Family
Ending Childhood Obesity
February/10/2010 05:20 PM
The Skinny on Childhood Obesity
By Nicole Hanratty
Is it really any surprise that one in three kids today are considered obese? First Lady Michelle Obama is intent on helping all moms who face the daunting task of fighting this seemingly impossible battle and her crusade will not be an easy one. Frequent birthday celebrations and holiday parties at schools bring cupcakes and donuts to snack time weekly. Parties on the weekends customarily offer pizza and cake to kids. Hot lunch menus at school offer fast food from Popeye's Chicken, Domino's and Taco Bell. Long commutes to and from work for parents--in addition to kid's after school activities--make drive-thrus convenient for dinner. French fries have become the standard accompaniment with every kid’s meal at restaurants of all sorts. Sodium, sugar, hydrogenated oils and fat are the primary ingredients in pre-packaged snack foods that get consumed by our children daily. Sodas and juice boxes have replaced water and milk as a main source of hydration. Worse yet, virtual play has replaced bike riding, baseball and running around with friends at the park.
ACCESS: A recent visit to the downtown area of Hartford, Connecticut illustrated to me that there are entire neighborhoods--where people lack their own vehicles--without fresh produce or proper grocery stores to shop for healthy nutritious food. We drove blocks around a lower income neighborhood lined with apartments without coming across one proper grocery store.
Only a minimal amount of fruit and vegetables were offered in the local convenience/liquor stores that we saw within walking distance for those residents. What did line the shelves looked dirty, old and unappealing. Admittedly, I too walked past the overripe fruit to find a bag of Ruffles that looked safe and clean to eat. Sodas and juices were enticingly placed en masse throughout the store and sold for a fraction of the cost of bottled water. For residents in areas like these, access to healthy alternatives stands as a huge barrier.
BUDGET: The cost of healthy eating can be an especially burdensome financial challenge for the lower and middle class in this economy. With everyone needing to cut back and downsize, groceries need to last and perishable items that go wasted are undesirable.
In times like these, it can seem more sensible to spend your grocery money on a box of fruit roll ups that boast being a, "Good source of Vitamin C, Fat Free and Gluten Free," and won't spoil than on a basket of strawberries that will likely last no more than three days. And while you can't compare the two products nutritionally, most parents don't realize this or haven't been educated enough on the negative health effects of replacing fresh fruits with manufactured fruit flavoring. Read More...
Request Responses
October/05/2009 01:39 PM
by Nicole Hanratty
Over the years, I have learned that a wife and mother's job description really knows no boundaries. Whether it is wiping tushies, refilling kleenex boxes, cleaning up trails of vomit, making costumes, baking cookies, selling raffle tickets, purchasing gifts for random strangers or driving from here to Chicago in search of the right sport shoes, there seems to be no limit of what my loved ones will request of me after they spout the word "Honey" or "Mom."
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change hearing these terms of endearment for anything else in the world. It is the dragged out slow question forming ending to the word "Honey" and "Mom" that gives me pause. Here it comes, what will they ask of me next? Read More...
Dance Video Contest
May/26/2009 05:57 PM
I can’t think of a better way to spend Memorial Day than I did yesterday hanging out with friends, swimming, BBQing and sharing some laughs. It was an educational evening as I learned some things about people I never needed to know but couldn’t stop laughing about this morning.
These busy spring days we all need to let our hair down a bit more often and take a break from the end-of-school-year madness.
Looking for something fun to do?
Check this out:
Tiki (the torch company) is holding a contest, and here’s the info….
Read More...
These busy spring days we all need to let our hair down a bit more often and take a break from the end-of-school-year madness.
Looking for something fun to do?
Check this out:
Tiki (the torch company) is holding a contest, and here’s the info….
Read More...
Estate Planning & Procrastinating
April/22/2009 10:57 AM
The dreaded estate planning... Ugh, need I say more? We’ve had the checklists of items to gather up for the attorney for days, weeks, okay months. It has sat on our desks staring at us the way mortality often does, frightening imminent and, at the same time, impossible. But the day had arrived to deliver our paperwork and sign our lives away.
(Don’t worry, you can keep reading. There’s no sales pitch for anyone or anything or in any way associated with this article. Nor will you find ads for estate planners at the bottom of it. I promise. Scroll down and check if you like.)
From where I stand, the world of invincibility is a fabulous place to live when the alternative is having to talk or think about the (God forbid) world our kids would face if we were to (God Forbid) die while they are still young. Did I say God forbid? (God forbid.) Spit spit. Tu tu. Salt over the shoulder. Read More...
(Don’t worry, you can keep reading. There’s no sales pitch for anyone or anything or in any way associated with this article. Nor will you find ads for estate planners at the bottom of it. I promise. Scroll down and check if you like.)
From where I stand, the world of invincibility is a fabulous place to live when the alternative is having to talk or think about the (God forbid) world our kids would face if we were to (God Forbid) die while they are still young. Did I say God forbid? (God forbid.) Spit spit. Tu tu. Salt over the shoulder. Read More...
Fated Nursemaid
January/26/2009 12:54 PM
by Nicole Hanratty
Before 8 am my fate was clear. With both husband and child home sick, it was evident I would spend the day playing nursemaid.
By midnight last night, with coughing echoing throughout every corner of my house, I knew that my Monday morning routine would never see daylight. My usual route which runs like clockwork every week, (two plus grocery stores, the car wash, the drug store, the dry cleaner, the gas station, the bank, and Coffee Bean), was cancelled. Call my vendors, I’m a no-show today. Read More...
Fighting to Win Pavlik vs. Hopkins
October/23/2008 03:10 PM
by Nicole Hanratty
In the house I grew up, with multiple girls, one can only imagine the number of arguments over clothing that my parents had to settle. I can remember my dad telling us sisters numerous times he was going to hand out boxing gloves and let us “duke it out,”--an expression that dates me for sure because no one uses that phrase anymore.
For the record, although I am the youngest, I am certain that I would have won in every match. (No one borrows my favorite shirt without asking and gets away with it!) Read More...
Dog Flight
June/30/2008 01:48 PM
by Nicole Hanratty
Family vacations are always fun! They really bring out the best in marriages. Find me a couple traveling with children and I’ll show you a husband and wife who are bickering over the responsibilities that go along with it. Throw a dog into the traveling mix and I’ll show you an all out battle.
Were it not against all laws of matrimony, the picture above would be of my loving husband asleep with his mouth wide open sitting on the plane totally oblivious to the world around him. Which brings me to the nice man who was, unfortunately for him, seated next to me and left to fill my hubby’s sleeping shoes. Read More...
