Use Ice Cream to Teach Your Kids to Eat Right

It's Memorial Day weekend and that means summer.  And summer means Ice Cream!!!

Hurray.  I love ice cream.  Most kids I know love it too.

And most parents I know go back and forth between trying to regulate their kids' consumption of ice cream over the summer and, well, just letting it go.

I'm going to suggest something radical: This summer use ice cream to teach your kids to eat right.

Half the battle of eating right is knowing how to fit sweets and treats into your diet in a way that works.

That's why I was disappointed when I picked up the current issue of Nutrition Action Healthletter, published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and read their tips for choosing the best ice cream.

I love this newsletter. I really do.  But, come on!

This article advocates eating a rational amount of ice cream—as opposed to digging into a bowl that's bigger than your body— a proposition I support.

But it also advocates...

1) Substituting the dessert of your dreams with a lower fat (and sometimes totally fake) version of the real deal. Artic Zero? Really?

I say, let your kids eat the ice cream they love.

2) Trying to reduce (or eliminate) the sugar rush you receive by choosing ice creams with the least amount of added sugar.

I say, let your kids eat the ice cream they love.

3) Maximizing the protein and calcium content of your cone.  Most premium ice creams contain 4-5 grams of protein per half cup, but Ciao Bella Adonia Greek Frozen Yogurt packs a 9 gram protein punch.

I say, let your kids eat the ice cream they love.  Ice cream shouldn't be your good nutrition "go-to." 

Lesson 1: It's better to fit REAL ice cream into your diet in a way that works than to look for the "healthiest" ice cream out there.

Yes, I know that the folks at the Center for Science in the Public Interest would advocate both—moderating your intake of the most nutritious ice cream out there—but that's not the way most people work.  Especially people who are kids.

Lesson 2: Let treats be treats.

The idea that we can expect things to be what they are not—ice cream that's packed with protein, cookies with as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal—is a byproduct of the nutrition mentality (mixed with a healthy dose of manufacturing magic).

But here's the irony: It's harder to teach kids to treat ice cream as a treat if you "health-ify" it.

When you blur the boundaries between healthy food and treats, it's hard to:

• Convince your kids to limit their intake of treats.  
• Teach your kids the importance of eating healthy foods.

Lesson 3: Eat foods in proportion to their healthful benefits.

That means eating green beans more frequently than gelato and spinach more often than sorbet.

And then, teach your kids to indulge in ice cream as an occasional indulgence.

These are the lessons they will need for a lifetime of healthy (ice cream) eating.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

Source: Hurley, J. & B. Liebman. 2012. "Ice Cream: What's Hot in the Deep Freeze?" Nutrition Action Healthletter.  Center for Science in the Public Interest. June. pp. 13-15. 

Kid Eats Q&A: What's a Soccer Mom to Do About Snacks?

Thanks to Katie who sent me this question:

My son (almost 5) is playing soccer for the first time this year.  I just got an email from the coach that the parents need to chip in even more money so that she can provide popsicles for the kids after all the practices and games.

WHAT?  Now, I do love popsicles, but I'm not so keen on my kid feeling that an hour of exercise deserves a sweet/colourful/completely devoid of nutrition "treat".  I know my kid and after about 3 weeks the soccer/popsicle connection will be cemented in his brain.

Am I being way too uptight? Should I put up a stink?  Offer to bring fruit?  Talk to my son about it and let him have at the popsicles? 

From a habits perspective I hate the idea that kids are being taught to consume junk with athletics.

So Katie, I'm with you. I feel your pain.  And no, I don't think you're being way too uptight.

You can try to convince the coach that she shouldn’t serve popsicles—Read my friend Sally’s success story for inspiration.—but it's not the only thing you should do.

In addition, I say use this opportunity to begin teaching your son about how to navigate the food world he lives in.  Read When School Nutrition Stinks, but here's the general plan: You figure out how much, your son figures out when.

1. Talk to your son about how to fit sweets and treats into his diet so that fruits, vegetables and other real foods dominate his day.
2. Teach your son to plan for popsicles by moderating his intake of sweets and treats on soccer days.  When possible, allow your son to do this for himself: “You can have this cookie now or you can have a popsicle after soccer.”
3. Bring fruit for your son to eat, and enough fruit to share, but don’t bring so much that you take over snack time—not because you might step on some toes, which you probably will—but because being the one who always brings the healthy snacks is both a financial and an emotional burden.
4. Allow for some wiggle room, those times when your son will have had his treat before soccer but wants another one after the game. Remember, it's the longterm lesson you're after.

Most parents I know worry that their children will feel excluded if they aren’t allowed to eat the same food (and I use the term food liberally here) as everyone else. 

To this I say:

• Possibly. and
• It depends on how you handle it. and
• Sometimes it's worth the risk because there are important lessons at stake here.

Here are some points I think are worth considering: 

1) If children have adequate access to sweets and treats they won’t feel DEPRIVED in the sense of, “Kids hoard candy if they’re not allowed to indulge." Your child might feel a little deprived, but we're talking limits, not total restriction. One of the most valuable lessons you can teach your son is that he doesn't have to eat sweets and treats every time they're offered. He also doesn't have to have sweets and treats just because they're being offered.

2) Although children believe it’s not “fair” when other kids are allowed to eat sweets and they aren’t, parents don’t have to reinforce this belief.  Instead, parents can teach their children that when it comes to sweets and treats, “fair” is eating what is right for your body, not more than what’s right, and not what's right for someone else. "Maybe Jimmy didn't already have a donut today. This is his time for a treat. You already chose to have yours. Remember?"

3) Even when kids resist limits, limits are good. Put another way, if limits were always eliminated because kids didn't like them, where would we be?

4)  When children are allowed to choose when they have their sweets and treats they’re more comfortable accepting limits because they've been part of setting those limits. 

5) It’s easier to accept being different when you don’t feel deprived.  (See point #1.)

To be fair to the coach, she’s probably thinking that popsicles aren’t that bad because she thinks::

• Popsicles are primarily water —and kids have to rehydrate. Actually they don’t need to rehydrate as much as you think. Read Soccer Moms, BEWARE!

• Popsicles have sugar, but nothing compared to ice cream.  Actually, sugar varies widely in popsicles. One Popsicle brand grape popsicle has 8 grams of sugar, one Dreyers All Natural Grape Fruit Bar has 18 grams of sugar.  In comparison, ½ cup of Dreyers chocolate ice cream has 15 grams of sugar.

• Some popsicles contain actual fruit.  Some do, though none of them contain the range of nutrients found in real fruit: one Dreyer’s Grape bar has 25% of Vitamin C—all of it added— but none of the Vitamin A, calcium, iron or fiber found in actual grapes.

On the other hand, this coach clearly isn't thinking about long term habits.

But, Katie, I'm glad you are.  It will help you navigate successfully past this soccer snack situation so you can teach your son the skills he will need for a lifetime of happy sports and healthy snacking.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

Healthy Desserts for Kids

Dessert is magical.

• Used the wrong way, dessert can make kids eat more dinner.  Want to know why this is wrong? Read Wheelin' & Dealin': 10 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Trade Peas For Pie.

• Used the right way, dessert can transform how your kid eats. Read Dishing Up Dessert.

In order to get dessert working for you, you've got to take it down a peg or two.  In most homes, dessert has way too much power.

Kids want dessert.  And, knowing this:

• If you are parenting a picky eater, you probably use dessert to pressure your kids to eat more than than they want.  

• If you are parenting an overeater, you probably try to restrict your child's access to dessert.

Research shows that pressure and restriction are parenting strategies that don't work.

You don't have to ditch dessert.  Just neutralize it.

1. Serve dessert every night.  Read Dessert: How I LOVE Thee.
2. Establish the rule that everyone who wants dessert gets it—no matter how well they've eaten.
3. If dessert has a lot of power in your home, consider serving it at the same time as the main meal.

And then...change what you serve for dessert.

Serve fruit, yogurt, cheese or other healthy foods for dessert most nights, and sweet desserts only occasionally.

Need some ideas?  You don't have to serve fruit straight-up.

You can add a sprinkle of cinnamon, a dash of vanilla, or a dusting of powdered sugar to fresh fruit such as bananas, kiwi, oranges, cantaloupe, grapes, apples, mango, pear, cherries, blueberries...

Got a little more energy?

• Grilled Pineapple
• Mixed Berry Salad with Mint
• Vanilla-Roasted Peaches with Raspberries
• Broiled Plums with Marscapone Cream
• Mango-Lime Rocotta Parfaits
• Fresh Papaya with Coconut-Lime Yogurt  
• Baked Apples
• Roasted Fruit
• Blueberries with Maple Whipped Cream
• Apricot Fig Compote
• Carmelized Pears
• Carmelized Apples with Fresh Rosemary
• Orange Sections with Mint Leaves & Honey
• Carmelized Pineapple with Honey and Yogurt
• Mixed Berries, Apples and Bananas
• Puree of Apples and Blackcurrents

Many of these ideas came from Martha Stewart.com, others came from one of my favorite family cookbooks, Chef Bobo's Good Food Cookbook. (Every recipe in this book is a winner with kids—even the cauliflower soup. I kid you not.)

Want some ideas for serving yogurt? Read The Magic of Yogurt.

Change what you serve for dessert and you'll change how you and your kids interact around dinner.

You might even change how you interact during the course of the entire day. Less stress.  More success.  

There are so many kinds of fruit that you could have something different every night for a month. If you're willing to cook the fruit, you'll be able to offer variety every night for 2 months (or more).

But, if your kids do get bored with fruit dessert, consider your strategy a success—it's a sign that you've neutralized the biggest bully on the block.

And, it's a sign that you've taught your kids the habits they'll need for a lifetime of healthy eating. 

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~