The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
This year the theme for National Nutrition Month (March) is 'Healthy eatingÉ Tasty and Easy'. The goal being to find a way to help families eat healthier. The Ipos-Reid focus held group sessions in many cities in Canada to determine women's views and the challenges they met in insuring healthy eating for their families. Women are the primary meal preparers in Canadian households, having a direct influence on what the family eats. The largest constraint is time, including planning, purchasing and preparing as well as cost and difficulty seeing to their families needs. There is very strong evidence that the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten does reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. In the women surveyed, there was skepticism, misconception regarding the serving sizes, as well as many women were uncertain about the quantity of servings required to maintain health. The Canadian Cancer Society is focusing on both men and women, hoping they will start to eat healthier every day. The findings of the Ipos-Reid survey were similar to the on-line survey done by Dietitians of Canada in August, 2002. It was observed that there is a lack of basic cooking skills and a huge lure to fast food and restaurants. Canadians appear to want solutions that are realistic and manageable and they want to find out how to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Bearing in mind that most Canadians are faced with so many pressures such a holding done a job, tight budgets, lots of stress, getting kids to their many activities and most of all coping with kids who are 'fussy' eaters. Along with the '5 to 10 a day Ð for better health' campaign Canadians need help in addressing the challenge by providing time saving and money saving tips on healthy eating. There is a joint education and public awareness campaign hosted by the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association. The goal is to encourage Canadians to follow a healthy lifestyle including eating 5 to 10 servings of fruit and vegetables every day thus reducing the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke. For further information check www.5to10aday.com Tips for better health: Quick and Inexpensive. Top cereal with fruit and/or berries. Top a dish of fruit with low fat yogurt and sprinkle with cinnamon. Add crisp veggies (radishes, cucumbers, lettuce) to your sandwiches and use a light salad dressing instead of mayo and butter. Stop using butter/margarine altogether. Spoon low fat sour cream onto fresh/canned peach halves, sprinkle with brown sugar and broil till golden. Use low fat chocolate pudding as a dip for fresh or canned fruit. Peel over ripe bananas and freeze for use in baking or fruit shakes. Cut up fresh veggies, blanch and freeze for stir-fry or soups and/or stews. Refrigerate fruit (oranges and apples) they last longer. When eating out, order entrees that include vegetables or order a side dish of vegetables. Thought for today: Imagination is much more important that knowledge. Because it is what you do with your imagination that counts!3/24/2003
