Paediasure being marketed in Boots?

[toomuchtooold]

Just wondered what other people thought of this. There was a woman trying to sell Paediasure milkshakes in Boots (with a big board behind that said "for the fussy phase" or something) at the weekend who was very eager, let's say, to explain us its benefits for our DTs (23m). I searched it on mumsnet and usually people get it whose children have been diagnosed by a doctor as not getting enough nourishment for whatever reason, illness etc. So but now they want to market it to the wider world?

Is it just me who's a bit about this? I don't like the implication that fussy eating is a Problem that needs Something Done about it IYSWIM. And the idea that all children go through it. It seems to aim to pathologise what to me is a totally normal thing: that sometimes they eat more, sometimes less, sometimes they favour one food in particular. What do you think?

Totally agree. It is like ww/slimming world etc creating a market for people whose bodies are naturally bigger than others to lose weight. Create an anxiety and market to deal with the created anxiety!

I would imagine though that there are many parents who worry their child doesn't get enough and who would start feeding this rather than trust that the child will be eating enough (children are much better than we are at recognising hunger cues), and I would imagine it would do nobody any favours long term in this situation.

Funnily enough I also saw this in boots yesterday and thought the same!

The advert said something like " to help them through a phase of fussy eating"

It must play upon parents' fears of their children "wasting away" if they don't eat enough.

I don't know about others but there's always this nagging feeling at the back of my mind saying, "Ds hasn't eaten that Bolognese that I made... Dd won't eat those enchiladas... oh no they're not eating enough!!" Usually I ignore it because, on the whole, my dc eat a fairly well balanced diet and (at the moment) are happy to try anything; so I can imagine that parents of children who are going through that fussy phase - especially if they used to eat quite readily - would have the same worry and will fall for this marketing campaign.

To me it seems like they're playing on parents' fears and using it to their own advantages; which is essentially what marketing is about.

I don't think I'm explaining myself properly

I agree with everyone else.

It's like follow on milk (I saw a 2 plus one the other day!) they are products to play upon parents worries and provide an 'easy' (and expensive) solution.

Well all that's gonna do is her them used to alternatives if they don't eat

I was horrified seeing this advertised. I strongly believe that supplements like this for children should only be given under medical supervision

if a child isn't eating enough and that's a big if the root cause needs to be diagnosed as well as any supplement being given. This product just deals with a side effect

I thought someone had patented an alarm to go off when a "dirty paedo" came within 100 paces.

I am a bit disappointed it's only a marketing ploy to get us to spend ££££s on something a bowl of pasta and sauce could probably achieve.

You are all probably far too young to remember but Lucozade used to only be sold in chemist's and as an "aid to recovery". My Mum used to refuse to give it me, despite me whinging for it, saying it was just filling me up with bubbles and sugar.
Ahead of her time, my Mum!

They don't taste very nice at all, I can't see that force feeding a child something not very pleasant tasting is going to make mealtimes less stressful or encourage a child to try new things - if mummy said that manky milkshake was nice I'm certainly not going to believe her when she tells me this pasta/chicken/whatever is nice!

No child starved to death through normal childhood fussiness.

I am a Pharmacist for a big company ahem and was shocked to see this on our shelves and to have a rep come in to tell me all about it. They are marketing it as a step before nutritional supplements for those children who don't have a fully nourishing diet. Bollocks. I won't be recommending it to anyone yet there have been alot of folks looking for it. £9.99 for a small tub seems expensive too.

sangria I remember that too! I couldn't have Irn Bru if I was ill because it would make me sick but I could have that horrible Lucozade. My mum would be like "she's not even drinking the Lucozade" like that was some measure of how desperately ill I was! I couldn't drink that stuff if I was well!

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is a bit ... maybe it'll just be a passing phase. There's not much money to be made from just telling people to cook some healthy food, let them help themselves and then just stop worrying about it, I suppose...

Oh god don't get me started on the Mother's Day gifts. Why did I not notice this last year? (Clue: I had 11 month old twins. I was still recovering from chronic sleep deprivation.) No Waitrose, I don't want an effing mug with flowers on it. A PS4 would be good. A DAY OFF maybe.

I seen this last week, I was a bit tbh and yes, it had the slogan about the fussy phase.

I just saw an advert for this in the middle of Made in Chelsea!

I cringe at the adverts! I don't know where to start...!

It's filling and contains sugar, so it replaces food with sweet milky drinks (chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavour).

It's £10 a tub, plus isn't there a 12 week 'back on track' kind of plan? That's going to add up!

And at the risk of sounding all moral high ground, doesn't it reek of 'first world problem'?

Perhaps I have a dark sense of humour, but when I saw the advert, for fussy eaters, I thought, '...for parents who are disappointed their child has no real medical needs to fuss over.' But maybe that's naughty!

Placing it next to the baby and toddler food seems to be an attempt to normalise it into children's diets.

I also remember lucozade only being sold in chemists. The glass bottle was wrapped in orange cellophane. Now it's marketed as a sports drink.

I wonder what happens if you feed this to a pretty normal child? We have an issue with portion sizes and over feeding children as it is... So I can imagine it being used for completely wrong reasons

You all clearly havent had a child which refuses to eat