With the holidays fast approaching and a brand new year just around the corner, now is as good a time as any to get your household on a healthy track.

Eat healthy this during the holidays without missing out.

We understand that holiday traditions are important, and that there are certain not-so-healthy dishes you and your family simply can’t live without. Good news, you don’t have to. There are many ways you can have your festive cake and eat it too. For instance, here are some helpful tips from the Mayo Clinic on how to modify traditional recipes with healthy ingredients. You can also pack in additional vitamins and nutrients by sneaking in pureed vegetables. Click here to learn how.

Another great way to ensure that you and your family stay holiday healthy is to choose organic fruits and vegetables for every dish you make. Also, if you can, make sure the meat you buy comes from an organic farm. As we covered previously, organic farming methods can make all the difference to you and your child’s health.

If you’re in the mood to start new healthy holiday traditions, check out this collection of delicious organic food recipes from Organic Authority.

Make your 2012 resolution a healthy one.

Don’t let leave these tips behind–bring them with you into the New Year! Resolve to make more informed choices about what your child eats, and create a healthy household by making organic meals at home. After all, establishing a nutritious diet early on will set your child up for a lifetime of healthy eating for many New Years to come.

From all of us at Getzwell Pediatrics, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!

Please call us at 415.826.1701 to discuss how to improve your family’s health through eating healthy and other preventive strategies we specialize in.

But, when it comes to incorporating meat into your child’s diet, just how important is it to go with the organic option? The answer to this question is far more serious than you might think.

Conventional farming methods dangerously choose quantity over quality.

Ongoing research reveals that the methods by which animals are bred, housed, and butchered impact the quality of the meat we consume.

Adding to issues of overcrowding and inhumane treatment, conventional farming methods include pumping livestock with antibiotics and medications not just to treat disease but to spur growth.  As a result, according to this Environmental Health News report on poultry farms, overdosing animals with antibiotics leads to the production antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a.k.a. superbugs, which are turning up in packaged meats sold in our grocery stores. Infections caused by new superbugs are dangerous and very difficult to treat because they are impervious to antibiotics.

A serious occurrence of contamination occurred three years ago when tests detected Clostridium difficile, a deadly intestinal germ found in hospitals, in over 40% of meat products in three national grocery chains. Needless to say, consumers of these products unwittingly put their lives at risk.

Also, a review of Jonathan Safran Foer’s book “Eating Animals” mentions an alarming drug industry statistic claiming, “People are prescribed about three million pounds of antibiotics a year. Livestock are fed nearly twenty-eight million pounds…” These alarming figures indicate that the threat of producing and spreading superbugs is sure to increase as conventional farming methods persist.

So, exactly why are organic meats the better option for your child?

In contrast to conventional farming practices, organic farmers produce healthier, non-antibiotic resistant meat by employing methods intended to prevent disease and reduce the need for antibiotics. Examples of these practices include allowing animals to graze and feed in their natural surroundings as well as providing them a balanced organic diet, and ensuring sanitary and humane living conditions, to put it simply.

By choosing organic meats, your baby will avoid exposure to harmful, factory-produced superbugs and the risk of antibiotic resistance. Just as what you eat impacts your child’s health, the same goes for the animals you feed them. The healthier the farming method, the healthier your child will be.

At GetzWell, we’re passionate supporters of going organic as an essential way to arm your child against disease. If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of an organic diet you may reach us at 415.826.1701.

In the short-term, kids in the kitchen are:

• More likely to try a diverse array of healthy foods, thus decreasing the risk of developing food allergies and ensuring the consumption of bioavailable vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, amino acids and other building blocks.
• Likely to feel that they are accomplishing something and contributing to their family’s well-being.
• More likely to sit down to a family meal when they helped prepare it.
• Avoiding time spent in front of the TV or computer while they’re cooking.
• Typically not eating junk food when they’re cooking a meal at home.

In the long-term,

• Learning to cook is a skill your children can use for the rest of their lives.
• Kids who learn to eat well are more likely to eat healthfully as adults, reducing their chances of developing chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease.
• Positive cooking experiences can help build self-confidence.
• Kids who cook with their parents and develop positive relationships and open lines of communication along the way may be less likely to abuse drugs as teenagers.

Starting with simple dishes like pasta, sandwiches, salads, or smoothies with children as young as 2-3 years of age can set the stage for success and confidence in the kitchen.

Children under 5 years of age can help:

• Spread peanut butter on bread.
• Cut banana slices with plastic knife.
• Wash and scrub fruits and vegetables.
• Wipe off the counter top.
• Tear lettuce or snap beans.
• Shake plastic bags full of different ingredients.
• Pour ingredients from pre-measured cups.
• Stir or mix ingredients.
• Whisk ingredients.
• Place food on baking sheets or trays.

Older children can grow into many tasks like:

• Cracking and separating eggs.
• Reading some recipes by themselves and inventing their own.
• Using the electric mixer.
• Stirring food over the stove (with adult supervision).
• Grating cheese.
• Cutting vegetables and fruits (with adult supervision if needed).
• Setting the table for dinner.

Dr. Nasta’s Kid-Friendly “Chicken Fingers” Recipe (without the chicken!)

Prep time 15-20 mins.  Cook time 10-12 mins.

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp unprocessed salt, divided
• 2 free range eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano and 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp dried sage
• 1 lb extra firm organic/non-GMO tofu, drained and patted dry
• 2 tbs olive oil

parent + child: Gather 3 medium size bowls and put them on the counter.

child: Measure the flour and 1/4 tsp of the salt.  Mix together in one of the bowls.

parent + child: Crack the eggs into the second bowl and then whisk gently.

child: Measure the bread crumbs, cheese, basil, thyme, oregano, 1/2 tsp salt, and sage in the third bowl and mix.

parent + child: Slice tofu into 8 rectangles by cutting the block into 4 equal pieces and then cutting each piece in half.

parent + child: Roll each piece of tofu in the flour, then coat them with egg, and finally cover them with the bread crumb mixture.  Set aside on a separate plate.

parent: Heat a large saute pan or skillet over low-medium heat.  Add the olive oil, then place each piece of tofu in the pan.  Flip after 4-5 minutes.

child: Prepare for the cooked tofu fingers by putting a paper towel on a plate.

parent: When tofu fingers are crispy, place on the paper towel.  Serve hot, with marinara dipping sauce!

Our collective consciousness appears to be shifting towards the acknowledgment that our green choices matter, for ourselves and the generations that follow. As integrative pediatricians focused on supporting and optimizing children’s health, we at GetzWell Pediatrics believe that green affirmations and their legacies are not only integral to the well-being of our world but also inextricably linked to the ultimate life-giving and life-sustaining environment — the womb.

Greening the Womb is a scientific and relational exploration of environmental factors that may influence fertility and conception as well as the gestational and perinatal periods of a baby’s development and may also impact a child’s long term health and wellness. Greening the Womb examines the influences of nutrition, toxic exposures, maternal well-being, prenatal and perinatal psychology as well as epigenetics in order to make recommendations that may help children achieve optimal health.

If you are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, even a few small changes can have a significant impact on your child and the planet. Here are some tips to get you started:

The Power of Your Plate

• Eat as much organic food as possible and only organic meat, eggs and dairy.  This cuts down on pesticide exposure and also the amount of petroleum used in agriculture.
• When you cannot afford organic produce or it’s unavailable in your community, use the “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce” to influence your purchases and minimize exposures.  This is available at www.foodnews.org.
• Omega-3 fatty acids are important for babies’ brain development, which is more rapid in utero than at any other time in your child’s life.  It’s challenging to get adequate amounts of omega-3s from fish, as many fish contain mercury and PCBs, which pregnant woman should avoid.  A highly purified fish oil supplement is the safest way to ensure sufficient intake.
• Avoid canned goods, as cans are lined with BPA, a known endocrine disruptor.
• Adequate vitamin D, either in the form of safe sunlight or a supplement, is important for a healthy pregnancy.  Low vitamin D levels during pregnancy have been associated with intrauterine growth retardation, premature labor and hypertension, all of which increase the risk of low birth weight which has been associated with obesity and Type 2 diabetes. 1 Low maternal vitamin D levels have also been associated with a greater risk of c-sections. 2
• Probiotics (the “bacteria of life”) which live in our intestinal tracts and offer much protection in the form of digestive and immune health may help prevent allergies and asthma in our children. 3
• Choose a water filter (like Brita) to provide purer drinking water and make sure to drink before you are thirsty.

Greening Your Home

• To reduce exposure to toxins, commit to using cleaning products that are free of chemicals such as bleach, petroleum products, phosphates, pthalates, dyes, etc.
• Leave windows cracked or open whenever possible. Studies have found that levels of several ‘organics’ average 2 to 5 times higher indoors than outdoors  (from volatile organic compounds originating from paint, carpet, wood stains, varnishes, plastics, building materials, etc.).
• Replace PVC shower curtains. (As many as 100 toxic chemicals associated with adverse health effects are released into the air from PVC vinyl shower curtains.)  Consumers should avoid vinyl shower curtains and instead choose curtains made of cotton, polyester, or nylon. 4
• Choose low or no VOC paint when renovating.

Skin and Personal Care Products

• Use the Environmental Working Group’s cosmetic safety database to inform your choices of products, www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.
• Read labels: avoid products with ingredients that you can’t pronounce as well as parabens, “fragrance,” sodium laurel sulfate, triclosan.
• Minimize use of dark hair dyes, many of which contain coal tar, linked to cancer.
• Reduce or stop use of nail polish (which routinely contains ingredients linked to birth defects) and only apply in a well-ventilated room.

1. Early Human Dev. 2009 Apr; 85(4): 231-4; Epidemiology. 2009 Sep; 20(5): 720-6;  J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Dec 23.

2. J Clin Endocrin Metab. 2008 Dec 23; J Clin Endocrin Metab. 2009 Mar; 94 (3): 940-5.

3. Clinical Pediatrics. 2006; 45(5): 405-410; Journal of Nutrition. 2005; 51: 1487-1493.

4. Envir Health Perspectives. 2003; 111: 1783-1785.