By Audrey Sanchez
Alright, let’s get real for a moment: feeding kids is hard. I mean, honestly, I’m thirty and still barely manage to feed myself well every day. Finding healthy food for myself and my preschooler is doubly difficult. But, it’s so so important. After all, their brains and bodies only get to grow at breakneck speeds once!
Fortunately, we’re past the bottle vs. breast vs. fed is best stage in our home. Unfortunately, we’re in the “Why isn’t there anything other than chicken nuggets?” and the “I don’t mean to be a diva, but just because that corn dog has whole grain breading doesn’t make it healthy” phase of trying to feed my kid between school and dance and grocery shopping and all the other chaotic moments of day-to-day life in the twenty-first century.
And I genuinely mean it; I’m not trying to be a diva. Although wanting to be able to feed your kid more fruits and vegetables doesn’t quite register as a Mariah Carey on the diva charts, I hope.
I’m just trying my best to feed my child foods that promote health and wellness so that her little energy-filled body can grow and thrive, and eventually be big enough to understand cause and effect – for example, when you (toddler) don’t sleep through the night (cause) Mama is grumpy and exhausted and mainlining coffee all day (effect.)
What I’ve learned along the way, though, is that it’s nearly impossible to find truly healthy foods in schools, stores, cafeterias, and on-the-go. Baked potato chips and an overripe banana do not a dinner for a growing preschooler make. With an average of 1 in 6 meals eaten outside of the home every week, it’s more important now than ever before that our families have access to foods that are not only convenient, affordable and delicious, but also not associated with heart disease (early signs of heart disease can show up in kids as young as ten!), type-2 diabetes, and other food-related illnesses.
Even with the best of intentions, though, unless healthy foods are made more available in schools, stores, and other places we’re served food, it’s impossible to eat well. That’s why I founded an organization called Balanced, which is positioned to make healthier foods more available and accessible to families. Quite frankly, it just shouldn’t be so hard to feed our families well, and as much as we’re led to believe healthy eating is an individual choice, more often than not, we’re stuck eating foods that are designed, marketed, and served by companies who stand to profit while serving us unhealthy foods.
To that I say, “Nope.”
For the sake of my daughter’s current and future health, and the health of children and families everywhere, I’ve committed to demanding healthier choices from major food companies, and I’ve lined up a team of first-in-class pediatricians and physicians to fight for foods that line up with the best, most up-to-date nutrition evidence available.
If you’d like to join the fight for healthier foods, we’d be honored to have you on our team. Please check out our website, follow us on social media, and take a stand to demand healthier foods for you and your family.
*****
About the Author
Audrey Sanchez is the mother of an overly-energetic three-year-old and the Executive Director of Balanced, a health-focused nonprofit fighting for healthier foods in schools, universities, workplaces, hospitals, and stores. You can follow their work on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.