Have you got the Fat Factor?

You might do in 2050, but it’s nothing to brag about. Doomsday is closer than we think; it is currently pencilled in for 2050, when half the UK’s population will be obese. I’m sure you’ve all noticed the constant Change4Life adverts on our screens recently, but is it enough to stop Britain’s waistlines expanding, and is the change for life really working?

The latest report ‘State of the Nations Waistline – Obesity in the UK: Analysis and Expectations’ by Public Health England, has stated that unless hard hitting campaigns such as those against smoking are carried out, the date of doomsday will be even closer in the near future for Britain.

Following this report, this week, from 13^th- 19^th January marks National Obesity Awareness Week, which aims to put the obesity crisis at the top of Britain’s agenda. Schemes are being held all around the country, aimed at all ages to encourage changes to eating habits, ways of exercising and making everyone aware about the risks and problems that arise out of obesity. Find out which changes you can make to your lifestyle at http://www.noaw2014.org.uk.  

  

Birmingham based children’s catering specialist KiddiChef offers just this; a fun approach to healthy food for children from the age of 1 year upwards. By aiming at children of such an early age makes it easier to help stem healthy eating patterns that they can adopt for life. KiddiChef services to nurseries, schools and holidays clubs, working with other prominent environments for children. KiddiChef works closely alongside a strong team of experts, such as doctors, paediatricians and nutritionists, who provide the best foods for children, sans chemicals and toxins which are found in fast food.

Children are being targeted especially due to the sudden rises in child obesity over the past decade, and the 25% of children to be obese in 2050 will add to the percentage of obese adults. For children, obesity can start from the earliest ages, when they aren’t exposed to the best foods for them and their ever-changing bodies. Obesity in children can be easily prevented if they are able to have a hands-on approach to what they are eating, to educate and present healthy foods in a fun way. KiddiChef will be opening the first child-orientated restaurant in the West Midlands. The restaurant will have positive and educational approach to healthy foods, inviting children to use all of their senses to interact with the foods they are eating. For further information, contact KiddiChef at 0121 554 0469 and at http://www.kiddichef.com.

 

Make Fish the Dish of the Day: Fish Keeps Asthma Symptoms at Bay!

A new study carried out in Rotterdam has found that introducing fish into your child’s diet between the ages of 6 months- 1 year can help in reducing the risk of developing asthma later on in life.

 The study assessed the medical records of 7210 children, along side their early fish consumption levels, and found that 40-45% of the children who were not introduced to fish until after the age of 1 had developed symptoms of asthma, compared to 30% of children who consumed fish between the ages of 6 months and 1 year.

The study concludes that introducing fish into your child’s diet during this window of opportunity can reduce the risks of developing asthma by around 36%.

It was also found that the benefits of fish to children’s health was not dependant on the amount of fish consumed, meaning that introducing even a little fish into your child’s diet during this time will give them a better chance of staving off asthma.

Jessica Kiefte-De Jong, lead author of the study, states ‘introduction to fish between 6 and 12 months- but no fish consumption afterward- is associated with a lower prevalence of wheezing.’

It is believed that these health benefits are a result of certain fatty acids that fish contains that can help to protect the body against the symptoms of asthma.

Paediatrician T. Bernard Kinane comments that these results are not surprising, stating that they ‘make reasonable sense because that’s when the immune system is getting educated.’

Even though the benefits of fish in the protection against asthma only appear to fall between the ages of 6-12 months, this does not mean that fish should not be included in your child’s diet at any age.

Fish have many other health benefits, the fact that they are a great source of protein and are high in Omega-3 fatty acids helping greatly in growth and organ health, as well as being a “brain food” for a healthy mind.

Willy Wonka of the Art World Set to Change How Children View Healthy Food!

You would be forgiven for thinking, on first glance, that Carl Warner’s creations were just mystical, intricate landscapes; however, look a bit closer and you’ll get a tasty surprise!

The Willy Wonka of the art world’s latest venture of Foodscapes, a series of landscape photographs created entirely out of food, are to be published in his new book,  ‘A world of food,’ and are set to explore food in a fun and creative way.

Warner’s aim for his latest Foodscape project is to get children interested in healthy food options, as opposed to just wanting a plate of chips or a cake. Warner states ‘I use my work as a vehicle to get kids to think about what they are eating.’ Warner’s landscapes certainly do this, his pasta and cucumber trees, chilli pepper scorpion and banana hot-air balloon, complete with melon fruit basket, giving a whole new fun and creative meaning to healthy food choices.

Warner has said that he wants to change the face of healthy food with his images, making them more engaging and appetising, tempting children to pick fruit and veg at meal times over a less healthy option: ‘…make Asparagus become a rocket or turrets on a castle and it makes it much more engaging for them.’

Through Warner’s images, it is no longer a ‘yucky’ plate of broccoli in front of your child at the dinner table, but an enchanted, creepy forest that they can’t wait to explore. Seeing food in a more imaginative and engaging way at meal time, as opposed to ‘boring greens’, will encourage children to want to choose these healthy food options more, and in turn lead to a happy, healthy future generation.