A couple of people told me today that if a child drinks Slim Fast, that it will stunt his/her growth. I really hope this isn’t true 'cause my 9 year old daughter loves the stuff and drinks it a lot. Anybody heard this claim before? I did a brief google search but came up empty.
stunt growth: myth
Could they eat something better? Probably…less calories would be nice since kids need much less than adults.
But, compared to so much other kid junk…t’aint all that bad. Does have good cross section of vitamins.
Favorite line by overweight comedian: “Oooh, I love SlimFast…goes great with nachos”.
well, it’s a liquid diet drink, which for some one who’s supposed to be growing, it would seem to be ‘not optimum’.
I don’t recall there being anything in it that would ‘harm’ a child specifically, however, at the age your daughter is, children are growing, their caloric and vitimin needs are different than adults, and more importantly, she needs to be developing good eating habits.
while I don’t think it would specifically harm her, I also doubt that regular consumption of Slim Fast as a major part of her food intake would fall under the category of ‘good’ idea, unless ordered by a doctor.
My guess is that they’d heard somewhere that it was ‘bad’ for kids to have diet food - in a sense that children should be eating a healthy diet for their age, and many weight-loss diets do not contain proper nutrition for children (or even adults in some cases). If your child is drinking that as a supplement and not in place of regular meals, then at least you don’t have to worry about that aspect.
If anything, you might be concerned about the artificial sweeteners in it and whether or not they’re appropriate for a child. Try looking on the can for what Slim Fast uses, then check into information on that sweetener.
It is my understanding that Slim-Fast has the same general formula as a dietary supplement like Ensure or Carnation Instant Breakfast. It’s more a nutrition drink than a diet drink, and there are no drugs or appetite suppressants in it. They only market it as a diet drink because it’s a good market niche for stuff like that. Face it, if you are trying to eat less (as many dieters are) Slim-Fast is a one-shot way to get a lot of nutrients in you. In other words, you can replace a meal with it.
So it ought to be okay for your daughter to drink. My only concern would be that it might be too filling and she might forgo other foods that she needs to get in the habit of eating a well-rounded diet.
As a kid I routinely made up meals by taking slim fast. Also in highschool I lived on a purely liquid diet for 3 months. No, not alcohol, it was actually two different protein supplements I thought would get me stronger and leaner. My growth wasn’t stunted as far as I know; I’m taller than both my parents and I’m about the same hight as my identical twin brother (who didn’t do such practices).
So as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t stunt your growth. Is it healthy? I wouldn’t go that far, during my stint in highschool I had bad cramps, fatigue, and I won’t even mention my bowel problems.
My (totally unprofessional) opinion is that her drinking Slim-Fast is ok, her replacing meals with Slim-Fast would not be.
The person who told you the Slim-Fast would stunt her growth probably meant dieting would stunt her growth. Since it doesn’t seem from your post that she’s using it to lose weight, there is nothing in it that is harmful. It is simply fortified liquid food. I vitamin packed milshake, if you will.
If your daughter is overweight, it would be a good idea to see a dietitian. Notice I did not say physician or nutritionist.
Thanks, everyone for your responses!
I’m relieved to hear that there’s no “big story” that I was just unaware of saying that Slim Fast was a big, bad thing for kids.
My daughter isn’t overweight so isn’t using it for dieting purposes at all. She simply likes the taste. She only likes the vanilla flavor – says it reminds her of the taste of formula that she had when she was a baby.
She’s also not replacing it for a meal either. She’s got a pretty big appetite, and most of the time she only drinks part of a can at one sitting because she’s also eating something else. But in the future I’ll keep in mind that she definitely needs to eat something alongside it as well.