Your Comments - Keep 'em Coming!

In this post, I want to highlight some of the comments from readers of this blog. These comments provide useful advice and information and I do not want them to stay “buried” in the blog archives. I am constantly inspired by your comments and I learn a lot from them. I want to say thanks to those who spend time reading my posts – some on a very regular basis – and leave a comment behind with some advice, helpful tips or a question for further research. Some of them have their own blogs, which I highly recommend you to visit whenever you get a chance. I will be highlighting more comments in future posts; for now, enjoy these 5 insightful comments from my earlier posts. If I did not pick your comment, just hang in there and look out for another post in future. And of course, feel free to share your opinions in a comment!

In response to my post 6 Easy Tips for Helping Your Child Choose Healthy Foods, Anne of yourfamilyviewer wrote:

I find it really interesting that, among other things, the amount of TV watching didn’t seem to affect what the children in the study chose – that what did was what the parents chose…. Hmmm. Not that I believe that TV has no effect on kids – in fact, I strongly support the American Academy Pediatrics recommendation of no screen time before the age of 2, and no more than 2 hours a day. But, as I have said before and will say again, parents have the most effect on what their kids think, do and eat.
And while I do think that having only veggies and fruit at a party is totally unfair, having several healthy alternatives along with some of the other stuff is a great idea. We call veggie trays crudite and serve them with a special dip. Gives it that “party/fun/special” effect.

Jenna of KidAppeal gave this advice when she read my post on the idea of Homemade OJ Ice Cream Cup:

my SIL just returned from the pediatricians office telling me the doc considers 100% juice to be in the soda category! i’m not sure i’d go that far, but i don’t know if i can condone 3 servings of juice a day either. One 4-6 oz serving a day is my limit unless we are visiting someone’s house, at a bday party where juice boxes flow freely or it’s a holiday. Home-made popsicles are a tasty treat and are a better choice than most candy or ice-cream, but it’s still a treat and once a day is plenty. Young kids lack impulse control they need to make the best food choices. My advice? Next time they beckon for “ice cream cold” let them choose which meal they’d like it with. They will probably cry when they don’t get it. You can follow up with saying ice cream is a special treat and is not grow food. Tell them lots of grow food is ok, but lots of treats are not healthy. This might be painful and tearful for a couple days, but they’ll accept it if you follow through. Let me know if this helps.

When I highlighted a news that some doctors were suggesting cholesterol lowering drugs for kids with high LDL (bad cholesterol) in Noteworthy Child Nutrition News of 2008, Dr. Ayala of Herbal Water responded:

Great post!
On cholesterol meds for kids:
This paper really stirred a huge debate among pediatricians for several reasons:
1. There’s very little evidence that the use of the cholesterol-lowering drugs prevent heart attacks later in life.
2. There’s little data on the possible side effects of taking these drugs for decades
3. My main outrage: if money could be found for cholesterol screening and treatment for kids, can we not invest money in better child nutrition in schools, more exercise (gym classes are only cut back), and a plan that fights childhood obesity? Weight loss, exercise and a better diet are proven ways to lower cholesterol in children that don’t have genetic disorders of cholesterol metabolism, and suffer high cholesterol mainly due to overweight, inactivity and a poor diet.

Jodie of freedomdesign.usana provided this detailed information about nutritional supplements in response to my post 5 Reasons to Consider a Multivitamin Supplement:

There is still much we don’t know about the ways nutrients work together. A healthy body is an extremely complex system, and each functional area requires a diverse mix of nutrients. For many reasons, nutritional supplementation should provide nutrients that are both balanced and in adequate doses. For example, certain vitamins supplied in isolation can result in other nutritional deficiencies, and many micronutrients can be toxic at excessive or imbalanced levels. USANA painstakingly designed the Essentials to allow components to work together both safely and effectively.

To be useful, all nutrients must be of high quality and be bioavailable; in other words, in a form the body can absorb and use. USANA makes every effort to obtain the highest quality ingredients; and it tests those ingredients for quality and potency. In addition, USANA imposes rigorous quality control standards at every step of the manufacturing process. USANA Essentials are advanced daily nutritional supplements that supply optimal nutrition for every age group. To help meet the “essential” nutrient needs of children and teens during the years of development, when good nutrition is most important, USANA offers:

* Usanimals, a great-tasting formulation of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, in an easy-to-take chewable tablet. For children 13 months to 12 years old.
* BodyRox, a nutritional supplement containing 31 essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and cofactors for adolescents 12 to 18 years old, who need optimal nutrition to support the demands of growth and active teenage lifestyles.

Disclaimer – I have not personally tried any of USANA’s products. Nor do I have any affiliations with USANA. I did recently saw a video about their products on their website, and I must say I was quite impressed.

In response to this question “Do you think enforcing (with lots of encouragement) the “taste one bite” rule leads to kids who avoid those foods?” on this Global Toddler Survey, Cathy of A Life Less Sweet wrote:

Good question at the end, Jenna! We’re a 2 bite rule family, and honestly, I don’t think that it leads to food avoidance. I guess I can say that from personal experience as my parents had a similar rule. Many of the foods that I didn’t like as a young child, I grew to like. Many I did not, but I do actually value having tried those foods numerous times. Perhaps I’m just weird that way.

My son wouldn’t try many foods at all without that rule, and sometimes – not always, in fact not usually – he realizes that he actually likes a food. My daughter realizes that she actually likes a food through the 2 bite rule more often than not. She’ll take her required 2 bites and then take more. For my kids, it’s a way to get them to continue testing their taste buds. We do talk a lot about taking those bites with an open mind. When my son will eat with an open mind, that’s when it works!

I also feel like it’s important for my kids to be able to eat food that they don’t like without gagging and making rude comments. It’s an important social skill as they get older.