The Food Label Paradox

Does a heavy question mark hang over your head when reading food labels? You’re not alone!

Canadians are experiencing The Food Label Paradox.

Food labels are designed to help us choose healthy products faster and easier, but findings show that they are difficult to understand. One-size-fits-all standardization of food labels and over-labelling have caused food label confusion. This is not only eroding the purpose of food labels to facilitate healthy eating, but this has also become a barrier to achieving healthier diets. 

In a recent study by Loblaw livelivewell survey, food label confusion remains a barrier to achieving healthier diets. The study shows that Canadians want to make healthier changes, with Albertans leading the way:

• 81% of Albertan respondents are making healthier choices than they did more than a year ago.
• Followed by the Atlantic provinces with 70%.
• British Columbia and Ontario at 68% and 67%.
• Quebec at 63% and Manitoba & Saskatchewan at 58%.

Healthy Snacks Rainbow Guide

Healthy snacking can be difficult when you don’t know where to look. But what if the colours of the rainbow can guide you? They say the pot of gold lays at the end of the rainbow – why not use the colourful journey there to keep you healthy!

This is a blog post by Kia Robertson, President of  Today I Ate a Rainbow. 

I sometimes find it helpful to give myself a theme when coming up with healthy snacks for my daughter!  Since we are always working on eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables I decided to share some daily snack ideas based on color!

Using a rainbow as a guide you will be ensuring that your kids are benefitting from a wide spectrum of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

Here are some suggestions for snacks in all of the colours of the rainbow.

French Kids Eat Everything – Twitter Party

When Vancouver mom Karen Le Billon moved her family to France for a year, she ended up uncovering 10 simple food rules that French parents follow to raise healthy eaters!

She was so inspired that she wrote a book called French Kids Eat Everything {and yours can too} that is now available for purchase and has already been featured on Good Morning America! If you’re interested about how you can turn your picky eaters into more adventurous ones, we have the perfect opportunity for you!

Another BC mom Kia Robertson, creator of the Today I Ate A Rainbow kits - a game that gets kids asking to eat fruits and veggies, has teamed up with Karen’s publisher HarperCollins to put together a Twitter Party next week and YOU are invited!

Happy Healthy Eating,

Kia

Karen Le Billon, author of French Kids Eat Everything @karenlebillon

Kia Robertson, creator of Today I Ate A Rainbow kits @eatingarainbow

First time to a Twitter Party? No worries – the more the merrier!

Twitter parties are a fun way to meet new people, learn new things, and win prizes! Make sure you follow the twitter party hosts and join the conversation by including the designated hashtag (in this party #frenchkids) to each of your posts.  Follow us @carrotlines - see you there!

CarrotLines sponsors the Midget AA BC Hockey Championships

CarrotLines is sponsoring the Midget AA BC Hockey Championships this weekend with a healthy raffle food basket! The Province of British Columbia is divided up into eight districts each of which are made up of a number of Minor Hockey Associations. Each district will conduct a playoff series to send a Midget AA team to represent that district in the BC Championships being hosted in Victoria BC March 17th-March 21st 2012.

The Hockey Player’s Diet

The CarrotLines team wanted to offer these young athletes and other hockey fanatics some healthy tips in hopes to better improve their game! Hockey is a fast-paced, anaerobic activity that requires lots of energy. As a result, hockey players need to ensure a well balanced diet that can fuel enough energy for on-ice and off-ice activities.

March Is Colon Cancer Awareness Month

AVOID GETTING A PAIN IN THE BUTT!

According to the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, cancers of the colon and rectum are the second-leading cause of cancer death in Canada.  Colorectal cancer does not discriminate and can develop in both men and women. Often times colorectal cancer first develops with minor, if any, symptoms.

12 Days of Resolutions: For a Happier & Healthier You

It’s a new year and we bet you have made resolutions for a new you. But will you remember them by the time spring comes? With our “12 Days of Resolutions”, we want to help you keep the resolutions you make at the beginning of every year and see them through until the next!

12 Days of Resolutions. 12 resolutions that will help steer you towards a healthier lifestyle, whether you’ve got weight you’d like to lose or not. 12 resolutions that are each in and of themselves extremely straight forward and doable. Some might involve doing, others simply thinking, and if any of them don’t seem useful to you, skip on to the next.