health for your
KIDS’ HEALTH
5-2-1-0! A simple formula for healthy kids
By Shira Isenberg
WITH CHILDHOOD obesity rates soaring, many parents are unsure how to
handle kids’ weight struggles. Pediatrician Victoria Rogers, director of
Kids CO-OP at the Barbara Bush
Children’s Hospital of Maine Medical
Center, developed 5-2-1-0, a campaign to give parents control over their children’s nutrition and ;tness.
Here are the easy-to-remember guidelines:
● Move TVs and screens out of children’s rooms
to a central location.
● Make commercial time active time: Do jumping
jacks or run around the room until the show
returns.
Enjoy
5 fruits and
vegetables a day.
Packed with vitamins, minerals, ;ber
and phytonutrients (plant chemicals that
;ght disease), fruits and vegetables ;ll up
small tummies, helping children maintain
a healthy weight.
● Keep cut-up fruits and veggies in
the fridge within easy reach.
● Cut produce into fun shapes and
small sizes for little mouths.
● Garden with your little ones—
they’re more likely to eat foods
they’ve grown themselves.
Be active for
1 hour a day.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion) recommends an hour of physical activity daily
for children. Regular activity helps children maintain a
healthy weight, build strong bones and mus-
cles, and sleep better, and may improve grades.
● Walk with children to or from school.
● Let kids choose activities they
enjoy, whether it’s swimming, skating
or dance.
● Set an example by participating in
regular activity yourself.
Limit screen time to
2 hours per day.
Time spent in front of a TV, computer or other elec-
tronic device is time spent less active. The Institute of
Medicine found children who spent more time in front
of a screen were more likely to be obese. Watching TV
may also encourage snacking, especially when a child
is bombarded with commercials for unhealthy treats.
● Set ;rm rules. Unplug the TV during off hours.
Add a lock if that’s not effective.
Drink 0 sugar-sweetened
beverages.
Limiting sugary drinks keeps calories in
check and prevents kids from ;lling up on foods
with no nutritional bene;t.
● Keep a water pitcher in the fridge.
● Add lemon slices or mint leaves (or extract)
to boost ;avor.
● Buy ice cube trays in fun shapes.
● Let children decorate reusable water bottles.
(Follow manufacturer cleaning directions to keep the
bottles bacteria free.) C
IMAGE SOURCE
Costco member Shira Isenberg, a registered dietitian, writes about nutrition and health.
Going gluten free in college
SO, YOUR SON or daughter is starting the college search process. This is a stressful time for
your child and for you. If he or she is gluten intolerant, you’ll have to put colleges through an extra
filter: Which ones best serve gluten-free students?
By adding colleges as a choice among venues
to be reviewed, Gluten-
Do any of them really know what they’re doing?
S TEVEN LAI T
And if so, are there ample choices to make mealtime an enjoyable experience, not just another
boring meal of the same “safe” options?
Free TravelSite gives college
students a way to share their
feedback—both positive and
negative—with current and prospective students who follow gluten-free
diets. The colleges reviewed thus far are organized
in alphabetical order.
With these questions in mind, the website
GlutenFree TravelSite (http://glutenfreetravelsite.
com), operated by Costco member Karen
Broussard, recently began welcoming reviews of
college dining services, submitted by students on
gluten-free diets. Gluten-free college students follow the steps for submitting a review as they
would for a restaurant, store, hotel or resort, but
they choose “college” when prompted for the type
of establishment they’re reviewing.
“Our goal is to get reviews of as many colleges
on our site as possible, so students evaluating different colleges can get peer feedback on the ‘GF
friendliness’ of each institution they are considering,” says Broussard, who began the site to gather
user-submitted gluten-free dining and travel
reviews of restaurants, bakeries, markets, hotels
and resorts, B&Bs, cruises and more in the U.S.,
and around the world. “We want to help as many
gluten-free teenagers as possible as they embark
upon their college selection process.”
—T. Foster Jones
August
EACH AUGUST the American
Academy of Ophthalmology
encourages people, especially
those who smoke, have diabetes
or have a family history of cataracts, to know their risk of
developing cataracts.
If your vision has become
blurry, cloudy or dim, or things
you see are not as bright or
colorful as they used to be, a
cataract may have developed
in one or both of your eyes.
Many people describe this as
being similar to looking through
a dirty car windshield.
Cataracts are so common
in older people that, by age 80,
more than half of all Americans
have a cataract or have had
cataract surgery. But age isn’t
the only cause of cataracts.
They can also result from other
health problems, trauma or
radiation exposure, or be a
congenital anomaly.
When a cataract causes
vision problems that interfere
with daily activities, an ophthalmologist may recommend surgery to remove the cataract.
With cataract surgery, the eye’s
cloudy natural lens is removed
and replaced with a clear artificial lens implant called an intra-ocular lens.
Cataract surgery is often
performed as an outpatient
procedure and does not require
an overnight hospital stay.
The ophthalmologist can tell
you about the benefits, costs
and possible complications of
this procedure.
A wise practice is to get
a baseline eye exam at age 40,
when early signs of disease and
changes in vision may start to
occur. Early detection and treatment of cataracts is critical to
preserving sight. For more information on cataracts, visit www.
geteyesmart.org.—David Wight
Cataract
Awareness
Month
The Costco
Connection
Costco members can get their
eyes checked at most Costco
locations (see the Specialty
Services list on page 96 for
exact locations).
AUGUST 2012 ;e Costco Connection 65
