FOOD FOR KIDS Vox Pop: Parents share their take on food for kids

14-Sep-2018 - Last updated on 28-Sep-2021 at 12:47 GMT

Parents to young kids face many competing demands for their time. So is sitting down to dinner together a realistic option seven days a week? Is it a daily struggle to get kids to eat healthy?

FoodNavigator-USA took to the streets of downtown Chicago to get answers to some of these questions and more from parents and guardians. Many shared the 'picky eater' challenge, while others struggled with coming up with a variety of food options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the week.

More than 80% of dinners in the US are consumed at home, with dinner the meal that families take the most time to prepare ranging from 10 - 59 minutes, according to NPD Group.

Additionally, completely home-made/scratch meals have declined over the past three years as families are looking to spend less time on the preparation part and more time enjoying the meal at the dinner table, while still avoiding going to a restaurant for dinner, NPD Group added. Nearly all the parents we spoke to said convenient and healthy options are the top priorities when meal planning for their kids.

As far as what they avoid when grocery shopping for kids' food and drinks products, 'sugar' and 'artificial ingredients' were at the top of their 'no-fly' list. As one person told us: "Anything I wouldn't want to put in my body, I wouldn't to give to them [kids]."

Curious to hear more from parents? Join us on the opening night of FoodNavigator-USA's FOOD FOR KIDS summit on Nov. 12 in Chicago where we'll open up the kids nutrition conversation with an engaging consumer parents panel.

Save your place by registering HERE.

1 comment

Canned Answers

Posted by Hugo Cabret, 19 September 2018 - 15:15 GMT

The parents sound as if they are being tested for "good parenting" as they fish for the answers which they believe are "correct". Once they start stringing the non-GMO, avoid sugar, healthy, unfamiliar ingredints, etc. terminology together, the truth seems to fade.

Kids need energy, and the United States of America has the safest, most convenient, and most abundant food supply in the history of Mankind. If parents want to pretend to read labels and supposedly shop healthy, they are free to do so.