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Give Kids Lunchbox Choice, Dietitians Urge Parents Having children choose and pack the foods they take for lunch could be the answer to back-to-school lunches that are liked – and eaten, according to dietitians.
‘Children are more likely to eat their lunch and to try different foods when they have been involved in planning and preparing what goes into their lunch box. And they will be less likely to trade lunch box items or leave them uneaten. ‘Having ready-made, healthy and tasty options for kids to choose from, such as crackers with cheese, fresh or dried fruit, plain popcorn, unsalted nuts or small bags of healthy bite-size cereals, will help in the morning rush,’ said Ms Di Prima. According to Ms Di Prima, eating a healthy school lunch helps children concentrate in class, and provides the nutrients they need to grow and develop. ‘A quarter of Australian children are overweight or obese, and these kids are more likely to become obese adults. This issue needs to be tackled on many levels, but parents and carers are crucial in helping children eat a healthy diet,’ said Ms Di Prima. The DAA has developed the Easy family eating for healthy kids booklet for parents and carers, with practical information and easy tips on healthy eating for families, including the following lunch ideas:
DAAs Easy family eating for healthy kids booklet is available from the DAA website www.daa.asn.au and is one initiative from DAAs comprehensive obesity strategy. The booklet was originally produced with Pfizer in 2005 and re-printed in 2007 with the support of Zespri Gold Kiwifruit. Visit the Smart Eating for You section of the DAA website for more ideas and tips on healthy eating.
Broccoli sprouts may protect against bladder cancer
This finding reinforces human epidemiologic studies that have suggested that eating cruciferous vegetables like broccoli is associated with reduced risk for bladder cancer, according to the study’s senior investigator, Yuesheng Zhang, MD, PhD, professor of oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. “Although this is an animal study, it provides potent evidence that eating vegetables is beneficial in bladder cancer prevention,” he said. There is strong evidence that the protective action of cruciferous vegetables derives at least in part from isothyiocyanates (ITCs), a group of phytochemicals with well-known cancer preventive activities.“The bladder is particularly responsive to this group of natural chemicals,” Zhang said. “In our experiments, the broccoli sprout ITCs after oral administration were selectively delivered to the bladder tissues through urinary excretion.” Other cruciferous vegetables with ITCs include mature broccoli, cabbage, kale, collard greens and others. Broccoli sprouts have approximately 30 times more ITCs than mature broccoli, and the sprout extract used by the researchers contains approximately 600 times as much. Although animals that had the most protection against development of bladder cancer were given high doses of the extract, Zhang said humans at increased risk for this cancer likely do not need to eat huge amounts of broccoli sprouts in order to derive protective benefits. “Epidemiologic studies have shown that dietary ITCs and cruciferous vegetable intake are inversely associated with bladder cancer risk in humans. It is possible that ITC doses much lower than those given to the rats in this study may be adequate for bladder cancer prevention,” he said. Zhang and his colleagues tested the ability of the concentrate to prevent bladder tumours in five groups of rats. The first group acted as a control, while the second group was given only the broccoli extract to test for safety. The remaining three groups were given a chemical, N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine (BBN) in drinking water, which induces bladder cancer. Two of these groups were given the broccoli extract in diet, beginning two weeks before the carcinogenic chemical was delivered. In the control group and the group given only the extract, no tumours developed, and there was no toxicity from the extract in the rats. About 96 percent of animals given only BBN developed an average of almost two tumours each of varying sizes. By comparison, about 74 percent of animals given a low dose of the extract developed cancer, and the number of tumours per rat was 1.39. The group given the high dose of extract had even fewer tumours. About 38 percent of this high-dose group developed cancer, and the average number of tumours per animal was only .46 and, unlike the other animals, the majority were very small in size. The study was funded by the Vital Vegetables Research Program of Australia and New Zealand, the National Cancer Institute and the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation.
Lowering the risk of colo-rectal cancer With colorectal cancer the second leading cause of cancer death, it’s a great time to take a look at the health of your colon. "Colorectal cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in the U.S.,” said Dr. James Yoo, assistant professor of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Fortunately, colorectal cancer can be largely prevented with early screening or cured with early detection." “While colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States, it is the most preventable major cancer. Improvements in prevention, early detection, and treatment have greatly reduced the death toll from this disease,” said Dr. J. Randolph Hecht, clinical professor of medicine and director, GI Oncology Program, Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and member of the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center. 10 Tips to Lower Your Risk of Colorectal Cancer
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Accredited Practising Dietitian, Spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), and mum of two, Kate Di Prima, (pictured right with her children) said the key was to provide children with a range of healthy foods to choose from and to give them simple tasks to help with preparing their school lunch.
A concentrated extract of freeze dried broccoli sprouts cut development of bladder tumours in an animal model by more than half, according to a report in the March 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.