Not just what you eat but how you eat.

I ran into an interesting study published in a peer-reviewed journal called Obesity. In this study, researchers at Cornell University looked at the eating behaviors of people at all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets. Their goal was to see if eating habits differed based on BMI. As you can imagine, their habits did differ extensively.

Lessons learned.

If we take what the researchers at Cornell learned from this study and turn it around, we have a concise list of healthy eating habits used by people with normal to low BMI.  Perhaps making some changes on not just what you eat but how you eat it can keep your BMI in check. Here’s the full list:

1. Use small plates, bowls, and cups.
2. Don’t face your food while eating (such as buffets, dessert trays, party spreads, etc).
3. Browse your food options and devise a game plan before diving in.
4. Leave food on your plate.
5. Chew more per bite of food.

Makeover that lunch box.

If the latest study that showed school lunches are linked to obesity didn’t convince you how important lunchtime is for a child’s health, I’m not sure what will. Today we have yet another creative way to take a typical school lunch and flip it into something health and tasty. Presenting chicken nuggets, the healthy way!

Chicken Nuggets the original way.

• Tyson Chicken nuggets in Tupperware or Thermos
• Ketchup
• Veggie chips
• Motts Cinnamon-flavored applesauce
• Oreo cookies
• Chocolate milk

Chicken nuggets the healthy way.

• Tyson All Natural chicken nuggets in Tupperware or Thermos
• Mustard
• Cucumber spears
• Motts All Natural applesauce
• Animal crackers
• 1% or fat free milk

Want more great healthy lunch ideas?  Play our lunchably fun health games Lunch Crunch and Lunch Crunch 2 or visit the My Body’s Kid Page.

Veggie-phobia.

All of this blogging about our newest health game V for Vegetable made me think about a really pretty poster we created a while back for The Woodlands Children’s Museum that talks about picky eating and how to deal with it. After all, many childhood picky eaters don’t like vegetables. I realized that we never really shared this helpful information with you. Now is as good a time as any!

So without further ado, here are some ways that you can encourage your picky eater to try something new, like a new vegetable.

1 – Learn Together

• Stay positive–remember that picky eating is often temporary.
• Learn how to handle eating challenges together by talking about it with your child.
• Avoid conflict so your child won’t learn to use food as a way to exert control.
• Consider what your child eats over several days, not just in one meal.

2 – Shop Together

• Allow your child to pick produce at the grocery store.
• Select one new food to try eat time you visit the store.
• Describe the color and texture of fruits and vegetables.
• Offer “this or that” choices for less desirable foods.

3 – Cook Together

• As a team, read recipes or explore cookbooks.
• Name your dishes or create new ones together.
• Get hands-on with food–stir, measure, kneed, tear greens, and crack eggs.

4 – Eat Together

• Plan times to eat together by putting it on the calendar.
• Focus on food and family by turning off the TV.
• Offer the same foods to the whole family–no special meals for kids or adults.
• Teach your children about small portions by letting them serve themselves.  Teach them to start with a small portion and take seconds if they are still hungry.
• Don’t praise a clean plate.  Allow children to stop eating when full.

Get the poster.

Love these tips? Want a poster so you’ll remember them?  Our Picky Eater Poster is available today in our online store. Pick up your own today!

Show it off.

In my last post about in-game bonuses I mentioned that V for Vegetable is not just a new game because it’s our first action adventure game but because it’s also got tons of fun extras. Besides upgrade abilities for Runner Bean Bunny, you also get to display all the Colossal Carrots you’re able to capture in each level.

How many carrots could possibly be out there, you ask? Did you know they have a whole Carrot Museum in the UK?  Did you know there are white, even purple carrots?

Carrot rainbows.

Upon capturing the Colossal Carrot and returning it to Runner Bean Bunny’s garden, you get the opportunity to display your prized possessions. The image here just shows three of the many carrots you can collect. They’re huge, they’re big, they’re colossal, and they’re coming soon!

All new.

V for Vegetable is not just a new game because it’s our first action adventure game. It’s also got tons of fun extras. For example, between levels, you can use in-game points to purchase upgrades for our hero, Runner Bean Bunny, in the next level.

How it works.

Upon capturing the Colossal Carrot in each level, you must exit the garden labyrinth and collect as many bonus carrots as you can.  When you finally escape with carrot in hand, you can spend these bonus carrots on upgrades.  Here are some of the cool bonuses to expect:

• Upgrades for Runner Bean Bunny
  • Speed: Improves your acceleration; decreases the distance needed to reach top speed from a stopped position. Good for evading Hippobros.
  • Runner Bean Time: Increases the size of the Runner Bean Time meter, allows you to hold Runner Bean Time longer.
• Consumable Items
  • Magic Seeds: Plant a seed to grow large veggies that can temporarily block the Hippobros’ path.
  • Eggplant Peel: Drop a slippery peel to throw Hippobros off balance.
  • Slippery Tomato Sauce: Get greasy to slip out of a Hippobros’ grip should he catch you. Passive ability.
  • Picnic Pail: Drop a tasty lunch pail that causes the Hippobros to stop and snack for a few seconds. An effective but expensive item.
  • Monster Cow Pie: Drop a huge pile of stinky manure to knock out Hippobros that get a whiff of it. An effective but expensive item.

Escaping the Hippobros is going to be so exciting and so much fun!  We can’t wait!