How to tackle childhood obesity

By Amanda Ursell

On holiday in Italy this summer what struck me the most wasn’t the over-sized handbags and under-sized bikinis on the beach, but the size of the children.

While piccola toned mammas promenaded along the sand it was striking just how many weighty children, both young and older, were struggling along behind.

In just one generation traditionally ‘slimmer’ nations such as Italy appear to be catching up with our statistics (one in three children under 15 in the UK is now overweight or obese). Excess snacks and sugar-loaded drinks between albeit homemade (and delicious) meals are some of the main culprits.

These unnecessary calories play a major role in our childhood weight issues in the UK, but we can also factor in over-sized portions at mealtimes, a reliance on takeaways and ready meals and a tendency for parents to reward, cajole, bribe and comfort offspring with treats.

So what can we do, when the food environment and social climate of child-led parenting is everywhere we look?

We can encourage the food industry to maintain its current push to reduce sugar, shrink serving sizes and market healthy choices more positively.

But the bottom line is that as parents and carers we have to take control of the what, when, where and how much we feed our children. We need to set examples of good eating habits ourselves, we need to learn to say ‘no’ and face the tantrums that come with initial refusal to further fuel the over-indulgence line.

This isn’t easy, but then breaking any entrenched behaviour isn’t easy, whether it’s giving up smoking, giving up a friendship that has turned bad or giving up an inactive lifestyle.

As a life coach friend of mine once told me: ‘People can either change their lives and feed their kids better, Amanda… or not.’

Once you own up to and embrace the consequences of the ‘or not’ option, which include being complicit in setting your children up for furred arteries, early onset of type 2 diabetes, fallen foot arches, potentially poor self-esteem in teenage years and adulthood, raised blood pressure and increased risk of stroke, then the short-term aggro and hassle attached to taking action and being the ‘baddie’ for a few months pales into insignificance.

I’m strict with my children. I tried being reasonable, allowing dinner in front of the telly one day a week, having biscuits in the house believing they’d know when enough was enough, taking them shopping with me thinking they wouldn’t try to bludgeon me into falling for the special offer on family-size chocolate bars, but it didn’t work.

They’re kids and I’m the adult and now I behave like one. I plan meals, try to cook them myself (or when there isn’t much time ‘assemble’ them - hummus, pitta, chopped carrots and so on), and I insist on sitting at the table, regardless of what they are doing in the minutes before mealtimes.

They often kick off, they often say I’m mean, they often probably wish I wasn’t so flipping strict, but if I’m not in charge of what my children eat now and don’t try to introduce them to a variety of meals, give them vegetables, feed them fruit and insist on trying things quite a few times before declaring they don’t like them… then who will?

Combine this approach with being active whenever we can and, at the moment at least, I can say my kids are on the right side of the weight line.

Who knows how they’ll live their lives when they’re older? They may decide to feast on burgers and chips for ever, but that will be their decision and by that time hopefully memories of home will prevail and they’ll remember that I did at least try to do my bit and that sometimes mums do know best.

Quick and easy shellfish suppers

By Liz Atkins

Are you missing watching the waves rolling on to the beach as you sip a chilled white and look forward to the catch of the day? Well, there’s no reason we shouldn’t bring some of our better eating experiences home at the end of the summer holidays. 

We should be eating two portions of fish a week, say health experts, but as a nation we’re buying less than we did even five years ago. White varieties such as cod, oil-rich fish such as salmon, and shellfish like mussels are all full of nutrients, so why are we so shy of cooking them ourselves?

It took a trip to Greece for me to see the light. When I visited Ammouliani earlier this summer, the main draw was the beaches (this small island in the Mount Athos area is a favourite with Greek and Italian tourists for its crystal clear waters and laidback beachside tavernas but, strangely, isn’t so much on the Brit holidaymaker’s radar), but it was the fish-based diet that got me thinking. 

I’ve never cooked much shellfish myself, but I’ve realised there’s really nothing to fear. I was offered seafood in so many wonderful dishes (some of them a bit octo-tastic for my squeamish tastes), that I filched a couple of the local restaurant chefs’ recipes to try at home.

The best thing is, they’re quick and easy.

Ah, fish… let me count the ways I love you

Quick mussels in spicy sauce

If you’ve never thought of swapping your Tuesday night pasta pesto for a bowlful of steaming mussels, try this easy recipe (great with linguine, tagliatelle or spaghetti). Who knows, we may still get a few hot days in September and be able to enjoy it in the garden pretending to be on holiday.

Serves 2 (or 4 if served with pasta)

1kg fresh or frozen mussels
1tbsp olive oil
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
Chilli, chopped, to taste
Zest and juice 1 lemon, plus ½ lemon, sliced
400g tin chopped tomatoes
Mustard, to taste
Handful fresh oregano leaves
Handful fresh flatleaf parsley, chopped
A little feta cheese, crumbled, to sprinkle

1. Wash the mussels in plenty of cold water, pulling off any beards from the shells and scraping off any barnacles using the back of a sharp knife. Discard any open mussels that won’t close when given a tap on a work surface. (If frozen, follow the pack instructions).

2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the chopped tomato, peppers and chilli and fry for a few min until softened. Add the lemon zest and slices with the tinned tomatoes and bring to the boil. Add the mussels, the lemon juice, mustard and freshly ground black pepper, then cover and cook for 3­–4 min until the shells are open.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and discard any shells that remain closed. Gently stir through most of the parsley and oregano and serve sprinkled with the feta and remaining herbs, with freshly cooked pasta if you like.

Simple Mediterranean stir-fry

A140g serving of shellfish (cooked weight) counts as one of your two weekly portions of fish. It’s high in protein but not fat (although it does contain omega-3s, which are good for your heart), so tuck in.

Serves 2–3

1tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 peppers (orange, yellow or red – or a mix), sliced
400g bag mixed seafood, eg prawns, mussels, scallops and squid (such as Waitrose Fruits de Mer), thawed if frozen
1 garlic clove, crushed
60ml white wine
120ml fish stock
Small handful fresh rosemary, chopped
Small handful fresh flatleaf parsley, chopped

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the peppers for a few min until softened. Add the seafood and garlic and cook on medium-high for 4–5 min (or according to the pack instructions). Add the wine and stock and bring to the boil.

2. Add the rosemary and most of the parsley, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3–4 min until the sauce reduces. Serve straightaway, sprinkled with the rest of the parsley, with salad and hunks of wholemeal bread, if you like.

How to make a gluten-free chocolate cake

A chocolate cherry loaf cake that’s low calorie and gluten and dairy free – we’ve found the ideal lighter treat for the bank holiday 

By Hannah Sherwood

I’m in Bake Off mode, but with an eye on a growing baking trend – gluten-free cakes. So I’ve eschewed my usual sugar, butter, flour and chocolate cake for a lighter recipe, using cocoa and black beans…

In her book Cut the Carbs! Tori Haschka proves you can cook without white carbs and the result will still taste good, filling you up without making you feel bloated or sluggish.

Not that we’re advocating cutting out carbs – a healthy diet needs bread, pasta and rice, preferably wholegrain. Tori adopted a carb-free lifestyle for health reasons, so her book is good for people who have intolerances, particularly to gluten. She says her chocolate, black bean and cherry cake is the simplest cake ever, so I just had to give it a go to see how it compared to a standard chocolate cake.

The prep…

After reading the method and weighing out the ingredients, I begin to understand why Tori declares it a breeze to make; it’s a bung-everything-in-the-food-mixer-jobby (apart from the cherries) and blitz. That’s it!

There’s no flour – instead, you use a tin of black beans (rinsed). It’s also fat free, but there are three eggs so the mixture is rather runny. Unlike some chocolate cakes, this recipe only uses cocoa powder, again helping to keep the fat and sugar levels down. The only slight labour involved was pitting the cherries, but really it was a minor task.

The bake…

The batter was runny, nothing like a normal cake batter, which is thick and creamy, so I was dubious when popping the loaf tin in the oven. 35 minutes later and it had risen slightly and smelt chocolatey and, more importantly, like I wanted to eat it! It turned out of the tin easily, almost resembling a brownie. It’s best enjoyed warm and, as Tori says, would be great served as a dessert with a small dollop of reduced-fat crème fraîche.

The taste factor

The flavour was still good the next day and if I hadn’t told the HFG team it didn’t have flour or any fat in, I’m not sure they would have guessed.

It’s a fab, easy bake and at only 97 calories a slice (based on 10 servings), could almost be classed as a cake that is actually healthy! Compared with a standard slice of chocolate cake with butter icing, you’re saving 210 calories, 15.7g fat, 5.2g saturates and 11.3g sugar…

See and enjoy the recipe here:

1 x 400g tin of black beans, rinsed

3 eggs

100g caster sugar

1 shot (30 ml) espresso or 1tbsp strong filter coffee (you can use decaf if you prefer)

3tbsp cocoa powder

1tsp baking powder (check it is gluten free if cooking for a coeliac crowd)

125g cherries, pitted (can be frozen, and you can also substitute other berries), plus extra to serve

Icing sugar, yogurt, crème fraîche or fresh cherries, to serve (optional)

Equipment

20 x 12.5cm loaf tin, greased and lined with baking paper

1 Heat the oven to 180˚C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Using a stick blender and mixing bowl, blender or food processor, combine all the ingredients except the cherries and blitz until smooth. The batter will appear quite runny, but don’t worry. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and scatter the cherries over the top. Bake the loaf for 35 min, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with a few fudgy crumbs on it.

2 Leave to cool in the tin for 5 min, then turn it out. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with more cherries, yogurt or half-fat crème fraîche for dessert, or allow it to cool and enjoy it with a cup of tea.

 

Per serving (based on 10): 97kcal, 2.3g fat, 0.6g sat fat, 12g sugar, 0.2g salt

Low cal, low sat fat, low salt, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free