Kids and Ultra-Processed Foods

Dr. Lauren Snyder, Primary Care Provider at Corewell Health joins us to discuss another study out that is critical of how much ultra-processed food we're all eating.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Your study is out from the CDC critical ultra processed foods,
especially when it comes to kids. Wait till you hear
the percentage of their diet and this stuff. This is
West Michigan's Morning News, Steve Kelly and bread Bikita. We
have children, that's right, Doctor Laurence Snyder, primary care provider

(00:20):
at corewal Health. Back in the liveline, doctor, thanks for
doing this today.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thanks so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
So it's kids in this stuff that is not necessarily
the healthiest, but man, sometimes it's the easiest. So what
are you the most worried about when it comes to
ultra processed food in this study from the CDC, Well,
I'm most.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Worried about the ultra processed foods that are taking away
from the whole food and the nutrient rich food that
we want kids to be eating, like fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts,
pagumes and the things like whole grains.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
So how do we get around convenience? Because school starting
for a lot of school districts today, we're starting with
fall sports. Suddenly we got to be on the go,
and a lot of times this stuff just makes more
sense to busy moms and dads.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
It really does because foods are processed so they stay
longer on our shelves so they don't go bad. I mean,
you don't want your paycheck to just go down the
drain when you buy all fresh things and they start
to spoil. So the thing that I think makes the
most sense is trying to lower the percentages, because you
look at that study and the percentages are wild. It's

(01:33):
between fifty five and sixty one percent of because they're eating.
So if we can get that number down lower, just
thirty twenty percent, we're doing a huge improvement. So I
think it's not about trying to eliminate it. That would
be really great, but probably not realistic. Just trying to
lower that number.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Doctor, what about just educating yourself, parents and kids and
maybe together and make it a learning experience on the
fact of looking at labels. I know in our household
we haven't looked at labels as much as we have
recently in the last five years. Where what's the calorie count,
what's the total fat? My daughter gets into that, my

(02:10):
wife does trying to eat healthier. And if you just
start with something like that and make it simple, it's
amazing the results you can get.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Right I think the labels are one thing, but really
when something has a label that really shows that it's
an ultra processed food. The foods is out labels like fruit, vegetables,
things that don't have a label because you can look
at them and tell what they are. Those are the
foods we want to be incorporating as much as possible,
and then anything with a label, trying to minimize that,

(02:39):
and you're not probably going to be able to eliminate
it because we have to be realistic. But having less
of that and knowing that just having a smaller amount
of it and your diet is going to go a
long way. But like you said, education is so important,
and that's why it's important to get your kids into
their doctor's office so they can have that time to

(02:59):
talk with their doctor and talk with a dietitian that
might work at their kids doctor's office. In my clinic,
we have a dietitian that we can get our patients
and their families set up with to talk about this
because it's really individual what each kid needs. One kid
might be needing more calories, one kid might be needing
to cut back, So not trying to have a one

(03:21):
size fits all approach, but having those appointments set up
with their doctors to talk about what they need.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Any other advice to parents about getting kids to eat stuff. Listen,
kids are like cats. They can be really finicky about stuff. Yea,
only want to eat one or two things. What about
ways to get them to branch out into healthier things.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Well, I think that trying to keep kids curious, keep
them involved in the process of buying the food, making
the food, picking the food out, and if they only
like one or two vegetables, it's okay if all they
eat are carrots and a little bit of ranch, because
that way they're still getting those vegetables, and that small
amount of whatever dressing we need to make the vegetable

(04:05):
more palatable is not going to be that sixty percent
of the processed food. We're just trying to cut back
on the process and really show them how they can
enjoy the vegetables or enjoy the fruit and go from there.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Primary care provider at Core Well Health, doctor Lauren Snyder.
Always good information.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Thank you, thanks so much for having me. Dave