Comments on: Smart Choice Program Halted

By: macdaddy

macdaddy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:21:07 +0000

@Courtney. That’s a very important distinction to make: added sugar vs. natural sugar. Thanks alot!

By: Courtney

Courtney — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:50:48 +0000

Hmm. 15 grams of sugar? Well…if they’re talking about ADDED sugar, I think that is a lax guideline. The max recommended added sugar for an adult woman is 25 grams (per American Heart Association, http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/25/aha.sugar.added/index.html). It doesn’t say for children, but a can of soda has 39 grams. 15 for a snack would be more than half the max for an adult woman. The key is ADDED sugars. Your apple has zero added sugars. I think it was a politically-correct way for the AHA to say not to eat processed foods.

Yes, when the “trans fat” thing was a big concern, I remember seeing an ad for KFC where the husband hesitates to eat the fried chicken on the counter. The wife says “It has zero grams of trans fats per serving.” Then the husband dives in with abandon. Oh wow! Trans fat free (per serving)! So it must be health food!

The sad thing is, they wouldn’t air that kind of ad if it wasn’t effective on at least a percentage of people. I lived in the inner city a few years ago and as we sat outside, our neighbors were picnicking on their front porch. I heard someone tell his grandson, “Finish all of your hot dog or you can’t have any ice cream.” A lot of people simply have no interest or education in nutrition, and may buy Froot Loops with a green checkmark rather than store-brand oatmeal, simply because they don’t have time to figure this stuff out, and hey, Junior likes Froot Loops better anyway.

By: macdaddy

macdaddy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:16:39 +0000

@Cathy. Thanks for the kudos. I am very proud of my accomplishments and yes, sometimes I am hard on myself. Part of the reason for this is that I know how to be successful, and I was very successful for a long time. But I’m just not applying what I learned (am still learning) to my life very well at this moment. I know it’s a phase, and I know I’ll snap out of it. It just may take a little bit of time. Keep working hard. Mac

By: macdaddy

macdaddy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:32:18 +0000

@ Katy: As a stay at home dad of two kids under 5, I understand that in the “easy vs. better” argument, easy often wins out. But slicing up an apple is almost as easy as opening a bag of oreos. At some point, the benefits of “better” have to outweigh the time saved of “easy” or we’re going to be a fat nation for a long time!

By: Katy

Katy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:47:48 +0000

It reminds me of the manufacturer’s association (NYSNA — that’s not the state Nurses Association, it’s the School Nutrition Association) that’s produced a “healthy snacks” list for my kids’ elementary school.

So we get more or less reasonable guidelines: “Total Fat= 7 grams or less Sat Fat = 2 grams or less Sodium= 360mg or less Sugar=15 grams or less 1 serving per Pkg.” So Oreos, Doritos and Fruit Roll-ups are in. But a medium apple must make a horrible snack, because a) not *manufactured* by anyone, and b) more than 15 grams of sugar/serving.