Real Mom Nutrition
A no-judgments zone about feeding a family.
My kids ate Lucky Charms every morning for a week. Well, not quite a week. The Lucky Charms ran out by day three or four, so they switched to Honey Nut Cheerios and Frosted Mini-Wheats. My dad brings a stash of these cereals to our annual beach vacation, much to the delight of his grandkids. …
Everything that’s wrong with the foods and drinks marketed to kids these days can be found in this bottle of Hawaiian Punch. Here’s why: It’s Cheap This stuff costs $1.99 for a gallon. That’s less than a gallon of milk. It Pretends To Be Healthy See the prominent label on the front for “100% DV vitamin C”? The manufacturer wants …
If you have kids in baseball, softball, football, and other organized sports, you know about the concession stand. It may generate much-needed revenue for the sports league. It’s almost always stocked with junk food. As a parent, it’s hard to deny your player something from the concession stand, especially when the whole team gathers there after …
I got this question recently on my Real Mom Nutrition Facebook page from mom Kelli: I do my best to feed my family mostly clean. I try to have snacks only when needed, foods like nuts, popcorn, cheese, whole grain crackers, yogurt, fruits, veggies, and hummus. I let my kids eat junk food at parties and events where …
One year ago this month, I traveled to McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Illinois to help deliver the message that parents are tired of fast food marketing to children. I was part of a team of mothers organized by Corporate Accountability International (CAI). Though McDonald’s tried very hard to silence our message at the shareholders’ meeting, I was able …
After all the cupcakes and cookies on the sidelines of pee wee soccer (read Soccer Mom Soapbox), I was relieved when my son started playing flag football and sports snacks were a non-issue. In four seasons, I didn’t see a single Capri Sun or Dorito. One coach brought goodies to the last game–but beyond that, it …
Fruit snacks are fixtures in lunch boxes and party goody bags. They show up on soccer sidelines and are beloved by kids (yes, including mine). But for something that calls itself “fruit” and a “snack”, they’re also highly overrated. Here are the three biggest misconceptions about fruit snacks–and what ALL parents should know about these ubiquitous little pouches: Myth #1: …
I am so over seeing this headline: “Foods You Should Never Eat!” There’s a good reason I see it so much. It’s effective. It’s just sensational enough to draw you in, just scary enough to make you flip to the page or click through to the article with a single worry: Oh no, could I be eating one of those foods???? Yes, you …
I try very hard to make this blog a no-judgments zone. Except when it comes to food marketers. I have no patience for junk food marketing that tries to lure kids with cartoon characters, video games, and thinly veiled promises of being cool. But a funny thing happens whenever I gripe about this: Some readers immediately jump to …
My name is Sally. I’m a dietitian. And I hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. In the past, I’ve doled out bags of pretzels, small tubs of Play-Doh, and sheets of stickers too (and see nothing wrong with going that route). But mostly, we hand out candy. When it comes to trick-or-treating, I’m cool with candy. Why? …
I don’t have the stamina for junk food anymore. As a kid, I could suck on Sour Patch Kids until my tongue was raw. I could wash down greasy pizza and Cheetos with a Cherry Coke and be no worse for the wear. These days, a donut for breakfast would send me crawling back to bed in a sugared …
You may be in back-to-school mode, but if you were unhappy with the snacks or meals your child received at summer camp this year, now is the time to speak up. Why now? Because camps are sending out end-of-summer evaluations and surveys–and there’s plenty of time to look at parent feedback and make improvements for next summer. This summer, …
