Celebrity Parents

Joan Lunden’s Top 5 Tips for Parents

Lunden believes there is a direct link between what we feed our kids and the prevention of chronic diseases like obesity, type II diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Here are her top five tips to get you started immediately:

Exercise portion control. “The one thing that has changed in our society over the last 10 years more than anything else is portion size,” Lunden says. “Portion control is out of control. We have to be careful of excess calories. Do not say ‘clean your plate.’ Erase those words from your vocabulary. Let them learn to eat till they are full, then stop.”
Exercise. “Keep them active and don’t let them have a sedentary lifestyle,” Lunden says. “Teach them that activity is an expected part of their life.”
Reduce fat. “Fat shouldn’t be more than 30 percent of calories,” she says. “Don’t go overboard on this and start giving them no fat. They can’t go on a no-fat diet like adults do. That is absolutely essential in the development of the nervous system of a small child. You can’t do no carbs, and you can’t do no fat.”
Increase fruits and vegetables. “That is the old five-a-day,” she says. “It will reduce the risk of cancer. Fiber will protect against colon cancer, which is a major killer. Reducing fat will protect women against uterine and breast cancers.”
Make sure children get enough calcium. “This is especially important for girls because it is women who will suffer from osteoporosis when they grow up,” Lunden says. “It is 100 percent preventable. If we bank enough calcium into that child during that window of opportunity, into their early 20s, then they will have enough bone stored to draw from for the rest of their lives. Just like you put enough money in the bank for that child’s education.”