They had a whole assortment of flirty bras and panties perfectly sized for second-graders. Staring at those crazy underthings, and at the body-glitter tubes on the counter, something creepy dawned on me. Today's girls don't just want to own a hot-looking doll, they want to be one.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so shocked. After all, my daughter and her friends are more likely to worship teen heroes like Troy and Gabriella from the High School Musical movies than to expend energy adoring cuddly cartoon characters like the Care Bears. And these same kids are the ones shaking their little booties when the Pussycat Dolls come on the radio, singing, "Don'tcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?"

Clearly, something's going on, so much so that the American Psychological Association (APA) recently convened a task force on girls' sexualization. "There's a real syndrome happening, and it's picking up speed," says Eileen L. Zurbriggen, PhD, who chaired the APA group. "Even little girls are now feeling they should look and act alluring." Her committee found that this is harmful to girls on several levels.

"The core issue is what they feel valued for," Zurbriggen explains. "It's as though factors like whether they're smart or funny or kind or talented at something like sports or art get erased." And their self-esteem suffers for it. "The images their idols present are so idealized, most girls can't attain them. That makes them feel bad about their own bodies, and this can eventually lead to anxiety and depression," Zurbriggen says. Preoccupation with their "hot-o-meter" score can even hurt their school performance. "A girl's mind becomes literally so full of worries about how she looks and what other people are thinking, she doesn't have enough energy left to focus on learning," says Zurbriggen.

So, what to do?

Forget about overreacting. Sending your daughter to school in overalls, clutching your old prairie-skirted Holly Hobbie doll is like putting a giant "L" on her forehead and a "kick me" sign on her back. The idea is to help her live in the real world while preserving her innocence and honoring your family's morals. Try these tactics:

• Cut back on the TV consumption. Her shows, your shows -- just watch less. A 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation report found that the proportion of programs with sexual content rose from 54 percent to 70 percent between 1998 and 2005. And learn what the mysterious ratings at the start of kids' shows mean. Stuff tagged TV-Y or TV-G is the tamest. Other ratings require you to make a judgment call. You can get the scoop at www.fcc.gov/parents/parent_guide.html.
• Teach your daughter how to think like a critic. When she does watch, try to join her. "That way when something questionable pops up, you can point it out," recommends Durham. Levin suggests regularly exposing the ridiculous or unrealistic sides of on-screen scenarios. For instance, you could try, "Don't you wonder how London gets her homework done when she spends so much time in front of the mirror?"
• Monitor Web choices. Just because a Web site is linked to a TV show doesn't mean it's healthy or wholesome. Try bookmarking a few quality sites like pbskids.org or starfall.com, which are chockablock with fun learning games. "Be picky," says Maria Bailey, founder of bluesuitmom.com, an advice site for employed moms. "Thirty four percent of children will visit some kind of social networking or vitual-world Web site this year." One new option about to be launched is the Precious Girls Club social network, where girls can earn points for engaging in kind behavior (preciousgirlsclub.com).
• Promote other kinds of idols. Show your daughter women she can admire for what they do, not for how they look, advises Richard Gallagher, PhD, director of the Parenting Institute at the Child Study Center of New York University. You could take her to a community musical and afterward meet the actress whose singing she loved. Or how about attending a local women's basketball game, where she can give the high-scorer postgame congratulations? And even if you aren't a fan of every female on the political scene, point out how cool it is that women are so prominent there.
• Help her explore her talents and interests. Whether it's tennis or chess, being good at something gives girls confidence. "Sports especially are great," advises Levin. "They help girls value their bodies for what they're able to do, not for how pretty they look."
• Hold the line on makeup and glittery clothes. "It's not enough to just say no," warns Levin. "Your daughter will be exposed to these things anyway, and if you clamp down entirely, it'll only set the stage for her to rebel later on." Instead she suggests moderation. If your daughter begs for a cropped top, for instance, layer it over a longer tee or tank, or let her wear it only at home.
• Mix up her peer group. Invite over a kid from another class in her grade, or sign her up for an activity that isn't school-based (such as karate or art). Spending time with other kids, other ideas, other ways of doing things widens a girl's world and reduces the pressure on her to follow the crowd.
• Guide the gift-giving. Tell grandparents and other relatives that you're trying to hold back on the sexy stuff, says Levin. Ideally, they'll shop more sensitively.

Merry Christmas!

The Whole Kids Project wishes all of our readers a joy-filled Christmas!

Study: Children In An Intact And Religious Family Do Better

Of course they do.

From the Mapping America project:

A new study from the Mapping America project, co-released by more than 30 state family policy councils, finds that children have fewer problems at school and home when they live with both biological parents and frequently attend religious services.  Dr. Nicholas Zill, the founding president of Child Trends, and Dr. Philip Fletcher, a research psychologist at Westat, co-authored the new study, which analyzes data from the National Survey of Children's Health.

Among their remarkable findings: children in this group are five times less likely to repeat a grade, less likely to have behavior problems at home and school, and are more likely to be cooperative and understanding of others' feelings. Parents of these children report less stress, healthier parent-child relationships, and fewer concerns about their children's achievement. These differences hold up even after controlling for family income and poverty, low parent education levels, and race and ethnicity.

You can download the full report here.

40 Inspirational Movie Speeches in Two Minutes

From overthinkingit.com:

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes @ Yahoo! Video

Consumer Guide to Toxic Toys

HealthyToys.org is a great site for tracking toxic chemicals in your child's toys.

From their website:

HealthyToys.org 2008 includes test results for over 1,500 toys and children's products. In cases where toys had many different components (building blocks of different colors, for example, or dolls with fabric and plastic), researchers attempted to collect a useful number of samples from each toy. For this reason, the data reflects over 4,500 individual samples of different product components. The testing methodology used is an X-ray technology that identifies elements on or near the surface of a product, called an XRF machine (see methodologyfor more details) and lab testing for lead. Based on these results, each product tested was given an overall rating, as well as an individual chemical rating. A detailed description of the rating system is provided in the product rating section.

A summary of the rating system is below:

• Each toy is given a rating for six elements that represent the presence of chemicals of concern. Those elements are lead, bromine, mercury, cadmium, chlorine and arsenic. Products were assigned a low, medium or high level to indicate the relative level of a chemical in a product. The presence of chlorine above 10,000 ppm was determined to indicate that a product is made of PVC plastic. In this case, it is the material rather than the element that is of concern. These levels are not meant to correspond to levels known to cause health effects. In 2008, Congress passed the first law regulating lead and phthalates in children's toys. However, the law doesn't go into effect until next year, and does not regulate all of the chemicals of concern in children's products. In order to develop our rating system, HealthyToys.org consulted existing standards and voluntary guidelines for toys, packaging, or other products either in the United States or Europe.
• The overall toy rating of "low", "medium" or "high" was determined using the findings for each of the chemicals measured. A toy with one or more medium ratings and no high ratings was assigned a medium. A toy with just one high rating would get a high rating. For a low rating, the toy must have only low ratings. A low rating means chemicals were either not detected or were detected at very low levels.
• We also noted the presence of "other chemicals," which include tin, antimony, chromium and bromine, if we found those elements above 100 ppm. The presence of these chemicals was not calculated as part of the overall score because the form of the chemical in the product could not be determined and the toxicity can vary widely depending on the compound. The presence of these chemicals in children's products deserves more attention and research. In the overall score, we simply noted their presence with an asterisk next to the overall rating.
• Note: In addition to toxic chemicals, consumers should consider other issues, including other toy safety hazards when considering a toy or children's product purchase. Visit the Toy Safety page, as well as: http://www.uspirg.org/issues/toy-safety.

Other features of the HealthyToys.org site:

• You can search for your children's product using the search function, by the toy name, or generate a list of toys tested by brand or by toy type.
• You can keep and share a shopping list of toys using the website's list function.
• You can post our HealthyToys.org Search Widget on your blog or website.
• If your toy isn't on the database, and you'd like us to test it for you, just view our list and cast your vote or nominate your toy. We will regularly test the most requested toys.
• In other areas of the HealthyToys.org site you can Take Action, learn more about the details of our testing, or get additional information about chemicals. Explore the site and let us know what you think - we'd love to hear from you!

HealthyToys.org ratings do not provide a measure of health risk or chemical exposure associated with any individual toy or children's product, or any individual element or related chemical. HealthyToys.org ratings provide only a relative measure of high, medium, and low concentrations of several hazardous chemicals or chemical elements in a toy or children's product in comparison to criteria established in the site methodology.

Student Loan Help

FAFSA Online, a service of The Student Loan Network,  has just released a free guide to completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) forms.

You can download the free e-book here.

When you're done downloading the guide you may want to spend some time reading the financial aid tips and advice.

Have a Rootin' Tootin' Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Video: Basketball Prodigy

This little girls is 5-years old. Amazing!

11 Injury-Prone High School Sports

ABC News looks at 11 injury-prone high school sports.

Not surprisingly, football is #1 with 12 injuries per 1000 players and the most catastrophic injuries of any high school sport.