Decadent-sounding vegetables are more likely to find an audience.
We could make this week’s nutritional tip “Venturing for More Veggies” sound like a pronouncement from “The Big Bang Theory’s” Dr. Sheldon Cooper: “Are you aware that on Mars, as on Earth, eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 40 percent? Well it caaan.”
But just knowing that may not be enough to get your kids (or you) to eat life-extending, delicious produce.
Well, a highly effective strategy was recently uncovered by scientists at Stanford University. They figured out how to get students, teachers and staff at one of the undergrad dining halls to pile more veggies on their plates: Get Decadent. For their study, they labeled vegetables at the self-serve food stations with: 1. just their names (carrots, broccoli, etc); 2. info on what they didn’t contain (e.g. sugar-free, low-fat); 3. what they contained that was good for you (lots of antioxidants and vitamins); and 4. what they called “decadent” names, such as Twisted Citrus Glazed Carrots. Guess what? The foods with the decadent labels were gobbled up; they “outperformed all others.”
Drinking and pregnancy
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 percent of pregnant women say they’ve had some alcohol, and one out of every 33 admits to binge drinking in the past 30 days. That indulgence can cause terrible things to happen to a fetus — and your future child. What’s more, according to a new lab study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, the damage doesn’t stop there. It can be passed on through subsequent generations, to grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Besides triggering these behavioral problems and maybe fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety and impulse control problems, drinking while pregnant can make it more likely that your offspring will have to contend with addiction.
Research scientists at the University at Buffalo Institute on Addictions found that prenatal exposure to alcohol triggers changes in reward systems of the brain, mostly affecting the brain’s own cannabis-like chemicals called endocannabinoids. Those changes persist and make an adult’s dopamine neurons more sensitive to an abused drug’s effect. That increases vulnerability to addiction.
So don’t listen to reports that say a sip or two during pregnancy is OK. There’s no reason to ever risk your future generations’ health and happiness. Want to raise a glass? Stick with some bubbly apple juice.
Q: I’m a seventh-grade teacher, and it alarms me at how little physical activity the kids get. They get on the bus at 6:30 a.m., have only 45 minutes for lunch and only 100 minutes a week of physical education (that’s just 20 minutes a day)! Then it’s back on the bus, home to supper and homework and TV. What can we do?
Susan G., Indianapolis
A: Your concerns are realistic. A report from Designedtomove.org found that the rate of active play, physical education and overall physical activity for kids has dropped by 32 percent in the U.S. That leads to obesity (around 18 percent for kids 6 to 19), lower academic achievement, decreased earning potential and greater health care costs. It might reduce a child’s life expectancy by up to five years, according to the same report. And now a study from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health has found that by age 19, the average U.S. teen is as sedentary as the typical 60-year-old.
Clearly, we as a nation have to change how we structure our days and how we value physical activity — the price tag for inaction is in the trillions of dollars, and the human suffering that inactivity creates is horrible and unnecessary.
What should be: Schools should make sure that every kid up to age 17 gets at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every day! School boards, teachers, parents and local and national agencies must join together to change this culture of inactivity into a culture of motion. Lobby your school board and representatives for changes in the basic requirement for PE.
Moms and dads: Once kids are home, you need to get them out for a game of soccer, a swim, a bike ride, a jog or join them on a walk around the neighborhood. (That’ll get you moving, too.) And put strict limits on digital screen time. We can upgrade our children’s future — and have so much fun doing it!