Multiple Links for Your Reading Pleasure

(sorry - the quality is ghastly. Why not pick up your own copy?)

I am in the April issue of Redbook, discussing if we should put our children on diets. Please do not send me hate mail, saying that I'm a terrible person because I answered yes. I am not a believer in diet plans, diet drinks, or weight loss camps for kids. What I AM a believer in is keeping an eye on your kids body. I know that bodies come in all shapes and sizes and that kids go through cycles of weight gain and then gain height. What I say in the article is that if you notice your child getting heavy, add some extra exercise - and join them. Make it fun and keep an eye on portion sizes. And I say this as a mom with 6 kids who has kids that are thin, active, and have had episodes of being heavy, being too thin, being obsessed with weight and not eating enough. I've run the gamut.

I'm pleased to announce that I am the Family Meals Blogger for The Parenting Connection. I will be blogging once a week on topics that deal with feeding your family healthy, enjoyable, delicious meals - and dealing with all of the trauma that surrounds said issues. I have my first post up and I'd really appreciate some feedback - and some questions, so I know which direction to take my next post!

I'm writing for Cafe Mom in the Raising Athletes area. Come and visit - I've got a couple of posts up - How to Balance Sports and Kids and Feeding Your Athlete Without Draining Your Wallet, and Kids,Spring Tryouts and You.

I'll be co-host a live-blogging class in TheMotherhood.com called Managing the Anxiety Often Associated with Food Allergies on April 5th at 1:00 pm ET. If you deal with food allergies, I'd love to have you join us. (If you don't, but still want to join us, that'd be awesome as well...)

I think that's it. :)

OH! If you need a yummy dinner, check out Paige's recipe for Mexicali Meat - this was absolutely delicious and other than the fact that my two little ones cried when they were served it - because IT HAS BEANS, MAMA, AND I DO NOT EAT THE BEANS - and one girl cried so much that she gagged - everyone loved it. Even the criers decided that it was good. I served it on tortillas with cheese and a chopped mix of avocado/tomato/lime. Sides of sliced fresh mango, sliced fresh pineapple and carrot sticks.

Comments

[Melanie]

I read your piece in Redbook and thought the title was very misleading. Your advice in the article was spot-on and I can't see why anyone would send hate mail if they bothered to read what you wrote!

[Cindy]

I will have to pick up the April issue and read your article, but you won't receive hate mail from me. Over seventy percent of our country is overweight and the majority of them are actually in the obese range. We have to start somewhere, and what better way than teaching our children healthy eating habits. Don't get me wrong, I love food. (which is why I and one of my 3 children struggle to maintain a healthy weight. The other 2 children have my husbands metabolism) But, my family has learned that food can be healthy and still taste good. Keep up the good work.

[Paige]

I am so impressed you were able to get crying kids to taste the Mexicali meat! I'm so sorry they cried--but glad they liked it. Thanks for linking to my site!

[Lesli]

In general, I wish the word "diet" wouldn't be so often interpreted as a restrictive, specialized way of eating with weight loss (or gain) in mind, but simply as just a person's, well, diet. ;) I think that's sometimes where the haters come in, they read "diet" and think "crash", "fad", etc. I'm with you (based on your summary, I haven't read the article yet, but am looking forward to it); really, conscientious parents keep an eye on their kids' health in other respects, why not this, very important, one as well? I have some close friends and family members who have had long-lasting struggles with weight and the associated health issues, and those whose weight gain started early in life have consistently had the hardest time as adults in adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle (and thus the healthy weight that is a nice side-effect of such).

[FireMom]

Ah, my love hate with Redbook won't stand up to my love for you. I'll pick it up. Ditto Cafe Mom. I'll check out your stuff!