Healthy Options
Bad Beige Foods
Are you one of those parents who thinks it takes too much time to prepare healthy meals for your kids? After all, is it really worth the effort to save a few calories? Then why don’t you consider this:
- Childhood obesity rates have tripled in America since 1980
- 16% of all children aged 6 – 19 are obese
- 70% of obese adolescents will be obese as adults
- Obesity leads to increased risk of heart attack, stroke and early death
Children’s Health magazine determined the 20 Worst Kid’s Foods in America, and if you’re in the food industry you already know that the color of money isn’t green – it’s beige.
Parents know that the majority of their kids favorite foods, from french fries to white bread to chicken nuggets, are beige. Beige is the color of highly processed foods, which means cheap, calorie-rich, nutritionally bankrupt food.
Next time you’re at your favorite fast food restaurant and your child is checking out the kids menu, steer them clear of those monochromatic clusters of cheese sticks, dinosaur-shaped chicken and fried potatoes.
When eating out, follow this simple rule: all kids dishes must come with at least two colors (and ketchup doesn’t count).
In case you’re interested, the #1 Worst Kids Meal in America (in 2010) was the Uno Chicago Grill Kids’ Kombo with French Fries
- 1,250 calories
- 79 g fat (11.5 g saturated)
- 2,850 mg sodium
The moderately active 8 year old only requires 1600 calories and ~60 gms of total fat (17 saturated) per day! Add to this 150% of your child’s recommended daily allowance of sodium (salt) and you can see why this is the worst kid’s meal in America.
So being a health conscious parent who wants their child to develop a lifetime of healthy eating habits, check out some of these healthy options: