Vegans are persons who don’t eat meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and other animal products from their diet. The average parent who is not a vegan often is concerned when their child decides to become vegans, wanting their personal physician to talk their child out of it. Will their child get enough nutrition(营养) being a vegan? Don’t kids have to eat meat to get enough protein(蛋白质) in their diet?

Although not for everybody, a vegan diet does indeed have many health benefits, and if well planned, it can be a healthy diet for kids. One shouldn’t be crazy when talking about possible health benefits of being a vegan, though. Evidence doesn’t suggest that kids raised on a vegan diet are sick less often than other kids. Not all vegetarian foods are healthy—some are high in sugar, saturated fat(饱和脂肪), or cholesterol(胆固醇).

The vegan diet is typically low in cholesterol and saturated fat and is high in fiber and may lead to a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and other diseases.

These health benefits led Dr. Benjamin Spock to recommend a strict vegan diet for all children over the age of 2 years, which advised that children shouldn’t be given products made from milk after they are two years old and that they can get plenty of protein and other nutrition from vegetables, beans, and other plant foods that avoid the fat and cholesterol that are in animal products.

Dr. Spock’s advice created a lot of arguments. It’s not because experts questioned the health benefits of a vegan diet, but they thought that parents might not take enough time and effort to plan a vegan diet that included enough nutrients to ensure the best growth in their children.

Do you love holidays but hate the fact that you put on weight (增加体重) after the holidays? You are not alone.

Holidays are happy days with pleasure and delicious foods. Many people, however, are worried about the weight that comes along with these delicious foods.

With proper planning, it is possible to control your weight. The idea is to enjoy the holidays but not to eat too much. You don’t have to turn away from the foods that you enjoy. The following suggestions may help you.

Do not miss meals. Before yon leave home for a feast(宴会), have a small, low-fat snack. This may help to keep you from getting too excited before delicious foods.

Begin with clear soup, fruit or vegetables.

A large glass of water before you eat may help you feel full.

   Use a small plate; a large plate will encourage you to have more than enough.

Better not have high-fat foods. Dishes that look oily or creamy have much fat in them.

   Choose lean（瘦的） meat. Fill your plate with salad and green vegetables.

If you have a sweet tooth, try mints (薄荷) and fruits. They don’t have fat content as cream and chocolate.

While a healthy diet has always been considered necessary for fitness, many hospitals have failed to notice its powerful potential for curing. In some areas, that’s beginning to change. In Pennsylvania four years ago, St. Luke’s Hospital partnered with Rodale Institute to start an organic produce (有机农产品) farm at the hospital’s campus in Easton. Since its first season, the St. Luke’s farm has become greater in size.

Today, St. Luke’s sends all new mothers home with a basket of organic produce. New moms aren’t the only ones benefiting from the farm’s generous actions. Organic produce is also served to patients. Meanwhile, it is cooked up in cafeterias operated by the hospital’s six-campus network and sold at nearby farmers’ markets.

While some hospitals are getting food from nearby farms, others are turning unused land on their grounds into community (社区) gardens. Even though most hospital farms aren’t growing enough to completely give their workers and patients food needs, providing even a small amount of fresh produce makes educational information about how healthy and delicious a plant-rich diet can be.

While the farm-to-hospital movement continues to gain support, it’s experiencing some challenges along the way. For one, health workers don’t necessarily know how to grow food. This means that most hospitals need to hire a full-time farmer and other farm labor to manage the land, which can be expensive. It takes between 3 and 5 years for most hospital farms to make the cost and income equal. Even so, these hospitals believe that the benefits are worthwhile. As the movement continues to enlarge, you might soon experience a farm-fresh meal at a hospital near you.