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.
