31. Posted by Mie on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 1:39 pm PST

I would love to give my kids fresh fruit every day but face it - in this economy fruit is one of the most expensive items you can buy and to buy enough for three kids to eat 5 days a week would break my food budget!

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32. Posted by FRANK B on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 1:48 pm PST

This silly pc article bashes saturated fat and promotes high carb eating.This is the mindset that has made america fat.It's time that these vegetarian,know it all,uninformed food police put a sock in it.All kids need is more exersize,less sugar and flour and no trans fats.PERIOD.A thick roast beef sandwich with cheddar cheese,a bottle of water and an apple and some potatoe chips is a great meal for a kid and much healthier than many of the creepy suggestions in this article.Low fat dairy products do not have the enzymes that are needed by the body.No low fat dairy should be given to any kid.In fact dairy products themselves should be limited

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33. Posted by wendysantelle on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 1:54 pm PST

OMG, This is unbelievable, I pack these snacks and cold cuts in my children's lunches everyday, and there are healthy as can be. I am offended by this article!

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34. Posted by Basia22 on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 2:13 pm PST

As a fat mom, I make sure that my daughter regularly has healthy options. I have her school menu on the fridge, and if I don't like what is being served that day, she takes her lunch. An example of what I send her with is - turkey on wheat (try not to give her too much lunchmeat due to the sodium content), yogurt, fruit, and a cheese stick. Normally, she doesn't eat it all, but she is very active and I want to make sure she has the food if she is hungry. I also don't want to punish my child by enabling her to be fat like myself. Parents who do that really should be ashamed of themselves. Plus, I cook every night. As a family, we eat healthy, as a person, I do not. At least my kids wont be fat with bad eating habits.

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35. Posted by bloggerbloggee on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 2:55 pm PST

I say leave out the peanut/peanut butter foods because of the kids who are allergic and can't be around it. Overall, I don't know if every kid can eat perfectly all the time, but these are goals to strive for. The less processed the food, the better it is for you. We've gotten way too used to eating foods out of cardboard boxes and have forgotten what real food is. We need to teach our kids about real nutrition and it doesn't come from Lunchables (scary, scary little boxes).

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36. Posted by Jeff A on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 3:14 pm PST

as a child i was given pb&j with chips almost every day i played video games and watched tv and never had any acne or weight problems. However i also spent much of my time riding my bicycle, playing basketball and walking to the nearest neighborhood pond (arms full of gear) to go fishing with my buddies. So here's a thought while all kids are different due to genetics and/or metabolism all kids should be required to do is be kids and be done with it. This health crazed society we have created has done absolutely nothing but make people soft and suseptible to disease and illness

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37. Posted by Gregory S on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 3:27 pm PST

To jcbbb5. The issue is health, not whether your children are slim. There is more to the issue than weight. Slim people die from various diseases related unhealthy eating. Wake up and do something good for your children.

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38. Posted by CherryTree on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 3:30 pm PST

I think some of the commenters are forgetting that this is a helpful list of suggestions - not a mandate for what your kids have to eat. This is indeed the land of the free, and you can serve what you want to your kids. This article is obviously targeted towards people who are worried about their children's calorie consumption and other health issues. Don't take it personally. And by no means is this article in any way Orwellian - relax, please. No one's going to come in your home and dictate what you serve your kids. Take it with a grain of salt please... or don't, you know, if you're worried about the sodium.

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39. Posted by chancenss on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 3:35 pm PST

you dont need to eat no junk food of any kind i have always drinkin over a two leter of soda and eat tons of sweets and chips yet im 14 5'7 and 100 pounds dont resort to the crap suggested unless incredibly obeese its not worth it

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40. Posted by galarneaus on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 3:38 pm PST

While I wholeheartedly agree with the suggestions you have to balance what you send with what your kids will eat. It doesn't help if they toss the entire lunch and end up eating their neighbor's spare fruit snacks as their lunch. They will lack nutrition as well as the energy to get through the day. And they will end up back on your door step cranky and hungry.

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41. Posted by babcockandrew@ymail.com on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 3:44 pm PST

This is not one of the best ideas I have ever heard of. I mean really, kids already have their average rights taken away when they are in school. They should at least be able to choose what they eat. -Andrew Bab [profane]D -babcockandrew@ymail.com

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42. Posted by Gregory B on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 3:47 pm PST

Well Dah........... It wouldn't hurt to let the kids go and play games outside at recess and have PE class for them as well!

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43. Posted by Juanita Castillo Urias on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 3:55 pm PST

I don't know how people get their kids to eat healthy. Maybe I'm a bad mom. My son won't eat any veggie other then corn. And the only fruit he will eat is banannas or applesauce (which is really a fruit). I have started to eat more fruit to try to show him but he just won't eat at all if I give him a plate with some fruit or veggie for lunch or dinner. I can understand growing up I maybe had 1 fruit serving a week and maybe 2 veggie servings a week. If I can't make my son eat healthy what am I supposed to do?

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44. Posted by usmcsemperfi1988 on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 4:03 pm PST

searsouly? i got a little to say i work a 12 houre shift now which turns into around a 15 houre day most the time more and if you all are reading this artical and doing that your stupid i went all through high school eatin that stuff and im fine and now i still eat it because i cant get food any other way so you all postin these commets are what we call mothers of america got to coushin stuff up so your kids cant see any thing bad well get over it its life let them eat the so thay dont turn into fat kids make them go outside insted of wtchen them gay tv shows

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45. Posted by Melissa on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 4:07 pm PST

As an adult who struggles with weight I think this is great. I have a 3 year old who eats better than I ever did and I am learning from his adventurous eating. He also eats no gluten or dairy so being creative with food is a challenge. I imagine he will never eat a school lunch and will be all the better for it. He really does not like juice either. I do drink the vruit juice mentioned and it is great.

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46. Posted by alyssa on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 4:11 pm PST

really?!?!? Im shocked at the response of some of these parents... what is so wrong with eating healthy? just because your children are 'athletic and slim' does not mean that they should eat whatever they want, if only you knew how many former athletes I knew that have become overweight b/c they didnt realize they couldnt eat the way they once did after they became older adults. besides, its not exactly expensive to eat healthy- the healthy crackers costs about the same as the combined cost of the individual bags of potato chips. and my daughter has been drinking bottled water from the time she was a toddler, she even asks for water when we go out to eat instead of soda or tea. some people need to get their heads outta their bums and start thinking long term instead of just what works for 'right now'

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47. Posted by susan r on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 4:16 pm PST

WHAT DO THEY WANT US TO DO NEXT???? GOD, ARE WE COMMUNISTS?? AND THEN THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TAKE OVER OUR MONEY, OUR HOMES, AND OUR LIVES. WHY DONT THEY JUST TAKE US OUT, LINE US UP, AND SHOOT US ALL LIKE HITLER DID?

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48. Posted by afroamity on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 4:33 pm PST

in the 80's i went to an all-girls catholic school in the inner city. we had nothing, no funding, no one watching our nutrition, the wednesday hot dogs went green sitting on the steam table and they were still served, pb&j sandwiches were the alternate meal for girls who didn't want the hot lunch, there were drake's cakes and other packaged food, soda and vending machines existed, and to my knowledge most of us turned out okay. fast forward to the new millenium and so many articles are obsessed with the "right" foods to put into kids' bodies ... but i also see more statistics on childhood obesity, more than ever. so what went wrong?

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49. Posted by Dawn M on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 5:44 pm PST

Okay...we all know kids lunch bags shouldn't be all Ho Ho's and Doritos, but honestly--the key to healthy nutrition is BALANCE. I agree with another poster--this article is over the top. If a kids lunch contains fresh veggies and fruit, then if there is a turkey sandwich on wheat...what's the big deal? It also bothers me that ‘lite’ yogurt is offered as a solution, which is full of chemicals. What's better: 3 grams of fat/sugar or aspartame??? Before you answer--note that artificial sweeteners have been linked to fibromyalgia! I say feed your child things in their natural state as much as possible, and don't sweat an occasional 'treat'.

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50. Posted by Ambu on Thu, Feb 26, 2009, 6:27 pm PST

Namby Pamby nonsense. Other than the corn syrup juice the rest isnt bad in moderation. Fat kids just arent playing outside. The rest of the foods in this article were around when the baby boomers grw up and they werent obese.

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