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Question:
What’s better for my family: a full-fat salad dressing or one that is fat free?

Moms’ Answer:
Believe it or not, full fat and reduced-fat salad dressings may be better than the fat-free versions. Here’s why: Researchers at Ohio State University recently found that when study subjects ate a salad made with avocado (high in unsaturated fat), they absorbed more antioxidants, specifically lutein and beta carotene, than those who consumed the same salad with no avocado and a fat-free dressing.

A similar study looked at the impact of adding salad dressing with varying amounts of canola oil -- zero grams, 6 grams, or 28 grams -- to a garden salad. The first dressing, made with zero grams of fat, resulted in negligible absorption of nutrients. Absorption increased with the addition of the reduced-fat dressing, and was substantially higher when the salad was consumed with a full-fat dressing. The bottom line: Adding some healthy fats and oils to each meal can have a major impact on the amount of nutrients absorbed from vegetables. Our only caveat is to keep an eye on your portions because the calories and fat can add up quickly.

Question:
Our family has been eating a lot of takeout and fast food. How can I organize my kitchen so I don’t have to turn to these foods?

Moms’ Answer:
Being organized means better nutrition.  It’s not always easy to get organized when you can barely get through your daily to-do list.  Relying on takeout can take a toll not only on your pocketbook, but also on your waistline.  Let’s face it, fast food burgers and fries, pepperoni pizza, and other takeout meals aren’t the most nutritious foods out there.  To help you get organized, so you can prepare healthy home-cooked meals for your family more often, consider the following steps:

Question:
What foods should I pack in my child’s lunch box?

Moms’ Answer:
When packing a school lunch, flavor should be your first priority. After all, if the meal doesn’t taste good, your child will probably just throw it away. But good nutrition is just as important. Here’s what we suggest you include in your child’s lunch box:

Question:
My daughter plays soccer, and each week other parents bring junk food for the team snack. What can I do about it?

Moms’ Answer:
Drive through any city or town on a weekend in the spring or fall, and you will undoubtedly see every community sports field dotted with kids playing soccer, baseball, lacrosse, or football. Youth sports are on the rise … and so are the requests for parents to bring a “team snack” after the game.

All those snacks, however, may not be such a good thing. That’s because some parents (perhaps at the request of their children) often bring junk food and sugary drinks instead of nutritious nibbles.

This alarming trend grabbed Liz’s attention in the spring of 2004. So she and her husband wrote a letter to the editor of their local newspaper. The letter sparked a very positive dialog between parents and volunteer coaches, resulting in a Fruit & Water Only snack policy from the town’s recreation department and soccer club. By the way, nearly 2,000 children participate in the town’s youth soccer program so the healthy snack policy made a huge impact.

Here’s the letter Liz and her husband sent to the Lexington Minuteman. Feel free to take this letter and customize it to meet your community’s needs. It is amazing how one short letter brought such a positive change to the community:

Bring Back the Oranges … Please!
By Liz Weiss & Tim Carruthers

Five years ago, when our son was in kindergarten and played his first season of youth soccer, parents were asked to bring a “snack” each week. Back then the snack was a halftime nibble of sliced oranges or some other type of fruit.

Today, that sideline snack scenario has changed --- for the worse. Sure, the kids still get their apples and oranges but after the game, many players have come to expect an après-game “reward” of junk food. The choices are many: Doritos, Oreos, Fruit Roll-Ups, donuts, Rice Krispy Treats, and Kool-Aid. Read the label on any of those foods and you’ll see ingredients like partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (a fat that’s converted into cholesterol-raising trans fats), sugar, high fructose corn syrup, salt, and artificial colors and flavors.

Junk food is fine once in a while but, sadly, many kids eat it way too often. And on weekends when children bounce from soccer to baseball to softball, they end up devouring more high-calorie, nutritionally empty goodies than on any other day of the week. It just doesn’t feel right to us. Many youngsters today are overweight and obese while lots more are poorly nourished – eating nowhere near the recommended 5 to 7 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

We are writing this letter to urge every parent and coach in Lexington who participate in a youth sport to go back to the old days when fruit was the only thing parents brought to games (for a travel game, strive for fruit and a healthy after-game snack like a small bag of popcorn or an all-natural granola bar). If all of us agree to make that commitment, every child will benefit and no child will feel cheated when they don’t get a bag of chips or cookies after a game. It’s a small step but an important one. Physical activity and good nutrition should go hand in hand so let’s all make it happen NOW.

The way we see it, kids are not born liking Doritos and Oreos. Eating habits are learned. This weekend, teach your children that all they need after an hour of soccer or an afternoon of baseball is a sweet snack of fresh fruit. Trust us. They’ll gobble it up.

Question:
What is high-oleic canola oil? I hear food companies are using it in place of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Moms’ Answer:
High-oleic (or high-stability) canola oil was developed for use in commercial-scale food production because it is shelf stable and does not break down under high heat. Unlike partially hydrogenated vegetable oils found in many processed foods such as cookies and crackers, high-stability canola oil does not contain any cholesterol-raising trans fats. It actually has an impressive nutrition profile with about 70% heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, 20% polyunsaturated fats, 6% saturated fats, and 4% omega-3 fats.

New labeling regulations went into effect in January 2006 requiring food manufacturers to list the amount of trans fats in their products. This seems to have encouraged the use of healthier oils including high-stability canola oil -- good news for all of us! So although you won’t find bottles of this new oil in your grocery store, expect to see more high-stability canola oil in everything from commercial baked goods to chicken pot pies.

Question:
If my children drink soymilk, will they get as much calcium as they would from cow’s milk?

Moms’ Answer:
Yes. Fortified soymilk contains as much calcium as cow’s milk: 300 milligrams per 8-ounce glass. Both are excellent sources of calcium, especially important for children who need this mineral for their growing bones (4 to 8 year olds need 800 milligrams daily while 9 to 18 year olds need 1,300 milligrams a day). Interestingly, a recent study in the Journal of Nutrition found that soymilk fortified with calcium carbonate provided slightly more absorbable calcium than cow’s milk. Tricalcium phosphate-fortified soymilk was shown to have a slightly lower calcium absorption efficiency but still provided about the same amount of calcium as in cow’s milk. Bear in mind that the calcium in soymilk may settle to the bottom of the carton. Therefore, it’s important to shake the carton well before drinking so the calcium is evenly dispersed.

Question:
How can a food product list partially hydrogenated vegetable oil on the label yet contain zero trans fats?

Moms’ Answer:
If a food product contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) allows manufacturers to state zero trans fat on the label. We don’t necessarily agree with this, but then again, no one asked us for our opinion! Interestingly, in Canada, a product must have less than 0.2 grams per serving in order to be classified as trans-fat free. The bottom line: It’s still important to read food labels carefully. You may think that half a gram of trans fat is no big deal, but all those half grams can add up if you eat more than one serving. It’s best to stick with the suggested serving size to be on the safe side. And don’t forget too that it’s vital to limit your family’s consumption of saturated fats, found in full-fat dairy, fatty meats, and many processed foods. Both saturated fats and trans fats can raise blood cholesterol levels.

Question:
How can I feed my family a healthy diet when my weekly food budget is tight? Any tips?

Moms’ Answer:
If you’re working with a tight budget, you’ll be happy to know that shopping for healthy foods can actually help you save money at the supermarket. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that consumers were able to cut their weekly food bill by purchasing fewer extras such as soft drinks, chips, baked goods, and other high-calorie items. But buying fewer sugary, salty snacks isn’t the only way to stretch your food dollar:

• Plan Meals Around Weekly Specials – Peruse your newspaper food section each week to spot the best buys and then plan your family dinners around them.


• Buy Produce in Season – Produce at its peak is a smart buy. It not only costs a lot less … it tastes a lot better too. Other produce pointers -- buy only the amount you know you’ll use (there’s nothing worse than throwing away spoiled fruits and veggies) and compare the price between frozen, canned and fresh produce.


• Be Picky About Protein – Besides the usual protein foods of chicken, beef, pork, and seafood, try less expensive vegetarian sources of protein including tofu, nuts, and beans. A can of beans can cost as little as fifty cents and can be incorporated into a variety of dishes. For example, you mix a can of mashed black beans with a pound of lean ground beef and you’ll get eight juicy burgers (instead of just four 4-ounce burgers)!


• Turn to Generic – Generic brands are often a lot less expensive than brand name products. If, for example, a generic cereal has the same nutritional value as the brand name one and your family likes them both, you can save quite a bit of money by choosing the generic. Even if you have a coupon for the national brand, chances are, the generic cereal will still be cheaper.


• Cook From Scratch – It may be tempting to pick up a pizza or drive by your local fast food joint when it’s 6:00pm and your cupboards are bare but by planning ahead, you can avoid those costly traps. It’s a common misconception that eating healthy costs more, but this is often not the case. Take, for example, a fast food chicken burrito. The cost is about $3.00 per serving. Besides the cost to your pocketbook, you’ll also pay a nutritional price because some also contain over 400 calories, 6 grams of saturated fat, and 1,200 milligrams of sodium (and we didn’t even count the beverage or the sides). On the other hand, if you cook up our recipe for Confetti Chicken Wraps (made with boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced bell peppers, frozen corn, lowfat cheese, spices, and salsa), the cost is just $1.30 per serving. As for nutrition, our recipe has 330 calories, 1.5 grams saturated fat, and just 500 milligrams of sodium. See page 278 in our book, The Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers for the complete recipe.

Question:
My 2-year old eats nothing but mac & cheese and fast food chicken nuggets. I worry that he’ll go hungry if I make him eat what the rest of the family is having for dinner. Help!

Moms’ Answer:
It’s time to set some rules at the dinner table. We strongly recommend that you avoid being a short-order cook and instead, make one meal for the whole family to enjoy. Of course, this meal should include some familiar, kid-friendly foods like sliced apples, grapes, strawberries, baby carrots, a piece of whole wheat bread or other finger foods.

Your job is to provide a variety of healthy foods at mealtime and it is your child’s job to decide what and how much to eat. Your toddler will soon learn to try new foods and eat enough so that he doesn’t go to bed hungry. We recognize that this will not be easy at first. There may be some resistance. Stand your ground and know that you are doing what is best for your child for the long term. Remember, your 2-year old will likely continue to demand mac & cheese and chicken nuggets as long as you give in and feed him these foods. We encourage you to resist the urge and, instead, serve a delicious array of healthy foods that he and the rest of the family will want to try.

Bear in mind too that when you do rely on convenience items such as mac & cheese, hot dogs, pizza, and chicken nuggets, some brands are better than others. Check out our Best of the Bunch chapter in The Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers or click here for some Best of the Bunch advice. And don’t forget that when convenience meals land on your table be sure to offer a fruit and a vegetable on the side.

Try our homemade No-Nonsense Nuggets

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