Michael Schwartz /for New York Daily News Bronx mom Kamil Spagnoli keeps her son Nicholas, 2 and a half (l) and daughter Luciana, 13 months old, off of sugar and processed foods.
You’re never too young to watch your weight.
Jack Sakowitz, 10, was always a skinny kid, but after going on anti-seizure medication three years ago, he gained a ravenous appetite — and 20 pounds.
“I panicked,” says his mom, Elyse Sakowitz, 40, from the Upper East Side. “He was putting on weight faster than I’ve ever seen anyone gain weight. I was worried about his health.”
handout Elyse Sakowitz and her son Jack, 11, have been getting nutritional guidance from Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of “The F Factor Diet,” for the past five years, swapping a sugary, processed food diet for one rich in fiber and protein. Enlarge
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Elyse Sakowitz and her son Jack, 11, have been getting nutritional guidance from Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of “The F Factor Diet,” for the past five years, swapping a sugary, processed food diet for one rich in fiber and protein.
Sakowitz hired dietitian Tanya Zuckerbrot, who tailored her F-Factor Diet to slim Jack down by swapping carb-heavy dishes for ones high in fiber and lean protein. So long, bagels, and hello, apples with peanut butter and turkey wraps.
The healthier foods kept him feeling full, instead of filling him with empty calories. Now Jack is back at his normal weight.
Not everyone is so lucky. When schools reopen in September, many students will still be served lunches high in salt, sugar and fat. Meanwhile, parents who want to make their kids midday meals are awash in conflicting information.
Juliano/X17online.com/Juliano/X17online.com Lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow preaches clean eating on her Goop site, including nixing gluten and dairy from children’s diets to avoid tummy troubles and ear infections.
Lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow recently urged parents to reduce kids’ intake of dairy products (which supposedly cause ear infections) and gluten (which apparently can cause tummy troubles).
But a recent European study found children were 15% less likely to be overweight or obese on the Mediterranean diet, which includes gluten-rich cereal grains. And there is plenty of evidence that dairy is good for kids.
Still, there are two basic rules: Eat healthfully, and tailor a diet to the child’s particular needs.
“It’s never too early to be introducing healthy food to your children,” says Lori Rosenthal, a bariatric dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center.
Here are some trendy diets — with Rosenthal’s expert analysis:
Michael Schwartz /for New York Daily News Thirteen-month-old Luciana Spagnoli is thriving on a sugar-free diet.
So long, sugar
Bronx mom Kamil Spagnoli, 37, has embraced the ubiquitous sugar detox diet for her 2-year-old son Nicholas and 13-month-old daughter Luciana (pictured left).
“They have never eaten sugar, and they eat very little white flour and no red meat,” says Spagnoli, who raves that her young ones are at a healthy weight, never get sick, and go to sleep by 7 p.m. every evening before sleeping through the night.
She serves them lean protein like skinless chicken breast, Garden Delight vegetable-based pasta, complex carbs such as sweet potatoes and plain yogurt, and plenty of fruits and veggies low in sugar.
She still cringes at the memory of one nanny who gave her son a cookie. “He was up until 11:30,” she groans. “He was going crazy.”
Her kids haven’t complained about their strict diet (yet), but Spagnoli encounters a lot of hostility from other parents. “People get very indignant when I tell them not to give my kids candy or ice cream,” she says. “I think people feel judged, like I’m telling them what they are doing is wrong.”
She admits that reading labels and skipping processed foods to make more meals from scratch costs a lot of time and money, “but we save money on doctors and behaviorists, so it’s worth it. Sugar has addictive qualities, and I don’t see the need for my kids to go down that road.”
Rosenthal supports cutting out sugar additives and sweetened beverages, though she does worry about completely banning any food outright.
“When parents are overly restrictive with their kids, they rebel and they wind up eating even worse when they’re out of the house, or when they’re away and they sneak these foods in,” she says. “This could even evolve into a binge-eating disorder. You want to teach your kids to make better choices, not force them to eat in a way they don’t want to.”
handout Donna Ladd, creator of the Motherburg blog, has her son Charlie, 4, on a gluten-free diet – including this gluten-free pizza. handout Donna Ladd, creator of the Motherburg blog, has her son Charlie, 4, on a gluten-free diet – including these fruit pops that they made together from cherries and coconut milk. handout Donna Ladd, creator of the Motherburg blog, has her son Charlie, 4, on a gluten-free diet – including these fruit pops that they made together. handout Donna Ladd, creator of the Motherburg blog, has her son Charlie, 4, on a gluten-free diet – including these fruit pops that they made together.
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Gluten be gone
Donna Ladd’s 5-year-old son didn’t need to lose weight — but his highly processed public school lunches had him bouncing off the walls when he came home.
“Charlie has energy in the extreme,” says the Williamsburg mom behind the Motherburg blog. “I sometimes had to physically sit on him to calm him down.”
Charlie was never diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but his pediatrician suggested cutting gluten from his diet anyway.
It worked.
“He is still energetic, but he has calmed down a lot. You can actually talk to him now,” says the relieved mom, who shops at Trader Joe’s for gluten-free pizza crusts, pancake mix, snacks, pasta and macaroni and cheese.
“It is very challenging, but I try. It’s definitely expensive,” she says. Charlie hated the gluten-free chicken nuggets they tried one night, for example, but he’s crazy about cherry ice pops they made from scratch.
“But I notice on the days when I don’t make his lunch — and he eats the school lunch — that he comes home crazy,” she says. “So eating clean definitely makes a difference, and I try to do it as much as I can.”
Rosenthal cautions that “gluten-free” does not always mean healthy, low-fat or low-calorie.
“Some of these gluten-free foods are higher in sugar and fat than the original versions,” she says.
She believes that going gluten-free can alleviate autism and ADHD symptoms, but says similar gains can be achieved by decreasing sugar.
Jared LaCorte and his daughter Clara, 12, from lower Manhattan, turned to the Red Light Green Light Eat Right eating plan for kids to help bring Clara’s weight down. The diet color-codes foods into green (healthy), yellow (ok in moderation) and red (unhealthy, occasional treats) to help kids find balance in their daily food intake. handout The Red Light Green Light Eat Right eating plan for kids color-codes foods into green (healthy), yellow (ok in moderation) and red (unhealthy, occasional treats) – and encourages healthy snacks such as this “Banana Dog.” handout The Red Light Green Light Eat Right eating plan for kids color-codes foods into green (healthy), yellow (ok in moderation) and red (unhealthy, occasional treats) – and encourages healthy snacks such as this “Fruit Pizza.”
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Color Coding
Pediatric cardiologist Jared LaCorte has a doctorate in children’s health, but even he struggled with his daughter’s weight.
When he realized that young Clara’s BMI was in the obese range at just 9 years old, he signed her up for Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right. The 12-week program takes a Weight Watchers approach to dieting, but instead of assigning foods different point values, they are tagged in kid-friendly colors: green for healthy foods you eat a lot of, yellow for foods to be enjoyed in moderation, and red for unhealthy treats to be consumed just once or twice a week.
“They taught you portion control by giving you examples, showing you a rubber 4-ounce turkey burger toy to see what a serving size of protein looked and felt like,” LaCorte says. “They also give you a lot of healthy alternatives and recipes.”
The color-coded diet puts control in the kids’ hands — with helpful charts and workbooks to help them stay on track.
Clara caught on quickly. “I remember that she asked me for a cookie one day after lunch, and I reminded her that we were going out for dinner that night,” he says, “and she decided to use her red food for the week on dessert at dinner that night.”
She shed 15 pounds in six months, and her BMI dropped into the normal range. Her cholesterol dipped to a healthy level as well.
Rosenthal is a big fan of the empowering nature of this plan.
“I love that it puts control in the kids’ hands,” she says, “because you want to give them the tools to make healthier choices. It breaks it down and keeps it simple.”
It’s never too early to tip the scales in your kid’s favor. “When you see markers in your children that are unhealthy — like high blood pressure or prediabetes — you have to make a change,” says LaCorte.
Lifestyle – NY Daily News