What does a healthy diet for children, fish oil and spaghetti have in common? The answer is, wait for it - you! If you are trying to create a healthy diet for your children, it is prudent to keep them away from spaghetti and include at least several weekly servings of oily fish.

You already know that. Heinz knows that too, but they have a problem on their hands.

They happen to make tinned spaghetti, a nutritionally challenged product which approximately contains [per 1 cup] starch (37 g), simple carbohydrates (45 g), and 200 calories with Glycemic Index over 60.

To solve this problem, they cooked up a theory – kids do not like to eat oily fish. Do not fret. Heinz will help you. They care about children and their diets.

In the name of ‘healthy diet for children’, instead of oily fish, they want you to feed your children canned spaghetti infused with fish oil.

According to Heinz, half a 400g tin of spaghetti would supply 75mg of Omega 3. By contrast, 200g of mackerel contains 4,400mg of the fatty acid - almost 60 times as much.

Translation: tinned spaghetti will remain a junk food. Oily fish, on another hand, still rocks - it is a good source of protein and healthy omega-3 fats.

I am skeptical that most kids do not like to eat fish. However, if that is really the case, and you are concerned that your children might be deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, a much better alternative to pasta is a quality fish-oil supplement.

Coromega makes the most kids-friendly fish oil supplement I have ever seen. You cannot tell it is fish oil, because it actually tastes good. There is no fishy breath or burp-back. If you are located in U.S., they offer a free sample.