Set up your kids for back-to-school success with these tips from pediatricians | Local News
The couple also involves their children in making and cleaning up after meals, offering some input to what will be served but limiting choices.
Those choices matter. “If you’re not putting the right things in the body, you’re not going to get the right things out of the body,” Archer said.
The typical American diet includes about 60% ultraprocessed foods, which can cause fatigue and raise the risk of sickness and disease, Ventre said. She recommends a whole food diet rich in leafy greens and other vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Pizza, wings, burgers, chips, cookies, cake and sugary sodas should serve as occasional treats. It’s best to keep those things out of the house, Ventre said, and focus on healthy fruits and veggies kids can help make as snacks.
She underlines those points in the office waiting room, where she has added a hydroponic garden with leafy greens, peppers and cherry tomatoes – and welcomes a farmers market Friday morning that offers $6 savings vouchers for patient families.
A healthy breakfast should start the day for everyone, particularly children, said Archer, one of several UBMD Pediatrics doctors who serves part time at clinics at some Buffalo Public Schools. He ascribes some behavioral problems to students who start their day with unhealthy meals, or no breakfast at all.
