If you plant a seed in clay, would you expect it to flourish?

I've seen a couple different articles lately that show the quality of food a child eats greatly affects them early on in life and possibly even throughout their entire lives.  According to information published last week,  the more mothers work during their child's lifetimes, the more likely their kids are to be overweight or obese.  BUT before you fellow working moms start grumbling, the researchers actually theorized the reason for their findings may be more attributable to the the fact that working moms may have little time to shop for healthy food and prepare meals, so the kids eat more fast and packaged foods which are higher in fat and calories. Click here for the full article

Another recent study published on Medline refers to the article, "Processed, Fatty Foods May Dumb Down Your Kids:  Study".  Those researchers saw an actual IQ reduction in kids who ate a diet high in fatty, sugary and processed foods!  Click here for the full Medline article

So the gist appears to be, "Reward your kids with crap, make them fat and stupid".

Alright, alright - that's a bit harsh, but almost true.  How many times have you or someone you know given candy, cookies, cake, soda, etc. to a kid as a reward or treat for something?  I'm guilty of it - if my kid behaves in the Dr. office (ie not screaming, minimal crying/whining, not biting the nurse's hand when getting a throat swab) she/he can pick out a lollipop.  Whenever dad goes on a business trip, we go to Panera's for dinner (but shhh, don't tell him that).  Got a birthday?  Celebrate at school with donuts, cupcakes or some other sugary treat!  Now multiply that by 28 classmates, and you've got at least 2 days/month of junk.  Add in the celebratory days of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day...well, you get the idea.  This, in addition to all the "treats" at home any other time.

So what's a conscientious parent to do?  I for one am not going the way of the super strict - I think there's more chance my kids will rebel and want to eat badly to make up for lost time.  Other than the Dr. office, we don't provide any "treat" rewards - so that junk food does not become an expectation for a job well done.  I try to keep an open dialogue with them - have those conversations as to why a lot of sugar and highly processed, fatty foods are bad for us (just add it to the checklist of "things" we need to talk with our kids about...peer pressure, drug & alcohol abuse, "THE" talk...).  I would like for them to WANT to make better choices for themselves, so that once they are away from home, out from under my care, they don't go nuts.  Let's shoot for, say, "Freshman 0.5", instead of "Freshman 15" or more.

Let's face it:  the way we are living our lives makes it that much harder to prepare whole food meals from scratch unless we want to eat dinner around 10pm.  The best things you can do are to research and plan out your meals for the week, so that you know exactly what to do once you walk in the door.  No one ever said your veggies have to be cooked - we eat raw peppers and carrots all the time!  Grilling some chicken doesn't take very long - throw some brown rice in the rice cooker (cooked in chicken broth for more flavor) while you are prepping everything else and it'll be done when you are ready.  Broil some fish, make whole wheat pasta with sauce...just put in the time now to save yourself later.  Running from activity to activity?  Pack some PBJ's on whole grain wheat bread with fruit & veggies...or some yogurt with granola...no one ever said you can't eat lunch for dinner!

Pasta w/Chickpeas (Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
2 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
3 fresh rosemary sprigs, 2 inches each
2 tsp. olive oil
4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, or 3 cups canned (28 oz can, undrained)
3 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (two 15 or 16 oz. cans)
salt and ground pepper to taste
1 pound short chunky pasta such as ditalini, tubetti, or orecchiette

2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
chopped fresh tomatoes, optional

Combine the onions, garlic, rosemary and oil in a well-seasoned skillet or nonstick saucepan and saute on low heat for about 10 minutes, until the onions are soft and golden. Add the tomatoes and half of the chickpeas and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the rosemary sprigs and discard. In a blender, puree the tomato-chickpea mixture until smooth. Return it to the skillet, stir in the remaining chickpeas, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, bring a large covered pot of water to a boil. When the water boils, add the pasta, stir, cover the pot and return to a boil. Stir the pasta again and cook, uncovered until al dente. Drain the pasta. In a large serving bowl, toss the pasta with the chickpea sauce and serve immediately. Sprinkle with feta cheese, or pass the feta at the table and top with tomatoes, if desired.