Joan Lunden Raising Healthier Kids the Second Time Around Joan Lunden is accustomed to blazing her own trail. As the longest-running host on early morning television, Lunden greeted millions of Americans each day on ABC-TV’s Good Morning America for nearly two decades (1980 to 1997). During that time, this Emmy winner reported from 26 countries and covered four presidents, five Olympics and two royal weddings. Oh, and along the way she had three babies while sharing her pregnancies on national television, something practically unheard of at the time. Lunden’s openness about her priorities, such as breastfeeding and bringing her babies to work, may have been the impetus for workplace change as mothers across the country realized that they, too, wanted to make family their priority while still maintaining their careers. Perhaps that’s why now, at age 53, Lunden is perfectly comfortable blazing a new trail as one of a growing number of mothers who choose to have babies later in life. Lunden and her second husband, summer camp owner Jeff Konigsberg, are parents to 16-month-old twins Kate and Max, born through surrogate mother Deborah Bolig. They are expecting their second set of twins through Bolig in March. “Twins are always in the cards when you do in vitro and have multiple embryos,” Lunden says. “I feel like I'm living on Noah’s Ark. They're coming two by two!" With a focus on raising her second generation of kids even healthier than the first, Lunden has released a new book, co-authored by pediatrician Dr. Myron Winick. Growing Up Healthy: A Complete Guide to Childhood Nutrition and Well-Being, Birth Through Adolescence (Simon and Schuster/Atria Books, 2004) helps parents prevent disease in their children through a direct link to their diet. “When I read [Dr. Winick’s study] results and I saw definitive links that the amount of fat, trans fat, the amount of fruits and vegetables that a child eats and the kind of eating habits we develop in that child, will either predispose them or possibly prevent them from getting specific chronic diseases as an adult, I thought that was mind boggling,” Lunden says. “I said, ‘This information has to get out there in a major way.’” Joan Lunden’s Top 5 Tips for Parents on Raising Healthy Kids Lunden believes there is a direct link between what we feed our kids and the prevention of chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Here are her top five tips to get you started immediately: Exercise portion control. “The one thing that has changed in our society over the last 10 years more than anything else is portion size,” Lunden says. “Portion control is out of control. We have to be careful of excess calories. Do not say ‘clean your plate.’ Erase those words from your vocabulary. Let them learn to eat till they are full, then stop.” Exercise. “Keep them active and don’t let them have a sedentary lifestyle,” Lunden says. “Teach them that activity is an expected part of their life.” Reduce fat. “Fat shouldn’t be more than 30 percent of calories,” she says. “Don’t go overboard on this and start giving them no fat. They can’t go on a no-fat diet like adults do. That is absolutely essential in the development of the nervous system of a small child. You can’t do no carbs, and you can’t do no fat.” Increase fruits and vegetables. “That is the old five-a-day,” she says. “It will reduce the risk of cancer. Fiber will protect against colon cancer, which is a major killer. Reducing fat will protect women against uterine and breast cancers.” Make sure children get enough calcium. “This is especially important for girls because it is women who will suffer from osteoporosis when they grow up,” Lunden says. “It is 100 percent preventable. If we bank enough calcium into that child during that window of opportunity, into their early 20s, then they will have enough bone stored to draw from for the rest of their lives. Just like you put enough money in the bank for that child’s education.” Read the full story in the current issue of Family Energy!