What Food Insecurity Means for Children
Food insecurity and hunger are closely related but not quite the same. People who are food insecure don't have reliable, ongoing access to an adequate supply of affordable, nutritious food. Hunger is a physical condition; food insecurity reflects barriers to obtaining food such as finances, physical location and transportation.
Infants and toddlers are particularly vulnerable to nutrient deficiencies because their nutrient needs are high, especially in relation to the size of their stomachs and appetites. Caregivers in food-insecure households may have little choice but to settle for cheaper, energy-dense but nutrient-poor foods. As a result, food-insecure infants and toddlers are not receiving adequate nutrition even when they may be receiving enough calories to satisfy hunger.
Even if a child isn't physically starving, inadequate nutrition can negatively affect health in numerous ways, including immune system function, low weight, learning and developmental delays, vitamin deficiencies and more.
Ways to Help Promote Better Nutrition
Support good nutrition during infancy and toddlerhood for your own children and others in the community with these practical tips:
* Participate in (or introduce those in need to) aid programs. Government nutrition assistance programs help provide essential nutrition needs during infant and toddler years. One example is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which provides a variety of resources including food and health care referrals to support mothers and young children at nutritional risk, including pregnant, breastfeeding and post-partum women, as well as infants and children up to age 5.
Another example is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides benefits low-income families can use to purchase nutritious foods. For children and adults who are enrolled in certain care programs, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) helps ensure they have access to nutritious meals and snacks.
* Make purchases that work extra hard. In addition to producing foods that encourage better nutrition for children, some brands also make contributions that help offset food insecurity. For example, for every box of Plum Organics Super Smoothies purchased, the company donates a pouch to a child in need through its "The Full Effect" program. The smoothie is a specially formulated blend of fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains with no added sugars designed to fight malnutrition and help fortify the diets of children who don't have access to regular, healthy meals.
* Act as a role model for healthy choices. Children learn by example, so be sure your little ones see you enjoying nutritious snacks, filling your plate with appropriate portions and preparing well-rounded meals. When kids are exposed to a wide range of healthy options early in life, those food choices become the norm as they grow older.
* Volunteer at a food bank. Getting hands-on by donating your time at a local food bank can help you understand the complexity of food insecurity. Many nutritious selections are perishable, and transporting and storing perishable goods is costly. Volunteers help offset a food bank's operational expenses by contributing labor to sort donated items, prepare deliveries and more.
To find more information about foods that provide infants and toddlers the nutrients they need, visit plumorganics.com.
The next time you invite friends over to celebrate after a home football or volleyball game victory, try this easy-to-make recipe that will light up any party with ear-to-ear grins.
Find more dessert ideas to sweeten up the back-to-school season and postgame celebrations at DominoSugar.com.
Enjoyable weather is coming soon. For many parts of the country September through November offers many pleasant days. Don’t waste them by spending all your time starring at the television or Facebook. You still have some life to live. Spending four or five hours a day watching what everyone else is doing is a waste of your time.
There are programs you enjoy and news events that grab our attention. There are a few people you enjoy keeping up with via social media. After this, get a life. Do you want to spend the rest of your life with your head bent down starring at a tablet or a cell phone? You might get to a point where all you can do is sit in your chair and stare at the television. I’ve seen many good people who at the end of their lives who could do nothing but watch television or stare into space. Often our bodies get to where that’s all we can do. Is this all you can do now? Consider your daily options.
Stop throwing your life away doing nothing. Have verbal conservations with people on the telephone. You can overdo this as well but it’s at least human interaction. Keep moving, stretching and exerting yourself. Plan your meals and eat as healthy as possible and don’t overeat. Save some for your next meal. You’ll live till the next one.
Go somewhere when you can. Going someplace is better than no place. A change of pace and being outdoors is mentally good for you. Your travel may be across the street but the key is to move and get out.
You will get depressed if all you are doing is eating, starring at your cell phone and flipping television channels. If you are physically able, work ten to twenty hours a week. Somebody will hire you.
Everyone needs something to do, someone to talk to and something to look forward to doing. You also need someone to love and first you always have God. God loves you now and if you’ll open your heart, he will fill your life with his love. There are people to love. Love your family, love friends, love people at work and church. Love the people with whom you socially gather. Some people aren’t easy to love and some are impossible. Keep in mind that all things with God are possible. Keep your heart filled with God’s love. Love yourself. You can’t love others very well if you don’t love yourself. Forgive and take care of yourself. You’ll then have something you can give others, love and kindness.
It's sad to be around bitter people who have never resolved life’s issues and embraced their own lives. Everyone has potential to excel and achieve. Too often people get bogged down with failures and are totally destroyed. Some failures are just events in your life in which you will learn about you and others. You can use failure to grow, reposition and redevelop your life.
You know what the political candidates are saying. You don’t have to spend hours watching political ads, unless you are bored stiff.
Enjoy the season. Make this next one a great one.
St. Joseph-Ogden's Collin Thomey tries to head the ball away from University High's Luca Zepeda-Flores during their non-conference soccer game on Thursday. The Spartans were limited to a first-half goal before the Illineks scored three unanswered goals on their home field for the win, 3-1. SJO is back in action on Monday at Schlarman Academy in Danville, while Uni-High will host twin-city rival Champaign Central on Tuesday.
A keen observer of political results and a lifelong Republican until an individual face to face discussion with my congressman clearly revealed the party had become merely a shill for the Fourth Reich to only promote talking points for the 1%’s benefit. Reading The Rise and Fall of Adolph Hitler by William L. Shirer in jr. high school enabled recognition of the Fourth Reich checking off every subversive step of Joseph Goebbels propaganda playbook refined to a high art for over 40 years. Witness we ignored history and are repeating it as our condemnation.
Throughout history hundreds of thousands of the greatest Americans ever have been willing to fight and die to secure and preserve the freedoms, rights, and privileges they bestowed upon our succeeding generations in this country. Now, we are witnessing thousands of Fourth Reich disciples who are willing to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans to destroy that inheritance and our country in the worship of someone who emulates Adolph Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Jim Jones.
It has always been and will always be harder and take longer to create and build a civilized unified society though a shared belief in mankind’s highest ideals and potential, than to internally subvert those goals through destruction and death through division, merely to usurp power from the good citizens who have failed to defeat those who employ propaganda, misinformation, and lies, the foundations of the traitors in their treason to destroy any power great enough to oppose the subjugation of everyone to their evil plot.
Through the masterful use of the power of projection, the Fourth Reich misleads their followers by accusing their opponents of what they themselves are actually doing to magically distract their followers from realizing the truth. ABTT! (Anything But The Truth!) is the gospel to which they must adhere religiously to prevent the end of their masquerade and reign of terror.
Failure to recognize the Fourth Reich masquerading behind the once proud and honorable Republican Party name will soon lead to our country’s inevitable end as is their ultimate goal.
WE MUST DECIDE, IF THE FOURTH REICH ALLOWS IT!
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