Eat right: It’s not just adults who have to worry about putting on extra pounds over the holidays. Pediatrician Thomas Robinson, director of the Center for Healthy Weight at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in the San Francisco area, offers these tips to families with children who are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle during the holidays:
Invent new traditions: “Traditions guide a lot of what we eat and serve, and unfortunately, many of those traditions focus on high-fat, high-calorie foods,” Robinson said. Families can “fight back by starting new, healthier traditions, and these traditions can stay with your family for many years.”
Make fruit a fun dessert: “There are plenty of different types of fruit around this time of year, from Asian pears to star fruit. You can even cut them into unusual shapes. They’re low-calorie, fun to eat and kids love the taste.”
Healthy snacking: “When it’s time to snack, instead of having all those leftovers and sweets around, replace them with foods like pomegranates, which can be a cool surprise for kids.”
Work off calories: “Kids don’t get colds from being in the cold. They get colds from viruses,” Robinson said. “Sending kids out to play in the cold, or even a little bit of rain, will not get them sick.”
Limit screen time: Make a budget. “Our team suggests a budget of seven hours a week total screen time, which includes TV, DVDs, video games and computers,” said Robinson. “This means an hour a day, which is easy for kids to understand.”
Learn more about the Center for Healthy Weight at www.Healthyweight.lpch.org.
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