Teachers hand out candy rewards in class. The snack offered at our children’s soccer game is a bottle of Gatorade and a packet of Oreos. Places that never even used to sell food, like Office Depot and Michael’s, now have racks of candy and junk food placed at kid-eye level at the checkout line. And the food and beverage industries spend almost $2 billion each year to market unhealthy products directly to our kids.
We all want our children to eat healthfully, but sometimes it feels like the societal forces aligned against us are overwhelming. That’s the focus of my new book, Kid Food: The Challenge of Feeding Children in a Highly Processed World (Oxford University Press, November, 2019), which offers insight, help, and hope for concerned parents—and anyone else troubled by how we feed kids in America today. (You can read more about the book at bettinasiegel.com.)
And if you’re particularly concerned about the junk food offered to your kids in their school classrooms, such as food served at birthday celebrations, class parties and as teacher rewards, be sure to check out “The Lunch Tray’s Guide to Getting Junk Food Out of Your Child’s Classroom.” It’s a free, 50-page guide full of all my favorite links, resources and best practices to help make your child’s classroom a healthier food environment, now in its second edition. Sign up to receive your own free copy here.