Catherine Frederico
Catherine Frederico Joins Max On Snax® in his Fight Against Childhood Obesity
8/9/10
by Alex Opechowski
info@maxonsnax.com
Merryweather Farms, LLC, is pleased to announce the addition of a new member to the Max on Snax® team. Catherine Frederico, registered dietitian and nutritional scientist, joins creator Lori Osiecki as a nutritional consultant for the Max on Snax® brand. Of her profession, Frederico says that she “enjoy[s] keeping up on the latest nutrition research and developing ways to apply the information to everyday food choices and then share that information with others.” For her, dietetics is a “mix of science and art.”
Catherine’s interest in nutrition began with the time she spent working in her family’s garden as a child. She continued her studies in food at Pennsylvania State University and Arizona State University. Frederico’s impressive background includes experience as a Dietetic Student Mentor at Boston University and Bowling Green University. She was named as the Recognized Dietitian of the Year by the American Dietetic Association in 1983, and was the recipient of the Mary P. Huddleson Memorial Award in 1988. Catherine Frederico serves currently as an adjunct professor of nutrition at Newbury College.
Catherine discovered Max on Snax® through a posting on a White House conference about childhood obesity. She says, “Max is a fantastic role-model to teach children about good nutrition, which is a special interest of mine.” She views children’s nutrition as a timely concern primarily because it has failed to adapt to the changes in our lifestyles and exercise routines. The long-term consequences of a high-calorie, low-energy lifestyle are often ignored, resulting in many startling statistics about the health of America’s youth. According to a 2005 study in The New England Journal of Medicine, childhood obesity has reached such prevalence that children’s life-spans may be shortened by two to five years. The most recent (2010) estimates from the World Health Organization report that over 42 million children under five are overweight or obese worldwide.
Frederico states that “massive nutrition awareness and educational campaign[s]” are the necessary next step in changing the way kids eat. As she says, “Childhood obesity did not become a problem overnight, and it will not be remedied quickly.” Fortunately, awareness is growing and change is imminent, with dietitians, food manufacturers, schools, and lawmakers all joining in on the fight against childhood obesity.
Help Catherine and Max in spreading the message: that healthy food and exercise are important!
For more of Catherine’s thoughts on childhood obesity see the full interview below.
For more information about childhood obesity and how you can help:
Let’s Move Campaign
http://www.letsmove.gov
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/childhood/en/
Full Interview with Catherine Frederico
8/9/10
by Alex Opechowski
info@maxonsnax.com
How did you get involved in this field?
I have been interested in food and nutrition since I was a child. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, our family had an acre vegetable garden, as well as a berry patch, grape vines, and multiple fruit trees. We planted, weeded, harvested, peeled, cut and cooked for three seasons a year. I have always been fascinated by how nutrients work at a cellular level, so it just seemed natural to continue my studies in food and nutrition in college to become trained in sharing my knowledge of developing a healthy relationship with food with others.
Tell me about your previous business venture, Apron Strings.
When my children were small, I was fortunate to be able to be a stay-at-home mom. At play groups, mothers would ask me nutrition questions, and I realized that there were so many terrific nutrition materials written by dietitians that they did not know about and were difficult to obtain. So I created a mail-order business called Apronstrings to make them readily available. In addition, I designed child aprons and baby gift baskets of nutrition materials. It was a lot of fun.
How did you find out about max on snax?
I was on watching a White House conference about childhood obesity live on Facebook and noticed a viewer post about Max on Snax. I clicked the link and met Max. He was so engaging and the production was so wonderful, that I sent a comment to the company just to say how much I enjoyed it. Max is a fantastic role-model to teach children about good nutrition, which is a special interest of mine.
Why do you think children’s nutrition is a timely concern, and how do you feel the issue would be best addressed?
Children’s health is the absolute worst it has ever been in this country, and there are many reasons why. Since the 1970’s, our life styles and food options have slowly, but dramatically changed. We exercise less and play video games more; schools have cut phys ed, and organized town sports leave many children on the outside looking in, while at the same time, manufacturers have made more high calorie, processed foods and beverages. It took many years for all of these forces to create the weight problems we have today. For example, one can of soda will not have much effect on a person’s weight, but a can of soda everyday for 10 years can cause considerable weight gain. Many people were not aware of or simply ignored professional advice about the long-term consequences of their eating habits and were caught off-guard by this. They never adapted their dietary habits to accommodate for the constant bombardment of changing and addictive influences, and their eating patterns were adopted by their children.
Fortunately, medical professionals now all agree that the obesity data is undeniable. Without intervention, our present generation of children could be the first US generation of children to have shorter life-spans than their parents. At this point, it will take a massive nutrition awareness and educational campaign to mobilize every body in the country to support each other and change together. I am delighted to say that just such a campaign is already underway in the form of the government’s Let’s Move program initiated by Michelle Obama. Our nation is fortunate to have a young family in the White House who have faced these same struggles, but were able to realize it and now have full influence over powerful leaders in Washington who have been able to mobilize all of our nation’s best resources in unison to help solve the problem of childhood obesity. Dietitians, chefs, restaurants, schools, companies, farmers, food manufacturers, and lawmakers are working together to provide solutions.
Childhood obesity did not become a problem overnight, and it will not be remedied quickly. Eating habits are very hard to change. That is why Mrs Obama is hoping to see significant change within a generation. It will take all of us on board to help see that goal become a reality. We are lucky to have Max on Snax as a positive influence on children and parents.
What is your favorite snack? 
Max’s fruit salad or any kind of fruit.
