I’ve been seeing a lot of posts lately for Healthy Pop-Tarts.
Yes, it sounds like an oxymoron, but there are a bunch of recipes circulating on the internet for healthy Pop-Tarts. And people are getting excited. Very excited.
I don’t want to be a killjoy—so please don’t blast me— but I’ve got to say that when I hear about “healthified” junk food, I get nervous. Very nervous.
My primary concern is that healthified foods seem like they can be eaten more frequently than junk.
But no matter how “healthy” you make your treats, they should still be eaten only occasionally. After all, proportion is one of the primary principles of healthy eating. And pastries will never be peas. (Nor, I would add, should they be.)
If you want your kids’ junk to be healthier, I say, “go for it.” But if your kids like junky junk, I say go for that instead. Remember: It doesn’t matter WHAT your kids eat! What matters is how often they eat it.
And, before you start yelling at me about how bad Pop Tarts are, did you know that one Frosted Blueberry PT has less sugar than you’d find in your typical juice box? Read Training Tiny Taste Buds.
Are healthy Pop Tarts really healthy? Or do they just pass the standard of healthy that we set for junk?
This is the argument I made when I discussed The Potato Chip Challenge: A snack—such as Goldfish Crackers or pretzels— is deemed healthy if it’s better than a potato chip. That’s a pretty low standard!
Should we label a snack “healthy” because it doesn’t contain anything bad? Even if it doesn’t provide nutrients that are actually good? Read “Do No Harm” Snacking.
And, the practice of allowing frequent sweets and treats because they have desirable nutrients is Dealin’ with the Devil.
And finally, it seems like our desire to “healthify” junk comes out of guilt.
Guilt, both on a national level, and on a personal level.
What do we feel guilty about?
- We feel guilty that our kids don’t eat enough healthy food to get the nutrients they need.
- We feel guilty that our kids eat too many cookies —and other sweets and treats.
Otherwise, there’d be room in their diets for authentic junk. Read Cookies and The Cycle of Guilty Eating.
You don’t need to “fear” junk.
You just have to “use” it right.
That was my message over Halloween. And it’s my message here. Read Preschool and Pop Tarts.
~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~
Pre-order my book! 
Melissa says
I totally agree with you about talking and teaching about portion control but I think there is also room in that discussion to talk about 'healthy treats'. To point out the differences between the ingredients listed on a box of pop tarts, and the ingredients in the internet recipe that presumably you can find at your local grocery store. What goes into your body is just as important to me (and to teach my children) as how much.
The first four ingredients listed on a package of blueberry pop tarts are enriched flour, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and dextrose. My homemade pop tarts are made with whole wheat pastry flour, raw sugar, butter (or even better – lard) and filled with homemade jam. I'm not saying everyone can (or even wants to) do this, but I think when you make it yourself with real food ingredients you can find at the grocery store, you are teaching an equally important lesson.
And lest we miss the point I think you are trying to make – yes it is absolutely ok to eat store bought pop tarts once in a long while, and no you shouldn't eat a double portion of the homemade version just because the ingredients are 'healthier'. But please don't gloss over the fact that the principal ingredients in the store bought version are increasingly in the media as proving to be bad for your health. Read packages, ask about questionable ingredients, and research versions you can make yourself (with your children! bonus!). The lessons you impart will be invaluable.
Dina Rose says
Melissa,
I agree with everything you're saying, particularly that it's ok to eat store bought junk once in awhile, and that homemade 'healthier' snacks shouldn't be eaten too frequently. I hope that was the takeaway. However, I do think that there's a tendency, especially on blogs, to promote 'healthy' snacks as synonymous with HEALTHY. And that, in my opinion, has as much potential to produce an unhealthy diet as eating some HFCS from time-to-time.
Thanks for your thoughtful contribution to the discussion.
Dina