• All 7 families allowed their children to eat “bars” (a category we defined to include “milk and cereal bars”, “granola bars”, and “health/diet/protein bars”).
• Only 2 of the families gave their children health/diet/protein bars. The reasons both families gave was that these bars were “healthier”.
• 5 of the 7 families said they regularly bought only 1 flavor, and all 5 of those included chocolate in some form.
• All 7 families said they would allow their child to have one bar a day if the children so desired.
• 6 of the 7 families said they would NOT allow their child to have one chocolate bar a day if the children so desired.
• 2 of the 7 families said that they considered a peanut bar such as Payday to be a healthy alternative.

There is surprisingly little advertising for “bars” on television. The popularity of the bars seems to come from word of mouth or print advertisements directed at adults, touting the nutritional aspects.

The fact remains, however, that the bars are far less healthy than most adults believe.

What were your experiences with and feelings with bars as snacks and meal substitutes?  Please share your thoughts below.

All things being equal, we lean toward the “healthy” looking variations – Simply Jif, for example. Lately we’ve been buying Jif with Omega-3 added.

We do it, because we feel like we should, but to be honest… I’m not so sure we’re doing the right thing.

The value of buying this product is debated by various sites. This one in particular outlines just how “not so good” the omega-3 enriched peanut butter is.

My main goal is to get my kids to realize that there are various degrees of healthy foods.  That some food choices are wiser than others. We talk about misleading advertising all the time, so at some point I will get into whether this is really that good of a product. But for now, I’m happy to have them thinking that the green jar of peanut butter is the healthy one because it has that extra oil in it. (do they have to declare it’s fish oil right on the label? geez!)

Whether that particular ingredient really does make the food better for you is something we can discuss as they get older. Similarly, we can talk about the moral aspects of misleading people and what parts of the pitch make it so alluring. I know that it’s not as good as advertised, but I’m using them just as they are using me in a way… I’m using the advertising to begin (just lay the groundwork, I’m saying) to educate my kids on healthy eating.

In the meantime, I’m trying to stay aware that in many ways I’m just loading them up with sugar saturated peanut butter flavored icing.

• 10 of the 12 children believed a 20 ounce soda bottle was “one serving” (the nutrition label says a serving of soda is 8 ounces, so the bottle contains 2.5 servings)
• 6 of the 12 children reported having gotten a 10-piece order of Chicken Nuggets from Mc Donalds and eaten the whole box by themselves.
• Presented with three differently sized bowls of cereal, 11 of the 12 children could not identify the bowl with 1 serving according to the nutrition label on the box.
• Presented with three differently sized glasses of orange juice, 9 of the 12 children could not identify the glass with 1 serving according to the nutrition label on the carton.
• Presented with two 8-ounce glasses (one tall and skinny, the other short and fat) 8 of the 12 children incorrectly believed the glasses held different amounts of liquid.
• 9 of the 12 children reported being told to eat until you “clean your plate” at least twice in the last week.
• 4 of the 12 children did not know serving size information was on packages.
• Asked how many pancakes consistuted “one serving” the 12 children gave answers ranging from 1 – 5, and no child mentioned the size of the pancakes as a factor in the definiton of a serving.

Nutrition labels are not the most practical when it comes to defining serving sizes, but it is clear from our study that most children (and their families) are not up to managing serving sizes on their own.

We believe retailers should revise the food labels to reflect real world servings, but that families should also be more cognizant of how far they stray from nutritional guidelines and how inconsistent their portioning is.

What are your experiences with food serving sizes, at home or dining out? Please share your thoughts below.

• Only 2 of the 13 children could name more than three types of apples
• Only 4 of the 13 children had ever heard a discussion of whether a tomato was a fruit or a vegetable
• None of the 13 children had ever attempted to crack open a coconut
• Only 3 of the 13 children had ever used a melon baller
• While 10 of the 13 children reported having eaten or drank “kiwi-flavored” foods, only 1 of the 13 had ever eaten a kiwi
• 5 of the 13 children believed “pina colada” was a type of fruit
• Only 4 of the 13 children had ever seen a a citrus fruit tree with fruit on it
• Only 5 of the 13 children had ever picked strawberries
• Only 2 of the 13 children had ever tried grapefruit
• 5 of the 13 children believed “most raspberries are blue”, and 1 of those 5 believed “‘blueberry’ is another name for a raspberry”
• None of the 13 children had ever seen a peach tree

Admittedly, some of these results are influenced by age and geographic location: a 6-year-old growing up in Vermont is not going to see many lemon trees. However, as we try to get our children to eat healthier, it seems foolish to not better inform kids about fruit.

Perhaps a fourth-grade class would be better served going on a field trip to the local “pick your own strawberry” farm and learning from the farm owners than taking a trip to the local museum or amusement park.

What are your experiences with children and their knowledge of and exposure to fruits and vegetables?  Please share your thoughts below.

The complete results of the survey are shown in the table below.

• Eggs with ham and potatoes – 1
• Cold Pizza – 1
• Waffle ice cream sandwich – 1
• Cereal with fruit – 2
• Waffles or pancakes – 2
• Juice or coffee only – 2
• Granola or protein bar – 2
• Cereal without fruit – 3
• Donut, muffin, or pastry (includes toaster pastries) – 4
• Nothing – 5

Equally alarming as the fact that more than 20% of the children skipped breakfast is the reveal that more children drank coffee in the morning than drank milk or juice (7 – 6).

Breakfast is regularly referred to as “the most important meal of the day” and yet here we see a class of seventh-graders whose families seem not to have gotten the message.

What are your experiences with children and breakfast? What do you suspect might be the reasons behind the results of our survey? Please share your thoughts below.

She knows it means I love her a great deal, because she knows her Daddy loves to bake and to eat sweets. Cooking is fun for me, and it’s a social thing for me as well. I cook with my mom. I cook with my wife. I cook with my daughter. I cook for dinner parties we go to, and I cook because it makes me feel good. I don’t mean “grilling” either, I mean cooking… stuffed chicken breasts, soups, stuffed peppers, chili, pot roast, cakes, cinnamon buns, crumb cake, cookies, etc., . I’ll cook from a cookbook. I improvise. I experiment. It’s something I enjoy doing.

I also eat what I cook. Again, it’s a social thing. When my family leave the house  to do something, we (I’m embarrassed to say) usually go out to eat. A night out is rarely a walk, a bike ride, or a trip to a park. It’s a trip to the movies with a giant tub of popcorn or a trip to that town with the good restaurant or a good bakery.

So, when I say to my daughter “I love you more than cookies” she has no doubt in her mind that she is very important to me.

But, there’s a part to that statement which I’m not giving enough attention to. I love her more than cookies( and donuts), so I need to stop eating those cookies and donuts (or at least eating so many). Because with each extra treat… each unnecessary calorie, I’m risking cutting short the time we’ll be able to spend together. I love her more than cookies, so why do I eat the cookie knowing it could take a year away from my life with her?

Even more, I know that she looks to me as a role model. She’s a petite and active young woman now, just as I was once a much thinner and more active young man. Circumstances change as we grow older, and I find myself now having held on to my affinity for snacks but not having maintained my active lifestyle. My daughter sees that and she knows (or at least thinks she knows) where my priorities are. I do not say that I love her more than my bicycle or more than hockey – I tell her that I love her more than cookies.

Right now, she has her mother and I telling her she can only have 2 cookies or that she should have an apple when she’s hungry. Mom has Doritos for breakfast, Dad grabs 2 cookies and 2 more for “later”. She sees that. She knows that mom gives Dad the extra big slice of cake, and she can’t wait to be old enough to be able make a batch of brownies every time she is craving a chance to “lick the bowl” just like Dad does. She also sees and hears very little about how much I exercise. I do some, but it’s far more noteworthy when I do than when I do not. I have every reason to think she’s going to follow me down this path. Why shouldn’t she?

I love her more than cookies… so why am I choosing cookies over an extra month with her and her future family?

It’s not too late… I’m not “fat”, just not the fit and active person I was 3… 4… 6… 10 years ago. And I have every reason to get back into that.

I often make the excuse that with two kids and a lot of  busy days, our house is necessarily full of junk. That’s not true, though. It’s my own fault that the kids prefer “Milk and Cereal Bars” to eggs and bacon, and the fact that such foods are in our cabinets is my responsibility as well. I do much of the shopping. We do not need 5 kinds of granola bars or Magic Shell ice cream topping. We could have more fruit and vegetables in the house.

With this post, I resolve to make a change. It’s a change I’ve made in my head a dozen times over the last two years, but today I put it (electronic) writing.

It is my hope, that doing so helps me stick with it… because I do love her (and my son and my wife) more than cookies (or donuts).