One of the first “grandma lessons” this Grandma received from an experienced grandma was to serve your grandchildren dessert first and pizza for breakfast. She made it clear that we, as grandparents, have all the joy and no responsibility. It is the parents who have the responsibility to raise the grandchildren. We grandmas just spoil them.
On January 22, 2015, there was a disturbing article in the Sun-Sentinel newspaper titled, “A Slice is not So Nice For Kids, Study Shows.” The author, Karen Kaplan, reported on an analysis published on line by the Journal of Pediatrics that “health policy researcher Lisa Powell of the University of Illinois at Chicago and her colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to assess pizza’s impact on children’s diets.”
The study showed that “on days when children eat pizza, they consume an average of 408 additional calories, 3 additional grams of fat and 134 additional milligrams of salt compared with their regular diet,” and “on any given day, 22 percent of kids between the ages of 6 and 19 eat pizza, 14 percent of toddlers and 13 percent of Americans overall.”
This Grandma loved this next finding, “the only foods more popular with kids are `grain desserts,’ a category that includes cakes, cookies, and donuts.” The grandma who gave me grandma lessons knew of what she spoke when she said dessert first!
The study showed that, “to the extent that kids cut back on pizza, they did so at dinnertime. Calories consumed in the form of pizza dinners fell by 40 percent for younger children and 33 percent for teens.” By the way, on days when teens have pizza, that add on average 624 calories, 5 grams of fat and 484 milligrams of salt.
Ms Kaplan also mentioned that some kids also ate a small amount of pizza for breakfast, but said no more about this. She did say that “snack pizza was particularly troubling to the researchers. On days when they had this indulgence, they ate 202 more calories over the course of the day compared with days when they didn’t.” What about toddlers who are grazers and eat all through the day or don’t eat regularly? What do we do about these toddlers who are snacking all the time?
Do these researchers think their study examining “pizza’s contribution to the childhood obesity crisis because it is so widely consumed” is going to end its wide consumption? Do they know the reality of today’s working parents trying to feed their kids something that is all the food groups all in one?
It seems to this Grandma that the researchers might recommend homemade pizza quickly made with low sodium organic ingredients. Making pizza at home with ready made organic wheat pizza dough is fun and quick. Remember to cover your kitchen counters and floors with old towels for easy clean up with grandchildren. Here is a fast and easy recipe I found on line. I agree that we must use Muir Glen tomatoes and tomato sauce for all of our sources. Amazon has ready made mix for sale, some of which is highly rated.
It seems to this Grandma that the researchers might recommend pizza as a breakfast food. As far as pizza for breakfast, this is just a win-win. Eating extra calories in the morning when a kid has all day to burn off the calories is no harm and even the best fun treat.
All in all, this Grandma understands the childhood obesity concern, but targeting pizza, a food staple in most homes for toddlers, kids and teens is just not reality. Just target when to eat it.
This Grandma recommends that the study adopt the “grandma lessons” she learned. Pizza for breakfast is a wonderful way to start the day. . . .at least at grandma’s house.
Joy,
Mema
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