Tips for More Active, Healthy Kids From Marshfield Clinic Experts for National Public Health Week

    MARSHFIELD, Wis., April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- In support of National Public
 Health Week, April 7-13, focusing this year on overweight and obesity,
 Marshfield Clinic health experts recommend these tips for better health among
 children and teens.
     "Increasingly, trends show Americans of all ages are adopting sedentary
 lifestyles and poor eating habits," said Charles McCauley, M.D., a Marshfield
 Clinic cardiologist and founder of Marshfield Clinic's Healthy Lifestyles
 Initiative.  "The American Public Health Association (APHA) believes it's the
 biggest problem facing kids today and our experts agree."
     Health professionals at Marshfield Clinic offer the following tips for
 young people:
 
     -- Slow down on fast food:  Limit fast food to one time a week and don't
        supersize.
     -- Get physical:  Walk or do something (anything!) for 30 minutes at
        least five days a week.
     -- Turn it off:  Turn off the TV and computer at least one hour a night
        and do something fun on your own or with others.
     -- Say no to soda:  Limit intake of soda and fruit juice and drink water
        or milk instead.
     -- Say yes to fresh:  Eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.  A
        serving is one piece or one cup cooked.
     -- Portion your snacks:  Don't eat from the box, bag or can.  Pour out a
        serving and stick to that.
     -- Count on calcium:  Teens need 1,300-1,500 milligrams of calcium a day.
        That could come in the form of milk or vegetables like broccoli and
        other appropriate food choices.
     -- Embrace iron:  For optimum brain and body performance, teenage girls
        should embrace a well-balanced diet that contains iron-rich foods.
     -- Aim for fitness, not thinness:  Don't skip meals.  Eat healthy meals
        and snacks throughout the day.  Not everyone is made to be thin -- but
        we can all be fit.
     -- Indulge once a week:  If there's something you crave, eat it once a
        week, but in moderate portions.  Anticipate it and make it special.
 
     Marshfield Clinic is helping to lead the way toward good health through
 better nutrition and fitness.  Two years ago, Dr. McCauley began the Healthy
 Lifestyles Initiative that led to the development of a community-wide
 coalition that promotes the health of people living in the Marshfield area.
 The coalition is intended to be a model for communities across the country.
     Marshfield Clinic is the largest private group medical practice in
 Wisconsin and one of the largest in the nation.
 
 

SOURCE  Marshfield Clinic