Words on Wellness

“Be Safe — Don’t Cross-Contaminate” is the theme for Food Safety month.

Cross-contamination is the physical movement or transfer of harmful bacteria from one person, object, or place to another. Preventing cross-contamination is a key factor in preventing foodborne illness. Be sure to follow a game plan for food safety when you tailgate this fall:

• Before handling food, wash hands and utensils thoroughly with hot soapy water.
• When packing the cooler, be sure raw meat and poultry are wrapped securely to prevent their juices from cross-contaminating
  ready-to-eat food. Have separate coolers; keep beverages separate from food.
• When taking food off the grill, use a clean platter. Don’t put cooked food on the same platter that held raw meat or poultry.

Remember—“Be Smart, Keep Foods Apart.”

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Nutrition plays an important role in assuring your child has a successful school year. Many children do not eat breakfast every day; others grab a soda and high-fat, high sugar pastry—definitely not a “breakfast of champions” relative to cost or nutrition.

Studies have shown that those who eat a morning meal perform better in school;

• they have higher test scores,
• higher attendance,
• less tardiness,
• better concentration,
• and more muscle coordination.

Also, children who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight.

If your child doesn’t like traditional breakfast foods, don’t worry—breakfast can be most any food, even a slice of pizza. If your child claims not to be hungry, offer 100 percent juice and toast. If the school has a midmorning snack time, pack healthy snacks like yogurt, cheese stick, or bagel.  Remember to use an ice pack and insulated lunch bag to keep foods at a safe temperature.

As for lunch, school meal regulations are new this year and have improved the nutritional quality of lunch. School meals have always supplied one-third of a child’s nutrition needs; however, tighter regulations mean lower fat and sodium limits and a greater variety of fruits and vegetables (including fresh). If you choose to pack your child’s lunch, let your child help plan and prepare the lunch. Include meals that are easy to prepare and fun to eat as well as nutritious. A few examples are sandwiches, raw veggies, crackers, string cheese, whole fruit, and yogurt.

food preparation, healthy living, nutrition breakfast, school

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley,malts, triticale (a cross between wheat and rye), and rye. Foods that typically contain gluten include bread, pasta, crackers, cereal,candies, brown-colored soda, beer, and gravy. Manufacturers now produce gluten-free products labeled “gluten-free” indicating products do not include ingredients containing gluten.

Examples of gluten-free foods: rice, corn, potato, soy, buckwheat, most dairy products, eggs, meats, beans, fish, fruits, and vegetables.

Gluten-Free Diets

Approximately one percent of Americans have Celiac Disease and are prescribed a gluten-free diet. When people with this disease eat gluten, they are likely to become ill, have stomach pain and diarrhea, because their small intestines become inflamed and damaged. After multiple exposures to gluten, the intestines lose their ability to absorb essential nutrients.

Some people may experience weight loss when they initially begin this diet, partially due to the limited number of gluten-free products. There is recent interest in using a gluten-free diet for weight loss, though gluten-free diets are not recommended as a long-term solution. There is no evidence showing that a gluten-free diet will lead to weight loss. Gluten-free products contain a similar number of calories and may have increased sugar and fat to make them palatable.

healthy living Celiac, gluten free

New research on physical activity supports the importance of Break Time— moving periodically throughout the day. Research done at Australia’s Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, suggests that sitting for long periods of time is associated with health risks, including cancer risks. This even applied to people who are regularly active.

The studies showed that biomarkers for chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes such as waist circumference, insulin resistance, and inflammation can all be lowered with activity breaks as short as one to two minutes.

Practical tips for taking many movement breaks throughout the day:

• Set a timer on your computer or phone to remind you every 60 minutes it’s time to get up and move.
• “Walk with me.” Need to discuss something with a co-worker? Ask him or her to join you for a walk while you hash it out.
• Keep light weights or a strength band in your office to use while talking on the phone or reading e-mail.
• Use your office and/or office wall to do simple things like stretches, leg lifts, or marching in place.

Adapted from reports from the American Institute for Cancer Research Annual Research Conference, 11/ 3/2011.

fitness, healthy living break time, fitness, physical activity, work out

February is Heart Month and one aspect of healthy eating for the heart is limiting salt and sodium intake. Salt plays a role in high blood pressure, which affects about one in three American adults. Everyone, including children, should reduce their sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day (about 1 teaspoon of salt). Adults age 51 and older, African Americans of any age, and individuals with high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease, should further reduce their sodium intake to 1,500 mg a day.

One easy way to track sodium intake (and so much more) is the new, free, online tool, SuperTracker, released December 2011 by the USDA. Foods eaten are entered and compared to a general nutritional recommendation (based on 2,000 calories per day) or can be personalized for the user. To personalize, the user enters his or her age, gender, weight, height and physical activity level; this generates personalized nutrition and physical activity recommendations for that user.

Five goals can be set in the categories of:

1. Weight management
2. Physical activity
3. Calories
4. Food groups
5. Nutrients
   

For example, a goal of consuming 1,500 mg of sodium per day can be set by someone with high blood pressure. Weekly coaching messages related to goals are generated to help people move in the right direction. SuperTracker is a tool that can help users see what they are really eating, how much activity they are really getting, and help them set goals and track progress to improve their health.

healthy living, nutrition heart health, sodium

You’re in good company if you made a New Year’s resolution to improve your health. That’s a great beginning! Now it’s time to take action. Focus on making small, positive behavior changes to achieve personal health goals. These can make a BIG difference over time. Small changes are always better than taking no action at all.

1.  Get Fit

• The President’s Challenge Program includes an “Adult Fitness Test”, a tool to assess your level of fitness. You can complete testing activities, enter your data online, and receive an evaluation. This tool helps set goals to establish small, positive behavior changes. Completing this assessment on a monthly basis will highlight the progress and motivate you!
• Assessment components: Aerobic fitness—the ability of your heart and lungs to deliver blood to muscles. Muscular strength and endurance— whether you are strong enough to do normal activities easily and protect your lower back. Flexibility—the ability to move your joints through their proper range of motion. Body composition—whether you have too much body fat, especially around the waist.

2.  Rethink Your Drink
Choosing healthy beverages is just one of those small, positive behavior changes to an overall healthy diet.

Individuals drinking soft drinks take in more calories than those who do not. Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages has been associated with weight gain, overweight, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes. A 12-ounce can of soda has 150 calories and 10 teaspoons of sugar. If these calories are added to the typical diet, without cutting back on something else, one soda a day could lead to a weight gain of 15 pounds in one year!

Sports drinks also contain calories and sugar, in amounts similar to soft drinks! Sports drinks average about 140 calories and 9 teaspoons of sugar in a 20-ounce bottle. Sports drinks offer little advantage over water for most youth. They are beneficial only for athletes who participate in high-intensity, aerobic exercise for at least 90 minutes.

Help children learn to enjoy water as the thirst quencher of choice. Make sugar-sweetened drinks a “sometimes” beverage to be enjoyed in moderate amounts. Remember that soft drinks include fruit drinks, lemonade, energy drinks, sweet tea, and sports drinks. Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator for easy access. Add lemon, lime, other fruit, or a splash of juice for variety in flavor.

3.  Try new foods!
MyPlate recommends eating a variety of foods at a meal to ensure adequate intakes of nutrient-rich foods. Many get into the habit of eating the same foods week to week. There are a variety of ways to taste new foods: exchange recipes with friends or have a cooking day with friends during which you prepare large amounts of foods to share.

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Too busy to exercise? Too cold to go outside? You can multi-task while food is cooking by doing kitchen calisthenics!

healthy living calisthenics

Healthiest Iowa Initiative – we’re number 19, heading toward number 1. It’s a bold and unprecedented goal to jump 18 ranks up the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index® in just five years, but if anyone can do it, Iowans can. Together, we can change Iowa and be part of a groundbreaking community movement that has never been attempted on a statewide basis.

Start Somewhere…choose your goals for healthier activity and nutrition – then just get started…somewhere! Not sure where to start with wellness goals? Check out the healthiest state initiative for ideas to get you started. Look under Resources > Statistics and Reports for a list of wellness tools and resources.

fitness, healthy living competition, goals, healthy iowa

Tips

• Make gravy with arrowroot starch; it thickens better than wheat flour.
• Cook carrots in orange juice for a non-dairy flavor boost. Drizzle with a touch of pure maple syrup.
• For a non-dairy substitute in pumpkin, squash, and sweet potato recipes, try other alternatives like almond, soy, or rice milks.
• For stuffing, simply follow your favorite recipe and substitute toasted cubes of gluten-free cornbread or a loaf of store-bought gluten-free white bread.

For vegetarians

• Add a vegetarian entrée so your vegetarian guests don’t have to build a meal from side dishes.
• Explore recipes in vegetarian cookbooks from the public library or look online.

For fussy eaters (often, but not always, toddlers)

• Find out what foods your fussy guests will eat and include one or two as part of the meal. Usually Including a few plain foods like cooked vegetables, mashed potatoes, applesauce, and bread work well.

Making an extra effort to meet the dietary needs of our guests will make for a more pleasant holiday for everyone – even if we can’t please everyone.

(Sources include but not limited to: eXtension.org)

food preparation, healthy living dietary needs, fussy eaters, holiday cooking, vegetarians

Roller skating or blading is a fun activity and can improve your heart and lung health as
well as muscular endurance. It requires relatively good balance and coordination, but if you want to glide gracefully, you will need a lot of practice. Beginning skating does not have to be an expensive trip to the sporting goods store. Try it out at your local skating rink or check the local parks and recreation office or fitness center to see if they rent roller skates or rollerblades.

If you decide you like skating, get skates designed with a high roller skate boot for maximum ankle support. Skating is a great workout, so try it. Be sure to wear protective gear, including helmet, knee and elbow pads, and gloves before strapping on those skates.

fitness, healthy living fun exercise, skating