Fizzy Fruit

[BlueMoose]

I just read an article on The Drudge Report about a company that is working on developing carbonated fruit to market to children. Does this seem bizarre to anyone else? Do we need to make fruit more like soda to get kids to eat it? Any opinions out there? BTW, They can't do it with bananas because they explode! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif

[AndreaU]

Definitely bizzare... as is the new carbonated milk drink, green ketchup, cereal with more, bigger & better funky marshmallows (as if there weren't enough before), oatmeal that changes color, granola-type bars with candy mixed in, candy sprinkles for yogurt, etc. I do find it strange that people buy this stuff in hopes that their kids will eat "healthier" by disguising good food in sugary and/or fizzy exteriors.

[BosunsWife]

My litte one loves fruit so I would have to say thank goodness not to have to buy fizzy fruit.

We gave her a little tiny bit of 7up in with her fruit juice the other night as a treat and she would not drink it. I don't know if it was the carbonation that she didn't like or just the taste.

Up until about a month ago, the only cereal she would eat was Cheerios. I guess after eating them for over a year she has gotten sick of them LOL. I bought her some Kix which she seems to like. I was perusing the cereal aisle at the commissary on Saturday and was appalled at the amount of sugar that was in some cereals. Even the sugar type Cheerios have a lot of sugar in them. Kix only has 3g of sugar per serving. Very few cereals are that low and it seemed like the average was 11g or more!

The only gimmick foods that I have given in to are Elmo crackers and Teddy Grahams.

[Jewel]

Speaking of fizzy...anyone remember Pop Rocks? The little pebbles you put on your tongue and feel 'em explode? I remember them trying to take them off the market saying they were dangerous.

You know I was just thinking about the 'convenience' foods for kids just last week when DH and I went to the store. Remember when school lunches were PB & J or bologna? Maybe a bag of chips and a 5 year old Twinkie? Now all I'm hearing is that if a kid doesn't get the Pizza or Taco Lunchables (at $3 a pop!) he's the laughing stock of the school! I'm not a parent, so I don't pretend to know how that works, but are you folks really having to coax your kids to eat good stuff now? Just curious... I don't have this problem with the two dogs! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[KimKelly]

You crack me up Jewel! I think I had the same 5 year old twinkie, only I remember having to beg for it! I have to admit that I was appalled when someone brough Capri Sun juice and twinkies as the "healthy snack" after my son's basketball game.

I'm lucky to have a son who will be 5 this July and who is really aware of nutrition. I've been "preaching" (is that the right word) to him for as long as I can remember. We have talked about "growing foods" and how you have to eat them to be healthy. We talk about the particular vitamins and minerals and what they do for you and we make a big deal out of it when he eats something good. For example, we tell him that bananas will make him strong and then my husband will close his eyes and when he opens them my son flexes his muscles and we say how we can't belive how strong he has gotten right before our eyes. He loves this game. He amazes me sometims when he will say"Mom... I really have not eaten well today, I really should have a banana". But, there are also the days that we have the ole tantrum when I do not give him cake before dinner. He has only had soda once and did not like it, so we have not pushed it. He had a substitute teacher named Mrs. Coke a few weeks back and she says "you know, just like the drink" He just looked at her with a blank look and when I explained that he had never had Coke she was amazed.

We are also blessed to have a pediatrition who specializes in nutrition. She has even written a book, How to Get Your Kids to Eat Great and Love it, by Dr. Christine Wood (her is the web site if anyone is interested http://www.kidseatgreat.com/ ). She is a wonderful, patient doctor and has spent time educating us and listening to my endless silly questions. Drew (my son) really respects her and listens to her.

Sorry to have rattled on so long just to say that fizzy fruit will not be on our menu!

[Jewel]

Originally posted by SusanT:

What's changed since I was a kid?



Oh Susan, don't get me started on what's changed!! I know they call it progress, but sometimes I wonder; There are times I've got my bottom lip out when I see the kinds of toys they have now that I never had, like those kidsize Jeep Wranglers? I had the Flinstones Pedal Car!! All the cool stuff out now makes DH and I want to 'pretend' we have kids and raid Toys 'R Us just so we can play in our living room. You don't see Lincoln Logs or Tinkertoys anymore, it's all high-tech. Kid wants to build something now, he puts the right disk into his computer!

But I'm not jealous about the time these kids do NOT spend outside in comparison to my generation. I came home from school, did my homework (well, sometimes..) did my chores, then I was outside playing until dinnertime, then after the dinner dishes were done I was right back outside. Weekends were ALWAYS spent outside. Seems now that I don't see near as many kids playing outside as I used to. Computers and PlayStations have taken the place of bikes and kickball! I hope I'm wrong and this isn't an epidemic, because as I said I don't have kids, but it just seems as though they've got cooler toys, but they don't have as much fun. Make sense?

[BosunsWife]

SusanT I totally agree with you. We are later life parents and our little one is not being catered to with regard to meals. In fact I just had a conversation with her Pediatrician and told him that I offer her what we are eating for dinner and if she doesn't eat it thats fine, but she doesn't get anything else. He totally agreed with me. He said she will eventually learn to eat what we are eating and if she is REALLY hungry, she will eat. He did say that we shouldn't make her sit there until she does eat it and we already knew that.

I refuse to raise a child that will only eat fish sticks and chicken nuggets!

[SusanT]

I don't have kids, but I wonder if this pandering to children's tastes is a relatively new (past 10-15 years) phenomenon? It certainly didn't seem to be around when I was a kid.

My parents never prepared us a separate meal of specially shaped fish sticks or macaroni. We ate whatever they fixed which was sometimes "fun" food like hamburgers or tacos but we also had exotic fare like lamb and spaghetti. We had a backyard garden and my parents are avid shoppers of the farmers market so we always ate lots of vegetables. They didn't keep lots of snack food or sodas in the house.

What's changed since I was a kid?

[AvrilH]

Fortunately, I will not have to resort to Fizzy fruit, either. In fact, while I have been pregnant, it has been difficult for me to get in my fruit allotment for the day bc my kids keep the bowl picked dry.

However, regarding the rest of this thread, I must agree that the proliferation of PURE JUNK marketed for kids is appalling. My kids don't watch commercial tv, but the oldest is in school now and sees what his friends get in their lunches. I have relented, and he can have 1 junk item with every lunch.

Fortunatlely, he also will eat the fruit, yoghurt and cheese that is in there too.

Now I just need to get the kids eating their veggies and the oldest eating meat. They love some healthy foods - now they just need to diversify.

And I have to agree that teaching your kids about nutrition has a big pay off. My son will actually say "Can we get something healthy to eat? I'm hungry!" Chips and store-bought cookies are just not a thing for him.