Response from: Rory    (05/28/08 12:56am)

Pediasure is just basically sugar. Sugar is the second ingredient in their strawberry flavor, and that means that there is an awful lot of empty calories in there. Sugar is essentially poison, and the sooner you realize that the better for your kids' sake. Always look at the "ingredients" before ever giving it to your kids. Have them understand those ingredients as well. If there are things in products that you cannot even pronounce, especially in the first 5 to 10 items, then forget about it. Low fat really doesn't help at all in this situation either. Go for fat, but good beneficial fat. Use whole milk. No hydrogenated oils or sugar substitutes of any sort(aspartame, nutra-sweet, sucralose, and splenda to name a few),and basically no sugar if you can help it. Keep things in the fridge that they can snack on, and make them yourself if possible. Use "Xylitol" (1 for 1 for sugar sweetness),or "Stevia" instead of sugar always. Honey is good as well. Vegetables are always good along with fruit, but forget about adding sugar through croissants and doughnuts unless you have made them with natural sweeteners. Any product like "pediasure" made by a huge corporation is often not taking into consideration your child's welfare, but only their shareholders' interests in making more money. Look at ALL ingredients that go into your children's everyday foods, and teach them how to do the same so that they can live a long healthy life, and pass that knowledge onto their kids. This info might mean that you really need to re-look at what you are putting into your cupboards, but it isn't that hard after the first few shopping trips, and it sounds like you care enough about the health of your loved ones to do that for them. I hope this was useful for you. Rory