For Families with Food Sensitivities Check out AllergyEats, a Free, Online Restaurant Rating Service

Don’t let food allergies cause undue stress when you want to eat out. Families faced with concerns about food allergies or intolerances can go to AllergyEats, a website that rates the responsiveness of 600,000 restaurants to customer requests for specific dietary requests.

Choosing the Right Cereal

Picking a nourishing, tasty and healthy cereal isn’t all that hard. Just stay away from cereals that are unnaturally colorful and full of sugar rather than nutritionally valuable ingredients, most notably fiber.

Best and Worst Fast Food Kids’ Meals

Children who eat lots of fast food are at greater risk for obesity, but you can choose healthier options at most fast food chains. The Rudd Center analyzed and ranked children’s fast food meals based on calories, salt and saturated fat.

Food Patterns that Promote Childhood Obesity

According to the American Dietetic Association (ADA), the following foods, nutrients and eating behaviors are positively associated with childhood overweight: calorically sweetened beverages, including soft drinks; fruit juice when consumed in large quantities; skipping breakfast; consuming food away from home, particularly at fast food restaurants, and especially among adolescents– increased portion sizes; and a low intake of fruits and vegetables. Frequency of family meals was associated with better overall dietary quality in teenagers.

Replace the fast food and humongous portions with fresh fruit and vegetables

Support Healthier School Meals

Join parents and health professionals across the country who are championing healthier school meals. Sign the Petition to be delivered by Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Mercury in Fish Still a Concern

Canned tuna remains popular even though it contains the most common source of mercury in our diet. Testing by Consumer Reports’ confirms that white (albacore) tuna contains higher levels of mercury than chunk light tuna and that one serving (2.5 ounces, or about half a can) of white tuna or two servings of light tuna per week, exceeds the safe level for those at risk of neurotoxicity.

2010 in review

A Wordpress Analysis of this blog shows that it has a strong pull with writing that lasts. Thanks to everyone who visited and left better informed. Here’s wishing you a healthy new year–pass it on.

Cooking Light Offers LunchBox Ideas

Some ideas for healthy lunches with an emphasis on whole foods from Cooking Light magazine. And a link to get daily menu ideas for family dinners, too.

Nut Allergy Sufferers Beware

Nuts are a heart healthy snack and a great protein option unless you or your child have a known allergy to this food. It seems that even those with a potentially life threatening reaction to one or more nuts cannot necessarly identify the offeding nuts accurately accoridng to recent study findings presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology annual meeting.

Should Your Children Be Taking Vitamin Supplements?

Do most children need a vitamin supplement? Rather than pass the responsibility for healthy eating to a pill, it is more prudent for parents to make adjustments and take steps to establish healthy eating habits from the start.