By Julie Wernau |
A new formula for toddlers that comes in chocolate and vanilla flavors
is facing harsh criticism in the blogosphere by moms and nutritionists
who are calling the product an early road to childhood obesity.
“Is it really a good idea to get our kids hooked on all things chocolate
at the same time they’re learning to walk?” one blogger posted on
Momlogic.com.
“What’s next, genetically modifying moms to produce chocolate breast
milk?” wrote another.
Introduced by Glenview-based Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. in February as a beverage for toddlers who are making a transition from infant formula or breast milk, Enfagrow Premium’s toddler chocolate and vanilla formulas are milk-based but contain more sugar than milk — 19 grams of sugar per 7-ounce serving.
The company said product is no sweeter than other things toddlers may drink, such as chocolate milk or orange juice, and contains added nutrients that milk lacks, such as Omega-3 DHA and prebiotics.
”The toddlers years can be particularly challenging since food preferences may be erratic and unpredictable,” said Mead Johnson spokesman Chris Perille. “Products such as Enfagrow Premium can play a role in helping children achieve a more balanced, healthy daily diet.”
Perille said the idea is to get a toddler to consume milk, even flavored milk, because it will lead to a healthier lifestyle.
Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, disagreed.
“Milk is not an essential food,” said Nestle, who purchased a 29-ounce package of Enfagrow recently for $18.99 (22 servings) and says she disagrees with the way the product is being marketed.
When children are toddlers, she said, they are developing a taste for foods. Products such as Enfagrow, she said, will lead those children to crave sugary beverages.
“You want kids to be interested in eating a very very wide range of foods because variety helps create nutritional balance,” she said. “You don’t want them to think that every food needs to be sweet or salty.”
Enfagrow is in what the food industry calls the “follow-on formula” category, which takes the concept of baby formula and extends it into toddlerhood. Abbott Nutrition produces a similar product, Similac Go & Grow, for older infants and toddlers, but it’s unflavored.
Nestle criticized the product on her blog www.foodpolitics.com. The post automatically feeds to The Atlantic Monthly’s website and has been cross-posted on mommy blogs across the Internet.
She complained to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, arguing that the product is claiming health benefits for children younger than 2. FDA spokesman Michael Herndon said the product is considered a food and not an infant formula under FDA guidelines and does not appear to be in violation of the law as it doesn’t claim to “cure” anything, only to “support” normal body functions.
JP Morgan analyst Terry Bivens said infant formula is still the “bread and butter” of companies such as Abbott and Mead Johnson. Follow-on formulas, which are labeled as food products and don’t fall under the same labeling guidelines as infant formula, are in a smaller specialty category, he said, similar to the specialty formulas that are popular in Europe for children with digestion problems or other special needs.
Jessica Parisi would do just about anything to get her 1-year-old to stop throwing food or feeding it to the dog. She’s even tried masking veggie protein links as hot dogs.
“Sometimes he’ll eat blueberries, and other times he’ll say ‘No blueberries!’ and throw them,” said tMount Prospect resident.
Two weeks from his second birthday, Chase is underweight, and Parisi says she’d gladly try chocolate- or vanilla-flavored toddler formula if she thought he would eat it.
“I probably would try giving it to him as a supplement just to try to get more nutrients in him,” she said.
Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of MomCentral.com, a website geared toward busy moms, said that while at first glance, chocolate-flavored formula sounds like a bad idea, in some cases, it might be a “second best” option for parents with picky toddlers.
“If something stands between your children and drinking milk, than this becomes a better choice than juice or juice-based products, even, theoretically water,” she said.
Toddlers crave carbohydrates all the time, she said, and sometimes their palates need to be “bribed,” she said.
Terri Freeman knows all about the carb cravings. The Streeterville resident’s 3-year-old, Shayna, won’t touch vegetables. She just wants chicken nuggets, pizza and pasta, she said.
“My doctor hasn’t been that concerned,” she said.
Freeman said she asked her doctor about it and was told that her daughter is healthy nutritionally and to try the best she can to incorporate small portions of vegetables or even fruit into her diet.
“They just want to eat bread and crackers,” said Jill Houk, co-founder of Center Chef Food Studios in Chicago and participant in Healthy Schools Campaign, “They want to eat fruit or anything sweet. In the short-term it may seem like ‘I just want to get nutrition in this child.’ But in reality, you’re creating a very bad situation.”
Houk said that parents buy products to bribe their children’s taste buds because they are concerned about their nutrition, but that they could be hurting them in the long-term.
Chicago pediatrician Rebecca Unger said feeding the Enfagrow chocolate or vanilla formula is similar to adding three teaspoons of sugar to a glass of milk. She said while she couldn’t rule out using the formula in certain cases, generally, she thought it was an unnecessary purchase.
“For a healthy child who doesn’t have medical problems affecting growth and behavior and development, I don’t think it’s necessary. Could there be reasons for a child who is a really picky eater who is having other issues to drink it — maybe?” she said.
WHO is buying this stuff? Oh yeah, uneducated children that just happened to have children, which perpetuates the cycle.
Kids have preferences on food and a smart mom learns to work around them – but allowing a child to have just nuggets and noodles, or chocolate formula is the lazy way out.
Introduce vegies before fruit when they’re young, and start each meal out with vegies or other nutrient packed foods. I allow unlimited pre-meal snacking, as long as it’s vegies & similar good-for-you foods.
Don’t introduce foods that you think are going to lead to problems – chocolate breakfast cereal was unknown in our house until dd had it elsewhere.
But teaching babies and toddlers that sugar drinks belong in their bottles is just wrong – it will lead to obesity and tooth decay.
If a child is thirsty, s/he will drink. No need to bribe them with things that aren’t good for them. If they don’t want the drink, they’re not thirsty!
FYI, it’s “palates”, not “pallets”. Very few toddlers have packing pallets, while they all have palates.
It’s too bad society has to have organizations like this to point out the possible causes of obesity. Then again, it’s too bad there have to be classes in how to be a parent. Again, that’s society today. And all of you fat-butted people who are that way through your own fault and not because of an underlying condition will just laugh this report off and keep on feeding baby this junk to get him ready for the next stage of life – Count Chocula cereal.
What is the difference between this and Pediasure? Probably not much. Why not have a fit over that too? No one is forcing anyone to buy the stuff so if you don’t want your kids to have it…don’t buy it. There are far worse things people do as parents than give their child chocolate milk.
Her child will only eat what? Her kid will only eat what she is feeding her! Who is in charge here?
Rare is the child who willfully starves herself to death for lack of chicken nuggets and pizza.
Sorry, but I have no pity for the parent of the picky eater. You created the monster.
Ella, very well put.
I am reminded of that famous Saturday Night Live sketch in which Dan Akroyd plays the nefarious toy manufacturer marketing toys such as “a bag full of broken glass” or “johnny-flamethrower Halloween costume.” The private market has lost its mind on the subject of nutrition and health. It’s time for serious government regulation of these practices.
What an amazingly bad idea for a product.
Yeah, the baby formula is the reason the 15 year-old tub of lard spends most of the day on the couch staring at the TV set.
When we were kids we drank sugary iced tea by the gallon. We prided ourselves on how many Big Macs we could eat. We also brushed our teeth regularly and were very active in sports. What a shock, we don’t wear dentures or girdles.
A lazy kid will become fat no matter what they eat. An energetic kid will remain slender no matter what or how much they eat.
Marie, your comment saddens me. I was once a smug mom who thought the same way as you do. My first born was the model eater. From day one she LOVED beans, every green veggie on the planet, and happily snacked on soybeans between meals. She would eat anything I put in front of her. 4 years later my second born came around. She HATES veggies. She’s even picky about fruits. How can this possibly be?? My husband and I are the same parents to both of these children. It led me to believe that some children have innate preferences and there some things we parents can’t always control.
Please take your smug and condescending attitude elsewhere.
As for the issue at hand, there is no difference between this and PediaSure. Ask any parent who has a child diagnosed with Failure to Thrive (my niece is one of them!) and they’ll do just about anything to get that child to eat. I can’t fault them for that. I wouldn’t buy this product myself, but like the pediatrician in the article suggests–there may be a very small market for it with very specific needs. I’m not passing judgment.
The people they quoted in this article with “picky” kids are bleeding heart wimps whose kids will walk all over them for the rest of their lives…You kid will eat what you offer them and they definitely won’t starve if they choose not to eat. Eventually they will get hungry.
This is a free market economy. Let the consumer decide with her dollars whether this product fails.
Remember Ovaltine?
Sorry Marie, but i guess you have no idea how hard it is to feed a picky-eater toddler.
How dare you calling picky-eaters toddlers monsters
It’s disgusting. Yet another smarmy, greedy way to lure uneducated parents into buying toxic crap for their children. Of course the kids will love them for it…it’s sugar! Shame on them.
Kids don’t come out of the womb craving Pizza and Chicken Nuggets. 3 year olds craving Pizza and Chicken Nuggets are bi products of lazy parenting.
There are much worse things out there in the market. I do think they shouldn’t make it look so close to baby formula. They should package it differently so that even the uninformed consumer can tell it’s not formula. Otherwise, let the kids have it. As a rpevious poster mentioned, we ate and drank crap, but as long as we ran around and stayed off the tv, we stayed lean. Even with healthy eating, if you sit on your butt, you can get fat.
It’s disgusting. Yet another smarmy, greedy way to lure uneducated parents into buying toxic crap for their children. Of course the kids will love them for it…it’s sugar! Shame on them.
Who wrote this article? “PALLET” is something used in warehousing. Products are stacked on PALLETS. PALATE is the word that refers to a person’s taste. Using the incorrect word that only sounds like what was intended is not acceptable in the Chicago Tribune.
Nor is the idea that anyone should suggest feeding toddlers a product containing so much sugar. and who even knows what form that sugar takes? I haven’t seen an ingredient list, but I’ll just bet that at least some of it is high fructose corn syrup.
Yes, let all of your children grow up healthy so they can die of cancer and other diseases.
We all die some way or another. Let the kids eat.
Disgusting. I’m so glad my 20 month old toddler still prefers my breastmilk to any other beverage, including juice. Just another way formula companies are destroying the health of American children. Unreal.
I guarantee you corn syrup is toward the top of the list of ingredients…probably second.
Marie’s comment is right on target. Show me a picky eater, and I’ll show you parents that give their child too many choices. Prepare healthy meals that your child sees you eating and enjoying. They’ll eat and enjoy them too if that’s the only lifestyle they know. It should be no surprise that once you start giving them unhealthy options you’re opening yourself up to these problems.
Who is this product really made for…adults or toddlers?
Sounds like it’s created to satisfy the adult palate…reminds me of what the dog food manufacturers are doing with their cuts of sirloin beef (with vegetables) and refrigerated pet food. Those sure aren’t made with animal tastes in mind, but instead meet adult owner’s tastes. The food industry sure knows who to target! Suckers are born every day! In the meantime, children (and pets) get fat.
If the flavored condoms had worked in the first place, one wouldn’t need the flavored formula.
PediaSure can boast that the *23* grams of sugar in a single serving of the chocolate variety are recommended by pediatricians.
Nathan, I’d love to give you my address so you can come over to my house and really show us the ropes. Apparently, you didn’t read my comment. We are very heath conscious family. Three of the four of us eat exceedingly well. We did not turn our picky eater into a monster. She was born that way. Are you even a parent? Apparently you’ve been blessed with children who have no food/texture sensitivities. You just seem to know it all in fact. Good for you!!
Regina said: “It led me to believe that some children have innate preferences and there some things we parents can’t always control.”
I have preferences, too. I would love to eat nothing but sugar and fat, but I don’t because it’s not healthy. Kids have no concept of that. They just want what tastes good. They don’t have the judgement that we adults are supposed to have. What you can control is what you give your kids to eat, at least until they’re old enough to leave the house alone. You can influence their tastes and therefore help shape the choices they make later in life. That’s a lot of control.
I recognize that people don’t really know how they will be as parents until it happens, but let’s not rationalize bad choices.
The food industry is basically a marketing scheme designed to get us hooked on sugar. Now you can become addicted straight out of the womb and be a customer for life! Do you want to allow yourselves and your children to be products of manipulation for money? I try to think of that when I’m tempted to buy junk food. Sometimes it actually helps.
Regina:
We have the same problem, the oldest will eat anything, veggies, fruits etc. The youngest one (22-month) will eat nothing. She will have two bites of pasta and she’s done. She is very small (22 lbs) . So i know exactly how you feel. It’s very stressful to see your kid no eating all day.
Nobody is forcing parents to buy this stuff, but if my kid will drink it with milk at least i know she’s getting some vitamins and nutritions.
June Jacobs | May 5, 2010 1:36 PM | Reply
” I haven’t seen an ingredient list, but I’ll just bet that at least some of it is high fructose corn syrup. ”
- – - – -
June, you are one big loser of that bet. Why offer an admittedly uninformed opinion when the facts are so easy to find? Sugar, not corn syrup, is the sweetener in Enfagrow Premium.
= = = = =
Disgusted (or is it Disgusting?) “I guarantee you corn syrup is toward the top of the list of ingredients…probably second.”
- – - – -
And just how are you going to make good on that guarantee? Are you under the impression that using words of conviction somehow makes a lie sound more true?
There are so many sanctimonious people posting comments here. I chose not to buy this product and I don’t really care who does. I know it’s not good for my kids, but I don’t need squint down my nose with pursed lips at anyone who does. All I need to do is set a good example at home by eating, preparing, and serving nutritious meals. I’ll also worry about my own business, thank you very much.
No rationalization of bad choices here. But the facts are the facts. How in the world would you explain how I have two children–one you LOVES to eat bell peppers and soybeans as a snack in her lunch and the other who cries and spits out the same food when presented to her? How does that happen? It’s not as black and white as you think halcyon. And when you figure out how these discrepancies among children occur, I’d love to know because I’m sick to death of shredding carrots and zucchini to sneak them into pancakes.
The products are just a way to boost a profit line, nothing more. I do confess that all four of my sons ate a variety of foods without any coaxing whatsoever, and it was a pure pleasure to introduce new foods to them. My sympathies to those with picky eaters. Those parents will get their rewards down the line, but right now, I know it’s tough. Hang in there and DON’T succumb to products like these that can contribute toward health problems in the future.
Wow- some of these comments on this board are just off the wall as well as the comment in the article by the nutritionist stating that milk is a non essential food.
First of Marie…who are you to criticize any parent? I have a 7 year old who up until the age of 5 pretty much ate anything I gave her. Then she changed and now its a battle. I even discussed with the pediatrician who said if all she wants to eat is PB&J – then give her that. All kids go through phases and she is going through hers. It doesn’t make me and my husband bad parents. Our 16month old will eat anything we give him! So there! For those parents so opposed to the new formula…here’s a thought- don’t buy it.
In regards to the whole debate of flavored milk vs. regular milk: Children (and adults) need calcium. Best would be to get it from regular milk BUT if the child will only consumer flavored milk – it’s OK in Lowfat form! It is NOT the same sugars as soda, etc. There is NO CORN SYRUP. Please educate yourselves before spewing things out: here’s something to educate some of you:
Some nutritionists have criticized chocolate milk for its high sugar content and its relationship to childhood obesity.[1] [2] In the US 32 percent of children and teens are overweight and at risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and other issues related to obesity.[3]
A study published in 2006 indicated that chocolate milk aids in recovery when taken after intense athletic workouts. The study authors believe this to be due to its ratio of carbohydrates to protein, among other nutritional properties.[4] However, the study was small in scale with only nine athletes and partially funded by the dairy industry. Furthermore, the study compared chocolate milk to two energy drinks and unflavored milk was not used as a comparison, so it is unknown if chocolate milk is superior to unflavored milk as a recovery drink.[5]
A 2005 study by the New York City (NYC) Department of Education found that by removing whole milk and replacing it with low-fat to fat-free chocolate milk, students were served an estimated 5,960 fewer calories and 619 fewer grams of fat. [6]
Chocolate supplies oxalic acid, which reacts with the calcium in the milk producing calcium oxalate, thus preventing the calcium from being absorbed in the intestine. However, it is present in small enough amounts that the effect on calcium absorption is negligible.[7] As chocolate contains relatively small amounts of oxalate, it is unclear to what extent chocolate consumption affects healthy people who eat calcium-rich diets. In a 2008 study, participants who consumed one or more servings of chocolate on a daily basis had lower bone density and strength than those participants who ate a serving of chocolate six times a week or less. Researchers believe this may be due to oxalate inhibiting calcium absorption — but it could also be due to the chocolate’s sugar content, which may increase calcium excretion. It is clear, however, that consuming foods high in oxalate — and in turn their effect on calcium absorption — is a more significant concern for people with oxalate kidney stones, which occur when there is too much oxalate in the urine. These people, especially, should reduce their oxalate intake and increase their calcium intake.[8]
A study in November 2009 conducted by scientists in Barcelona, Spain suggests that regularly consuming skim milk with cocoa rich in flavonoids may reduce inflammation and slow or prevent the development of atherosclerosis. However, the study notes that its effects are not as pronounced as seen in consumption of red wine.[9]
I believe that everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, but I cannot sit here and read some of these sweeping generalizations without commenting. I am a nutritionist (a pediatric Registered Dietitian) and work with children with special needs. Yes, some picky eaters are a product of their environment and sometimes catering to their pickiness can only make it worse, but picky eating can be due to a multitude of factors/ situations (including cerebral palsy and autism) and it is also common for otherwise healthy toddlers to go through exteremely picky phases. While a milk-like flavored drink may not be the right choice for kids that are healthy and growing, I do not think that makes it an “evil” product worthy of such intense criticism from this group. The 17 g of sugar per serving may be a little much, but keep in mind that a regular glass of white milk has ~13 g of sugar (lactose aka milk sugar) per 8 oz and 8 oz of orange juice has ~24 g of sugar. Regardless, sugar is not the enemy. We should all be focusing on fixing the real causes of childhood obesity, like excessive juice and soda consumption, high intake of fast foods and junk foods, low intake of fruits and veggies and especially inactivity, instead of trying to condemn one, very small subset of products.
Whatever happened to “eat what’s on your plate or go to bed hungry”?
As I kid we were never given options. Hunger will win out. Giving in to “picky” eaters is just to avoid a hassle. Grow a pair, moms.
Thank you, Regina, RD, and others for standing up for those of us who have very picky eaters. Some of you others need to walk in our shoes for a while before passing judgment. I have a daughter with sensory processing disorder, particularly oversensitivities to taste and smell. She was a difficult eater from day one. She didn’t do well at breastfeeding, and even with the bottle she would pull away after a couple of ounces and just start screaming. We didn’t figure out what was wrong until she was 2.5 years old. She is five years old now, and it has been a long road. So to those of you who think you know it all, you have a lot to learn.
If a child is breastfed into toddler-hood, he will never need a “follow on formula,” and the parents need not worry about him being a picky eater. Nature has it right!
Marie- you obviously have no idea what it’s like to have an incredibly picky eater. And no, I’m no uneducated. Instead, I have a daughter who literally will go three days without eating so as to avoid putting something in her mouth she won’t eat. We’ve had to go to doctors and social workers- she is underweight and absolutely terrified of foods. She is an otherwise healthy kid, and developmentally at or above her age level in every other respect. If chocolate formula might have helped her, I would seriously have considered it (she’s too old for it now). Luckily, she does drink milk, so we don’t need to go that. For those of you high on yourself princess know-it-alls out there, how many days would you let your kid refuse all food before you gave in and let her eat chicken nuggets – seriously HOW LONG!!!!
I have to chime in with emereader. I might have chosen this product if it would have helped my daughter. My daughter is almost four and has been 5% or lower in height and weight since she was a year old (and fallen off the chart occasionally). She ONLY eats fruits and vegetables. I get comments like “Good for her!” and “That’s great!” all the time from uneducated and inexperienced people. It is NOT good. She refuses most other food and I’m sorry, but those foods do not have enough calories on their own. I am THRILLED when she eats chicken nuggets, or bacon, or chocolate milk. She will go for more than a day refusing food if I do not give her exactly what she wants (we have tried 24-hour stints, that’s it). She will simply fall asleep if she gets hungry – she won’t just eat what she is told. Like emereader, she is at or above her level developmentally and incredibly smart. Doctors have said there is nothing wrong, she’s just picky. I’m not going to have my child end up in a hospital just to pretend that I am in charge.
Just wanted to add that anyone who has a child who in the lower percentile for height/weight, has been labeled as “Failure to Thrive,” has developmental delays, etc. should insist that their child be tested for celiac disease. While at least 3 million people have celiac, including many children, 95% of those with celiac remain undiagnosed. There is no drug associated with celiac disease, just the gluten-free diet, so doctors are not getting daily education on the symptoms from pharmaceutical reps. Symptoms can vary greatly, but the ones mentioned in several of the comments here are red flags. Note that even if celiac testing proves negative (testing is not always highly accurate and it takes significant damage before the testing is positive), removing gluten from the diet can make a huge difference and have these children growing and thriving again in every way.
Best,
Shirley at glutenfreeeasily.com
As a mom to a picky eater some of your smug comments really tick me off. Chocolate Formula to me is crazy but once your kid reaches a certain age they can be very opinionated and will refuse to eat certain foods. I don’t know how many friends of mine have one kid that is super picky and then the next kid eats anything you put in front of them. How is that the parents fault?? That right there should prove some of your points wrong!
Nathan – Prepare healthy meals and your kid will eat it… Ummm no I prepare healthy dinners all the time and no my kid will not touch it. What exactly am I supposed to do??? Shove the food down his throat??
I just wanted to add that for those who are saying there is no difference between this and Pediasure…there is…Pediasure is for kids with a “Failure to Thrive” or that are severely underweight. It makes them gain weight so they can live! Pedialite is for kids that are dehydrated when they are sick. The bottom line is Pediasure and Pedialite are for SICK KIDS! Not for every day use. This chocolate formula IS for everyday use. Mead Johnson is saying you should use it like a vitamin but they still call it a Toddler formula. If you don’t see a difference between Pediasure and Enfagrow…then what is the difference? You kid is going to gain weight! I’m not against giving kids a treat but this is 3 teaspoons of sugar for every 7oz. Thats a lot! On top of that its says right on the website that this is intended for 12-36mo year old kids…I wouldn’t give a one year old chocolate milk – he is gonna tweak on this stuff. I do understand that kids are picky eaters…believe me I do. But we are teaching them what is good to eat and what is bad to eat right now, and if we say its ok to drink sugary mixes all the time…that what they is going to grow up to want – sugar! Mead Johnson really missed the mark on this one. I see where they were going but its just too much.