When you shop the kids’ supplement aisles for nutritional drinks, look closely at the labels. Some use cheap ingredients, are loaded with sugar and inefficient protein sources, and they require children to drink 8-12 ounces. That leaves no room in their tiny tummies for a meal! In this interview with functional medicine expert Bryce Wylde, Healthy Heights CEO Steve Turner explains why their product line, available at Walmart, is better.
Turner says Healthy Heights’ mission is, “To provide kids with access to quality nutrition, fill the gaps and basically solve the challenges that we all experience with a poor quality diet. We want to provide them with the building blocks they need because they’re growing every minute of every day.”
He explains the company intentionally chooses the best ingredients to achieve ultimate performance. “Children need so much more than adults. Everything we do is specifically designed for children’s needs at all different stages of growth.” Healthy Heights is replacing insulin fiber with Sunfiber because, “it has a ton of horsepower behind it as far as the science.”
Healthy Heights’ Grow Daily line is a product of 20 years of research, culminating in large-scale clinical trials. “Researchers were looking to identify what was missing in the diets of kids who had challenges in growth and development, and that’s what we put into this formulation to help generate healthier, lean growth,” Turner observed.
Premium quality that fits with Walmart pricing
Healthy Heights runs counter to what a lot of children’s functional food companies are doing. To cut costs, some manufacturers reduce package sizes and change to cheaper ingredients. Healthy Heights takes a different approach.
Healthy Heights’ products are designed to reach as many customers as possible while staying on the moral high ground. Turner explained to Wylde: “Through intentional decisions, we find ways to put ingredients together that are on the upper end as far as quality and performance, and still offer a product at a spectacular value to the end consumer.”
He continued, “We want to make sure that everything we’re putting into the hands of the consumer is driven by our values. The Happy Tummies product we developed in collaboration with Walmart is a great example.”
The collaboration started when Healthy Heights was approached by Walmart, and given basic parameters based on what was missing in the children’s probiotic market. Healthy Heights wanted to give consumers the best dollar value while remaining committed to delivering a product that fits with its beliefs.
They were able to use the same probiotic strain as an industry leader, with a higher quality soluble plant fiber (Sunfiber) than anyone else is using. Then they took it a step further by adding two grams of protein. Now they have a fiber / probiotic supplement, called Happy Tummies, that has a better prebiotic fiber and has twice the probiotic count people are used to seeing at the same price point. Because of its great flavor, it’s a kid-friendly substitute for sugary drinks.
“Everything was intentionally chosen because we wanted to put the best ingredients in this product for its ultimate performance,” says Turner. “We’re all about healthy, happy kids.” He adds, “We want kids to establish a healthy relationship with food. It’s so much easier to hand a child our four-ounce drink, that you can mix with water or milk, as opposed to giving them an 8-12 ounce bottle.”
Through ingredient and packaging changes, and other decisions aimed to reduce the company’s carbon footprint, Healthy Heights remains committed to working with the best in the industry and to staying at the top of their game.
I have read n re-read all sounds good n makes sense will try. Am 84 yr. Grandma for my beautiful only granddaughter with single father in special learning program with many other young girls with single parents. will check WM Miami! thanks