Julie Dean's daily nutrifix

Thirsty Work Blog

Text link: http://thirstywork.britvic.com

Drink Aware! New Research shows that soft drinks are NOT linked to weight gain in teenagers

In a five year study – nicknamed ‘Project EAT’, scientists looked at the ways in which drinking soft drinks was linked to the risk of obeity in teenagers. In all, almost 2,300 teenagers took part in the study over the five year period – which saw scientists take an in depth look at their diet and eating habits. As an indicator of obesity, scientists were keen to monitor the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the teenagers – in order to see how the percentage of their body fat was affected by the drinks they consumed.

According to the results, which were recently published on a well-respected nutrition website, it was found that those teenagers who drank little or no milk gained more weight than regular milk-drinkers. But, that aside, there was no conclusive evidence to show that the consumption of soft drinks was related to weight gain in the teenagers being monitored, which would seem to suggest that the age-old adage remains true: a little of what you fancy does you no harm!

Fruit Shoot and the Which! Report

A lot of you will have seen today’s coverage around Fruit Shoot. It’s reports such as that these that make us parents feel even more confused! We know that what we choose for our children’s lunch box is based on health but also variety and balance and things we know will be eaten!

 

The Which? article which the media have focused on, reported on the sugar content of regular Fruit Shoot, in a look at four different food and drink products that may appear in children’s lunchboxes . Misleadingly the Which? feature looked at the  sugar content of regular Fruit Shoot but showed a  picture of our Low Sugar variant- clearly identified by its blue top. Furthermore if Which? had delved a bit deeper they would have found out that 85% of all Fruit Shoot purchased is Low sugar with less than 2.4 grams of sugar per 200ml!

 

At Britvic, we adhere to the recommended Schools Food Trust guidelines, which encourage children to drink mainly water, milk or pure juice at school.  That’s why the only product within our Fruit Shoot range that we actively recommend parents include in their children’s lunchbox is our 100% Pure Juice.

 

 

I think it’s also important for parents to know that the Fruit Shoot range has seven varieties, which reflects what we know from research parents want for their children.  The majority of parents go for the low sugar option which is why we now offer so many more low sugar flavours than our regular range. But we also know that some parents prefer to avoid low calorie sweeteners altogether and that, on occasions, sugar provides children with some well needed energy, which is why we still offer the regular range in Orange and Blackcurrant flavours. Most importantly, we offer parents the opportunity to choose what suits them best.

 

To help parents make an informed choice about what suits them and their families, we constantly strive to provide clear nutritional information on all our packs – and that’s why we developed a coloured cap system. The blue cap indicates our low sugar range whilst the green cap indicates our regular range, without low calorie sweeteners.

 

We also know that children are more likely to stay hydrated when they like what they’re drinking, which is why we’ve created a full range of drinks for kids to meet their different needs when they’re out and about.

 

I’d be really interested to hear what you think, so do feel free to get in touch via Julie@juliedean.com

 

 

It's Good To Talk

Hi

I had a great time doing a web chat with the net mums members this morning – thank you to all those who joined in. I hope I managed to answer

all your questions but if you do have any more thoughts please email me

Julie@Juliedean.com or join my blog!

If you want to see the topics we covered today click here

http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/ambitions-autumn-657/live-webchat-robinsons-dietitian-julie-dean-659/

I look forward to hearing from you!

Julie

 

Understanding Fruit Shoot

I’ve noticed there has been some chat on Netmums around drinks for young children and in particular the value of Fruit Shoot. My heart goes out to mums over all the anguish around what to give young children to drink – we mums are meant to understand so much! I wish more communication was around when my girls were young – they are teenagers now so I should probably find a site to help me!

As the qualified nutritionist for Britvic, the company that makes Fruit Shoot, I’m keen to help other mums understand more about what is in our products so they can make informed decisions.  I’ve noticed lots of the mums on netmums are worried about aspartame which is completely understandable as there’s so much confusing information out there! 

In actual fact the sweetener aspartame is one of the most thoroughly tested ingredients of all time and in over 30 years of scientific tests no conclusive evidence has been uncovered to suggest any link to health problems.  As recently as June this year, another major report on the effects of aspartame by the European Food Safety Association has once again given it the all clear. 

In reality aspartame brings nothing new to the diet. It is made up of two amino acids –which are the building blocks of protein – and you will find these amino acids naturally occurring in many foods. The amino acids are incredibly sweet – in fact these same amino acids are found naturally occurring in breast milk and they contribute to its sweetness.

It’s understandable that despite this reassurance some mums out there might still feel uncomfortable giving their kids any food or drink containing aspartame.  Those mums might be interested to know that Fruit Shoot Regular and our 100% range of pure juices (Fruit Shoot 100%) do not contain any aspartame and none of the products across the Fruit Shoot range contain any artificial flavours or colours.    

Mums opinions are really important to us and we are always listening to mums to make sure we are meeting their needs – that’s why we launched the new Robinsons Be Natural range earlier this year.  Be Natural is made from only naturally sourced ingredients and contains no artificial preservatives or sweeteners.  As both Robinsons Be Natural and Fruit Shoot 100% do not contain any preservatives they must be stored in the refrigerator after opening and consumed within three weeks.

I’m more than happy to answer any questions you might have so don’t hesitate to drop me an email at julie@juliedean.com and I’ll do my best to answer your queries.

Julie

What's Happened To Playtime?

The school holidays are upon us and I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to see children up and about having fun together rather than sitting in isolation with their computers and play stations. It is worrying then that a recent study revealed that many children actually don’t know how to play without the use of some electrical gadget. The report[1] entitled ‘Big Mothered Britain’ which surveyed over 4,000 parents, found that today’s generation of children are missing out on the wide variety of traditional childhood games that we grew up on.

 

I don’t think I can remember any of my childhood girlfriends not having a skipping rope but this report revealed only 24% of girls today skip often. Other childhood activities that are disappearing include hopscotch for girls and tree climbing among boys.

 

Of course we did not have access to the ‘readymade’ entertainment, such as play stations, Wiis and Nintendo consoles, which our children are surrounded by so we had to rely on using our imagination and physical skills to create our world of fun.   

 

Whilst there is a lot to be said for children growing up to be computer savvy it cannot be good if they are so committed to their hand held games that they don’t get enough exercise, and they will surely miss out on learning to play as part of a team.

 

I have to confess though that in this busy world of fast cars I have not given my children the same freedom, to cycle or play wherever they want, as my parents allowed for me.  There has to be a balance which is why it’s great that the Fruit Shoot team have updated their web site with easy to follow instructions to enable  children to learn all sorts of new and different skills – from skipping, football keepy-uppy’s, beatboxing and ping-cup visit www.fruitshoot.com.

---

[1] Research of 4,000

UK

parents, conducted by Consumer Analysis Limited, March 2009

Children drink too little in hot weather

In today’s Daily Express, the well known nutritionist Anita Bean (she has written some great books on nutrition and sports for children!)   Click here for Anitas web stie. reported on a recent survey that children are not drinking enough during this hot weather. 

Im not surprised by the findings -  children do tend to be more at risk than adults of becoming dehydrated as they’re generally more active and may have difficulty recognising when they’re thirsty.  Having a variety of drinks including water, juices and squash readily available is the best way to keep children hydrated this summer. 

Did you know….?

• Children need proportionally more fluids than an adult
• Children do not always respond to thirst. Often they are just not bothered to stop what they’re doing, they may not have access to fluids or simply don’t like what is on offer!
• Dehydration in children may cause a lack of concentration and poor short term memory, fatigue, dry skin, irritability, craving sugar, less urination (dark coloured urine) and is a common cause of constipation
• Children will often grow at a faster pace in the summer versus the winter adding to their hydration needs
• All soft drinks can contribute to daily fluid needs including fruit juices, squashes, water and fizzy drinks
• Drinks will vary in their sugar content so by having different drinks throughout the day, it is easier to balance energy and hydration needs
• Although an excellentorm of hydration, drinking only water can become boring. Research shows that if children enjoy what they are drinking they are more likely to voluntarily stay hydrated

 

Hydrate to activate

When the suns out – its great to encourage as much out door play as possible and with both Wimbledon and cricket on the TV children can become really inspired!  The only watch out is to make sure they drink enough – they can find it quite a chore to keep topped up! But persevere because keeping hydrated really does have benefits, not only for their sporting performance but for concentration, alertness and also their general mood. When the temperature rises so does our need for fluid  but combine this with more activity and you really do have to plan ahead.

To help keep young ones hydrated:

• Don't wait until they say they are thirsty – make drinks readily available and remind them to stop and drink
• Pack a drink in their sports bag -  remind them they will perform better if they have a drink before, during  and after activity

Strawberries and Cream

Strawberries

 

Thank goodness for Wimbledon – I may not be a die hard tennis fan (I never really got over Bjorn Borg’s retirement  ..!) but I love the tradition and excitement which builds up around the event and of course bring on the strawberries. A luxury we really can feel good about indulging in – a small bowl (150g) only contains about 45 Kcals and they are an excellent source of Vitamin C – a massive 82 mg – more than your total daily requirement!

 

Technically strawberries are not actually a fruit but are classified as a “false fruit” but a portion does count as one of your five portions fruit and vegetable per day – so enjoy!

 

I love them on their own or mixed with other summer berries but if you have to have them the traditional way with cream – you may need to think about those extra calories..!.

 

A tablespoon double cream – 112 Kcals

1 table spoon clotted cream – 146 Kcals

A tablespoon of single cream – 50 Kcals

One scoop (60g) of vanilla ice cream – 116 Kcals

125g  natural yoghurt – 75 Kcals

 

 

Post on Dulwich Mum's blog

I’m sure many follow the extremely engaging Dulwich Mum blog and I couldn’t help but laugh at her recent post on Fruit Shoot– yet another classic post from the Lady of Dulwich. She need not worry thought Freya is quite correct – there are no artificial colours, flavours or added sugar in Low Sugar Fruit Shoot……!!