Ranch, Chicken Tenders & More Complete This Mom's Revised Food Pyramid For Her Kids

Children aren't generally known for having varied palates, so this viral food pyramid of what many kids actually want to eat will certainly hit home with plenty of parents. In fact, you might want to buy stock in Goldfish crackers because they're apparently a foundation food group.

"I updated the Food Pyramid to be a more accurate depiction of what my children are willing to eat," mom and author Kendra Broekhuis captioned a photo on Facebook of her revised version that consists of a Goldfish cracker base, topped with sticks of butter, chicken fingers, ranch dressing, ketchup, Juicy Burst gummies, and surrounded by string cheese.

Broekhuis tells Romper she came up with the idea for this revised food pyramid, which has been shared more than 60,000 times on Facebook since last week, when she was considering writing an ode to ranch dressing and ketchup. "I reached into the fridge to grab the ranch and ketchup for a photo, I noticed the package of string cheese and thought of the chicken tenders in the freezer and recalled the goldfish crackers in the cupboard and thought: 'I could make a whole food pyramid out of this. The food pyramid my kids would design if they could.'"

This parody food pyramid, of course, is much different than the one created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which includes lots of vegetables along with some protein, fruit, grains, and a little dairy. But as many parents experience, including Broekhuis, kids can be pretty picky eaters. "For a year, our daughter swore off every kind of potato: mashed, baked, or fried," Broekhuis tells Romper. "And I have vivid memories of battling our kids to finish the two carrots we put on each of their plates at dinner."

There's all kinds of advice out there for how to deal with picky eaters, and it's true that not every parent has to struggle. But, as Broekhuis points out, there is certainly a commonality in this food pyramid that resonates with parents.

"We know kids who have real aversions to different food types and textures, and I don’t want to minimize their experiences," she says. "But as the response to the pyramid photo suggests, getting kids to enjoy eating healthy foods can be a fight. Of course, it is a worthy fight, but still a fight."

People have been so invested in Broekhuis' updated food pyramid, in fact, that she noticed a trend in the comments she thought she should address: "I noticed many commenters were worried that mac and cheese was not included, but rest assured, that it is only because we already ate it for supper earlier that week."