Here is a great recipe for parents and children to make together from Whole Foods Market.

Ingredients

• 4 slices of whole grain bread, toasted and cut into 1in cubes
• 4 slices of deli ham and 4 slices of deli turkey
• 16 cherry tomatoes
• 4 leaves romaine lettuce
• 1/4 pound cheddar cut in cubes
• 1/4 pound mozzarella cut in cubes
• 2 kosher dill pickles sliced thickly

Method

Making the kabobs is easy, just alternate all of the ingredients and thread them onto a kabob stick.  

Enjoy making these kabobs with your children!

A recent study was performed showing how much of an impact food advertisements had on children and how parents can alter that impact.  The study showed children 2 cartoons with a food commercial between.  The first half had a commercial showing apple slices while the second half of the children had a food advertisement for french fries.

After the show they were then asked to pick a coupon for either french fries or for healthy food and the patients were told to remain neutral or try and influence them what to pick.

The results show that parents can have an impact on what the children will eat. For the people who watched the french fries commercial and the parents did not have any influence then 71 percent of the children picked the french fries coupon. However, if the parents encouraged them to choose the healthy food the percent decreased to 55.

There are always going to be advertisements for unhealthy food on television but parents can have an impact in what the children choose to eat.  You can read the entire article here.

BABY FOOD: LASTS 1 - 3 DAYS IN FRIDGE ONCE OPENED

An open jar of strained fruits and veggies lasts two-to-three days in the fridge. Opened cooked meat and vegetable combos need to go after a day or two. Meat and veggie combos should go after two days, tops.

The bottom line: Don’t leave open jars of baby food in the fridge longer than three days. A hidden danger with baby food is that parents may feed babies right out of the jar, so saliva transferred to the jar can promote bacterial growth when placed back in the fridge. If you’re using a jar more than once, make sure you portion out what you’re going to use, so the dirty spoon doesn’t go back into the jar.

This is an interesting article regarding the amount of sugar that is found in some of the cereals that kids are eating.  This report compared 84 top kids cereals with snacks like twinkies and cookies and the sugar content is the same.  In just 1 cup of cereals like Honey Smacks, Golden Crisps and Wheaties Fuel, there are 20 grams of sugar.  In comparison, the popular twinkie snack only has 18 grams of sugar.  20 grams of sugar is equal to about five teaspoons of sugar on your child’s cereal every morning.  Other cereals like Apple Jacks and Cap’n Crunch had a little less with only about 3 teaspoons of sugar per cup of cereal.

Here are some tips for making sure that your child gets a healthy breakfast every morning.

1. Choose cereals with lower sugar content like Kix, Original Cheerios, Shredded Wheat, and Mini Wheats. All of these cereals have a much lower sugar content but are still tasty enough for your child to want to eat them.
2. Always look at the nutrition label on the back (not the front) and then translate the grams of sugar to teaspoons of sugar to help determine if it is too much.  To determine how many teaspoons just divide the grams of sugar by 4.
3. Mix the cereals together cut the sugar in half.  You can mix Honey Nut Cheerios with Original Cheerios and the sugar content is decreased.
4. Naturally sweeten the low sugar cereals by adding fresh, frozen or dried fruit it the cereal.
5. Consider using the high-sugar cereals as a dessert.  Give your child a snack/dessert of 1 cup of the high sugar cereal as opposed to an entire bowl for breakfast in the morning.
6. Use low-fat, non-fat or soy milk with your low-sugar cereals in the morning.

Read more information about these cereals and you can see a list of the 10 worst cereals for your children. 

It is important to provide your children with healthy snacks to provide them with the nutrients and energy that they need to get through the day.  With all of the processed foods available now it is sometimes hard to stay on track with giving your children healthy snacks.  Here are 10 tips to help you provide your children with the nutrients they need.

1. Serve Organic Fruits and Vegetables - organic food is grown without pesticides and young children are more susceptible to the negative effects of pesticides and unnatural ingredients.
2. Less Processing the Better - Keep a supply of fresh and unprocessed foods available within your child’s reach.
3. Fewer Ingredients are Best - Don’t buy products with more than 5 ingredients or if you are unable to easily pronounce the ingredients. 
4. Combine Items from Different Food Groups - try serving fruits and vegetables with certain dips, like carrots with hummus or apples with peanut butter.
5. Keep Junk Food Out of the House - Your child is less likely to want candy, ice cream or chips if they are not available in the house.
6. Make or Buy Healthy Sweet Snacks - Have some frozen yogurt, sorbet or homemade smoothies available for healthy sweet treat for your child.
7. Pack Healthy Snacks for Car Rides - Packing healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables ensures that they will be eating healthy on the go rather than stopping for snacks.
8. Have Your Child Help Make Healthy Snacks - Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes out of sandwiches or cheeses.
9. Avoid Genetically Modified Foods - Find out if the food you are buying is genetically modified, if unsure you can buy organic to be safe.
10. Be Creative When Introducing New Foods - Make french fries using sweet potatoes or add healthy foods to meals your child already likes, such as adding tomatoes to whole wheat macaroni and cheese.

For more tips visit livestrong.com

Spinal cord injuries are more likely to occur in children under the age of 12 months old when they are developing. It is important to protect children from spinal cord injuries by understanding how to properly use items such as strollers and baby carriers. Make sure to consider the child’s weight, age, and size when picking out strollers and carriers.

It is necessary to first make sure that the children are always secured in the stroller or carrier properly.  The child’s head should not bob around during activities because their cervical spine is not fully developed before 1 year old. A front side carrier allows you to watch the child’s head and ensure they are stable. 

It is important to also monitor the spine of the parents when placing children in carriers. When placing children in the carrier don’t bend from the waist. Parents should try and stay as close to the carrier as possible when putting the child down.  Try not to twist, reach or stretch while holding the child to prevent strain on the spine.

For more information on how to keep you and your child safe when using carriers and strollers click here.

It is important to try and pack as many nutrients as possible into every snack when you are pregnant.  These healthy snacks are ways to indulge when you are hungry without taking in too many empty calories with junk food.

• Peanut Butter Toast - peanut butter on whole grain bread satisfies a craving for salt and also contains fiber, protein and healthy fats to keep you full.
• Homemade Trail Mix - when you are craving something sweet and salty this is perfect.  You can combine many different ingredients into your mix like nuts, dried fruits, coconut flakes, whole-grain cereal, peanut butter chips, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. The carbohydrates, protein and fats keeps your energy high.
• Fruit and Nut Yogurt - Start with plain low-fat yogurt and add in fresh berries or peaches and chopped nuts for a sweet and salty craving. The yogurt has protein and calcium, the fruits have vitamins and the nuts add healthy fats.
• Fruit Smoothie - A change of pace from just eating plain fruit when you want something sweet. Blend 1/2 a banana, 2 cups fruit, and 1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt.
• Air-Popped Popcorn - Make your own air-popped popcorn at home and add flavor by sprinkling parmesan cheese or italian seasoning on top.  Popcorn is low-fat source of whole grains and perfect when you crave a salty snack.
• Mini Pizza - A healthy choice for pizza that is snack size.  Take 2 english muffin haves and top them with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, peppers, spinach and italian seasoning. Bake until hot and crispy and enjoy a snack full of fiber and protein.
• Quick Quesadilla - For your mexican food cravings here is a quick and healthy snack option. Take a whole grain tortilla and top 1/2 of it with refried beans, peppers, onions and low-fat shredded cheese.  Fold and microwave until melted and top the quesadilla with fresh salsa.

These are great options for snacks that keep pregnant women energized!  Enjoy!

The topic for this week is Scoliosis.

We researched a lot of information about scoliosis and we are bringing the information to you. Find out about scoliosis, how do you know if your child has it, what are some of the causes of scoliosis and who can help. In addition, we are of course going to let you know about chiropractic care for scoliosis.

Read more about scoliosis.