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Home is Where the Heart is for Healthy Eating

Posted: 10/18/2011

For breakfast, dessert or an afternoon snack, these granola bars are healthful and delicious.

(NAPSI)—Heart-healthy eating at home can go a long way toward protecting your family from cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death in the U.S.

The problem can start early. Childhood obesity is growing at an alarming rate. Research proves that obese children are at higher risk of being overweight or obese as adults—and obesity is a risk factor for CVD—so the urgent link between healthy habits in childhood and prevention of CVD later in life is clear.

“Scientific evidence shows that CVD risk factors can have cumulative effects over time,” said Suzanne Steinbaum, D.O., preventive cardiologist, Heart and Vascular Institute, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York. “This underscores the importance of developing healthy habits at an early age.”

Statistics from a 2011 American Heart Association report in Circulation show that:

• More than 67 percent of American adults and about 32 percent of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 are overweight or obese.

• Caloric intake among U.S. adults increased by 22 percent in women and 10 percent in men in one generation, mainly due to larger portion sizes and greater intake of starches, refined grains and sugars.

• Only about 9 percent of American adults are meeting the ideal saturated fat intake level of 7 percent or less of total energy.

To help combat these trends, Alison Lewis, cookbook author and mother, created a “Home Is Where the Heart Is” recipe collection that both parents and children can enjoy. The recipes include breakfast tacos, fish sticks, mini calzones, chicken pasta salad, quick dark chocolate brownies and this one:

No-Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars

2 cups granola cereal

1¼ cups crispy brown rice cereal

1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats

2 Tbsp chopped almonds

¼ cup dried cranberries or dried blueberries

½ cup honey

½ cup creamy peanut butter

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

In large bowl, combine granola, rice cereal, oats, almonds and dried berries; set aside. In small saucepan, stir honey, peanut butter, canola oil and vanilla over low heat for five minutes or until blended. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until coated. Press into a lightly greased 9-by-13-inch pan. Press mixture down tightly with wax paper. Cover and cool completely in pan in refrigerator at least one hour before slicing into 16 bars.

Yield: 16 servings.

Nutritional analysis per bar: Calories 160, Total Fat 7 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 50 mg, Carbohydrates 22 g, Fiber 2 g, Protein 4 g.

Each recipe is made with canola oil, which has the least saturated fat and most omega-3 fat of all cooking oils. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a qualified health claim for canola oil on its potential to reduce the risk of heart disease when used in place of saturated fat.

“It can be a struggle to create healthy meals my kids will eat,” Lewis said. “I succeed by using healthy ingredients to recreate classic kids’ dishes that offer fun with every bite.”

Her recipes and an interactive game promoting heart health are available at www.CanolaInfo.org and Facebook.com/CanolaInfo, respectively, as of September 1, 2011.

Editor’s Note: While this article can be helpful to your readers at any time, it may be particularly appreciated around World Heart Day, September 29, 2011. World Heart Day is a trademark of the World Heart Federation, www.worldheart.org.