Wednesday, October 15, 2014

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Lessons from a Box of Pop Tarts

Pop Tarts have always been a part of the Growing Healthy Kids project.  “HOLD IT”, you say.  "Isn’t Growing Healthy Kids all about teaching kids about healthy foods?"  Yes, we are.  Now that I have your attention, let's get straight to the lesson. 


The first lesson I ever received from a box of pop tarts was like a lightning bolt hit me.  It happened the very first time I met with the managers of the local Boys and Girls Club.  I put a box of pop tarts on the table to use as a visual for everything that we teach kids what NOT to eat.  However, before I started my presentation, one manager said, “That’s what we give to the kids every day for their snack.”  I almost fell out of my chair with the manager’s revelation. Turns out the local school district donated them to the Boys and Girls Club!  The thing is, he didn’t think anything was wrong with kids eating pop tarts!  That was more than five years ago.  I have never forgotten the lesson I learned that day:  Educating adults is critical. 

Fast forward to this month.  I designed a new program for children served by Youth Guidance Mentoring and Activities Program.  Again, the visual focal point for the class was a box of pop tarts.  The children and the adult mentors all walked away at the end of the class wondering just how many other foods they have been mindlessly eating that could be causing more harm than good. 

Here are six simple lessons we can all learn from a box of pop tarts:

1.  Count the number of ingredients.  The more ingredients there are, the greater the chance there are hidden sugars and other bad ingredients. 

2.  Read the ingredients out loud.  How many ingredients do you not know how to pronounce?    If there is even one ingredient that you are unsure of how to pronounce, chances are it is a chemical or a highly processed ingredient that is not good for you.

3.  Look for sugar.  How many grams of sugar per serving are on the nutrition facts panel?  How many different names for sugar are listed as ingredients?  The other night I gave the children a list of fifty names for sugar to look for on the box of pop tarts.  They found way more than one or two!  The more sugar kids eat, the greater the chance they are eating empty calories that can cause health issues such as obesity, attention deficit disorder, and diabetes.  

4.  Look for what I call the “evil empire sugar”:  high fructose corn syrup.  This highly processed sugar is one of the worst ingredients we can eat.  Teach your kids to be nutrition detectives and to look carefully at the ingredients so they do not eat any foods containing this “evil empire sugar”. 

5.  Look for food dyes.  See if there are any ingredients that include “blue”, “red”, “yellow”, etc. on the food label.  Consumption of food dyes are  known to cause increased risk of cancer, hyperactivity, aggressive behaviors, thyroid disorders, asthma, insomnia, allergies, and more. 

6.  Identify where the item is physically located in the store.  Take pop tarts, for example.  Why is it that when I go into the cereal aisle in any major grocery store, pop tarts are always at the front of the aisle and there are many rows and shelves of them?  How much is being paid to the grocery store for front row placement?  Did you ever wonder why the steel cut oats don’t get the same respect?  It’s all about the profits.  When you use cheap, highly processed, shelf stable (we’re talking years) ingredients, you can spent more on advertising and you can make more profits.  The pop tarts are also in the middle of the store, where processed foods are found. Start your shopping trip on the walls on the store first, stocking up on fresh vegetables and fruits, dairy, and seafood.

Our children’s health should not be for sale to the highest bidder.  Yet it is.  You can do something about it.  Look for cereals that are on the top row.  These will be the ones with only a couple of ingredients and less sugar.  They are not, however, at your children’s eye level.  Companies pay stores to get their products placed so that kids will have easy access to them.  So talk with your children before you go shopping the next time.  Make it a game to find a cereal with less than five ingredients, no color dyes and no high fructose corn syrup listed in the ingredients. 

In gratitude,
Nancy Heinrich
Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.