Food Fights - a Review and a Giveaway

I was compensated for my review of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Recently, I was sent two copies of the new book Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor and a Bottle of Ketchup.

Food, our children, and the relationship between them has been a topic near and dear to me for several years. I worked in a school cafeteria and was able to see, first hand, some of the struggles that go into feeding hundreds of children on a daily basis - and to see what many parents feel is the best choice of foods to feed their kids. Some parents are doing a stellar job - and some parents, not so great. I remember seeing an overwhelming amount of lunchables, candy coated granola bars, florescent yogurts and sodas, not to mention cookies and candy bars, in the vast majority of lunch boxes.

This book does an excellent job, from birth to teenager and beyond, of breaking down the food myths and explaining things in an easy to understand manner. With simple yet powerful information boxes spelling out the high points of each section, this book makes child nutrition easy to understand.

Want a copy? Leave me your best child nutrition tip and I'll draw one lucky winner.

Here's an excerpt from Food Fights, discussing one of the most hotly contended topics - JUICE:

The answer to whether or not young children should be allowed to
drink juice on a regular basis has been a bit of a sticky one for years.
After all, the fight against childhood obesity has most definitely included
a focus on limiting sugary liquids. And juice—whether it is delivered in
a box or carton, sippy cup or straw—most definitely contains sugar. In
fact, when we set out to write the first edition of Food Fights, the latest
research at the time had us all but convinced that fruit juice was almost
as much to blame for childhood obesity (not to mention tooth decay)
as soda pop. Sugar was sugar, after all, and it was hard to look past
the fact that a 12-ounce serving of 100% grape juice had been shown
to have 11/2 times the calories as grape soda. Additionally, a few small
initial studies suggested a worrisome connection between obesity in
young children and their fruit juice consumption. But unlike soda pop
and its utter lack of redeeming nutritional qualities, 100% fruit juice has since proven itself
significantly more worthy of further nutritional consideration. Several
subsequent large national studies have revealed some interesting findings
about kids, juice, nutrition, and obesity, not the least of which has
been the lack of an association between drinking 100% fruit juice andan increased likelihood of children being or becoming overweight.
These new findings have led us to reassess our take on juice, and to
reformulate our own juice-related advice for parents accordingly.

A Convenient Juice Box

If and when you plan on incorporating juice into your child’s diet responsibly,we suggest the following approach:

• Make sure it’s pure fruit juice. Fruit drinks that aren’t 100% juice typically
contain added sugars and/or sweeteners that can up both the cavity and
calorie counts.

• Hold off on introducing your child to juice for at least his first year and
refrain from serving it in a bottle.

• Avoid letting your child sip on juice (or any other sugar-containing liquid,
for that matter) for prolonged periods. Whether by bottle, sippy cup, or
cup, bathing one’s teeth in sugary liquids can cause serious tooth decay.

• Consider diluting it with water.

• Encourage your child to eat fresh, whole fruits whenever available.

• Whenever possible, serve juice that contains pulp for added fiber.

• Make sure juice doesn’t entirely drown out your child’s interest in drinking
milk and water.

• Buy only pasteurized products (shelf-stable juices, frozen concentrates,
or specially marked refrigerated juices) to avoid potential diarrhea-causing
infections.

• While the American Academy of Pediatrics does suggest 100% fruit juice
as an acceptable part of a healthy diet, be aware that it’s wise to offer it in
age-appropriate moderation (none under 6 months of age and no more
than 4 to 6 ounces a day for older infants and children).

• Keep an eye out for warning signs of excessive juice intake, such as tooth
decay and “toddler’s diarrhea.” Not only do young kids tend to suck on
sugary liquids for prolonged periods when allowed, thus putting their newly
acquired teeth at considerable risk., but kids
between the ages of 2 and 3 tend to have the highest juice consumption—
in some instances enough to cause persistent diarrhea.

Comments

[Emily C]

My best tip was an accident. And it doesn't work on every kid. When i want my kids to try something new, I'll ask, "Do you want to take one bite or two?" For some reason, with the 18 month-3 year old set, it works wonders. They'll often choose one. If I feel they really need to eat more, I'll ask again, "Do you want one bite, or three?" This can go on for a few minutes sometimes.

And I HATE juice. I especially hate that WIC provides juice. My oldest son won't touch the stuff, but the younger two are crazy for it. We have it in the house to mix with my husband's vitamin powders, but I hate the daily juice battle.

[lidia]

Very good written information. It will be useful to anyone who utilizes it, as well as myself. Keep doing what you are doing - i will definitely read more posts.