While I was at BlogHer, I spent a very pleasant evening in the company of some of my fellow Team  Mom bloggers, and in addition to being treated to a wonderful dinner, we were also introduced to a new line of better-for-you food products from Safeway Food Stores, in partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products.  I’ve now been hired by Warner Bros. to join a group of bloggers presenting five weeks of discussions and tips on healthy eating both at home and at school.  I was supposed to start on Aug. 24th, so I’m catching up on Week One’s info before posting Week Two.  This is the basic info on the partnership:

Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Safeway, Inc. have teamed up to create a better-for-you line of food products for children, uniting flavor and nutrition with the iconic Looney Tunes characters. The line includes categories such as breakfast foods, portable meals, dairy, snacks and beverages. Each product will feature such world-renowned Looney Tunes characters as Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Taz, Sylvester, Wile E. Coyote, Roadrunner, Marvin the Martian and Daffy Duck, who serve as ‘Mother’s Helper,’ making it easy for moms to spot better-for-you food and beverage items for their kids that taste great.

Why create a special line of food products aimed just at kids? Because the fact is, our country’s children are facing greater risks of obesity than ever. Some statistics:

• According to a 2009 study, almost 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds is obese – that’s more than half a million 4-year-olds.

• The number of overweight and obese children (10 to 17 years old) is at or above 30 percent in 30 states.

• Research has also shown that overweight and obese children generally go on to become obese adults, with all the chronic, weight-related health issues that involves, such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Safeway’s Eating Right Kids line of food products includes applesauce, high fiber cereal with no high fructose corn syrup, frozen entrees that come with veggie side dishes, and fruit packaged in easy-snacking packages.  More about the program:

• The Eating Right Kids food and beverage line is an offshoot of Safeway’s Eating Right line for adults. Warner Bros. Consumer Products’ and Safeway’s Eating Right Kids initiative was highlighted by the Federal Trade Commission for its ability to have a positive impact on childhood obesity.

• The Eating Right Kids Food Line featuring the Looney Tunes Characters offer more than 60 items across 18 categories including breakfast foods, produce, portable meals, dairy, snacks, beverages and frozen entrees. The line is available at more than 1700 Safeway locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

• The Eating Right Kids line featuring the Looney Tunes Characters available at Safeway stores has been formulated to standards based on the most recent dietary recommendations and regulations from several federal and state agencies.

Unfortunately for me and my kids, there are no Safeway stores in Michigan, so now that we’ve finished up the granola bars and 100% juice bottles I brought home from BlogHer, we can’t go buy them. Hopefully Safeway will expand and come to Michigan, because I will totally buy products from the Eating Right Kids line if I get the chance. Don’t these look like they would be great to have in the fridge or to take in the car for when the munchies strike while you’re out running errands?

For more information on packing healthy school lunches, visit MomLogic. They have a whole page, called Healthy Back to School Eating Habits from MomLogic, brought to you by Looney Tunes Eating Right.  There you will find articles written by nutritionist Haylie Pomroy, including a back to school lunch shopping list and suggested menus and recipes.

My boys go back to school next week, and I’ve already decided that I’d like them to have a homemade lunch as often as possible. Sure, it’s easier to just put money in their lunch account and have them buy the hot lunch, and our school contracts with a good lunch provider, fruit and vegetables are available every day- but something just makes me feel like I want more control over what they eat.  MomLogic has a weekly suggested lunch menu that gave me some good ideas for variety.

In upcoming weeks I’ll have more information about how to teach your kids to eat healthy, and I’ll also be running a giveaway for a basket filled with Looney Tunes products like DVDs, plush toys, green shopping bags and non-perishable Eating Right products.  I really appreciate this opportunity to work with Warner Bros. and Safeway to spread the word about Eating Right Kids. I have a question for all of you to answer in a comment-

What is your biggest challenge in getting your kids to eat healthy?