Press Release

Release Date: February 2, 2010
HRCHC Contact: Communications Department
Telephone: (207) 861-3466
Email: Communications@HealthReach.org

An apple a day

Sponsored by Lori VanDeventer, pediatric nurse practitioner at Madison Area Health Center

An apple a day…. is just the beginning of staying healthy! Eating not just one apple, but five servings of fruits and vegetables a day is a component of a healthy lifestyle. Here are two more: incorporating physical activity into your family’s life and limiting screen time (both TV and computer). But while you probably know that fruits and vegetables are good for you, how can you tell if other food items, such as cereal, breads, or even yogurts are healthy for you and your family?  The answer involves reading the label.

Here is some basic information about what to look for in a food’s nutrition facts:

Servings, serving size, and calories:  In order to find out how many calories there actually are in a package, you need to multiply the number of servings (2, for example) by the calories (250).  If you eat the whole box, you actually consume 500 calories, not 250.

Daily Value column: The percent of daily values helps you determine the amount of the ingredient in the food. Less that 5% of something is a low amount, and more than 20% is a lot. And remember to multiply by the number of servings you eat! Saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol and sodium are all related to poor heart health, so you want to look for foods with low daily value percentages of these. Vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and fiber are good for you, so you want to look for foods with high percentages of these nutrients.

Ingredient list: Ingredients are listed in order from the greatest amount to the smallest. You want to avoid foods with sugar as one of the first few ingredients. Also look out for these other words, which are different names for added sugars:  corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, honey, and maple syrup.

Reading labels carefully and teaching your kids what to look for in the nutrition facts can help you all work together to eat nutritious foods.

For more detailed information about food labels:
http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/
http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ConsumerInformation/default.htm

Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (PNPs) are health care providers who are dedicated to improving children’s health. PNPs have advanced education in pediatric nursing and health care and they serve children and families in an extensive range of practice settings. Working with pediatricians and other health care providers, PNPs have been enhancing the health care of children for over forty years.

Madison Area Health Center is one of the medical practices of HealthReach Community Health Centers, a system of eleven federally qualified health centers, and two dental practices, in central and western Maine. Dedicated providers deliver first-class health care to citizens in over 80 rural communities.

To ensure access for everyone, HealthReach accepts all major insurances, Medicare, and MaineCare. In addition, the practices offer an Affordable Care Program to uninsured and underinsured residents, and assist with applications for other programs that help with the cost of health care and medications. A private, non-profit organization with a 35-year history, HealthReach is funded by patient fees, grants and individual donations.