False Advertising Frustration

I went to the grocery store the other day to pick up a few things and I was going to get yogurt for my kid. Yogurt is good (aka healthy) snack for a kid, right? My daughter was with and asked (begged) for the yogurt 'tubes'. 

While glancing at the option she spots Miss Piggy.

 

Well played advertisers one for you none for me......  

 

Next to it was the Simply GoGurt and On the label it reads...

-No High Fructose Corn Syrup

-Good Source of Calcium & Vitamin D

-Natural Colors and Flavors

 

Look at all those amazing words making my mind tell me how much better this box of yogurt!

 

"Well shoot" my mind says, "it must be healthier than the other yogurt." 

"BUT MOM I want Miss Piggy Yogurt." says my daughter.

 

Ok time to investigate. Time to really read the labels.

Will it have less sugar since it has no high fructose corn syrup? 
Less calories or fat?

Nope, each have 9g of sugars, and all the other nutrition facts are exactly the same in both products.

So what makes the Simply GoGurt any healthier or better than the other yogurt. I am a mom that wants to make good healthy choices for my child.....

Keep reading the label.... We are now down to the fine print on the bottom half.
All the % of vitamins are the same in both products....

They both start with low fat milk and ingredient #2 in both is Sugar, then modified corn starch, gelatin, tricalcium phosphate*, vegetable juice (for color), Potassium sorbate** (for freshness) Carrageenan*** (for thickening) Vit A, and Vit D.

*Calcium phosphate is also a raising agent (food additive) E341. As a mineral salt found in rocks and bones, it is used in cheese products. It is also used as a nutritional supplement.

**Potassium sorbate is used to inhibit molds and yeasts in many foods, such as cheese, wine, yogurt, dried meats, apple cider, soft drinks and fruit drinks, and baked goods

***are a family of linear sulfated polysaccharides that are extracted from red edible seaweeds. They are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties. Their main application is in dairy and meat products, due to their strong binding to food proteins


THESE PRODUCTS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME THING. The only difference in the product is that the boxes are different! I was actually upset when I made this conclusion. The advertisers are making my think I am buying a simple healthy yogurt when in fact it is the same exact sugary yogurt as all the others.

Do you have stories about being "duped" by adverting?

Time to hunt for a new yogurt!
What yogurt do you buy?

Starting Kindergarten...

I'm am one of those parents facing the dilemma of  when to have my child start kindergarten.....

The question I have for all of you is: Is it ok to start kindergarten very young or is it better to wait a year? As a starting point, I am basing the "cut off" on my local state standard. According to the Illinois School Code, children who will be 5 years old on or before September 1 may begin school. Based upon an assessment of a child's school readiness, a school district may choose to permit a child to attend school prior to that date, or it may choose not to do so. In a school district operating on a year-round school basis, children who will be age 5 within 30 days after a term starts may begin to attend school that term.  (http://illinoisearlylearning.org/faqs/kinderentryage.htm)

Currently my daughter goes to a private preschool/daycare that serves children ages 3-5 years old. About half of my daughters current preschool class will be going on to kindergarten at various schools (this is a private church based school so the children will most likely go to several different schools since they all live in different areas of the town) and the other half will attend the preschool/day care program again next year. She would know no difference if she attended again vs going on to kindergarten since they mix up the classes every year. 

My daughters birthday is right on there at the cut off and I know she is smart enough to handle kindergarten but my concern is with the social and emotional ramifications down the road. What happens when she is has just turned 15 and many of her classmates are going 16 or 16+.

The differences in the physical and metal pressures that a child faces in today world are rather daunting. I know this for a fact. I have spent the last 10 years working daily with Jr high and high school students. I know what they talk about, I know what they do, and it can be rather scary sometimes.

 

So back to my question: Is it better to be the youngest in ones class or the oldest. Not necessarily worried about her being academically ready, she's a smart little lady. What about jr. high and high school? Emotional and social ramifications?

I scoured the web looking for research and found lots of info related to the early academic abilities of children who where or were not held back for a year before beginning kindergarten. During my research I learned that waiting a year for your child to start kindergarten has its own term, redshirting. There are tons of interesting studies out there. So many studies talked about academic success in elementary school, performance in early elementary school, behaviors and ramifications in early elementary school based on preschool and kindergarten enrollment. There were also a lot of studies about children being held back in kindergarten after they were not ready to advance to first grade.

The problem I came across was that there were not many articles that talked about long term emotional and social affect of being the youngest or oldest in your high school class. I'm not worked about her academic success. I'm concerned about the peer pressures she will face as the youngest in her class vs being older.


Can anyone point me in a direction of some research? Can you share your thoughts or your experiences?


Thanks!




Link to another mom asking the same question:
http://www.urbanmamas.com/urbanmamas/2010/03/and-what-about-starting-kindergarten-early-or-young.html

Resources:
http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=282

http://www.edutopia.org/does-entering-kindergarten-late-improve-performanchttp://www.lapetite.com/parent-resources/blog/2012/02/redshirt-greenshirt-%E2%80%93-the-surprising-pros-and-cons-of-starting-kindergarten-a-year-late/e'

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18331132

Kids vitamins....

I am on the fence about making my daughter take a daily vitamin. Some days she takes a vitamin and some days she doesn't. I am blessed that she isn't too picky when it comes to eating and gets a good balanced diet so I'm not worried.

 

However, After reading an article titled, "Top Children’s Vitamins Full of Aspartame, GMOs & Harmful Chemicals" (published on July 18, 2013 by Arjun Walia) Link to article here

I had to stop and think. Do I really know what is in my child's vitamin? Can I trust that if I grab one of the shelf at the local store that everything in it is ok for my child to ingest?

 

 

 

I do recall the days as a child when I took a daily Flintstones vitamin. It didn't hurt me, at least that I can tell..... but maybe I need to reconsider what I buy for my child.

 

I'm not rushing to jump on the all 'natural holistic wagon'.... but I'm not in the 'nothing can hurt you' club either. I think a lot more studying and research need to be done to see what are the long term consequences of ingesting these various substances. Maybe in the mean time I will look more carefully at the ingredients in my child's vitamins and select something that I feel ok with until I can see long term studies on some of the ingredients.

 

Do you have your child take daily vitamins or supplements? 

What are your thoughts on this?

 

Click to link to my Facebook page and share your thoughts





Original article and materials related to  "Top Children’s Vitamins Full of Aspartame, GMOs & Harmful Chemicals" (published on July 18, 2013 by Arjun Walia) were found on the website: http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/07/18/top-childrens-vitamins-full-of-aspartame-gmos-harmful-chemicals/

BPA (not in your kids sippy cup but in your coffee?)

How many of 'us moms' drink coffee everyday? I know its a necessity to get me going in the morning…. 

Also, how many of you are concerned about BPA in your children's containers? 

Then take a moment to read this:
http://themommyilluminati.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/how-k-cups-might-damage-your-metabolism-reproductive-health-and-cause-cancer/

Although the doctor who wrote this article doesn't cite any scientific tests to backup his ideas, it is an interesting theory. 

I do not use disposable Kcups (except on rare occasion). I choose to use a reusable Keurig filter and use my own grounds. Much less expensive and more eco friendly! I hope that makes me a bit safer than the average person.

What are your thoughts on this?

Feedback Friday!

When creating the blog one of my main goals was to make it a place for people to connect; to share ideas and resources.

Feedback fridays has always been something I've wanted to do.  I want you to give me ideas, topics, products, tips, and anything else that you think would make this blog better.

Today I'm not going to ask for feedback on on specific topic. to get the ball rolling I'm leaving it wide open.

What kind of 'tidbits' would you like to see posted in the near future?