National Nutrition Month® 2019
March is National Nutrition Month®! This year, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is celebrating the diverse ways in which people can thrive through the transformative power of food and nutrition. This is fitting for us at GI for Kids because, we see how nutrition impacts our patients’ lives in so many ways. This month, we want to encourage you to make positive changes in your food choices and physical activity habits to promote a long-lasting healthy lifestyle.
Some ways to do this include:
- Make half your plate fruits and vegetables – choose a variety of colors to maximize vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant benefits. Most kids should include around 2 cups of fruits and vegetables in their diet each day. Fresh, frozen, canned or dried varieties offer a good source of fiber which aids with digestion.
- Drink more water – avoid or limit sugar sweetened beverages in the diet and instead incorporate more water. Maximum juice intake for kids should be 4 ounces daily. For picky drinkers, try flavoring water with 1 ounce of juice, fresh fruit, or herbs.
- Increase physical activity – the recommendation for kids is 60 minutes of physical activity daily. This can be achieved by walking, playing outside, sports, and dancing to name a few!
- Enact family meal time – Family meal time has been associated with positive outcomes in all areas including nutrition, academics, social interactions, and emotional health. Family meals can also help children learn to eat slowly and away from distractions such as TV, cell phones, and video games.
- Consult an RDN – Meet with Madden Wilson, our Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, to apply these strategies and more to your life. She is experienced in helping families use nutrition to create healthy lifestyles for disease prevention in addition to managing specific concerns such as reflux, picky eaters, food allergies, IBD/IBS, and tube feeding.
