Family meals often are associated with overall improved nutrient intake, healthier body weight and better psychosocial health -- meaning children who eat more meals at home with their parents are more likely to be healthy in mind, body and spirit. Helping parents establish positive eating behaviors in the home, including family meals, is of key importance in achieving overall health for families, and health professionals can play a critical role in this process. Is it enough to just promote family meals in your nutrition education routine? According to a recent study published in the July edition of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, helping parents enhance specific parenting skills in addition to promotion of family meals may be the recipe for success!

This recent study (JADA, July 2010) followed four different parenting styles to see which had the most potential to influence positive lifestyle factors such as eating behaviors, self-regulation of physical activity and ultimately the risk for overweight. The four parenting styles observed were divided into two dimensions: the degree in which the parents respond to their children and the degree in which parents make demands of their children. An ‘authoritative’ parenting style, which is characterized by a high level of responsiveness as well as a high level of "demandingness", was associated with the greatest frequency of family meals for adolescent children. An authoritative parent is likely to be “empathetic and respectful of a child’s opinions, but maintains clear boundaries and expectations.” On the contrary, a second type of parenting style, ‘authoritarian’, shown through high "demandingness" and low responsiveness, had almost a five-fold increase in odds of being overweight. This parenting style is characterized by “low warmth and strict discipline.” In an effort to combat the childhood obesity crisis it is interesting to consider effective parenting styles as a part of the possible solution.

The results shared in this study lead to many other questions and possibilities for future research, such as what types of specific behaviors do authoritative parents use during mealtimes? Do parents with an authoritative parenting style more often serve balanced meals that include all of the food groups? More research is needed to look more closely at the positive home life behaviors of authoritative parents.

The good news is that we as health professionals can have a greater impact by not only encouraging frequent family meals but also reinforcing aspects of authoritative parenting styles. Our program booklets for parents, Making Meals Matter for Your Young Child and Making Meals Matter for Your School Age Child are both great resources available to health professionals looking for ways to help parents model health behaviors at home and share in nutritious family meals.

Ashley Rosales, R.D.

Project Manager

The Society for Nutrition Education has been hosting an annual conference for over 40 years. The theme of the conference this year is Child Nutrition: Action Today for a Healthy Tomorrow. This is a great opportunity for California nutrition educators since the conference this year is right in our backyard at the beautiful Reno-Tahoe area Peppermill Resort. This conference for nutrition program planners and evaluators, teachers, dietitians and dietetic technicians, researchers, county extension agents, policy makers, chefs, scientists, and more, offers access to the latest developments in food, nutrition, and education. Participants will come away with new research, creative ideas, and practical techniques applicable in many settings. Enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the SNE annual conference while earning continuing education credits, networking, and advancing your knowledge and skills.

This year, our own Trina Robertson, M.S. R.D. will be presenting at the conference. Her topic is "Activity & Eating”: An Interactive Adult Nutrition Education Program. She will present findings about our adult nutrition program, Activity & Eating. The evaluation results with adults in two unique populations will be highlighted- school employees participating in a worksite wellness initiative and adults learning English as a second language in a community college. In addition to identifying how the program improves adult nutrition and physical activity behaviors, the results of the project assisted in developing priorities on how the Activity & Eating booklet could be improved. Attendees will be the first to see the revised program and how it includes behavior change theories and health literacy concepts. This is a great example of how evaluation can direct program improvement. If you plan on attending, we invite you to come to Trina's session on Tuesday, July 27 from 12:30 - 1:30 pm in the Tuscan 11-12 at the Peppermill Resort. If you hadn't planned on attending, we strongly encourage you to register! Held July 24 - 27, 2010 in Reno/Tahoe, SNE's Conference is the only event geared specifically towards nutrition educators.

Maureen Bligh, M.A.. R.D.

Project Manager

What does it mean to live a healthy life? It seems few have found the right balance between healthy and guilt-free living. There are things you can control that really do affect the quality and length of life (don't smoke and wear a seatbelt). And there are things that are completely out of our control (age, gender and family history). Then there is a large volume of space between these two extremes with many, many lifestyle choices that cause the health-conscious among us a great deal of angst.

There is a myth that perfect health can be achieved if you follow all of the "health rules". Unfortunately, the number of health rules seems to be increasing exponentially; eat locally grown foods, compost, avoid foods with more than 4 ingredients on the food label, exercise 60 minutes per day but be sure to include stretching and strengthening to your routine. Avoid sodium. Drink a glass of wine daily to avoid heart disease and avoid the temptation to drink two glasses to avoid breast cancer. Be watchful of food packaging since it may be leaching harmful chemicals into your food and your house may be toxic as well. Get out in the sun to get some vitamin D, but slather with sun screen after 15 minutes to avoid skin cancer. Navigating all of these choices can either make us compulsive and neurotic or throw our hands up into the air and ignore all health advice completely.

The reality is we don't have total control over our health. A book published last year by two doctors from Tufts University provides some sound advice regarding this topic. Live a Little, by Dr. Susan M. Love, M.D. and Alice D. Domar, Ph.D. provides some guidance to women for living a healthy enough life to be pretty healthy. Their research found that healthy habits tend to form a U-shaped curve, with serious neglect on one end of the curve and obsession on the other. The book describes the range of activities that fall into the "pretty healthy" zone between the extremes for sleep, stress, health screenings, exercise, nutrition and healthy relationships. Within the pretty healthy zone there are a wide variety of health behaviors. This book provides helpful guidelines on where to draw the line to achieve pretty healthy habits in these six areas.

So the trick is to realize that no one has total control over their health; then to exercise, eat wisely and manage stress anyway. The nutrition chapter in the book is titled, Eating Well: Beyond Blueberries, which attempts to strike a balance between health and food enjoyment. As a registered dietitian, I have always believed in a similar philosophy that balances health and quality of life. Dairy Council of California programs are also designed to consider all the factors that drive food choices; taste, convenience, health, culture, etc. The challenge is to eat wisely most of the time, while including some indulgent choices some of the time. And when you eat an indulgent food, enjoy it, since food is truly one of life's best pleasures. A healthy life can and should be simple and enjoyable. This book is a recommended resource for consumers to help them achieve this goal and for health professionals to become better health coaches for their clients.

Maureen Bligh, MA, RD

Project Manager

Do you or your clients have a concern about the environment as it relates to the food supply? Or have you been thinking about this issue but have yet to learn much about it? Dairy Council of California has developed a new resource for health professionals that takes an in-depth look at this issue. The course is unique since it not only educates the participant on the many issues impacting a sustainable food supply, it also offers specific suggestions for how to address this issue with clients. This 4-credit hour online course titled Sustainability, Nutrition and Health is now available online. The course has two components: a 30-minute audio PowerPoint and a PDF handout containing background articles that are intended to broaden and augment the PowerPoint. The course is authored by Marianne Smith Edge, MS, RD, LD, a former president of the American Dietetic Association and a nationally recognized expert in this area. Access to the course is free. If you would like to take the posttest for CEU credits, this test is available at a very reasonable price from Nutrition Dimension.

 Sustainability is an emerging concept and is a process that encompasses social, ecological and economic dimensions. The course focuses on consumers making decisions that are good for the family, good for the environment and good for individual health. The course talks about the meaning of organic food within the sustainability umbrella as well as the issue of feeding our ever-growing population.

The course is unique as it offers the practicing health professional concrete suggestions to use with clients. Health professionals can discuss with clients their choices regarding: 

• The choice of food purchased
• Food packaging
• Home food preparation and storage
• Serving size and waste

Ultimately how to overlay sustainability with the other food and nutrition priorities of individuals and families is a personal choice. It is important, however, to remind clients to consider their health and personal preferences when making these decisions and to include foods from all of the food groups, since each food group provides essential nutrients.

Maureen Bligh, MA, RD

Project Manager

The nutrition advice to "avoid processed foods" is commonly being tossed out by well-meaning individuals. This advice leads one to ponder two questions, "What is a processed food?" and, "What does it mean to my health if I avoid them?" Whole wheat bread, string cheese and frozen broccoli are all processed foods. Should these be avoided? Is it possible to have unintended health consequences by avoiding all foods that have been processed by the food industry?

Processed foods are defined as 'value-added products- raw commodities transformed through the use of materials, labor and technology.’ If a product requires any degree of processing, it is considered a processed food, whether it is something minor like freezing vegetables or more complex, such as producing snack foods. Many processed foods serve important functions for health, such as fortification of a food to enhance its nutritional profile or pasteurization to make a product safe from potentially harmful microorganisms. In fact, processing foods has eradicated certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies and also led to preventing very serious food borne illnesses. On the other hand, there are also processed foods that have low nutritional value due to processing. As a result, it is essential to teach consumers how to navigate through the continuum of processed foods and select more choices that are nutrient dense and fewer that are low in nutrients and high in fat, sugar and salt. Nutrition professionals are uniquely able to help consumers make food choices to meet their health goals and align with their personal values. And of course consumers won't eat anything that does not meet their criteria for acceptable taste.

To learn about more suggestions for educating clients about processed foods, please view our recent Health Connections Newsletter titled, "Processed Food": A Continuum of Choices. You can also subscribe to receive this quarterly newsletter for free!

Ashley Rosales, R.D.

Project Manager