It’s a small world. What are the odds that of the 7 times I was on ABC’s View From the Bay, two of them would be the same as Rona Renner, radio show host and nurse extraordinaire. Imagine my surprise when I saw her in the green room a second time…It felt as if the stars aligned and we were meant to get to know each other.
Rona is passionate about parenting issues and hosts a radio show called Childhood Matters. She loves the work that I do with children and their families about healthy eating and family mealtimes, and invited me to be on her show about the Challenges of Childhood Obesity.
Aside from the fact that I had to get up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning, I was thrilled to participate. Even better was meeting the other guest, Dr. Peggy Desler, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente, Richmond Medical Center. Between the two of us, I think we were able to offer lots of tips for families and caregivers to get active and eat better.
Here was the promo for our show, on the Childhood Matters website:
According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Obese and overweight children are at greater risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and several types of cancer. Fortunately, healthy lifestyle choices can lower your family’s risk for developing related diseases. Join Nurse Rona and guests as they offer ideas and resources to increase your family’s health and well being.
How cool! Congratulations!
Michele: I think a key component to feeding families a healthy diet is to eat more at home. There, you can offer lots of fruits and veggies, control the amount of salt you add to your food, choose the best cooking oils (I happen to love canola b/c it’s high in omega-3 and I also love evoo), and pile on the whole grains. Home-cooked meals don’t have to be fussy or fancy. Simple and nutritious works every time.
Good you have taken the cause of family health very far. One way we can get our families to take healthy meals will be to switch over from excessive commercial food to home made recipes. When we cook at home and get the kids involved, we are building a foundation that recognizes wholesome foods and nutritious options. At least making our own meals from indigenous condiments for example can help us avoid additives in food.
Congratulations on being on the radio! Great topic!
In addition to cooking from scratch and eating at home, I think that we should limit snacks and sugar-loaded beverages. Snacking is what creates a major imbalance in the children’ diet. They end up eating too many (empty?) calories.