Thursday, October 28, 2010

NuVal

I had the opportunity to attend a round table discussion about the new nutritional scoring system called NuVal.  This system was designed to make it easier for the consumer to make better choices at the supermarket.  In a nutshell, the system scores food on a scale of 1 to 100 - 100 being the best.  Our local Coborns stores are implementing this system and I think it is going to be great!  Each food will now have a score associated to it to help you determine which items might be better for you.  With new studies coming out all the time it is hard to make decisions between all the good and bad ingredients.  This system did all the work for you and now you just have to look at ONE score.  You can choose to make better choices or you can totally ignore it, it is up to you.

Here are some websites about the system:

http://www.davidkatzmd.com/
Dr. David Katz - one of the main doctors that developed the system.  He has some great info on his site regarding nutrition in general. The info under ABC for Fitness and Nutrition Detectives are great for kids.  You can also get free DVDs for your kids to watch

http://www.nuval.com/
This is the main site of NuVal

http://www.blendcentralmn.org/
The discussion I attended was put on by a local organization called BLEND.  They are doing amazing things for kids and families in regards to fitness and nutrition.  They have great information on their site.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Monthly activity calendar

Adding another thing to your daily to-do list or monthly calendar isn't always easy.  However, this monthly toddler and preschool calendar does most of the planning and organizing for you.  I have been using this great website, Preschool Express, for quite some time now and I find the monthly toddler and monthly preschool calendars very useful.  On each day there is an activity/idea for your child or something that you can do together.  Most of the ideas are very simple and use items that you would normally have in your house anyway.  They also correspond with the season, theme, holiday, etc.  The website has plenty of other coordinating activities, printouts, color sheets, learning games, activities, etc.  She also offers kits that you can buy if you are interested.  But, if you don't have time to browse the site and put together your own ideas the calendars are a quick and easy way to at least do one fun activity each day.

Preschool Express by Jean Warren