The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 edition, was released on January 31, 2011 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). You can expect to see educational materials and graphics related to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 start to appear in the spring of this year.
In the meantime, there are 6 compelling messages that you can start to take action on today!
With everyone awaiting the January 31 release of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 by the Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Department of Agriculture, it is a good time to pause and focus on the Guiding Stars nutrition guidance system. It was, in fact, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the 2005 version that provided in part the basis for the Guiding Stars science. These guidelines had just been published when the science behind Guiding Stars was being formulated by a team of scientific experts, leaders in their fields.
We’ve all heard about the youth obesity epidemic, but sometimes I wonder if people grasp how serious it is.
Did you know that 20% of four-year-olds in the US are obese? 1 in 5 four-year-olds!
Now you may say that it’s just baby fat and that they’ll grow out of it, but here are some things you should know:
In addition to their weight itself, most obese children have at least one other major cardiovascular risk factor, (i.e. high blood cholesterol, high triglycerides, high insulin or high blood pressure). These risk factors were previously thought of as adult conditions, not ones you’d find in kids. Our children’s generation could be the first generation where the parents live longer than the kids do.
So who’s to blame? In my opinion, we all are. Parents, schools, the community, and society all carry the burden of what’s happening to our kids. We all need to step up and do our part to help overcome it.
I’m a father myself (I have two boys, ages 9 and 11) and as parents, we make choices for our kids every day that influence how they will live their lives. Here are some suggestions for what I believe we, as parents, can do to keep our kids on the right path:
As much as I hate to say this, staying in shape takes on a whole new meaning when your clock ticks past the 5-0. (Actually, a number of things take on new meanings when your clock ticks past the big 5-0, but… that’s for another blog.)
There was a time, not too long ago, that I could eat whatever I wanted, however much I wanted, whenever I wanted – and all was fine with the world as well as my thighs, hips and bone density. No more.
Many of the Guiding Stars bloggers have yet to reach 40 much less 50, and let’s face it – there are things we (are forced to) think about at 50 that we don’t otherwise. Some are less pleasant to think about than others. So, until we get to know each other better we’ll start with an easy one: bone density.
Just like all the cells in our body, our bone mass is constantly changing; old bone is continually being replaced by new bone. In childhood, more bone is produced than removed, so our bones (skeleton) grow in both size as well as strength (density)…
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