The Trouble With "Healthy" Kids Food

Most parents already know that sugary sodas and greasy potato chips are not the healthiest food choices for children. But what about the hundreds of other widely available and kid-friendly packaged foods -- pastas, frozen dinners, granola bars -- that at least appear to be more wholesome?

A new Canadian study suggests that even these foods -- most of which make nutritional claims on their packaging -- aren't all they profess to be. University of Calgary researchers analyzed the nutritional benefit of more than 360 such products, often marketed as "fun foods," which are aimed at children either through kid-friendly package graphics or tie-ins with children's TV shows and movies. Three-quarters of these foods, for example, came in packages bearing cartoon images. Researchers did not include junk food in their analysis, but they found that nearly 90% of kid products still did not meet established nutritional standards. What's more, 62% of the foods that researchers deemed to be of "poor nutritional quality" made positive nutritional claims on the package -- such as being low-fat, containing essential nutrients or being a source of calcium. "If a parent sees a product that makes specific nutritional claims, they may assume that the whole product is nutritious," says author Charlene Elliott, a communications and culture professor at the University of Calgary. "Our study has shown that that is definitely not true in the vast majority of cases."

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Comments

[CintiBlue]

09:26 PM on 07/23/2008

I love the General Mills ad for the whole grain in various products in which a little girl points out to mom that Lucky Charms have whole grain. Hope her mom is aware of the other poison in the box with an evil eye on her daughter's health.

[avraamjack]

02:31 PM on 07/23/2008

.
It is not just kids' food.
.
A friend bought what he thought was a healthy Tv dinner thing because on the front in big letters it said "0 grams of trans fat". On the back in small letters it mentioned the 60 grams of saturated fat in each serving.
.

[loril]

08:22 AM on 07/23/2008

All you have to do is read the labels on that garbage...generally sugar, salt and high fructose corn syrup are included in the top 3 ingredients, as well as a lengthy listing of artificial flavors and colors. The stuff may be appealing to kids, easy to "prepare" and serve...but it is NOT FOOD.

We have never fed any of those processed snacks-as-food to our daughter and, at this point in time, she is not aware they exist. I am not a total tyrant with food...she gets cookies and pretzels and corn chips here and there. We have special desserts like anyone else on birthdays and holidays. But, we have chosen to not include highly sugared and processed foods in our day to day eating. Because of this, my daughter does not have the sweet tooth I had at her age and does not crave vast amounts of candy and other treats. She has never had soda in her life and refuses to try it. (actually this is a problem when she has stomach viruses as milk and water are harder to keep down)

I am sure the peer pressure will eventually kick in if she sees friends with this type of "food" in their lunch. For now, we are attempting to give her a solid nutritional foundation, hoping we will set her up for better habits.

[aristippe]

04:02 PM on 07/22/2008

Look at all that yummy food coloring

[barriosbabe]

12:43 PM on 07/22/2008

Processed food is the enemy.

It really is that simple! If you avoid all processed food you will be fine. Eat fresh dark green vegetables mostly. Add a little protein (free range egg whites, a little fresh fish), olive oil, and fresh fruit (but not too much). America is going to hell in a processed food basket.