If you’ve been following our “Amanda’s Challenge” you know that for most children, including Amanda, the most challenging part of changing dietary habits is getting good information about food, and especially, food choices.

Diane Sawyer does a short but informative interview on Healthy Lunch Choices For Your Child.

(Not to digress, but Diane Sawyer is 64 years old, maybe she needs to tell the rest of us her secrets for maintaining such a youthful look.)

Click Here to see the video and article in its entirety.

For parents who are serious about making good breakfast and lunch choices for your children, here are the three foods your child should try to avoid:

1. Bread and Bagels-Doesn’t matter if it is the “high fiber” type, bread and bagels are very high on the glycemic index, which means they are going to spike blood sugar. This leads to an increase in blood insulin, something you want to avoid.

2. Breakfast cereals: Again, high on the glycemic index. What you always want to remember is the higher on the glycemic index, the more likely it is to produce excess fat.

3. French Fries-Arguably the worse thing. The combination of the high glycemic index from the potatoes, combined with the oil they are fried in, is a recipe for disaster.

If you must have potatoes, opt for a sweet or baked potato, and if you must have a cereal, choose oatmeal, preferably, steel cut.

You best choice is to side with proteins like eggs, omelets or sandwich wraps, all of which are easy to prepare and not that time consuming.

If you would like more information on nutrition or diet, please do not hesitate to email me at DrBooker@CapitolRehab.com and enter “Nutrition” in the subject line.

Well, this was long overdue. I had been encouraging Amanda’s mom to enroll her into a local gym for some time. I am happy to report this has now happened and Amanda + mom have become members of their local Gold’s Gym. Coincidentally, that gym location includes a Capitol Rehab practice managed by S. Wade Rozier, DC and I am told Amanda’s mom will be seeking some treatment for upper back challenges while Amanda works out.

Amanda has already begun her work outs and I am very interested in seeing how adding the element of exercise to her dieting efforts will transform this young woman in the coming weeks.

Updates soon…

Amanda emailed last week to share a new web site for teens in search of health and nutrition information relevant to them. The site is MoveIt4.org and encourages teens to become more active and take more responsibility for their own health and nutrition.  This is an extremely timely introduction as First Lady Michelle Obama recently announced her new ‘Let’s Move’ campaign, combating the epidemic of childhood obesity.

“We are providing real fitness and health tools and information, presented for teens, plus their parents, teachers and coaches,” said Marty Matthews, MoveIt4.org‘s Director. “We want them to understand why and how to have much better fitness and vitality, so they can have great interaction and fun with other teens, while at the same time improving their health.  Teens are at a critical stage in their mind and body development and we want to help them establish fitness and health regimens that will benefit them well into their adult lives.”

The MoveIt4.org Website features:

• Fitness and nutrition written just for teens, from medical experts and professional trainers.
• Suggested activities to get fit, burn calories and have great fun with others.
• Fitness Tracker to help teenagers track their fitness goals and progress.
• Media Center which lists relevant teen fitness and health news, plus compelling athletic videos.
• Mentors Blog highlighting a few top athletes and celebrities who have achieved their goals and are now giving back through charitable acts and organizations they support.  This blog will help inspire and motivate teens to dream then strive to reach their personal goals.
• Information and tips for teens’ parents, teachers and coaches.
• Dictionary of fitness and health terms.

An interactive feature of the MoveIt4.org website is an ‘Opinion Poll’ on topics of special interest to teens. The first poll is regarding the growing issue of single-use plastic water and soda bottles based on startling statistics. Teens can provide their valued opinion and their Poll results will ultimately be sent to top influential policy makers including the offices of 100 State Senators, 50 State Governors as well as President Obama.

MoveIt4.org will also utilize social networks including Facebook (www.facebook.com/MoveIt4) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/MoveIt4) to interact with teens, share compelling content and help them keep fitness and health top of mind.