Stacy and others who have children...

I was just messing around looking at children obesity online.  I found this little food intake calculator and I thought it might help some kids.  I'm thinking about doing it with my son just so he can see how much fruit, veggies, etc., that he's getting in every day.  It might be an eye opener for him.  It's very visual, with for example...eating a milk product...it will put up a milk box so they can visually see how many more servings they need a day.  I think they might think it's fun.  Here is the website.  

Neece...I know you work in this field.  Have any input on the pyramid for kids? 

EDIT:  Yanno, I was just thinking about this pyramid.  I know there coming out with a new one in 2010.  It looks like for the adults they already are stating it more in some of their articles.  I'm wondering if this would be a good idea showing these kids this or not.  I'm sure it wouldn't hurt, but I'm really worried especially about the grains and meats.  I know my sons doctor told me to increase his protein as much as possible.  This is totally different than the pyramid.  I wish there was an easy way to show kids when I have a hard enough time keeping up with the changes.  I love this idea of this site though, the visuals are awesome for kids.

http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov/planner/

Yes, Hol, by all means, get your kids into this.  yes, there is lots of discussion on the pyramid. For me the bottom line is, the feds do not teach kids how to use it! Further, it does not address the needs of an insulin resistant person, or one who is already heavy.

Just tell your kids that it is a starting place.  let's face it, americans eat TOO MUCH, am i right? We throw insults to the pyramid, but actually the point of it is to somehow show that a variety of foods is what we need. The type of food is up to us.

If the family buys/eats grains that are poptarts, wonder bread, sugary cereals...yeah, those types of foods never made me feel like I'd eaten - but the calories were certainly there! Conversely, if families buy/eat oats, whole grain breads, and make whole grain muffins with less sugar, then you may feel like you've eaten. Teaching kids about all of the awesome very nutrient dense grains to be had out there:  barley, quinoa, brown/black/red rice, steel cut oats.

There are good points in there somewhere - I like to teach kids that daily intake really is a caloric account:  we are each allotted so many, so spend them wisely. Zero kids and very few parents even think about how many discretionery calories are kids are exposed to every day: candy, snacky things like granola bars, sodas, fast foods.

If we thought of food in terms of what our bodies NEED, not WANT, I bet we'd all be healthier.

To answer your OP:  I use this website all of the time for kids in the after school program. They can honestly and openly track what they eat daily and begin to see what they can change painlessly! Maybe it's only eating fresh fruit in place of the afternoon candy bar. Calorically pretty close at times, but again, it's about consuming nutrients that help their brains/organs/bodies work right!