New research has found that one in ten children will be obese in the next five years - what a staggering statistic!  Research carried out at the University of London studied statistics between 1995 and 2007.   The health survey for England provided the data which takes a sample of UK households.

If the trend continues, then researchers predicted that 1 in 10 boys aged between 2-10 will be obese by 2015, and approximately 1 in 9 girls.  In lower income families the statistic was slightly worse. They said  'these increases will affect the lower social classes to a larger extent'.

The research was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health - let's hope the predictions don't become reality.  It's so important to get kids up and moving from an early age.

Children who are overweight at a young age risk greater likelihood of health problems in later life, including diabetes and heart disease.  Children who are more active in their first few years are statistically more likely to maintain an active lifestyle when they are older.

There is so much that parents and carers can do and its one area where you don't need to spend much money.  Going to the local play park, setting off on nature walks round your neighbourhood, heading off the woods and climbing on fallen tree trunks, even walking or scooting to school instead of driving.  Enjoy an active lifestyle with your children and they will benefit for years to come.  Premium Members of ToucanLearn can search for 'Physical Development' activities 'Outdoor' and find lots of fun games and activities to do outside, specifically aimed at the capabilities of their children!

Everyone is telling us how important it is to eat five portions of fruit or vegetables a day, but it's not always easy, especially if you have a fussy eater dining with you!  So, here are a few tips to increase your kids to eat more fruit and vegetables.

1. Sprinkle raisins, dried berries or banana on your cereal.  Get your little one to help!
2. Get your children to help choose the fruit for the fruit bowl. Talk about the different colours and then arrange them together.  Keep the bowl somewhere you can all see them.
3. Tinned fruit is handy.  Throw a tin of tomatoes into your shepherd's pie or some sweetcorn in your chicken casserole.
4. Make a meal of it!  Invite friends from nursery to eat with you and your children.  Set it up like a restaurant and make eating a fun, social event.
5. Puree some vegetables and make it into a sauce for pasta.
6. If your children need a snack, cut grapes, cucumber, apple, peppers etc and encourage them to nibble on those.  You can then let them eat vegetable sticks if they are spending some time watching the TV.
7. Make it look nice.  Cut banana into slices and arrange like a flower on a plate.  Make peppers into a star.
8. Pick your own.  In the right season, go out and pick you own vegetables.  Or, grow your own!  Pulling up a carrot or picking a courgette is great fun!
9. Get your little one to cook with you... chop with a blunt knife, stir etc.

Make it fun and tasty because its really worth it in the long run.  Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables is important to maintain a healthy weight, to get all the minerals and vitamins you need.  Plus it can help reduce cancers and heart disease.   And vegetables taste good!

Children deserve to experience going out to eat, if that is what you want for them. You have every right to take them into a restaurant and never feel embarrassed in doing so, as long as its a place that welcome's welcomes children.

However, going out to lunch or dinner may fill some parents with dread: how would their little ones behave in public? But, be bold, follow the few tips below and they may surprise you!

1. Take a few small toys to entertain while you wait. Don't necessarily buy new, perhaps find a few buried in a draw that you haven't seen for a while.
2. Go to a restaurant that has a child menu. Then you won't feel uncomfortable because if there's a child's menu, they welcome children and you have every right to be there!
3. Make sure the venue has all the facilities you need: baby change, etc.
4. Ask for what you need, don't hesitate, as the staff will be happy to help if it means a more smooth meal! Lots of napkins, teaspoons to eat with, a straw to drink with etc.
5. Order the children's meal to come first. They can start eating straight away even if your meal is not ready. In fact, order all your meals as quickly as you can so the wait for you all is not too long.
6. For little ones that may be super hungry, bring a couple of snacks or finger foods to keep them going. If you have none, ask the a little bread or raw vegetables while you wait.
7. Eat at the approximate time you'd normally eat so your routine is not too mixed up.
8. If you have a newborn, don't be shy about feeding at the table if you can do it discretely, or asking for bottles to be warmed.
9. If you book a table make sure you reserve a high chair if you need it a tell the restaurant you'll have little ones. They may reserve a larger area for you.
10. Have a practice at home: set up a restaurant and pretend one day at home!
11. Have a trial run. Go to a coffee shop and just have coffee and a muffin one morning. See how that goes.
12. Explain what you expect from your children if they are a bit older, and tell them what it will be like so they are more prepared.
13. Choose something from the menu that they will eat rather than be adventurous. You want them to eat, after all!
14. Start them young. Don't put off going out if you want to because you think your baby is too little.

Be bold!   Bon appetite!

So many people seem to have allergies, but what should the untrained person look out for, especially those caring for other people's children?  If you suspect that a child in your care is suffering an allergic reaction, then it is imperative to seek medical advice urgently.

Allergic reactions might be brought on by pollen, dust, pets or in reaction to many other things.  Some foods are well known to being more prone to triggering allergic reactions than others, but almost any food could trigger a reaction.  Here are some of the more common foods that trigger allergies:-

Milk and dairy derivatives - take care with all food containing milk including cream, yogurt, cheese, butter, milk desserts

Nuts - even though many allergies refer to one type of nut, avoid all nuts including all nut products such as marzipan and check all food because they may contain nuts.  Cakes, biscuits, bread, ice-cream can all have nuts in them.

Peanuts - not technically nuts but legumes, these are found in so many products - rigorous checking must take place before eating if you are awatr of peanut allergies, nearly all processed foods warn that they may contain nuts.

Lupin seeds - can cause an allergic reaction and they can be found in bread, pies, pastries, cakes and batter.

Fish - fish cakes, fish pate, fish sauces all have fish in them, plus many dressings and pizzas.

Shellfish - avoid all types of shellfish and fish pies that might contain shell fish in them.

Mustard - this can cause an allergic reaction.  Mustard powder, seeds, oil should not be eaten by sufferers - anything from a mustard plant.

Eggs - being allergic to eggs means no cakes, sauces, pasta, quiches and some meaty products such as burgers.  Also, many pies and desserts can be brushed with eggs or contain egg.

Gluten - wheat, rye, barley and all cereals should be avoided.  Food made from these products such as pasta, cakes and many sausages and burgers should also be omitted from the diet.  Sauces and soups that have been thickened with flour products can not be eaten either.

Soya - tofu, soya flour and soya protein must be avoided.  It can be found in desserts, pastries and many processed vegetarian foods.

Sesame seeds - all sesame seed oil and the seeds themselves should be avoided.  The seeds are often found in bread, sauces, biscuits, dressings, houmous.

Celery - all parts of the plant should be avoided and can be found in soups, stews and salads.

You are more likely to contract food poisoning in your own home than from a restaurant,  that's slightly surprising, but it's true because there are so many ways that bacteria can contaminate food that we are about to eat.  It's vital to store food properly.  Here are some pointers and some reasons why!

• Raw meat should be stored separately to food that's ready to eat (cheese, salad, fruit).  You don't need a separate fridge, but you do need to keep them apart.  Keep raw met at the bottom of the fridge.
• Make sure all foods are covered.
• If you are defrosting raw food, make sure none of the water or defrosted liquid gets onto any of the other foods. Why? Because there are bacteria on raw foods that could contaminate foods you are about to eat.
• Always use a clean copping board and knife when cutting raw food and cooked food. Why?  Bacteria can even spread from the knife or chopping board onto other foods.
• Wash all fruit and vegetables before you eat them. Why?  Because they may have harmful bacteria on them and if you don't wash them you'll eat them too!

What's the difference between 'sell by', 'use by' and 'best before' dates?

Sell by - this is the date by which the shop need to sell the goods.  There may well be a few days after this date that the food will be fine to eat.

Use by - this is the date by which the food must have been consumed - or throw it away!  If you were a restaurant and you served food after the "use by" date it would be against the law.

Best before - this is all about quality.  The food would be fine to eat after the sell by date, but it will be past its best.

Other things to remember:

1. Keep pets away from food preparation areas.
2. Keep equipment in good condition and replace splitting wooden spoons, cracked chopping boards etc.
3. Steralise surfaces and equipment periodically.
4. Keep you kitchen clean and sweep the floor often to prevent pests.
5. Keep raw food covered in the fridge and when getting ready to cook.

Food hygiene is especially important if you have children in your home, both to practice and to teach them about so that they grow up understanding how to prepare food safely.

New, and slightly worrying research, suggests that having a healthy diet containinging plenty of fibre has a detrimental effect on your chances of having a baby. This is something women trying for a baby will be horrified to hear.

Wholemeal bread, brown pasta and brown rice when eaten in large quantities seem to effect the hormone levels of women and therefore may impact on fertility levels.  The more wholemeal food women ate, the lower the levels of vital hormones that influence the reproduction process.

The research was carried out in America, using a sample of 250 women of childbearing age, over a two year period.  They made two important discoveries when looking at the women and their fibre intake:

• Hormone levels were less in those with a high fibre diet
• There was an increase in something called anovulation (which is when a women goes through her menstrual cycle but her ovaries fail to release an egg)

Anovulation is known to occur when hormone levels drop due to anxiety, stress or extreme exercise.

This is the first time that a healthy diet has been deemed to impact on a person in a negative way.  Serious claims!

'Five a day' refers to five portions of fruit and vegetables that we are recommended to eat each day, each portion should weigh about 80g, for children, it's less, but still five sorts a day.

Why do we need 5 different types of fruit and vegetables?

Because each variety has different properties and a different set of minerals and vitamins - all with particular benefits to health.

Why bother trying to eat five a day? It makes up part of a balanced and healthy diet and there's a huge variety to choose from!

What about other benefits?

• Fruit and vegetables are tasty!
• They are full of vitamins, minerals and fibre.
• They reduce the rate of heart disease and some cancers.
• They make up part of a balanced diet!
• They are low in fat and filling.

Who says so?

The World Health Organization recommends that we should eat about 400g of fruit and vegetables each day which equates to about 5 portions of about 80g.

What about kids? It is recommended that children also try and eat five a day. Does this sound a huge task? Well, it needn't be as there are so many foods that do count and you can work fruit and vegetables into your day quite easily.

Tips

• Introduce your child to all sorts of fruit and vegetables as early as you can!  Even if it takes a few tries to get them to eat them.
• Approach fruit and vegetables as fun things!  Look at their colour, texture, shape, name, size and feel!  Explore new fruit together and discover the taste and properties of new fruits as an adventure!  See if you can find any that are funny shapes!
• Try dried fruit as an option.  There are some great dried fruit varieties: apricots, sultanas and raisins, but also pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries!  These are all delicious, colourful and count towards your five a day!  Ask your child which colour they like best!
• Try new shapes of old favourites!  Cut carrots into sticks, rounds, chunks, dice them, don't cook them... all different ways of eating the same thing!  Ask your child which is their favourite!
• Get children to help prepare fruit and vegetables.  Get them to count sprouts and beans or cut soft things like cucumber or banana etc.
• Get children - even toddlers - to choose their own vegetables at the supermarket!
• Disguise vegetables in your cooking: grated carrot in bolognaise, diced root vegetables in stews.
• Keep ready prepared fruit snack in the fridge for journeys, walking to school or quick snacks.

Enjoy trying and eating your fruit and veg with your children... they will be more keen if you are keen too!

According to research carried out by the British Heart Foundation, 90% of parents are being misled by food manufacturers who imply that children's foods are much healthier than they really are.   Approximately 1,500 parents were questioned, all who had children under 15 years of age, and most of them felt they were being misled when it came to the health claims made on the food packets.

Wholegrain: 76% of parents thought this meant a product was healthy, yet Nestle Honey Shreddies (which state wholegrain on the packet) contain more sugar than a ring dounut!

Vitamins: 'Source of Calcium, iron and vitamins' - 63% of parents thought this meant the product is healthy.  But, Kellogg's Coco Pops use this statement on their packet and yet the cereal contains more sugar than chocolate cake!

It's important to state however, these phrases are not untrue; they are just misleading!  It seems parents are being hoodwinked into thinking these products are good and healthy to eat, but this is not the case.  They are often full of saturated fats, sugars and salt that are way beyond what we'd serve at breakfast if presented with actual spoonfuls of sugar, fat and salt in front of us!

A clear food labelling system has been talked about, but who knows when and if this will ever be introduced.  It would certainly help when choosing which products to buy!

Table manners are a tricky area for young families - you want your child to eat nutritiously whilst eating slowly enough to avoid gobbling and causing indigestion but fast enough to get on with the day!   You want meals to be a happy experience for everyone and for their manners to be good: eating with mouth closed, not tallking when chewing, no rude comments about the size, look or taste of the food and 'please' and 'thank you' are welcome too!

But, don't be too hard on the children!  They learn from example, so the first thing to do is show them (not tell them!) how to eat a meal properly.  Start by making sure the children (even toddlers) sit throughout the duration of the meal.  Make their time at the table as short as possible, so call them when their food is served and has cooled enough to eat.

Encourage them to stay at the table while you all eat.  Of course, when you consider it appropriate they can get down, but try and establish the idea that you all stay at the table together for the meal.  Don't expect too much though.  A toddler is doing well if they don't throw food, so don't expect correct utensil use at age two!

Teach all toddlers and children to wash hands before eating.  This is a good way to signify the beginning of the meal and is hygenic even if your child is beyond finger food.  When they do mess around, try not to get angry, just explain in a calm voice what they are doing wrong.

Try to use 'please' and 'thank you' yourself!  It's as easy for adults to forget but if the little ones see you saying it they will too! And, there's nothing nicer than a proper 'thank you' to the chef at the end of the meal!  Especially encourage it when you're visiting friends and you're bound to be invited back!

The result, hopefully, is calmer and easier meals for you all!  The earlier you start introducing good manners, the better the children will adopt the behaviour and do it without trying.  Remember,  mealtimes make for the most wonderful family occasions...every single day!

New Year is a time for reflection, so let's pause for a moment and think of those less fortunate than ourselves, and look in particular at UNICEF's international campaigns for children.  UNICEF is a world organisation acting to promote the interests of children and try to improve the world into which they have been born.

UNICEF operates in developed and developing countries across the world, and have different campaigns in each country.  At an international level, they have five areas of focus:-

• Child survival and development: children across the world suffer huge inequality, UNICEF would like all children to be offered access to medicine and basic healthcare, water, nutritious food and adequate sanitation
• Basic education and gender equality: UNICEF state that education is a fundamental human right, they are pushing for rights-based education for girls and boys throughout the world.  A rights-based education will help alleviate deep-rooted inequalities that persist in many societies, both developed and developing
• HIV/AIDS and children: A child dies of AIDS every two minutes, hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 15 need treatment for AIDS, AIDS is preventable and treatable; UNICEF wants to prevent new cases of AIDS, prevent mother-to-child transmission, provide treatment to children suffering AIDS and provide protection, care and support for children orphaned by AIDS
• Child protection: Millions of children throughout the world are subjected to violence, exploitation and abuse, including terrible forms of child labour; UNICEF advocates creating a protective environment, in partnership with national governments, to protect children from the worst abuses as they grow up
• Policy advocacy and partnerships: UNICEF works with policy makers, national governments, lawmakers and the media worldwide, they wish to research issues affecting children and work with policy makers to push for regulatory frameworks to enhance the lives of children across the globe

Let's spare a thought for those growing up in the same world that we grew up in, but in unimaginable circumstances.  Let's support the work of UNICEF and other children's charities in the hope that one day, their ambitious but respectable goals might be reached.  Find out more on UNICEF's international focus areas.

Lucky for us, when we want water, we simply turn on the tap and with a gurgle and a whoosh out shoots fresh, clean drinking water.  It's simple, its easy and it's free flowing.  However, that doesn't mean we should waste water and its the same for our children.  Their instinct is to turn the tap on, and leave it running throughout the duration of washing teeth.  But, we should guide them while they are young to respect this valuable commodity.

Bathroom: Turn off the tap when washing teeth!  Have a shower instead of a full bath!  Don't flush the toilet more than you have to - put paper tissues, cotton buds and cotton wool in the bin!

Kitchen: Don't run the dishwasher or washing machine unless its full. Don't rinse fruit and vegetables in running water, use a bowl.  Don't wash dishes under running water, use a bowl.  Keep a jug (or reuse a bottle!) of cold water in the fridge instead of running the water until it gets cold each time you want a drink.

Garden: Get a water butt for watering flowers in the garden rather than using a hose.

It can be easy and fun to save water if you do it together!  And, did you know:

• only 2.5% of the world's water is freshwater: all the rest is salt water
• only 8% of the world's water is for domestic use: 70% is for agricultural use
• in the developing world, water-borne disease is responsible for 80% of illnesses and death
• we can go without food for about a month, but you won't survive longer than 7 days without water

Recent research has discovered evidence that some cases of childhood obesity are linked to genetic mutations, but the studies suggest that fewer than 2% of cases of obesity in children are caused by genetics.  Childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions with 1 in 5 children in the US and 1 in 7 in the UK classed as obese.

Obesity is measured by calculating body mass index which is calculated by dividing your height in kilograms divided by the square of your height in metres.  A result greater than 30 is considered obese although a high proportion of muscle, which is heavier than fat, can produce misleading results.

Obesity is linked to a number of problems, mental and physical, including:-

• Low self esteem and depression
• Low motivational drive, including feelings of lethargy
• Increased risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure
• Reduced quality of sleep (sleep apnea)

Most causes of childhood obesity are linked to lifestyle - nutrition and activity being the two main factors.  Parents have a responsibility to look after their children and help their children avoid excessive weight gain.  Simple steps that you can take include:-

• Encouraging an active lifestyle - make sure that your children have time to run around outdoors and in the park
• Avoid excessive snacking - children don't need to be grazing constantly but it is an easy habit to develop, ration snacks to appropriate times of the day
• Provide a role model - if you are excessively overweight then your children will consider entirely normal
• Encourage whole foods and healthy snacks rather than fast food and soft drinks
• Don't let your children choose their meals - they will probably focus on unhealthier foods - ensure you give your children a balanced diet
• Breast feed as long as you can - research suggests that breastfeeding protects children against obesity in later life
• Make sure your children consume vegetables and dairy products in their diet

Childhood obesity is something that you will want to avoid.  There is no approved medication for obesity in children but so much can be done by adapting lifestyle.  If your children are growing excessively overweight for no apparent reason, then do seek medical advice.  There may be more serious underlying problems not linked to lifestyle, but remember that these cases are rare.

If you are having trouble getting your little one to eat new foods then read on!  New research conducted by Reading University has discovered that children that look at pictures of new foods, are more likely to try and eat new foods.  Children seemed more willing to look at new fruits if they had seem them in pictures, so they wondered if looking at pictures then encouraged encourage children to actually eat them.

Only a small sample was taken - just ten children - and each day they looked at a picture book containing some new fruit and vegetables.  They were then offered the unfamiliar fruit and vegetables they saw in the picture book and some new ones too.  On the whole, if they had seen the pictures in the book of unusual fruit and vegetables before being presented with them, they were more likely to eat them!

This suggests that showing children pictures of healthy food could well increase the chance of them actually trying and eating them!  All those posters in nursery schools and libraries advocating healthy eating may really have a beneficial effect if the children see them often enough!

More research is being carried out to test this further... but its great news for those with fussy eaters.

Why not try it at home!  Make a 'New Food Booklet' with your little one.  Find pictures of unfamiliar fruit and vegetables in a supermarket brochure, the ones they print with their special offers.  Cut them out and stick them on some pages to make a booklet.  After a few weeks of looking at the book together on a daily basis, see if your child is willing to try one of the fruits.  This could be the end of fussy eaters driving their poor mothers to distraction... even if it isn't a cure for toddlers unwillingness to eat everything you give... at least it will be a fun sticking and gluing activity to make a homemade book together.

Bon appetite!

Cupcake decorating is a fun activity that children can enjoy at almost any age!  If you don't want to make your own cakes, you will find undecorated cupcakes very reasonably priced in any food store.  As well as cupcakes, buy a variety of decorations such as icing in squeezy tubes, marzipan, chocolate sprinkles, silver balls, chocolate drops and any other confectionary you fancy.

Why not invite some of your children's friends around and have a cake decorating party?  Sit everyone round a table and let everyone help themselves to the various decorations.  Mix some drops of food colouring into marzipan and work it through to an even colour - you can make an array of different colours.  The children can make models out of marzipan to sit on top of cakes and they'll love that they can eat them later!

Older children can make animals, dinosaurs, verhicles - anything they like!  Younger toddlers might just want to make squiggles and shapes and just play with the different textures.  Even babies can join in the fun, strapped into a highchair with bits of marzipan to squidge.  Be aware that marzipan contains almonds, so it isn't suitable for babies under 1 year, or for anyone suffering nut allergies.  Click here for a recipe for a nut-free alternative to marzipan from RecipeZaar - you might prefer to make this anyway as it's much cheaper than shop bought marzipan!

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that babies are exclusively breast fed for 6 months, with supplemental breast milk being given for two years - whether you achieve this or not, there comes a point when you want to introduce cows milk.  Accepted advice is that cow's milk shouldn't be introduced into your baby's diet until they reach 1 year, and because it lacks manyof the nutrients found in formula milk (particularly iron) that you must balance a healthy diet with solid foods to supplement vitamins and minerals.

Cow's milk has long been a staple of Western diet although in recent times it has stirred up some controversy.  Look online and you'll find plenty of debate surrounding milk as to whether it is an important part of our diet or not.  There has been increased instance of dairy intolerance in our populations, factory farming has undoubtedly reduced the quality of milk over the last 50 years, and there is lots of research suggesting that milk is actually bad for us.  If that is what science tells us as adults, is it wise for children to be given cows milk at all?

Common sense would suggest that milk cannot be overly harmful or dangerous, and that if it forms a part of a balanced diet, then it is difficult to dispute that the nutrients in milk can offer anything but good.  If you prefer not to introduce your children to cow's milk then there are alternatives.  If you think your baby may be lactose intolerant then you can try goat or buffalo milk as popular alternatives.  Goat's milk does contain lactose but seems to be fine for people who suffer intolerance, nutritionally it is very similar to cows milk.  Buffalo milk is even more nutritious.

If you wish to give your baby a vegetarian diet then you can use soya or rice milk which are widely consumed as healthy alternatives to cow's milk. They contain less fat and fewer calories and research suggests that they may assist in preventing cancers.