U.S. officials hope to teach school-age children about good nutrition with a kid-friendly food pyramid, unveiled Wednesday along with a computer game that asks kids to “fuel up” a rocket ship with “smart food choices.”
Like the latest USDA food pyramid for adults, MyPyramid For Kids urges plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains and low-fat dairy products, small amounts of lean meats and healthy oils, and lots of exercise. It doesn’t clearly limit sugar, candy and soda, only saying, “Fats and sugars – know your limits.”
The kid-friendly icon replaces an adult figure scaling the pyramid with a drawing of a young girl bounding up the stairs, while children bicycle, skateboard, bend, stretch and play ball all around. The icon and other materials can be viewed at mypyramid.gov/kids.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns unveiled the pyramid, aimed at children ages 6-11, at an elementary school in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday. The department has also prepared worksheets, coloring sheets and school-lesson plans that teachers can download.
“This is a fun approach to addressing the very serious problem of childhood obesity,” Johanns said.
But critics said that considering the rising rates of obesity among Americans – and the rising ranks of overweight children – the department’s approach was weak-kneed.
“It’s almost worthless,” said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. “I don’t think the word ‘soda pop’ is mentioned anywhere in these materials, even though it’s the No. 1 source of calories for Americans. We should tell kids that a can of soda has 10 teaspoons of sugar.”
