Foods for babies

Browsing through the aisles of supermarkets in Korea and Canada seem similar enough. They both have breakfast aisles, snack aisles, frozen food sections, a bakery etc in both and most of the time the content is extremely similar. Small things like squid jerkey or soy bean paste in Korea and cheese flavored everything in Canada are some differences but one of the biggest differences I noticed was the child inspired products.

In Korea, they have baby milk, cheese, yogurt, bread, snacks of all kinds, meats, and plenty of others. All of them are specially designed for children with less bad stuff and more good stuff (technical terms) in them. This was extremely helpful for a father sent on a late night or early morning run for foods or when on a road trip and forgot to pack a certain item. I loved it.

After moving back to Canada and heading to the supermarket for the first time in about 6 years, I noticed that there is none of this stuff. There is nothing that is specially made for children aside from diapers and toys. This brings up a number of issues.

First, the obesity rate in children has gone up 200-300% in the last 30 years. Could it be because the food we find in the supermarket is made for adults but given to kids because there are no better alternatives. This is also the time that pre-packaged foods and processed foods started showing up on grocery store shelves. Coincidence? Maybe.

Second, where are the marketers for these companies? In our fast-paced society where the shift from a separation of spheres in nearly non-existent or switched the need for these kinds of products would be invaluable for the mom on the go or for the father with no clue what to buy in the grocery store. The boom for children products is huge right now with the wiggles, kids clothing lines from popular adult companies and children oriented websites. Why not make healthy children alternatives to adult food. I think this would be huge!

Third, when carousing the grocery shelves, all you see these days are fat-free this, sugarless that, diet these and gluten free those. But are these products really safe for children? With all the extra chemicals in them to make them ~reduced or ~free it may be safe for us to eat but is it really better for us and if not think of the children...won't somebody please think of the children? Also, are we that selfish as consumers and society that we care more for what we look like and what we eat than how healthy our children eat and what they eat. If so we should re-think our priorities because our children are the future.