Suppernanny Gets Serious: Kids and Nutrition

What Are You Feeding Your Children?

Brightly packaged, ready to eat, "kid friendly" foods?

Did you ever stop to take a look at the label?

Supernanny Jo Frost, made it very clear on last night's show about the negative impact highly processed junk food is having on our children. There is an absolute correlation between your children’s behavior and the processed foods you are putting into their bodies.

The foods you feed your children are processed if the strange words listed as ingredients are unrecognizable and nearly impossible to pronounce.

These "ingredients" are actually various concoctions used to color, stabilize, emulsify, bleach, texturize, soften, preserve, sweeten, add or cover smells, and flavor! Not exactly something you would purposefully put in your child's body.

Moms – the plain and simple fact is….we are busy. Busy to the point that when we make our way down the aisle at the store, our eyes are drawn to the products that look and SAY …”LOOK! I’m healthy!” I am sure ,any of us are familiar with the little flags that shout out the "pure goodness" a convenient meal or snack has to offer our children.

I would like to share just two examples - even though there are literally thousands of options I could choose from, ,that are pulling us in the wrong direction. Sensible Solutions is a popular flag on hundred of quick and easy options.

Just how reliable are the labels on the foods we are choosing for our children?

If you stop to flip the package, you will find that many are filled with:

30-50 g of sugar - loaded with HFCS
800-100 mg of sodium
Trans Fat - partially hydrogentaed oils

For example: Chicken Shake Ups Lunchables. Appears to be okay, has the green "sensible solution" flag....and only at 220 calories and 16 g of sugar... but upon closer inspection - this is only for the Chicken. You can only imagine what the Tropical Fruit punch, chocolate pudding and BBQ sauce contain.

BREADED NUGGET SHAPED CHICKEN PATTIES - (NUGGET-SHAPED CHICKEN PATTIES - WHITE CHICKEN, WATER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, POTASSIUM LACTATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SALT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, DEXTROSE, SODIUM PHOSPHATES, CARRAGEENAN, SODIUM DIACETATE, LEMON JUICE SOLIDS, FLAVOR. BATTER - WATER, BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, DEXTROSE, SPICES, GARLIC POWDER, EXTRACTIVES OF PAPRIKA, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, CARAMEL COLOR. BREADING - WHEAT FLOUR, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, EGG WHITES, WHEAT GLUTEN, DEXTROSE, SPICES, WHEY [FROM MILK], SALT, PAPRIKA, ONION POWDER, NATURAL FLAVOR. SEASONING - ENRICHED BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR [BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID], EGG WHITES, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, SALT, GARLIC POWDER, ONION POWDER, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, SPICES, NATURAL FLAVOR, BROWNED IN PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL).

Since when is MSG and Trans Fat (partially hydrogenated oils) considered a "sensible solution" for our children?

According to Kraft's nutrition experts, he "Sensible Solutions" flag is an easy way to identify better-for-you choices from among many food and beverage products. Then I ask...Better for you than What???

How about some Fun naturally flavored water for your child? Capri Sun Roaring Waters "All Natural"are really just foil pouches filled with a solution of water, high-fructose corn syrup, and very small amounts of juice.

As Moms who care about the health and well being of our children, it is time to take responsibility and pay attention to the food that we choose for them. If we are are the product of what we eat, our children are a product of the food that we feed them. So why would you willingly set your children up to develop the unhealthy eating habits - the very habits we battle with on a daily basis.

Think about it like this...If you do not teach your children healthy eating habits, who will?

Where do you begin? Well, you already possess the most important strategy - teach by example. Make a point to let your child see you enjoying wholesome, natural foods.

If you are ready to get serious and are in need of guidance, encouragement and a step-by-step plan that walks you through the process of establishing a healthy lifestyle, not just for yourself, but for the well being of your family, Fit Yummy Mummy is your complete solution.