Dr. Carol A. Redel

Carol A. Redel, M.D. *Children's Medical Center of Dallas

Kids mirror their parents; if Mom and Dad live off snack food, kids see that as normal, says Dr. Carol Redel, a Dallas pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.Conversely, if parents eat their fruits and vegetables, kids are more likely to eat them, too.But children between 6 and 12 are consuming less than half of recommended fruits and vegetables every day, Redel says.

Mar. 1 "A 15-Year-Old Girl with Vomiting and Anemia," Linda Margraf, M.D., associate professor of pathology, and Carol Redel, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, UT Southwestern.

Kids mirror their parents; if Mom and Dad live off snack food, kids see that as normal, says Dr. Carol Redel, a Dallas pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.Conversely, if parents eat their fruits and vegetables, kids are more likely to eat them, too.But children between 6 and 12 are consuming less than half of recommended fruits and vegetables every day, Redel says.

"If we could get them away from pop and back to dairy products, we could keep them from getting osteoporosis. ...You have to get parents to look beyond today and at the future."

But sometimes they can't even admit their children have weight and fitness problems, she says.

"They say, 'We're big-boned.' No, not exactly; it's fat.

Dr. Carol Redel of Children's Medical Center testified that doctors used research performed in Third World countries about the effects of war and famine to treat the girl after she was taken to the hospital June 11.The child's severe malnutrition was common to that seen in those countries, she said.