你可能在最近的新闻里听过这个消息：超重儿童和青少年（6-19）的数量已经达到了过去40年的3倍。2型糖尿病已经不再是成人的“专利”，青少年也开始受到它的威胁。如果我们不扭转这个势头，许多孩子的心脏会在他们30-40岁的时候遇到麻烦。

水果

　　更有利于健康的学校日程安排可以解决一部分问题，但是笔者认为父母对于孩子饮食习惯的影响是最为重要的。当孩子准备去上学的时候，不要忘记给他们带上“课间健康点心”。

　　笔者孩子的学校曾向家长们表示，家长给孩子们带的点心必须要有利于孩子们的健康。果汁是不允许带的，水没问题，矿泉水最好。建议带上水果和蔬菜，但是不可以带曲奇饼干、蛋糕、含糖量搞的水果点心等。
    如果作为家长的你想要为购买一些孩子上学吃的点心，下面的列表可以备选：卖水果和蔬菜，全麦饼干不要，加工过的碳水化合物不要。

　　家长们，机会在你自己，是为孩子一生的健康饮食习惯打下一个好基础呢？还是成帮他们养成坏毛病呢？

Pack a fruit or veggie for school snacks

You've probably heard it in the news lately. The number of overweight children and teenagers aged 6-19 has nearly tripled over the last 40 years. Type 2 diabetes is not an adult-only disease anymore, adolescents are developing it. If we don't turn this trend around, many kids will have heart trouble by the age of 30 or 40. Healthier school fare is a part of the solution, but I believe parental influence on meal and snacking habits is most crucial. As your children head off to school in the coming days, do not forget about packing a healthy school snack (if required) ... I'll write later on healthy school lunches.

My little guy will step on the bus today for his first day of kindergarten. He is thrilled. He is ready. We walked the school hallways during an orientation earlier this week, and yesterday we had a kindergarten briefing where we learned all about school policies. The policy-chat was briefly interrupted by a tornado warning, where the entire school hit the deck in the hallways for 20 minutes, but luckily, no twisters!

As the policy-talk ensued, the teacher announced daily snacks must be healthy. Juice boxes were not allowed. A water bottle was fine, but the drinking fountain even better. Geez, I was starting to really like this school. Fruit and vegetables were strongly suggested, but no cookies, mile-high frosted cupcakes or sugary fruit snacks. I nearly stood up and clapped, but I didn't want to freak out a roomful of mommy strangers. After reading Allie's recent post on water, I will definitely pack a water bottle.

Yesterday afternoon we headed to the store and Frank picked out his snack -- he searched and searched until he found a perfectly shaped green apple. It's in his backpack, ready and waiting for his first day of big kid school. If you're shopping for school snacks, here is a helpful list of ideas to bring. Think fruits and vegetables. Don't throw those sugary graham crackers in your shopping cart. Stay away from the processed carbohydrates. This is your chance to develop healthier habits for a lifetime. Hey, you might not even need to be the fall guy -- hopefully it's "school policy."