Moms Give Themselves a Gold Star for Nutrition

A lot of research shows that a mother's eating habits and attitude towards food has a big impact on children's food behavior as they grow. Mom's nutritional knowledge dictates what her child eats, so when she eats well, so do they.

A new report shows, however, that while healthy eating may be at the forefront of a lot of moms' minds, attitudes and intentions don't always align with what moms are actually eating and serving.

According to a report by the NPD, a marketing research group, while 75 percent of new moms and 65 percent of "experienced" mom say they actively seek out products with nutritional benefits, they are less likely to actually eat these foods.

And when it came to nutritional knowledge, most moms claimed to be "very of extremely knowledgeable" about nutrition and eating, but when asked to take a test, few actually scored in that category.

Since I haven't had kids yet, I don't know whether doctors give new (or experienced) mothers any info about nutrition for children or turns them on to easy-to-understand resources where they can learn about it, but I think that could be a big help.

Read more here.

Poultry was Top Cause of Outbreak in '06

In general, I'm not a fan of 2006. In fact, it's probably one of my least favorite years thus far. I shouldn't complain that much, though. It could've been a lot worse, had I also gotten food poisoning.

The CDC just put out a report tracking the top causes of food borne illnesses in 2006. Of the 17 foods tracked, poultry was number one. Surprise, surprise.

But before I go all smug quasi-vegetarian on you, it's worth noting that salmonella found in peanut butter, spinach, and tomatoes ranked second on the list.

I can't tell if this is good or bad, but apparently two-thirds of all food-related illnesses that can be traced back to a single ingredient are actually caused by viruses that usually come from restaurant workers who don't wash their hands.

Lovely.

While none of this is comforting or anything, it's good to see that some thorough research is being put into food attribution. Hopefully it will help lead to better food safety.

Mommy's Little Statistic

Healthy eating may start at home, but parents need to do more than just eat well themselves. 

A recent study, published in Science Daily last week, tracked the eating habits of a nationally representative sample of adults ages 20-65 and their children ages 2-18 via a questionnaire. It showed that parents' "healthy example" diets have little effect on their kids. 

After comparing the parent and child questionnaires, and scoring them against the USDA 2005 Health Eating Index, researchers  found little similarities in intakes of carbohydrates, proteins, fats—saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, etc—or vitamins. However, the children's diets did resemble their mothers' slightly more so than their fathers'. The child's age and the family's income, however, did have a slight effect on the overall score. For example, the older the child, the less similarity, as friends tend to become more important in adolescence.

This doesn't mean that kid's won't pick up on parental signals. Parents' attitudes toward food—good or bad—can have a profound effect. Also, it's never a bad idea to stock the house with healthy options. FYI, I don't really think fat-free twinkies count as healthy...It's not about creating a controlled environment at home; it's about teatching your children how to make good choices for themselves. 

French No. 1 in Sleeping and Eating.

Big surprise there. According to a report published Monday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the French spend more time sleeping and eating than the inhabitants of any other "highly developed country."

The average French person gets nine hours of sleep per night, a half-hour more than the average American (I don't know too many Americans who sleep eight-and-a-half hours a night, but whatever).

When it comes to eating habits, the French devote over two hours per day to meals. That's twice the amount of time spent by Americans.

It seems to be paying off for them, as the report shows life expectancy of the country's men and women lagging behind only Japan.

I think France has the right idea, personally. I know I feel better when I'm well rested and make the time to enjoy my meals.

I get a kick out of books and articles like, "How to Eat like a French Woman" or "Live the French Life for a Month: First things first—only wash your hair once a week." I swear to god, look it up.

One thing I do wish would change though is that instead of putting out books with titles like, French Women Don't Get Fat, how about we think more in terms of "French women maintain a healthy weight?"

I guess that wouldn't sell as many copies, though. Americans are just as obsessed with FAT vs THIN as we are with the French.