New Kids’ Diet

Most people know that many kids are too fat, and the federal government has come out with a remedy. It is a revision of the old food pyramid that told people what to eat and how much to eat for a healthful diet.

This time, kids from 6 to 11 are the targets of an Internet campaign (www.mypyramid.gov/kids/). There’s a picture of “MyPyramid,” showing large amounts of grain, vegetables, fruit and milk, a smaller amount of meat and beans, and a slender but important recommendation for oils in the diet. A big poster shows happy children exercising and eating sensibly. And a “Blast Off Game” tries to teach good health habits as they fuel their pretend rocket ship with exercise and various food groups to fly to “Planet Power.”

Most children love to fool with computers, but some don’t have the necessary broadband connection or the helpful fast loading speed. Another downside is that many children may already be surfeited by eye-catching promotions. And the Internet game may be one more thing to keep them indoors when they would e better off playing or hiking outside.

Katherine O. Musgrave, an Orono dietitian, likes the new pyramid’s emphasis on fruits and vegetables and welcomes its mention of oils in the diet, emphasizing olive oil, corn oil and canola. But she sees parents as the key to children’s nutritional health, since they are the gatekeepers, who determine what food items enter the house.

She notes that parents are also the role models for the children. If, as many do, they just graze all day long, eating in the car and while standing up and rarely sitting down for a real meal, their children will form the same habits.

Some critics, like the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest, complain that the kids’ pyramid doesn’t go far enough. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the center, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the materials “don’t even have the guts to urge kids to drink less soda pop, to eat less candy,” He went on: “If the government really wanted to improve kids’ eating habits, it would ban junk food advertising on television, it would require calorie counts on fast-food menu boards and sponsor hard-hitting educational materials.”

We all should know by this time that obesity is an urgent problem in the world, in the United States, and here in Maine. The new kids’ food pyramid is a step in the right direction, but not nearly enough turn around the trend toward ever-greater overweight.