The Top Three Things Not to Feed Your Kids

I love it when “expert” parents give the rest of us a little peek into their day-to-day lives. That’s why I was psyched to be invited to hear Dr. Jim Sears speak on kids and nutrition Thursday evening. The Web site he and his equally well-known parents oversee, AskDrSears.com, is one of my go-to sources of information on the Internet, and I’ve read a couple of their 40+ books.

His down-to-earth presentation didn’t disappoint – and neither did the snapshots into the lives of his 12-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter.  He mixed just the right amount of common-sense advice with guilt-inducing medical viewpoints and self-deprecating humor, starting with the topic of junk food.

He believes kids need a good health foundation before they’re introduced to high-sugar, high-fat foods – and even then, junk food should be a rare treat, not a daily diet or something they can scrounge at home. “If you don’t buy it, they can’t eat it,” he told an audience of more than 500 Juice Plus+ enthusiasts at Meadowbrook Country Club in Ballwin.

If your kids are already fond of french fries and milkshakes, you may have to wean them. He did this cold turkey, by announcing one day that his kids wouldn’t be getting fries with their burgers. He put up with the inevitable whining and stuck with the decision. He now allows an occasional order of fries - one for everyone to share - and said his kids don’t really seem to miss them. “Until they buy their own food,” he said, “you have 100 percent control.”

On the medical side, Sears picked three types of ingredients all parents should avoid when feeding their kids:

1. High-fructose corn syrup – because our bodies don’t metabolize them the same way as regular sugar, and more of it gets stored as fat.
2. Hydrogenated oil – because they’re worse for our digestive and circulatory systems and brain than “good” fats like olive and fish oils.
3. Colors and numbers (like Red #40) – because they can trigger allergic reactions or other inflammations.

He also highlighted the importance of a breakfast high in complex carbohydrates, protein and “good” fats. Get rid of the sugar, he said. This is where I started feeling a little guilty, thinking about how I make whole-grain waffles, topped for myself with real maple syrup (at about $16 a bottle) and for my kids with cheapo fake stuff (at about $1.50 a bottle). The high-fructose corn syrup is not doing them any favors, especially first thing in the morning. With a sigh, I resolved to do better. Sears also pointed out that some yogurts are exceptionally high in sugar and that some cereals that are moderately high in sugar are actually pretty healthy because they’re also high in fiber.

Morning coffee shop drinks came in for some harsh criticism. In Sears’ opinion, parents who let their kids pick up lattes for breakfast would be better off letting them sip chocolate milkshakes instead - in terms of fat, calories and nutritional content. He implored the many teens in the audience, “Never get your breakfast at a coffee shop. Please.”

With a 7- and a 4-year-old, I don’t have to worry about coffee yet. But breakfast is a battle of wills at our house because the 4-year-old always has energy to burn before he sits down to eat. He’d rather go out and play in the yard for awhile first. This is where Sears’ stories of his own home life were reassuring. If he allows his kids go jump on a trampoline before breakfast, I might as well throw in the towel and let mine play outside too.

By Amy De La Hunt, Health Blogger for SmartParenting