Feeding Kids Healthfully Is Hard — Especially In Texas

But experts say it’s better not to make a big deal of it during the holidays.

By Laura RiceDecember 17, 2019 7:05 am,

Anyone with kids understands the challenges of incorporating vegetables into a picky eater’s diet. In the United States, and particularly in Texas, it can be hard to help kids eat healthier, especially because they’re exposed to so much junk food marketing.

But Bettina Elias Siegel is trying to help fix that problem. She is the author of “Kid Food: The Challenge of Feeding Children in a Highly Processed World.” She says there are many factors that contribute to the unhealthy eating habits of American children. One factor is politics.

“It is so unfortunate that school food has become so politicized,” Siegel says. “Michelle Obama’s involvement during her husband’s administration, while it was so wonderful from a food advocacy perspective, [it] did have the effect of making it more of a political hot potato.”

What you’ll hear in this segment:

— How packaging misleads parents
— How parents can learn to introduce their children to healthier foods
— What the purpose is of Texas’ Safe Cupcake amendment
— How school lunches became politicized

 

Written by Libby Cohen.