Feed your kids healthy meals this summer

To the delight of area kids, school is out. This annual occasion sends a shudder through most parents. Sure, all families look forward to the lack of structure and to the excitement of trips, but it means a whole different rhythm of organizing, planning, eating and cooking. “I’m suddenly responsible for three meals a day,” remarked one friend on the last day of school.

Oddly enough, summer is also the time of year when children can gain more weight if we’re not careful, according to a joint Indiana University and Ohio State University study published in American Journal of Public Health in 2007. The study examined the Body Mass Index growth rates of 5,380 kindergartners and first graders and found that summer created more opportunities to eat snacks and engage in screen time. It led to an increased BMI that was, on average, more than twice as much during summer break as during the school year. The data, which spanned two years, also showed that BMIs fell when the same children returned to school.

In a time when school lunches have been a maligned member of the childhood obesity phenomenon, the findings seem counter-intuitive. But it is good food for thought. In summer, I know I find myself heading for what is fast and easy on family vacations, and what makes it into summer camp brown bags isn’t always fresh and healthy.

A few ideas:

Limit fast food to a specified amount and stick to it.

Make fruit, carrots, applesauce and yogurt your go to lunch box side dish.

Make a family day trip to a “u-pick” farm.

Stuff quesadillas or top homemade pizzas with fresh vegetables.

Let children plant something. It’s still early enough to plant basil or mint—two easy growers that they can harvest and add to just about anything.