Comment and reply on the following two sources.
1. Honestly, I would only keep the banana from the list above. Hot dogs are processed beyond belief and are high in sodium and saturated fat. This at a young age is putting the child at an early risk for cardiovascular diseases. Mac and cheese is pointless to eat because it has no real nutrition value whatsoever. “If anything, the clear risk to human health posed by macaroni and cheese is that it is primarily low-nutrient, low fiber white flour,” (Hamblin, 2017). Fruit juice isn’t great because it contains high amounts of concentrated sugars in just a single pouch, and typically you will see a range of 16-25g of sugar per pouch depending on the brand of juice. This can pose some concerns because the increase in sugar can lead to high blood pressure, but also, if the kids are only exposed to fruit juice, they may tend to prefer the sweetness of the juice over water and cause further problems such as severe dehydration and kidney stones down the road. White bread is terrible because it is made with refined flour, i.e. it is processed to have a longer shelf life, and “to make white bread or white flour, manufacturers process the grain to remove the bran and the germ, leaving only the endosperm,” (Medical News Today, 2020). The reason I would keep the bananas is because it is the only natural food on this list. Furthermore, when you take out the additive sugars and unnecessary or “empty” calories, then you have more room to add in nutritional value based foods such as whole grains, protein, healthy fats like peanut butter and avocado, etc.
2. When dealing with children and their eating habits, it is important to be willing to get creative in order to fulfill their dietary requirements. This may require some imagination and will certainly need time and effort. Firstly, I would like to point out that these children become the way they do based on their environment, that is to say that these kids are not inhibited by food allergies or sensitivities. These behaviors are learned at home and can be changed by making meals more fun and interactive. A parent of a school aged child can have their child help to prepare dinner and taste things along the way to open their mind to accepting these new foods. Or the parent can go the opposite way and hide the addition of vegetables in the meal, I remember I would only eat broccoli that was covered in cheese when I was a kid.
If this child really will only eat these five foods then we can also work with that. Food producers have created many new products over the past several years that are much healthier than their predecessors. For example, there are fortified boxes of macaroni and cheese that will help to supplement the dietary needs of a child and there are hot dogs made from vegetables rather than pork scraps. These options can help to balance a child’s diet for a period of time, but the best way to ensure the child is set up for success throughout life is to help them to understand that a balanced diet is best for them. They need to eat healthy fruits and veggies, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins just like everyone else.
