Back to School Healthy Lunch for Kids - Seaweed Suprise?

It’s back to school time and moms everywhere are looking for healthy lunches to pack for their kids. This year one brain boosting food is making a comeback – seaweed! The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about the nutritional benefits of seaweed and how parents can get their kids to eat seaweed. The nutritionist quote in the article, Mary Gocke from the Center for Health and Healing in New York, offers these reasons for why sea vegetables such as seaweed make for the perfect, healthy food:

1.       Sea vegetables contain minerals, more minerals that any other food! Interestingly, they are exactly the same minerals that are found in our blood. They are excellent sources of calcium, iodine, and sodium.  They are good sources of folic acid, magnesium, iron, potassium, riboflavin and pantothenic acid.

2.  Sea vegetables contain iodine which is crucial for making thyroid hormones that regulate our metabolism, growth and development.  Child who are born iodine deficient have lower iQs, therefore, it is essential that women include sea vegetables as part of their food plan pre-conception, during pregnancy and while breast feeding.  Infant formulas contain iodine.

3.  Sea vegetables contain the plant compounds lignan and fucans that have cancer-protective and anti-inflammatory properties.

You might not think your kids will be very interested in seaweed, but you trying these recipes below just might change the whole family’s mind…

·         Nori Omelette – You don’t have even have to wait until lunch to feed your kids a brain boost meal, start with a nori omelette breakfast! Key ingredients: eggs, carrots, nori and onion. (v) (gf) (Nori seaweed comes pre-packaged and ready to eat in thin sheets and is commonly found in grocery stores nationwide)

·         Seaweed Pizza – who says pizza is unhealthy? Be creative with a nori pizza! Key ingredients: Whole wheat pizza crust with your choice of seafood, mozzarella cheese and sprinkled nori

·         Nori Wraps – A quick snack for your kids during recess. Key ingredients:  Nori, hummus, carrot stick and turkey and lettuce (gf)

·         N.A.T. (Nori, Avocado, Tomato) – BLT’s healthy cousin with the same satisfying saltiness and crunch. Key ingredients: multi-grain bread with tomato, avocado, nori, and low-fat mayonnaise (v)

·         Seaweed Soba – Children love spaghetti and meatballs, and they’ll love cold seaweed soba too (they can even eat with it with their fingers)! Key ingredients: cha soba, shredded nori and spring onion, make a sauce to accompany with soy sauce, ginger, and shitake mushrooms (v)

Healthy Lunch Menu Monday-Friday

Thirty million children nationwide rely on lunches served by school cafeterias. Although the buffet of chicken nuggets, fries and pizza is convenient; it is a contributing factor in the child obesity epidemic. Wellspring Camps, the leading weight loss organization for young adults and families across the U.S. suggests that children bring their lunches to school to avoid the cafeteria calories. With school starting on the horizon, Wellspring offers this healthy lunch menu to keep your brown bag lunch from being boring.

Monday:

• Greek Chicken Pita: Baked chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, fat-free feta cheese, fat-free Balsamic dressing
• Whole pieces of fruit                            

Tuesday:

• Chicken Salad Sandwich: Chicken salad from canned light chicken in water, fat-free mayo, chicken salad seasoning, and shredded vegetables, on Whole Wheat Weight Watchers Bread with lettuce and tomatoes
• Low-fat string cheese singles

Wednesday:

• Hummus Wrap: Guiltless Gourmet Hummus, Fat-free flour tortilla wrap, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, cucumber, celery
• Fat-free pudding snacks

Thursday:

• Mexican Wrap: Spread Guiltless Gourmet black bean dip over a fat-free tortilla, top with fat-free sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato, fat-free shredded cheese, and a sprinkle of taco seasoning, and roll up
• Leftover brown rice turned into a cold salad (add fat-free dressing, chopped vegetables, and fat-free feta, etc)

Friday:

• Tuna Sandwich: Whole Wheat Weight Watchers Bread, canned light tuna in water mixed with fat-free mayo, relish, celery, etc, with lettuce and tomato
• Pretzels

Sunscreen Tips for Kids Going Back To School (how to protect them when you’re not with them):

Summer vacation may be over, but that doesn’t mean kids will be out of the sun.  Data suggests that the majority of sun exposure in a person’s like occurs before the age of 18.  So… how can you be sure to protect your children when they are back at school and out of your sight?  Kavita Mariwalla, MD, Director of Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt and Beth Israel Medical Centers, suggests following these simple rules:

    

-       If your children play sports, pack water-proof spray-on sunscreen in their backpack. Make sure you tell them tospray it on while getting ready for practice or the big game (30 minutes before sun expDear Faten  Abdallah,osure). The spray version is easy to apply and they don't have to feel shy about asking a team mate to help them out.

-       Consider washing your child's practice clothes and uniforms with Rit Sunguard. Available on-line and in most grocery stores, the easy to use powder can be washed in with clothes in the laundry and confers added SPF to t-shirts, shorts and socks - good for multiple washes.

-       Buy empty lotion bottles (travel size) and fill them with sunscreen to pack in your child's backpack. That way it is easy to transport and easy for you to monitor their use.

-       Don't forget sunglasses. Beyond a fashion accessory, sunglasses protect your child's eyes from harmful UV rays

-       Encourage wearing a hat. Though most children are resistant to wearing a broad-brimmed hat, baseball caps are better than nothing. Just remind your child to put sunscreen on their ears and the back of their neck!

-       If your child is in tournaments lasting the whole day in the fall, designate a "sunscreen parent." Just like the "snack parent" who provides nourishment to keep the kids on the field, the "sunscreen parent" can keep them safe and free from sunburns. Making this part of the sport environment creates healthy habits early on.

What is the data to support the importance of sunscreen use?

Data shows that basal cell skin cancer is rising in people under the age of 40. In addition, a study done in 2000 and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that children who wore sunscreen consistently developed fewer moles than those who did not. The same study showed that sunscreen use is even more important for children with freckles because it decreased the number of nevi or moles they acquired by up to 40%. An epidemiologic study completed in 2009 showed that male children are at higher risk than female and additional risk factors for developing moles include spending 5 - 6 hours /weekly/ between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm outdoors. That's not a lot of time considering most sports practrice at least 1 - 2 hours a day. And don't forget those soccer tournaments!

So, if your child is playing sports when school gets back in session, remember these tips and keep them protected even when they are not under your watch.