Baby Bottle Pop : Nipple Confusion

The New York Times and many other bloggers and public interest groups have been giving Topps Candy company a hard time for creating, selling and marketing Baby Bottle Pop, a nipple shaped sugar candy that is dipped in more sugar, corn syrup, and artificial dyes, and licked or sucked. These sources are also outraged that a young teen age girl rock band, the Clique Girlz, will be promoting this product with commercials viewed on children's programming. I agree with all of their outrage, With childhood obeisty and diabetes on the rise we do not want our children encouraged to eat sugar, but why is this candy worse than any other candy?

What's not being said about Baby Bottle Pop that needs to be said?

Young teenage girls have babies. Young teen age girls are influenced by other young teenage girls especially if they are on television. Young teen age girls watch children's programming. In a culture with few visible role models for appropriate parenting, where do young teens find information?

There is already a common misguided, unnecessary, and potentially harmful practice to put sugar water in a bottle for a baby. Baby Bottle Pop is in the shape of a bottle nipple. The word "baby" is in the name of the product. I don't think it is too much of a leap to worry about young mothers seeing a candy nipple and offering it to their baby; sugar, corn syrup and a variety of artificial sweeteners, yum. That is the real horror of this candy.

Mom's on a Diet

When I hit 40 I found my eye sight was not quite what it used to be but bifocals took care of this slight imposition. Now in my early 50's I found that my weight is slowly creeping upward, despite my 6 day a week work-out routine. I want to loose 15-18 pounds. Ten pounds of post baby weight I never lost after my second child and another 5-8 pounds that has snuck up on me. So what is a mother of two young and impressionable children to do, especially when that mom is a Dietitian?

A parent on a "diet" will impact a child (mine are 7 and 12)and I don't believe in diets. Children can take in the wrong message from a parent making too much of their diet. I believe in making changes that can be made without adding any stress, tension or feelings of hunger or deprivation. Changes need to be life long.

So I decided to eat less, one portion of food (i.e. 1/2 cup to 1 cup portions mostly). I put myself on a 1500 calories plan as I am only 5"4". I eat 6 times a day with 400 calories at breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus three 100 calorie snacks. I eat what I want, both healthy foods that I enjoy and potato chips, nuts, cookies and ice cream which I also enjoy. I am just eating less, 1/2 cup of ice cream is 120 calories (Dryers Slow Churn) and Trader Joes reduced fat potato chips, 1ounce, is also about 120 calories. So a lunch of 2 scrambled eggs, 1 oz. chips, 1 large apple and 1 square of dark chocolate is 367 calories. No special foods, shakes, bars or recipes. My kids see me eating. I tell my husband that I don't want my body to think it is being starved, so I always eat all of my calories. I eat any "left over" calories in addition to the 100 snack calories dedicated for evening snack, as dessert.

I am loosing about 1 pound a week, 10 pounds down so far. What will I do when I reach my goal? I may not make it to my goal as at some point my body may stop loosing weight. At that point I will just keep the same eating pattern and be the way I am. If I do reach my goal and am still loosing weight I will add a few more calories until I neither gain nor loose weight.