Food for Thought

Home-cooked meals vs. eating out

Food-borne illnesses strike 76 million Americans a year. According to a recent survey by health officials, people who eat out - especially in fast-food restaurants and deli-style shops - are 50% more likely to get stomach illnesses than people who stick to their own kitchens and eat at home.

Infants and toddlers eating habits - Dietary Concerns

The Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) study reported in the January 2004 Journal of the American Dietetic Association that unhealthy eating habits begin in infancy. The survey randomly sampled families with collectively more than 3,000 children ranging from 4 to 24 months of age. The study reported:

• Up to a third of the children under 2 consumed no fruits or vegetables. And for those who did have a vegetable, French fries were the most common selection for children 15 months and older.
• By 19-24 months, most toddlers consumed sweets, desserts or salty snacks at least once a day.
• 30 to 40 percent of the children 15 months and up had a sugary fruit drink each day, and about 10 percent had soda.
• Soda is being served to infants as young as 7 months.
• Children aged 1 to 2 years require about 950 calories per day, but the study found that the median intake for that age group is 1,220 calories, an excess of nearly 30 percent. For those 7 months to 11 months old, the daily caloric surplus was about 20 percent.