This week’s news that one in five children under the age of 18 have borderline high or high cholesterol is extremely disturbing but with one-quarter of our children overweight or obese, it’s hardly surprising. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “current research shows that the stage for adult heart disease (also known as cardiovascular disease) is set early on. So, the organization is changing its 10-year-old policy on cholesterol and urging.”
AAP is now advocating cholesterol screening at routine check-ups; cholesterol-reducing drugs for children as young as 8 with unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, or excess weight; and for those who seem at risk for such issues, starting toddlers on low-fat milk instead of the whole variety. Given that heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S., it seems we can’t start low cholesterol diets too early.
–Tanya Steel
The news is indeed shocking and I think one of the underlying problems can be attributed to the high rate of snacking in our culture. A bag of chips, a candy bar, a slice of pizza, or large soda is sometimes the snack of choice for many kids, if not a meal itself.
I’ve spent time cooking with immigrant families who place great value on the meal at the end of the day, anything from a vegetable-rich stew, a bean and rice dish, or couscous steamed with fresh herbs and root vegetables. Because mealtime is such an important ritual in many cultures, a time for the family to gather at the end of the day and enjoy some of the traditional foods that remind them of home (rather than grabbing a alice of pizza on the way to soccer or swim practice), children in these families seem to have a more balanced diet.
Lynne Christy Anderson
Author, “Breaking Bread: Recipes and Stories from Immigrant Kitchens”
Thank you Lynne. I totally agree.
The evidence underlying the “lipid hypothesis” was never strong to start since then a massive lipid lowering campaign has had no effect on heart disease rates. More and more openly people are rightly questioning the wisdom of the cholesterol lowering campaign.
Cholesterol is an essential component of every cell membrane and important for myriad physiologic functions. When Dr. Uffe Ravnskov, MD PhD looked at the medical literature he found something quite surprising had been documented there. On average people with higher cholesterol live longer. Then again the statin cholesterol lowering drug class alone is a 30 billion dollar a year industry. This latest attempt to expand cholesterol lowering medication to children is cynical, baseless and repugnant
http://healthjournalclub.blogspot.com/
Given the research and AAP’s guidelines I was really surprised (and disappointed) about how little discussion there is about kids and cholesterol in the book. It is not even a topic in the index and there seem to be a lot of recipes that use butter and eggs with no discussion about moderation.
I am a mommy of a 2 and 4 year old and a wife of a man with high cholesterol. Knowing that food is the most obvious and directive way to affect health, I was really thrilled when I picked up this book with the title Real Food for Healthy Kids. In Chapter One, you identify that children’s diet “should be composed of…no more than 20 percent of calories from fat.” However, I was really disappointed in the dinner recipes and the vast majority of them having between 30%-50% fat. For example, Mamma Mia Manicotti, Indian Spiced Spinach, and the Crispy Jamaican Pork with Pan-Fried Bananas. Am I missing something?
While more than a third of our children are overweight or obese, some children are actually underweight and actually need more fat than they are getting. So we made the choice to include a wide range of recipes and include analysis on every recipe so that parents and kids could make smart choices for themselves. That said, every baked good in the book has less white flour, fat and sugar than the norm, and we did reduce fat and calories where we could generally. Thanks for your comment!
Wow!! I love those kids. Even they are young they still know the best food to eat and a healthy one.
Nice article..Keep it going!!
Thank’s for the post!!