Worth Fighting For?

Drink Milk?

My daughter will not drink milk now that she is drinking from a sippy cup, does that matter?  What do you suggest I do?

Yes this is one fight you must not back down on!  Calcium is essential for growth and strong bones. Once your child transitions to milk at age one, it is very important to continue to include milk in their diet.  It is recommended that children consume approximately 4 glasses of milk a day or the equivalent in dairy foods.  Kids 4-8 need 900 mgs a day while those 9-18 years old need 1300 mg.  Aside from milk you can substitute with other dairy, such as yogurt and cheese.  Other calcium rich foods include spinach and almonds.  Reminding your child that milk is one of the healthiest drink options, in addition to water, is a great way to build a foundation for nutrition education.  Encourage milk at meals, include with fruit in a smoothie, serve with graham crackers for dessert.  Just don’t give up on milk!

No White Bread? 

My kids insist they hate whole wheat bread and only want white bread.  Is white bread that unhealthy? 

For years the only options on the market were white or wheat bread and at that point wheat won the battle of the healthiest bread around.  However in today’s world, there are more bread options than we can count.  The first thing to consider is how much whole wheat are we talking about?  It is important to look at the label and the ingredients before making a choice.  The label on a true whole wheat bread should contain fiber.  In addition the ingredient should list whole grain, not whole wheat, to ensure that the bread is less processed. Once we establish what whole grain bread we are arguing about we can compare to the white bread we are planning to buy. When looking at commercial brands you will find that there is not much difference in the white and wheat.  What is often more surprising is the fact that the lite or low calorie breads are enriched with fiber.  What that means is while the calories are lower, the fiber is usually higher. In fact most white breads of the lite variety have as much fiber as the wheat.  In this case it is not worth the fight.  Go ahead let them win this battle, where you are actually still getting what you wanted in terms of whole grain foods.