In this issue:1 Greetings from Wendell Oman1 Grace Notes2 Support children – in sickness and

in health

2 Excellence in treatment of children

3 Preparing for a child’s hospital stay

3 Wee Care hospital tour4 Ronald McDonald Care Mobile4 Hospice Corner 4 In Upcoming Issues

Office for Mission &Spiritual Care

The Office for Mission & Spiritual Care provides spiritual care for patients, their families and associates 24 hours a day every day of the year. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. To contact us, call 708.684.5175. Evenings and weekends, ask for the paging operator and request #2296 for the house chaplain or #2299 for the emergency department chaplain.

Bridges to Our Faith Communities

Advocate Christ Medical CenterHope Children’s Hospital

Office for Mission and Spiritual Care

September/October 2011Volume 2, Issue 5

Bridges to Our Faith Communities

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way it treats its children.

Nelson Mandela

With hands and hearts “Children of God,” the wood carving shown in the corner, was created by J. R. Cadawas for our Janet Ozinga Chapel. It depicts children of different races and nations borne up in the mighty hands of God.

At Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital, our entire staff is honored to serve children, the youngest members of our human family. Here we minister to children from our community and from all over the world, serving them with our hands and our hearts.

Many of us in ministry find hospital visitations challenging – especially when the patient is a critically ill child. Rev. Stacey Jutila addresses this topic with compassion and wisdom as she writes from her perspective as chaplain and pediatric bereavement coordinator at Hope Children’s Hospital.

I hope you find Stacey’s words encouraging and helpful and that the other articles in this issue are of value to you also as you serve the families in your congregation.

Having a child hospitalized is difficult. We in Mission & Spiritual Care are ready to support you in providing the very best spiritual care

for a hospitalized child and that child’s family, and we are available for you twenty-four hours a day. Please feel free to call on us.

May the Lord bless the children in your life and continue to bless you as you serve,

Rev. Wendell Oman, Vice PresidentOffice for Mission & Spiritual Care

ConnectionsArt featured in this issue is from Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital. The healing hands sculpture (above) and the stained glass panels (page 2) decorate the hospital chapel, located on the first floor. Ceramic tiles created by children in the community (a selection is shown on page 3) are displayed throughout the hospital.

In this issue

Children’s

Health

Grace Notes are readings, poems or quotes from a variety of faith traditions and writers. Each reflection tries to touch on

the heart of being human in this world. To receive Grace Notes five or seven days a week, please click here or contact

cmc‑gracenotes@advocatehealth.com.

Grace Notes

Connections - Advocate Christ Medical Center Office for Mission and Spiritual Care September/October 2011 - Page 2

One Sunday in worship at a local Lutheran church, I was present for a baptism. As the worship assistants poured water from the pitchers into the font, a young boy stood up and applauded. Adults in the pews smiled and realized that they, too, could celebrate and welcome this child into the family of God with similar vigor.

There are countless ways to support children from our faith communities, not only at the time of a baptism or other rituals. Some people teach Sunday school while others show their support through prayer.

But what does it look like to provide support to a child when that child is diagnosed with a serious illness? How does a faith community support a child undergoing treatments or surgery? These questions have led me to serve as a hospital chaplain. I try to find

ways that the stories and rituals of people’s faith traditions can be companions to them in their times of greatest need.

The children I meet at the hospital have taught me the need for child-centered and child-imagined ways of praying, blessing and living in faith. Whether talking about questions of faith, offering prayers or providing practical support, faith communities can offer support to children who are hospitalized.

In the midst of being hospitalized, children often struggle with being away from home. It’s possible to help create practices and rituals with children that help them to stay close to loved ones.

A young boy at the hospital helped me to see the importance of connecting children with things and people from home.

When a child needs advanced medial care, parents are reassured by Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital’s outstanding staff, its years of experience and its extraordinary reputation.

In addition to being the largest pediatric outpatient cancer center in the Midwest, Hope Children’s Hospital is home to The Heart Institute for Children, a national center for research and development and the largest pediatric cardiology program in the Midwest. Children with complex heart problems are referred here from all pars of the world.

Each year, we care for more than 350 premature and seriously ill infants in our neonatal intensive care unit. Many babies born needing critical care are transported here from area hospitals, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana.

Staffed by more than 150 pediatricians representing over 30 specialties, Hope Children’s Hospital is a facility designed with kids in mind. Our child-centered environment reduces stress for little patients through pre-surgery tours, brightly colored halls decorated with children’s art and child-sized furnishings. Our physicians and staff have been trained to care for a child’s emotional as well as physical needs.

Recently, Hope Children’s Hospital was ranked by U.S. News and World Report as among the nation’s top 50 children’s hospitals in cardiology and heart surgery and also was honored for Excellence in Life Support by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization.

Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital

See Support next page.

Excellence in treatment of children

Support children – in sickness and in health

Rev. Stacey Jutila, BCC, Staff Chaplain and Pediatric

Bereavement Coordinator

Connections - Advocate Christ Medical Center Office for Mission and Spiritual Care September/October 2011 - Page 3

Preparing for a child’s hospital stayHere are tips for parents who have a child who will be staying overnight in a hospital or having surgery:

✦ Learn about your child’s condition and the hospital procedures. You will feel more at ease, and your child will sense that confidence.

✦ Answer your child’s questions honestly but don’t give more details than he/she wants.

✦ Have back-up plans in place for home and job before they are needed. This is especially important if you have other children at home.

✦ Encourage your child to express his fears through conversation, drawing pictures and making up songs and stories together. Siblings may ease their worries through such creative expressions, too.

✦ Bring reminders from home, including photos, special toys or animals, pajamas and slippers.

✦ Have faith -- in your child’s strength, in the doctors’ abilities, in your God. For added comfort, talk with your faith leader before and after procedures happen.

Wee Care hospital tourA pre-operative tour for children ages four to 12 and their parents greatly reduces the family’s anxiety by showing them what to expect on the day of surgery in Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital.

A nurse leads them into a pre-op room to listen to the heart and lungs. They put on clothing appropriate for surgery, including the foot covers. Next they go into an operating room where one of the group volunteers to lie on the table. The op lights are turned on; the bed is moved up and down. It’s fun! This relaxed experience removes much of the apprehension of both child and parents.

One-hour tours are offered on the first and third Saturdays of each month at 1 pm. Call 708-684-3132 for more information.

He told me that he missed his grandparents’ ranch and their cows. He couldn’t fathom that he wouldn’t see his grandparents or these cows for weeks on end. What he knew of God’s love was found in the hours spent riding the tractor with his grandpa and feeding the cows with his grandma.

Trying to support this connection, I gave him a toy cow. His mom later told me that he said his bedtime prayers with what had become known as his “holy hospital cow.” Just as much as he needed medicine, this little boy also needed ways to remain connected to his family and share his dreams and fears with God in prayer.

Spiritual needs also arise with the birth of a premature baby. Families can experience an enormous amount of stress when a baby is born weeks early. Many parents must return home while their baby remains hospitalized.

Parents of premature babies often talk about the challenge of deciding when they will take their parental leave time from work. Sometimes they’re forced to choose between taking their leave from work during their baby’s first few weeks of life and waiting until the child comes home. Splitting time between home and the hospital, parents often need help with meals. Preparing dinners, providing gift cards for restaurants near the hospital or buying groceries are ways to provide support. Offering rides to and from the hospital is another way to be of practical help and, at the same time, create a space for conversation and prayer.

When the death of a child is imminent, support from a faith community continues to be important. As I journeyed with a boy in his final days, his parents requested a blessing for him. The boy’s family gathered around his hospital bed while I prayed. I then invited others to share a blessing and make the sign of the cross on his forehead. Each time someone touched his forehead, he let out a deep sigh.

After a while he asked me if he could bless his family. He told each of his loved ones what he had learned from them about life, love and faith. This time of blessing will remain a healing memory for his family.

There are many more situations that children and their families face in the hospital. Each demonstrates ways we can live out our promises to support the children in our faith communities. Whether it is at church on Sunday or in a child’s hospital room, we can stand by the promises we make to children in our faith communities.

Support continued.

He told each of his loved ones what

he had learned from them about life, love and faith.

Rev. Stacey Jutila, BCC, serves as a staff chaplain at Advocate Christ Medical Center and Hope Children's Hospital. She is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and a graduate of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Her hobbies include running, knitting, yoga and spending time in the great outdoors.

Connections - Advocate Christ Medical Center Office for Mission and Spiritual Care September/October 2011 - Page 4

Our new building

The five institutes

Advocate Christ Medical CenterAdvocate Hope Children’s Hospital

Staff Chaplains:Refat Abukhdeir, Moslem MinistriesCathy Arsenault, MennoniteFr. Bill Browne, Roman CatholicMary Anne Cannon, Roman CatholicP.V. Chandy, QuakerFr. Casimir Eke, Roman CatholicChristy Howard-Steele, Christian Richard James, Southern BaptistStacey Jutila, Evangelical Lutheran ChurchMarjorie Kooy, Christian ReformedEliza Leatherberry, United Church of ChristSr. Peggy Nau, Roman CatholicDavid Safeblade, United Church of ChristTyron Smith, Baptist

Clinical Pastoral Education SupervisorsAngie Keith, Pentecostal

ACPE Supervisory Candidate/ChaplainJanet MacLean, United Church of Christ

ACPE Supervisory Candidate/ChaplainPhyllis Toback, Jewish

ACPE Supervisor/ChaplainClinical Pastoral Education Chaplain Residents

Pashalis Agu,  Roman CatholicKathryn Cook, BaptistCarla Powell, Evangelical Lutheran ChurchKifah Shukair,  Muslim

Secretarial StaffKaren Darr, 708.684.4189

CPE, Ethics Committee, Office of Vice PresidentFran Genender, 708.684.5175

Eucharistic Ministers, the Department, Office of Manager of Spiritual Services

Administrative StaffCorky DeBoer, Christian Reformed

Manager of Spiritual Services, ACPE SupervisorWendell Oman, Evangelical Free Church of America

Vice-President, Mission & Spiritual Care

Advocate Christ Medical CenterAdvocate Hope Children’s Hospital

4440 West 95th Street, Oak Lawn, IL 60453 708.684.8000

Other Advocate Health Care Facilities:Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, NormalAdvocate Condell Medical Center, LibertyvilleAdvocate Eureka Hospital, EurekaAdvocate Good Samaritan, Downers GroveAdvocate Good Shepherd Hospital, BarringtonAdvocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, ChicagoAdvocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park RidgeAdvocate Lutheran General Children’s Hospital, Pk. Ridge Advocate South Suburban Hospital, Hazel CrestAdvocate Trinity Hospital, Chicago

Share the news! This publication may be copied for use by others if printed acknowledgment of source is included.

To subscribe to Connections, call 708-684-5175 or email Christ-Mission-SpiritualCare@advocatehealth.com with your name and email address. You’ll receive an electronic edition of Connections every two months.

To continue receiving Connections, your email address must be current. Please inform us of any changes of email address or other contact information. Email Christ-Mission-SpiritualCare@advocatehealth.com or call 708.684.5175.In Upcoming Issues

Like all Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles around the country, the Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital’s RMCM is geared to identify gaps in care and then deliver services to fill those gaps -- all tailored to the needs of the community.

Routine school and sport physicals make up a lot of the work of our RMCM. Immunizations, critical in ongoing good health, is another popular service our RMCM offers our community.

Hope Children’s Hospital’s RMCM makes visits to both schools and congregations in the area with each stop lasting around four hours. It has partnered with half a dozen area schools, and the RMCM pulls up once a month to assist families at those schools. It also stops at several area churches annually, usually during the summer months. Young families in need whose children have not yet begun school find this especially helpful. There is no charge for services for the uninsured or the underserved, and children two and older may be treated.

For information or scheduling, contact Jacqueline Evans at jacqueline.evans@advocatehealth.com or 708-684-5418.

All Ronald McDonald Care Mobile services are provided in state-of-the-art vehicles built especially for delivering pediatric health care services.

Ronald McDonald Care Mobile

This service is open to families who have experienced the death of a child who received care at Advocate Hope Children's Hospital. The service will take place at 2 PM on September 25th in the Advocate Christ Medical Center Auditorium. Siblings and children are welcome to attend with their families. The child life specialists and art therapists will have special activities for children during the service. Please contact Chaplain Stacey Jutila, Pediatric Bereavement Coordinator, at 708.684.5174 or stacey.jutila@advocatehealth.com with any questions. 

Annual Advocate Hope Children's Hospital Remembrance Service

Each vehicle includes two patient examination rooms, a laboratory and reception and medical records areas.

Sick

le c

ell d

isea

se

Pray

er:

Lovi

ng G

od, I

pra

y fo

r th

ose

with

sic

kle

cell

dise

ase.

C

omfo

rt th

em in

thei

r tim

es o

f pai

n. B

less

thos

e w

ho s

triv

e to

di

scov

er n

ew w

ays

to tr

eat a

nd p

reve

nt th

is c

ondi

tion.

Am

en.

Livi

ng w

ith

sick

le c

ell d

isea

se

•ad

voca

tehe

alth

.com

•as

caa.

org

– A

mer

ican

Sic

kle

Cel

l Ass

ocia

tion

•si

ckle

cells

uppo

rtgr

oup.

org

•si

ckle

celld

isea

se-I

llino

is.o

rg•

sick

lece

llaw

aren

ess.

org/

new

s_an

d_ev

ents

The

impa

ct o

f sic

kle

cell

dise

ase

vari

es g

reat

ly fr

om p

erso

n to

pe

rson

. Whi

le s

ome

have

chr

onic

(lon

g-te

rm) p

ain,

thos

e w

ith

mild

er p

ain

can

ofte

n tr

eat i

t at h

ome

by fo

llow

ing

sim

ple

and

natu

ral s

teps

that

are

ofte

n ef

fect

ive:

✦St

ay w

ell h

ydra

ted.

Dri

nk lo

ts o

f wat

er (a

nd o

ther

liqu

ids)

.✦

Get

ple

nty

of r

est.

✦St

ay a

way

from

cig

aret

te s

mok

e.

Thos

e w

ith s

ickl

e ce

ll di

seas

e ne

ed to

be

awar

e of

wha

t tr

igge

rs p

ain

for

them

. Her

e ar

e so

me

poss

ibili

ties:

✦To

o m

uch

exer

cise

. Sto

p at

the

first

sig

n of

bei

ng ti

red.

✦

Col

d te

mpe

ratu

res

and

high

win

ds. A

void

bot

h if

poss

ible

. C

arry

a s

wea

ter

and

pair

of s

ocks

whe

n at

tend

ing

mov

ies

or

rest

aura

nts,

so

you

are

prep

ared

if y

ou fe

el c

hille

d.

Pare

nts

of a

chi

ld w

ith s

ickl

e ce

ll di

seas

e ha

ve e

xtra

wor

k.

Bei

ng c

erta

in a

ll im

mun

izat

ions

are

cur

rent

and

sch

edul

ing

regu

lar

chec

kups

are

cri

tical

, of c

ours

e. W

hile

the

child

can

pa

rtic

ipat

e in

nor

mal

sch

ool a

ctiv

ities

, par

ents

nee

d to

tell

teac

hers

abo

ut th

e re

perc

ussi

ons

of th

e di

seas

e –

poss

ibly

m

ore

freq

uent

bat

hroo

m tr

ips

and

the

need

for

liqui

ds.

Find

ing

a su

ppor

t gro

up c

an b

e a

big

bene

fit. Y

ou fo

rm

frie

ndsh

ips

with

oth

ers

with

sim

ilar

need

s, y

our

sens

e of

hop

e gr

ows

and

you

know

you

are

not

alo

ne w

ith th

is d

isea

se.

Stre

ss o

ften

acco

mpa

nies

sic

kle

cell

dise

ase,

too,

but

you

can

le

arn

way

s to

hel

p yo

u re

lax.

Pra

yer,

med

itatio

n, v

isua

lizat

ion

or g

uide

d im

ager

y, d

eep

brea

thin

g an

d se

lf-ta

lk a

re m

etho

ds

to tr

y. N

otic

e w

hat w

orks

for

you.

And

turn

to y

our

faith

le

ader

and

faith

com

mun

ity fo

r su

ppor

t.

Nor

mal

blo

od c

ells

con

tain

hem

oglo

bin,

an

iron

-ric

h pr

otei

n.

The

cells

are

dis

c-sh

aped

and

eas

ily c

arry

oxy

gen

thro

ugh

the

bloo

d ve

ssel

s.

Sick

le c

ells

con

tain

an

abno

rmal

hem

oglo

bin

that

cha

nges

the

shap

e of

the

bloo

d ce

lls in

to c

resc

ent m

oons

. (Th

e di

seas

e is

na

med

for

this

sic

kle-

like,

cre

scen

t sha

pe.)

This

sha

pe k

eeps

th

e si

ckle

cel

ls fr

om fl

owin

g sm

ooth

ly th

roug

h th

e bl

ood

vess

els.

The

se c

ells

are

als

o st

iff a

nd s

ticky

, and

som

etim

es

they

get

stu

ck a

nd b

lock

blo

od fl

ow, c

ausi

ng p

ain

and

som

etim

es d

amag

ing

orga

ns, m

uscl

es a

nd b

ones

.

Sick

le c

ell d

isea

se is

mos

t com

mon

in th

ose

who

se fa

mili

es

com

e fr

om A

fric

a, S

outh

or

Cen

tral

Am

eric

a (e

spec

ially

Pa

nam

a), C

arib

bean

isla

nds,

Med

iterr

anea

n co

untr

ies

(suc

h as

Tu

rkey

, Gre

ece

and

Italy

), In

dia

and

Saud

i Ara

bia.

The

dis

ease

oc

curs

in 1

out

of 5

00 A

fric

an-A

mer

ican

bir

ths,

and

it a

ffect

s 70

,000

to 1

00,0

00 p

eopl

e in

the

Uni

ted

Stat

es, m

ostly

A

fric

an-A

mer

ican

s.

This

is a

life

-lon

g, in

heri

ted

dise

ase.

Tho

se w

ho h

ave

it ar

e bo

rn w

ith it

; the

y in

heri

ted

two

gene

s fo

r si

ckle

hem

oglo

bin,

on

e fr

om e

ach

pare

nt. W

hen

a ch

ild in

heri

ts th

e ge

ne fr

om

just

one

par

ent,

that

chi

ld h

as s

ickl

e ce

ll tr

ait n

ot s

ickl

e ce

ll di

seas

e bu

t can

pas

s th

e si

ckle

hem

oglo

bin

gene

on

to th

eir

child

ren

who

may

or

may

not

get

the

dise

ase.

Ove

r th

e pa

st 1

00 y

ears

, doc

tors

hav

e le

arne

d a

grea

t dea

l ab

out t

his

dise

ase.

With

pro

per

care

and

trea

tmen

t, m

any

peop

le w

ho h

ave

sick

le c

ell d

isea

se c

an h

ave

impr

oved

qu

ality

of l

ife a

nd r

easo

nabl

e he

alth

muc

h of

the

time.

Sept

embe

r Is

Nat

iona

l Sic

kle

Cel

l Dis

ease

Aw

aren

ess

Mon

th

9-11

Tele

visi

on a

nd fa

mily

din

ners

Pray

er:

Dea

r G

od, a

s I g

athe

r m

y fa

mily

toge

ther

for

an

even

ing

mea

l, he

lp u

s no

uris

h ea

ch o

ther

’s he

arts

and

so

uls

as w

e fe

ast o

n go

od fo

od th

at y

ou p

rovi

de. A

men

.

Mea

ltim

e w

hen

you

live

alon

e

•ad

voca

tehe

alth

.com

•nu

triti

on.g

ov•

myp

yram

id.g

ov (U

SAD

’s M

y Pl

ate)

•nu

triti

onex

plor

atio

ns.o

rg/k

ids.

php

(Nut

ritio

n fu

n fo

r ki

ds)

•nu

triti

on.o

rg (A

mer

ican

Soc

iety

for

Nut

ritio

n)

Ther

e is

a b

ig d

iffer

ence

bet

wee

n di

ning

and

eat

ing,

and

for

thos

e w

ho li

ve a

lone

, tha

t diff

eren

ce is

felt

ever

y da

y. M

ost

peop

le w

ho li

ve a

lone

turn

on

the

tele

visi

on fo

r co

mpa

ny a

nd

mak

e th

eir

mea

l pre

sent

atio

n as

sim

ple

as p

ossi

ble,

but

it

does

n’t h

ave

to b

e th

at w

ay.

Her

e ar

e so

me

idea

s to

mak

e m

ealti

me

mor

e pl

easu

rabl

e fo

r th

ose

who

live

alo

ne:

✦If

you

eat y

our

mea

ls a

lone

at h

ome,

trea

t you

rsel

f to

a sp

ecia

l sol

o di

ning

exp

erie

nce

and

lear

n to

enj

oy th

e so

litud

e. P

repa

re a

won

derf

ul m

eal,

play

you

r fa

vori

te

mus

ic, s

et a

bea

utifu

l tab

le a

nd u

se y

our

love

liest

dis

hes.

D

anie

l Hal

pern

, in

the

book

How

to E

at A

lone

, tal

ks a

bout

th

e sm

ells

and

ant

icip

atio

n th

at w

e ca

n ex

peri

ence

eve

n w

hen

our

tabl

e is

set

for

just

one

: “R

aise

you

r gl

ass

in h

onor

of

you

rsel

f. Th

e co

mpa

ny is

the

best

you

’ll e

ver

have

.”✦

Whe

n ea

ting

in a

res

taur

ant,

avoi

d th

e in

clin

atio

n to

hid

e in

a

corn

er o

r bu

ry y

our

head

in a

boo

k. A

sk to

be

seat

ed in

th

e fr

ont w

here

you

can

see

and

be

seen

. The

n yo

u ca

n en

joy

the

show

as

wel

l as

the

mea

l!✦

If yo

u liv

e in

an

apar

tmen

t and

wis

h to

enj

oy m

ore

mea

ls

with

oth

ers,

get

cre

ativ

e! B

ring

des

sert

to a

nei

ghbo

r; it

’s le

ss o

f a c

omm

itmen

t tha

n an

ent

ire

mea

l and

a n

ice

way

to

get t

o kn

ow s

omeo

ne. O

r or

gani

ze a

tast

ing

part

y in

whi

ch

each

par

ticip

ant p

uts

a t.v

. tra

y ou

tsid

e hi

s do

or w

ith s

ampl

e si

zes

of a

favo

rite

food

. The

n fo

r on

e ho

ur, n

eigh

bors

sa

mpl

e ea

ch o

ther

s fa

vori

tes

whi

le c

hatti

ng in

the

hall.

Even

for

a pa

rty

of o

ne, f

ood

can

be e

xciti

ng a

nd e

njoy

able

. M

ake

each

of y

our

dini

ng e

xper

ienc

es th

e ve

ry b

est p

ossi

ble.

Man

y fa

mili

es e

at th

eir

mea

ls to

geth

er in

fron

t of t

he

tele

visi

on s

et. I

nste

ad o

f sha

ring

the

high

s an

d lo

ws

of th

e da

y,

lear

ning

mor

e ab

out e

ach

othe

r or

sim

ply

enjo

ying

the

com

fort

of b

eing

toge

ther

with

love

d on

es, t

hey

turn

thei

r at

tent

ion

away

from

fam

ily a

nd to

wha

teve

r is

on

the

scre

en.

The

cons

eque

nces

are

ser

ious

:

✦W

hen

fam

ilies

tune

in to

TV

inst

ead

of e

ach

othe

r, th

ey m

iss

oppo

rtun

ities

to c

onne

ct. R

egul

ar ta

ble

talk

hel

ps p

aren

ts

and

child

ren

unde

rsta

nd e

ach

othe

r, m

akin

g it

easi

er to

talk

th

roug

h to

ugh

issu

es w

hen

they

ari

se. P

layf

ul e

xcha

nges

, w

itnes

sing

goo

d lis

teni

ng, o

fferi

ng o

ne a

noth

er s

uppo

rt –

all

this

is lo

st w

hen

the

TV is

on

duri

ng d

inne

r.

✦Pe

ople

who

wat

ch T

V w

hile

eat

ing

tend

to e

at m

indl

essl

y,

unaw

are

of th

e fla

vor,

colo

r an

d te

xtur

e th

eir

food

and

, m

ore

impo

rtan

tly, h

ow m

uch

they

con

sum

e. B

ecau

se th

ey

mis

s th

eir

bodi

es’ c

ues

to s

top

eatin

g, th

ey d

on’t

know

w

hen

they

’ve

had

enou

gh.

✦R

esea

rch

sugg

ests

that

chi

ldre

n w

ho e

at d

inne

r w

ith th

eir

pare

nts

tend

to e

at m

ore

heal

thfu

lly –

con

sum

ing

less

sa

tura

ted

fat a

nd m

ore

valu

able

nut

rien

ts th

an th

eir

unsu

perv

ised

pee

rs. T

heir

food

cho

ices

det

erio

rate

whe

n th

ey e

at in

fron

t of t

he T

V.

If yo

u w

ant t

o br

eak

the

dinn

er/te

levi

sion

hab

it, y

ou c

an b

egin

by

turn

ing

off t

he T

V o

ne n

ight

a w

eek.

Whe

n ev

eryo

ne is

se

ated

, exp

ress

gra

titud

e fo

r th

e fo

od b

efor

e yo

u. O

ffer

plea

sant

sto

ries

abo

ut y

our

day.

Lis

ten

as o

ther

s sp

eak.

Mak

e th

at T

V-fr

ee d

inne

r th

e hi

ghlig

ht o

f the

day

. . .

soo

n it

will

be

ever

yone

’s fa

vori

te m

eal o

f the

wee

k.

Oct

ober

Is

Eat T

oget

her,

Eat

Bet

ter

Mon

th.

10-11