Food Detectives

Kristi Atwood and I are volunteering our time at the YMCA to teach kids about being Nutrition Detectives.

While this class was mostly 5 year olds, they understood why it’s important to read the labels to see what they’re actually getting in the food. For example, the label on the maple syrup bottle announced in bold letters on the front that it contained No High Fructose Corn Syrup. When we read the ingredients on the back panel, corn syrup was the #1 ingredient. The marketing departments will have nothing on these kids who choose to be supermarket spies getting clued-in versus being clueless! The program we’re sharing was developed by Dr. Katz who makes it entertaining for kids. Rather than focusing on health aspects, he stresses how much more fun they’ll be able to have when they fuel their bodies with high quality foods. The five clues are 1) Don’t be fooled by the big letters on the front 2) The first ingredient is always the biggest! 3) Avoid partially hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup 4) Avoid foods with a long ingredient list and 5) Fiber is your friend so look out for whole grain imposters. While some adults may not know what a refined grain is, these kids understood and got quite a laugh from Dr. Katz’s power point slide showing a whole grain next to a refined grain without it’s clothes. Many packaged foods have refined grains that have been stripped of their nutrients and fiber.

What could be cuter than a child enjoying a berry smoothie with a fruit mustache rather than the well-marketed milk mustaches? This mustache is filled with phytochemicals and antioxidants rather than pus and hormones that come hidden in a glass of milk. (yes, that includes cheese, ice cream and yogurt!)

As Ruby Roth said in this interview “it’s never too early to start telling our children what’s in their food. If it’s too scary to talk about, it’s too scary to eat.”