Before you had children, you may have never noticed the amount of food advertisements that are aimed directly at children. However, now, as a parent, you may be astonished to discover just how much time and money food industry advertisers devote to gaining the attention of your child. As the CEO of a healthy vending machine company and a parent myself, I am appalled at this unfortunately truth. Fortunately, this has not escaped the attention of the many people who are concerned about children’s weight, diet, and health care issues.

To that end, last year the Kaiser Family Foundation released the findings of their study of these very advertisements, and as many parents already suspected, a large number of these ads were devoted exclusively to getting children hooked on junk food. In fact, as the study reported, children ages 2 to 7 were the targets of approximately 12 food ads per day, children ages 8 to 12 were the intended subjects of 21 food ads per day, and children ages 13 to 17 were the targets of about 17 ads per day. In short, the study reaffirmed what parents already believed about food advertising: the average child see hours upon hours of it each year of his or her life.

The study also focused on discovering what kinds of food ads were being directed toward children. And, to almost no one’s surprise, it discovered that the majority of these ads were for candies, unhealthy snack foods, sugary cereals, and fast food restaurants. A very slim portion of the ads were devoted to encouraging children to eat their fruits, veggies, and other healthy food options, but these percentages were dwarfed by the large ad buys of the junk food markets. That said, there are few things that a parent can do to keep their child from viewing these ads. The ads are so pervasive that even if you restrict television viewing in your own home, there are few ways to prevent you child from seeing at least some of these promotions once they cross over your threshold and enter the outside world. So what should you do to counteract the influence of such ads on your children?

Start by teaching your child about the basis of good nutrition. Invite him or her into the kitchen to help you plan and prepare meals for your entire family, allowing your child to make suggestions for healthy entrees or side items. Teach your children how to incorporate fruit and vegetables into mealtime. Prepare healthy snack foods for your children, and encourage them to choose healthy snacks even when they are away from home by selecting options from YoNaturals healthy vending machines. As a parent, you may not be able to stop the ads from being shown to your child, but you can counteract the influence that they have over your child’s food choices.

- Content Approved by YoNaturals Mark Trotter

Many of today’s parents can remember back to their own childhood, when a fellow classmate’s birthday was celebrated with a birthday cake, ice cream, cookies, and soda pop. Understandably then, it is shocking for some of these same parents to hear that these treats are now banned in their own child’s classroom. However, while many parents wonder why these sugary snack bans are being enacted, others are pushing for even stricter regulations as researchers continue to link poor diets with childhood obesity and other serious health problems for youngsters.

Unfortunately, even after being educated about the dangers of childhood obesity and the motivations behind these bans, some parents continue to deem this government intervention an unnecessary and unwanted policing of the lives of private citizens. The task at hand for many educators, administrators, and fellow parents is to simply educate the opponents of this ban and to convince them of the merit of these government measures.
Even as this battle is being waged in living rooms, classrooms, and front lawns, researchers are publishing more and more information on the rising rates of childhood obesity in this country and continuing to document the fact that it has reached epidemic levels. Some scientists even predict that this will be the first generation of children in over two hundred years that will have shorter life expectancies than their parents. Levels of overweight children ages 6 to 11 have experienced a large growth in numbers since 1974, expanding over 380% from that year. Children ages 12 to 19 have also experienced a large growth, although it is slightly lower at 258%.

Hopefully, for the sake of all children, the new publications that are being produced by these researchers and the new information that is emerging on the state of children’s health in America will continue to sway parents into believing that these bans are a good and necessary government intervention into their child’s life. And the number of schools that ban the sale of unhealthy snacks and sodas will continue to grow as parents change their minds.

However, for the few stalwart parents that refuse to be converted, proponents of the bans may want to address other concerns. Some parents will be worried that the elimination of snack food vending machines from the schools will take away the flexibility and convenience of the after school snacks that they can provide, unhealthy as they may be. Of course, there are alternatives to the traditional machines, and no one should have to sacrifice health for the sake of convenience. This is where a company like YoNaturals comes into play: providing 100% organic and natural snacks from the convenience of vending machines. The best of both worlds; Who could ask for more?

The teenage years are often some of the most difficult ones of a child’s life, even with respect to something as basic as maintaining a healthy diet. Teens spend so much time with their friends, snacking and eating meals together as they commiserate over life’s circumstances. Further, many of these meals take place in fast food restaurants due to most teenagers’ limited cash flow. These circumstances can mean that teens inadvertently end up eating foods that are chock full of fat, sugar, and calories. Unfortunately, this decrease in diet quality coincides with an increase in nutritional requirements, especially for kids in their early teens as they go through puberty.

Iron and calcium are two of the most important players in this rapid growth phase. Iron is used by the body to carry oxygen to muscles. Teenage girls are especially susceptible to an iron deficiency, and parents should make sure that they are getting plenty of iron-rich foods in their diets. As for calcium, as teenage bodies grow, they have an increased need for the nutrient that will strengthen their skeletal systems. Although the body adjusts to absorb more calcium during these rapid growth phases, some teens simply do not eat enough calcium-rich foods to meet the demand. Deficiencies in these areas can cause both long and short-term problems.

Fortunately, with the guidance of their parents, teens can develop (and maintain) healthy eating habits that will not only benefit them now but also for the rest of their lives. Of course, the best way to meet diverse nutrient needs is by choosing foods from all of the food groups. Although a daily vitamin can be a useful supplement to a well-balanced diet, it should never be used as a substitute for proper nutrition. A well-balanced teen diet is not so dissimilar from a well-balanced adult diet, so building healthy habits as a teen can have benefits that last well into the adult years.

For many teens, another important aspect of maintaining their overall health is making sure that they get enough exercise. As with their adult and child counterparts, a lack of exercise is one of most basic causes of teen obesity. It is important for teens to be physically active on a regular basis in order to build muscle and develop strong bones. Going for runs or walks; playing soccer, ultimate Frisbee, or flag football; or taking dance or karate classes are all good ways for teens to ramp up their physical activity levels.

It all starts with educating teens about what kinds of foods they are putting into their bodies. Encourage them to choose healthy snacks from YoNaturals vending machines (even when mom and dad are not around) for a lifetime of good health.

When it comes to eating healthy, it goes beyond just the foods you eat, but it also includes the way you prepare those foods and the seasonings you use in those foods. You can take a healthy food, but if you prepare it with seasonings that are loaded with empty calories, you have defeated the purpose of eating healthy foods. In order to assure that you are eating the healthiest foods possible, you want to pay close attention to the way you prepare foods your family eats and the type of seasonings you include. Many herbs and spices have almost no calories yet provide flavoring that is even tastier than that of the customary butter, salt and pepper.

One of the problems with choosing healthy foods is learning to prepare them in ways that are healthy as well. For example, when people buy zucchini, the first thing they want to do is bread it and fry it in butter which turns a healthy vegetable into one that is high in saturated fat and cholesterol.  If you want to fry foods, you should learn to use olive oil which has no cholesterol and is actually healthy for you. Learning to bake or grill meats instead of frying them makes a big difference in not only the calorie content but also the cholesterol and fat. Unfortunately there are still many people who insist on frying chicken, steak and pork chops because that is the way they were taught or because they have developed their own recipe and think any other method of cooking will spoil the flavor of their creation. It’s important to learn how to make adjustments so that your family is eating meals that are healthier, something that is not only a part of the foods you prepare but also the way you prepare them as well.

In addition to parents learning how to cook healthy foods, the schools need to learn to prepare healthy snacks. Some of the responsibility falls to the vending machine vendors that service the schools, but with Healthy Student Vending (a YoNaturals initiative) offering healthy and organic snacks, they can replace the empty calorie snacks that many schools now offer in their vending machines. Replacing unhealthy snacks in vending machines in our schools is certainly a step in the right direction, but it has to follow to every area of a child’s life, especially the home. Parents need to make a commitment to change the foods they buy and the way they cook them in order to provide their families with healthy meals.

Author: Brenda Coxe

Author: Laura Rayburn

In the on-going fight against childhood obesity, it is increasingly important for parents to model healthy behavior for their children. It’s no secret that children look to their parents for ideas on what kinds of actions, behaviors, and attitudes are accepted and expected in their household. Children will then imitate these patterns and habits that are set forth by their parents or guardians. This means that, as a parent, it’s your responsibility to model the positive attributes that you want and expect to see in your children one day, including good attitudes toward healthy eating and exercise routines.

The food that you put on your child’s plate (and on your own plate) now will affect them for the rest of their life. Feed them healthy foods now, and later on it will seem strange to them if they are not eating healthy foods. For example, if you put an emphasis on purchasing and preparing fresh vegetables for dinner each night, then your children will be much more likely to make fresh veggies a cornerstone of their diets when they are grown and have families of their own.

Exercise is another area where you can get your child involved early on. A cursory glance at your local park will reveal that there are many new moms and dads that take their babies out for jogs, walks, and bike rides. In addition to the physical fitness benefits that you will reap now, bringing your children up in a climate where fitness is emphasized will benefit them as they grow older and are able to exercise on their own. As your child matures into her adolescent years, talk to her about the importance of maintaining a regular exercise schedule and the impact of exercise on your own health.

Another positive habit that you can model for your children is maintaining a positive body image. Even as children, they will be on the receiving end of many of the messages that our culture sends. Unfortunately, one of the messages with potential to cause the most harm is that in order to be beautiful, a person must meet certain physical standards set forth by the fashion industry. Reinforce positive ideas about physical fitness and healthy eating instead of focusing your attention on comparing yourself to a stick-thin supermodel.
Last but not least, remember that it’s going to be difficult to always be prepared with a healthy snack when you’re a parent. Fortunately, these days you have a better option than choosing a snack or soda from the traditional vending machines. Seek out YoNaturals healthy vending machines instead. Choose it for you, and choose it for your child.

Author: Jessica Vachal

Eating healthy can most certainly be tricky, especially when you are dealing with so many other difficulties and stresses in your life. The last thing you want to have to think about is how many calories you are eating or how much more fiber you may need in your diet. All you seem to have time to concentrate on is how much work you have to do or all the errands you have to run, and all you want is to stuff yourself full of enough food to keep your stomach from growling through your next meeting.

Unfortunately, most people use potato chips or candies from the vending machine at work to keep themselves satiated enough to get through the day, when in reality this food is  not at all beneficial to their bodies and is serving no good at all to the functioning of your day. Unfortunately, most people don’t have the option of choosing their midday snacks from a YoNaturals healthy vending machine, which offers organic fruit juices and other organic snacks, and instead are only given options ranging from fatty chips to too-sugary candy bars. This is no selection at all, really, being as it is that foods this high in fat and oils can do nothing for your body but deplete it of vital nutrients. This, in turn, leaves you feeling hungrier throughout the day rather than full for that meeting.

The key to staying fuller, longer is to eat foods that are more full of fiber and nutrients so your body is getting benefit from the meals you eat rather than ending up hungry again in a couple of hours. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables and you will be amazed at how well your body will function throughout the day and how satiated you will remain for not all that many calories. Yes counting calories can be exhausting and frustrating which is why so few people do it on a daily basis. However, if you simply focus on making sure to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, you don’t have to worry about counting the calories you consume because you can rest assured that the calorie count will not be very high with how full the foods will make you, and the nutrients your body will be getting will make any excess calories worth it. Of course eat protein sources as well, but make sure you don’t skimp on the fruits and veggies!

Jessica VachalThe desire to eat healthfully is the sort of thing that is affecting all adults these days – the desire to look your best is a huge push towards this desire, but whatever it takes, right? The same should be true for children, however, and with the childhood obesity epidemic reaching epic proportions in the United States today, looking good can even be a minimal priority at such tender ages. The fact is, overweight children have a tendency to be teased at school, and wouldn’t any parents want to spare their children from any teaching if at all possible? There should be no focus on a child to look any certain way of course – there is no need to plant seeds that may forever damage a child’s fragile ego – but there should definitely be an emphasis on encouraging your child to be healthy.

Being healthy can mean nothing more scary or intense than eating fruits and vegetables. The push to encourage kids to eat such foods however, can be rather tricky, as any human being is going to go for fatty, sugary foods over fresh fruits and vegetables for taste alone. Yet that is the key to starting your children off young in learning what is healthy to eat and what is not. The child who grows up eating fruits and vegetables habitually and having fast food as a treat every now and again is going to be much more capable to keep their weight down all throughout their adult life, and will lead a healthier lifestyle because of it..

This responsibility does fall on the parents, however, because they must lead by example. They must teach a child what is good to eat everyday and what is not so that a child can make good decisions all by himself. If you teach that fruit juice is better than soda, then a child will be able to choose the YoNaturals vending machine between the vending machine options at school, and will choose one of their organic fruit juices or organic snacks rather than the potato chips or chocolate candies located in one of the other vending machines. Giving your child the tools to deal with life on their own is the real task of parenthood, after all. So make sure you work as a family to teach healthy living habits to your children, and do your best to keep them from picking up unhealthy habits that will hinder them into adulthood.

Author: Jessica Vachal

The push to eat and live healthfully is a strong one for many Americans – despite the rising rates of obesity in their country. Unfortunately, the same needs to be just as true for parents - as childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic within this country as well. It cannot be denied that there is nothing sadder than the thought of your child being teased by mean classmates or standard bullies. However, overweight children are very often the brunt of such cruel childhood pranks, and as parents we should want to do everything possible to keep that from happening with our own children. However, in order to do this, parents generally need to make the first stand in setting an example for their children and in doing so, they need to start eating and living healthfully on a day-to-day basis.

After all, many adults will eat or live healthfully as a particular date draws near that they want to look their best for – a reunion, a vacation, and so forth. When a child is looking up to you for guidance, however, you need to ensure that you are being healthy day in and day out or else your offspring will not learn that this is the way life should be lived every single day. Eating fruits and vegetables is one easy way to make living healthfully a part of your day-to-day life, and at the same time this will allow you to teach your children that the best way to stay healthy and, let’s face it, trim, is to eat a diet rich in both fruits and vegetables. High in fiber and relatively low in calories, fresh fruits and vegetables are a great way to teach your children – and to teach yourself – how to feel fuller, longer with great nutritional benefits to boot.

Learning that fruits and vegetables should be the largest component of your daily intake of food can help a child to make smart choices when they are left to their own devices as well. At school, a well-taught child may choose to get a fast lunch from the YoNaturals vending machine on campus and will choose from its selection of organic fruit juices and organic snacks rather than the potato chips and soda from a neighboring vending machine. A well-taught child will go to a friend’s house and have an extra serving of salad with their pizza rather than two extra slices. The point is that parents must be involved, however, so go to it moms and dads, and buy some bananas and carrots for the fridge.

Eating healthfully is half the battle to maintaining your weight and ensuring that you lead a healthy lifestyle. A lifestyle that you will be able to maintain until you are well into your old age. Of course, you have to start earlier rather than later in order to make sure that you can get the most benefits from your healthy lifestyle endeavors. Also, just to allay some fears, there’s nothing wrong if it takes a little superficial encouragement to get you to lay down the French fries and pick up some carrot sticks, just so long as you do it.

The point is, humans are very easily swayed by what is easier and what is tasty in their lives. For most people, salty French fries basted in grease are much tastier than, say, carrot sticks. But you are, or at least you should be, very well aware that carrot sticks are much healthier for you to eat than French fries. So if you are dedicated to your health, you may still choose the carrot sticks. Still, when you get home from work and are starving, stopping by the local fast food joint to get those French fries is going to seem much easier, and tastier, than running to the store for some carrot sticks when you’re already too hungry to think straight. The key there is to try to eat more throughout the day. Try to keep healthy snacks on hand so that you can munch on those when you are feeling peckish, rather than starving yourself so that on the commute home all you can think about is what you’re going to eat for dinner.

Another temptation is the chance to run up to the office vending machine, but this sir something that should be avoided at all costs. You are not going to be any happier after having eaten a candy bar from the vending machine on your drive home from work, than you will be after having consumed a huge fatty meal after not having had such an equally-fatty snack. Granted, if you have a YoNaturals vending machine at your place of work, then you need to worry less about making sure to have healthy snacks on hand. Unfortunately, not everyone can have the organic fruit juices and organic snacks that YoNaturals offers, and as such the rest of us need to take precautions so that we do not sabotage our attempts to lead healthy lives.

Author: Jessica Vachal

Written by Lisa Arnold for Yo Naturals healthy vending business in San Diego, California - www.yonaturals.com

Fruits are well-known for their healing and cleansing powers. Eating the following fruits everyday are very beneficial to your health:

Apples are excellent for your health and they are delicious. Apples are known for their cleansing powers and for being able to give a boost to your entire system. The juice of an apple has a wealth of the Vitamins A and C. Apples help to protect your bones and help to lower cholesterol. It has also been shown in research studies to help prevent many cancers including, breast, lung, lover and colon. Apples are also an excellent for diabetes and heart disease as well. Apples are also great for relieving constipation.

Bananas are loaded with Potassium which helps to strengthen your heart and muscles. The Potassium present in bananas also helps to regulate blood pressure. Bananas are the most popular fruit in America and they are available year round. They are also great energy boosters and do not contain any sodium, cholesterol or fat and they help to reduce the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer.  Bananas are rich in vitamin B6 which helps to metabolize proteins and bananas are a good source of fiber, vitamin C and magnesium. Folate found in bananas helps with memory and attentiveness.

Grapes are considered to be incredible sources of potassium which helps your body regulate its blood. Plus it regulates your heartbeat and will help to stimulate your kidneys. Grapes also contain Resveratrol which is a chemical that has been shown to be very valuable to overall your health. Resveratrol is mostly found the skin of red grapes. Resveratrol is believed to be anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-viral. Resveratrol is also believed to help lengthen your life. Grapes also have been shown to treat certain disorders including liver, lung and kidney disorders. It also aids with cardiovascular troubles. Grapes are also known to help with high blood pressure, bronchitis, hypertension and much more.

Oranges contain beta carotene that is a powerful antioxidant which is great for regulating the health of your cells. Oranges contain calcium which is good for your bones and teeth. Oranges also contain folic acid which aids with the proper functioning of your brain. Magnesium which is present in oranges helps to regulate blood pressure. Potassium contained in oranges helps maintain cells and it is important for keeping the cardiovascular system healthy. Oranges are beneficial in many other ways including aiding in the treatment of arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, rheumatism, tuberculosis and the kidneys. Oranges also help to lower cholesterol and helps with the prevention of diabetes.

We at Yo Naturals believe that fruits are very important to your health and should be eaten everyday.