Helping Kids Make Healthy Choices

Do you remember when you first realized that Pop Tarts for breakfast and potato chips for lunch always left you light-headed and hungrier yet? And a package of Oodles of Noodles and an entire sleeve of Chips Ahoy cookies was not an acceptable after-school snack?

A lot of kids never make this connection because the foods with the least nutritional value are often the tastiest, the cheapest and the most readily available.

The number of overweight children and adolescents has increased dramatically since the 1980s. The American Obesity Association reports that 15% of children (ages 6-11) and adolescents (ages 12-19) are overweight compared to 7% and 5% respectively in 1980.

You can’t fault the kids here. Our society has done a terrific job of setting us up to overeat, and you really have to work hard to combat the unseen forces of marketing, food industry lobbyists and government crop subsidies. And of course, there is the very in-your-face force of the Dunkin’ Donuts on every corner.

I don’t expect the overabundance of unhealthy food in our country to change anytime soon, but I do think we can make an invaluable contribution by setting a healthy example for the children in our lives, whether we have kids or not.

This past Saturday, I volunteered at an event in Central Park called Big Apple Healthy Kids. The event was organized by the non-profit group Play 4 Life, and the intent was to bring a group of elementary school student together for a day of vigorous, fun outdoor play. There was kickball, baseball, karate, and relay races. At lunchtime, the kids all got a sandwich and some fruit.

Those kids I could convince to stand still for 20 minutes had the pleasure of witnessing my debut as a cooking instructor. Given that I had no stove, running water, fridge or any other semblance of kitchen, my demo was simple food prep, but I did try to make it fun for the kids.

I worked with a health counselor, who approved my recipes and stayed on hand to field questions from parents. But I was totally absorbed in what the kids had to say.

At first I had a very small audience – 5 boys and their teacher. Before we got started, they began naming all of the fruits and vegetables on my table. They wanted to know what everything was. Some vegetables they didn’t know in English, so we said them in Spanish. I was impressed that the kids knew eggplant at all – and now they know it in two languages!

For the demo, I prepared a full day of food – breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack.

Now, I realize that a group of 7-year-olds doesn’t care that peanut butter is packed with niacin and manganese, which, by the way, aids in the formation of connective tissue, bones and blood sugar regulation. Nor do kids care that bananas are chock full of potassium, which is important for nerve and muscle function.

But they did seem really into the idea of a banana dog for breakfast. That’s a whole-wheat hot dog bun spread with peanut butter, sprinkled with sunflower seeds, filled with a banana and topped with strawberry preserves (no sugar added, of course). Cute, tasty, and so nutritious!

Next we made our own homemade Lunchables, the irresistible over-processed beast of the lunchroom. I used a small plastic jar to cut turkey and cheese into little rounds, with cucumber for added crunch (and fiber).

To round out the cracker stackers, we made a colorful carrot salad with raisins, apples and walnuts. I hadn’t intended on providing samples for two reasons. First, I had no budget and knew I couldn’t buy enough food to go around. But second, I didn’t want to put some child into anaphylactic shock from eating nuts.

But then out came the Rainbow Dipper Bowl, and this the kids had to try. I cut the top off of a green pepper, scooped out the seeds, and filled it with hummus. Then I piled up strips of red, yellow and orange peppers, carrots and celery around the bowl. Next I asked for a brave volunteer.

I thought that New York City kids were savvy enough to have tried hummus before, since its all over the place in the delis and the grocery store. But very few of the children had heard of it. After my suggestion that someone actually taste it, I was met with a chorus of, “Nooooooo!” before one boy stepped up. After he ate it and was seemingly unharmed, the rest of the group tried it, and then kept coming back for more.

One mother was there with her two little boys that may have been twins, and could have been no older than 3. Her sons couldn’t get enough of the hummus, and she asked first, “What is that their eating?” and then, “And it’s good for them?” and “They actually like it???” It was really great to watch a parent realize there was something out there to entice her children to eat vegetables.

The same little boys told me, “YOU can’t make an airplane out of a cucumber!” when I announced we were making chicken salad airplanes next. True, my “airplane” left a lot to the imagination, but I was happy to show him that yes, I could make an airplane out of a cucumber! With that, the demo was over, and I gradually doled out the carrot salad and the rest of the hummus to any passerby that would try it, along with recipes and tip sheets.

I doubt that my demo made enough of an impression on these kids that they’ll ask for chicken salad over breaded chicken tenders for dinner, but I do hope that I made a subconscious impact on their attitude towards fruits and vegetables by trying to make the delivery fun.

If you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, little cousins, or little neighbors, there are lots of small things you can do to encourage them to eat their colors. First, make sure they see you eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Show, don’t tell!

Take them to the grocery store or a farmer’s market and let them pick out new fruits and vegetables. Have them help you prepare a colorful vegetable stir fry and they’ll be more likely to try it at dinner time. Grow a pot of basil or a tomato plant in your backyard and make homemade pita bread pizzas.

And if all else fails, hide the veggies in their spaghetti sauce! This works well for picky grown-ups, too, like my trusty assistant Andy, who took these pictures and was on hand to haul my "mobile" kitchen to Central Park.

Thanks for helping the kiddies, Andy!

Banana Dog

Whole wheat hot dog bun
Peanut butter
Wheat germ or sunflower seeds
Banana
Yogurt
100% strawberry fruit spread (no added sugar)

Spread hot dog bun with peanut butter. Sprinkle sunflower seeds on the peanut butter. Add the whole, unpeeled banana and dollops of yogurt topped with strawberry fruit spread.

Cracker Stackers

Whole wheat crackers
Roasted chicken or turkey
Deli cheese
Cucumbers

Using a small, round cookie cutter, cut the meat and cheese into rounds the same size as the cracker. If you don’t have a cutter, use a knife to cut into squares. Slice the cucumber. Package the snack stacks into a plastic container with separate compartments.

Crunchy Carrot Salad

2 large carrots, trimmed and peeled if not organic
1 apple
¼ c. walnut pieces
½ c. raisins
1 lemon
2 tsp honey

Shred the carrots with a hand grater. Cut the apple (keep peel on) into small, bite-size pieces. Combine carrots, apple and raisins in a mixing bowl, and stir gently to combine. Add the honey and lemon juice and mix again.

Rainbow Dipper Bowl

Green, red and yellow bell peppers
Carrot sticks
Celery sticks
Hummus or bean dip

Cut the top off one of the bell peppers, ½ inch below the stem. Scoop out the seeds and the ribs inside the pepper. Fill the “bowl” 1/3 of the way with hummus.

Chop the two remaining peppers into long strips. Arrange the pepper, carrot and celery sticks around the bowl and have fun dipping!

Chicken Salad Airplane
2 small cucumbers
1 tomato, chopped in to 1/2 inch or smaller pieces
1 cup green leaf lettuce like romaine, chopped in to 1/2 inch or smaller pieces
1/2 cup grapes (apples can be substituted if preferred or for children under 2) in to 1/2 inch or smaller pieces
14 oz chicken breast, cooked thoroughly and chopped in to ½ inch or smaller pieces
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar

Mix together lettuce, tomato, chicken, and grapes (or apples) in bowl and set aside. Mix oil, vinegar, and sugar in custard cup and stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour dressing in larger bowl and toss.

To prepare the planes: Take each cucumber and cut a ¼ inch thick slice along one side. Keep the piece you have removed, as it will serve as the wings of the plane. Cut off one end of the cucumber and cut in half so you have 2 ½ circles. Using a spoon, scoop out the soft insides of the cucumber whose top has been removed. Add salad mixture to hollowed out cucumber

Place the flat "wing" that was previously the top of the cucumber crosswise across the top so as to create two wings. Take one of the ½ circles and place it perpendicular to the plane at the tail.