April 26, 2011 Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!
I'm always writing about the idea that it doesn't matter what your kids eat. What matters is how often your kids eat it. Whatever it is.
And now, the National Institute of Health is stealing my idea! Look at my chart...
And now look at theirs...
Those government-guys didn't just steal my idea, they improved it.
Fancy graphics. Cool names. Who do they think they are? GO, SLOW and WHOA?
OK. I'll get my ego in check. I've got to admit, this is pretty good stuff.
You can download this chart, here, but I've got to warn you: if you're the kind of parent who relies on Child-Friendly Foods, who loves to dole out things such as macaroni, juice and Goldfish crackers, get ready to be depressed. These are all Slow Foods, meant to be eaten only sometimes. They shouldn't be thought of as daily delights.
GO, SLOW, and WHOA - Putting Proportion into Action
Proportion—eating foods in relation to their healthy benefits—is one of the three primary principles of eating right. (The other two are variety and moderation.) Read It Doesn't Matter WHAT Your Kids Eat!
- From a nutrition perspective, kids need to learn proportion because it keeps them eating healthier foods.
- From a habits perspective, kids need to learn proportion because it shapes their taste preferences. Fresh fruit, for instance, trains kids to like fruits and vegetables; fruit leather teaches them to like candy.
Want to know which foods qualify as a GO, a SLOW or a WHOA?
You can either study the We Can! chart or, you can use my rule of thumb:
- Everything you know for sure, without a doubt is healthy (like fruits and vegetables) is a GO Food.
- Everything you know for sure, without a doubt is junky (ice cream, cookies, french fries) is a WHOA Food.
- Everything else -- baked chips, 100% fruit juice, French toast--is a SLOW food.
Or you can do it this way: anything that's fresh and natural is a GO food, and everything else is a WHOA food. That's right, you can skip the SLOW food category altogether. Not because SLOW foods aren't marginally better for you than WHOA foods, but because when it comes to shaping your kids' habits, they should learn to eat either a SLOW or a WHOA food—but not both.
Let's face it, nobody needs to eat:
- Pancakes (a SLOW food) and a muffin (a WHOA food).
- Popcorn (a SLOW food) and potato chips (a WHOA food).
But everyone needs each of these foods some of the time.
Proportion is the key to letting your kids eat everything they want...
...in the way that works. Think of teaching proportion as teaching your kids how to have their cake, and eat it too!
~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~
Reader Comments (15)
I am glad to see mainstream nutritional thought recognizing that processed anything is not good and emphasizing fresh food. However, I think they are still behind on fat. Fat is not evil and science is not finding a link between saturated fat and heart disease that it once told us was there. It'll be interesting to see how this evolves as the 'authorities' catch up on the science. I'm particularly interested to see how they will handle the Omega 6 and 3 ratio issue.
Also, fat free dressings? Really that's a go? In my book it's a Whoa. It's highly processed and often full of chemicals. I'll make my own dressings with olive oil and call it good.
M
What M said (but s/he probably said it much better than I would have). Great way of structuring it but the dairy section might need revisiting. Also in my book there are a great number of whoa food that are fantastic in small amounts, but not so much if portion control is not in place. Like nuts for example.
There will always be tinkering with categorizing foods, but that misses the point. The point is to get out of the nutrition frame-of-mind and start thinking about habits. In this case, how often we eat different kinds of foods. If a few foods get put in the wrong category, it won't make a difference in the long run. Most people eat out of the wrong category most of the time. If this pushes people to think about their kids' habits, even if there are a few errors, everyone's eating will improve.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
Dina
I am honestly shocked to see whole milk and full-fat cheddar cheese in the WHOA category! And processed string cheese, sweetened yogurt, and low-fat milk in the GO category? I understand your point wasn't about nutritional value, but that categorization sends a deeply flawed message (low-fat and processed, sweetened dairy = good) to the public (parents, too, might choose sweetened yogurt over a slice of aged cheddar), and we can see by the current obesity epidemic where that message has taken us.
Viola,
I agree that there are some categorization problems with the GO, SLOW, and WHOA chart (remember, it's not mine). I also agree, for instance, that a slice of full fat cheddar is preferable to a highly sweetened yogurt but this just reinforces my main point: nutrition gets in the way of making good eating decisions AND there's always a way to argue for the food you want to eat (at least it's low-fat, for instance). But the point here is to see the larger picture: we need to think about how often we eat different foods.
Thanks for your comment.
Dina
The one thing I was disappointed not to see on the GO, SLOW, WHOA chart is chocolate milk. The milk at the school I work at is fat-free or lowfat, but the sugar content is very high - almost equal to the same amount of Coke. I know it's not your chart, but whoever created that is missing the ball on that one.
Candace,
I'm with you on chocolate milk. It's the one item that I really think is handled incorrectly. I don't think we need the scare "do-anything-to-get-your-kids-to-consume-it" tactics about milk and calcium. The damage done to our kids' habits and their ideas about which foods are good for them are enormous when we classify chocolate milk as healthy. It's not. It's a treat.
Dina
Great way of structuring it but the dairy section might need revisiting. Also in my book there are a great number of whoa food that are fantastic in small amounts, but not so much if portion control is not in place. Like nuts for example.
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Like many commenters, I have quibbles about the particulars of several categories, but overall, I love the message. This is pretty much how we have talked to our kids about food. We talk about Go Foods - which make you grow and feel strong and make your body want to go, go, go! - and Slow Foods - which make you feel slow and sad. We eat Go Foods first and most of all, and Slow Foods sometimes. We also have things we try to avoid altogether (in our case it's chemicals, preservatives and food colorings - anything synthesized in a lab, basically) so I guess that would qualify as a "Whoa" category!
As our kids get older, we are talking more about food that help your body, foods that have mixed effects, and foods that hurt our bodies. It's fun to evolve our conversations as the girls get older and understand more about their bodies.
We are also beginning to talk to our kids about what different categories do for their bodies. Diary strengthens your bones. Fat grows your brain. Protein builds your muscles. Carbs provide quick energy. Fruits and veggies help your body clean out waste.
At 4 & 6, our older kids are starting to be able to categories foods and talk about why their bodies need them to grow!
Sarah,
It sounds like you've done a great job with your kids. Fantastic.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Dina
What can I say? I am trying to teach my kid, but have not mastered the art myself. The problem is not so much WHAT I eat, but HOW MUCH. Any tips on teaching kids and adults to moderate quantity of healthy food??
Nat,
HOW MUCH is so much harder than WHAT. Moderating quantity is a matter of using smaller plates and bowls, learning to wait before taking seconds, eating at the table instead of on the fly. But I hear you; it's hard.
Dina
Like other folks, putting this chart into practice with my own family will probably look a little different. (Also, I would tweak the images before showing this to my kiddo, so the images are meaningful to him.)
In the protein category, I would put egg whites, while whole eggs would go in the slow column.
Mashed potatoes would be woa.
The mysterious green bowl in the slow vegetable group would be swapped (what is that?). Maybe Peas and corn?
I too disagree with some of these categories. Condiments should be eaten in moderation instead of being GO foods. Olive oil, nuts and avocadoes are in the SLOW category but they are necessary in small quantities on a regular basis because of their good fats. Diet soda in the GO category makes no sense - artificial sweeteners contain no benefit and may harm. also, homemade pancakes with whole what flour are a GO meal in my view.