 |
  |
|
 |
 |
An Apple For Santa Want to have some fun this Christmas, and learn about healthy eating in the process? Wish Santa a healthy Christmas with apples!How? It's easy: Leave Santa an apple this Christmas Eve, rather than a fattening sweet. Santa will enjoy apples' yummy flavor and nutrition - apples are loaded with fiber and phytonutrients (nutrients found only in foods from plants), and have no fat or cholesterol. One apple has only 80 calories, zero grams of fat, five grams of fiber, and, according to one Cornell University researcher, as much antioxidant disease-fighting capability as a 1,500 mg. megadose of vitamin C. And Santa won't miss the fat and calories in sweets one bit! By comparison, two regular-size chocolate chip cookies contain about 170 calories, 10 grams of fat, and no fiber or vitamins. By watching out for Santa's health, you can learn some tips about healthy eating yourself. Health experts agree that eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly can help us stay healthy and improve our quality of life. Yet, holiday parties, meals and sweets can make it difficult to eat the way we know we should at this time of year. Try these SANTA guidelines for healthful holiday eating: Stick with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid for a healthful, flavorful diet, including at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Add variety to your diet and add spice to your life by eating a variety of foods each day. Nothing is off limits – just eat less of some foods (like sweets and fried foods) and more of others (like fruits and vegetables). Take changing your eating patterns a day at a time, and you'll build healthful habits for a lifetime. Above all, enjoy eating! Food that is good for you can taste good too.
Have some fun, and learn healthy eating in the process! Here's a two-page healthful holiday eating activity sheet, with games to play and pictures to color:
 |