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This weekend, the U.S. Department of Agriculture unveils MyPyramid for Preschoolers, part of an effort by the USDA to reach parents and caregivers who prepare children's meals.
As reported earlier this week by the Chicago Tribune:
"The new MyPyramid for Preschoolers is intended to help parents make better food choices for preschool children, aged 2 to 5 years, a critical time when food habits and taste preferences are established. Keeping tabs on calories is a bigger reality today than ever before, considering that nearly 15 percent of preschoolers in this country are overweight." ~ read New food pyramid designed to help parents from Chicago Tribune
Once you visit, My Pyramid for Preschoolers, just enter your child's name, age and activity level and you'll be presented a with a customized MyPyramid plan. (Note, as of this writing, this feature appears not to work, at least on a Mac using Firefox and IE both.)
So what's the reaction?
Leslie at The Waiting Game is gung ho.
"I like the fact that these guidelines, which will be available at MyPyramid.gov, can help frustrated parents tailor their kids' eating plans to accomodate for, say, a month-long Tater Tots-only stint, or a refusal to eat anything green other than their own boogers. There's a section called "phrases that help and hinder" that teaches you how to reframe food conversations to be more positive. One example: Instead of forcing a child to be a member of The Clean Plate Club (which will not seem all that impressive when listed under "Affiliations" on their future resume, FYI), why not try asking, "Is your stomach still making its hungry growling noise?" Love it! Teaching kids to listen to their bodies before they get all messed up like us, chowing down because we're bored or angry or happy." ~ read "These radishes are very crunchy!" from The Waiting Game at iVillage
Wisteria from Rah Rah Raw, however, is unimpressed.
"I was going through reading my Google Alerts this morning and came across this article, "New food pyramid designed to help parents." Way to go USDA … So out of simple curiosity I decided to go to the website. I am thoroughly unimpressed. Out of simple curiosity I did the “My Pyramid Plan for Moms” as a pregnant mother (I am not pregnant by the way). I used the mid range on activity and plugged in all my other information" ~ keep reading Way to go, USDA from Rah Rah Raw
Registered dietitian, doctor of holistic nutrition and award-winning author Kim Dalzell thinks the program is misdirected.
"But there is one problem with this food guide pyramid: "Do what I say, and not what I do" is still a common theme of parental guidance these days. Don't you think that if parents ate healthily, their children would too? It doesn't take another pyramid to create a healthy dietary habit; it takes commitment from the parents to change their own habits and then reflect and introduce the new habits into their children's lives." ~ read Preschooler's Pyramid from Answer to Cancer
And you -- moms, parents, caregivers -- what do you think? Is the website useful? does it teach you new concepts? will it help you encourage good eating habits with your children? What do we think? Will it make a difference?
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg feeds vegetables to neighbor children. Two BFFs think that glazed turnips and carrots are "wonderful".
