As a registered dietitian and nutrition professor at Boston University, I have known for decades, that when it comes to weight loss, the magic two words are:  Calories Count.

If you consume less calories than you need, you will lose weight.

When overweight individuals lose weight, short term health indicators often improve.  For example, a person’s blood pressure and cholesterol may decrease to a healthier range.  However, if the weight reducing diet was mainly from sweets and treats, you are robbing your body of nutrients, such as antioxidants that are anti-aging and good for long term health.  A better bet would be to consume a calorie reducing, plant-based well-balanced diet that not only is kind to your waist but also you heart, mind, and soul. – SAR Clinical Associate Professor Joan Salge Blake

According from the latest

Snacking on low calorie, high fiber, fruits and vegetables daily can help reduce your weight as Mother Nature’s finest will “fill you up before they fill you out”. In other words, you’ll likely get full on produce before you have a chance to overeat. In contrast, higher calorie, less filling snacks such as chips, crackers, and bagels are so easy to overeat that they can quickly fill you out in the wrong places.

If you are falling short of a quota of 4.5 cups fruits and veggies daily, make produce your only snack of choice and the best choice to trim your waist.  Here are 5 easy fruit and veggie snack ideas

Today, September 15th, marks the 10th Anniversary of National Backpack Awareness Day sponsored by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) . Professor Karen Jacobs of Sargent College is commemorating this occasion with a family style initiative from 12:30-2 PM, at St. Mary of the Assumption Rectory School, in Brookline. There, along with 49 BU entry-level occupational therapy students, Jacobs will host educational programs and outreach activities geared toward backpack safety for the entire family. Professor Karen Jacobs is available for comment on the topic of backpack safety and can be reached at (617) 353-7516 or at kjacobs@bu.edu.

Joan Salge Blake, Clinical Associate Professor of Nutrition at BU’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, says these findings support recent moves to limit or restrict the use of licensed characters on children’s snacks:

“In this study involving 40 children, ages 4 to 6 years old, researchers asked each child to taste, and then rate, identical packages of pairs of graham crackers, gummy fruit snacks, and carrots.  The only difference between the pairs of snack items was that one of packages had a sticker of a licensed character stuck on the front of the label.  The results showed that the kiddies significantly preferred the snack with the cartoon character on the label, as compared to the same food without the sticker.   The stickers also had an influence over the perceived taste of the food, as the children were significantly more likely to rate the taste of the graham crackers and gummy fruit snacks with the licensed character higher than the exact same, paired equivalent.”

“Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that these influential licensed characters should be restricted on unhealthy junk foods marketed to kids.”

“Ironically, last month, the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity made a similar suggestion in their Report to the President. The Task Force recommended that all media companies limit the licensing of these child-friendly characters to only healthy foods and beverages.”

“Could licensed characters help improve children’s diets?  We only have to look to the very successful, Got Milk? Campaign to see how Hollywood influences consumer choices.  When the dairy industry noted a decline in milk consumption among Americans in the 1990’s, they painted milk mustaches on celebrities and milk sales increased.  If licensed characters were removed from the less healthy foods, and only plastered on Mother Nature’s finest in the produce aisle, perhaps kiddies would be screaming for Pooh Bear bananas.  It would be music to America’s ears.  It’s worth a shot as long as the consumer doesn’t have to pay extra for the sticker.”

Contact: Joan Salge Blake, 617-353-7470, salge@bu.edu