Choices - Little food for thought
For most families with young children its reasonably simple to feed them; nothing too complicated or sophisticated. Children have to be introduced to food or it’s far too easy for them to say ‘I don’t like that’ without even tasting it. Often our childhood prejudices we carry with us long into adulthood – mine is asparagus!
So, what shall we feed the children? Well, for many it seems a diet of junk food is the answer. In an article I read recently it said that hospitals in England were treating over 30,000 children a year with serious tooth decay, one of the reasons being as a result of sugary diets. Disturbingly, the most common age for a child having a rotten tooth out in hospital is five.
Don’t their parents know how to cook! Unbelievable, I hear you say. We’ve all microwaved the baked beans, fried some sausages, and boiled some peas. Not so for every Mother or Father with young families.
I was fascinated and horrified in equal measures when I saw an episode of Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food and saw some families in Rotherham who had never used their kitchen to cook anything and sat on the floor eating their fast food takeaways with their fingers as their children didn’t know how to use a knife and fork. And this happened every day!
When I showed it to some Portuguese friends as an example of our way of life in ‘modern’ Britain I suddenly became embarrassed as they stared with incredulity. They didn’t understand how you could do this to young children- what kind of parents were these people? They were genuinely shocked.
So, does it have to be this way? Is ‘convenience’ the answer? I hope not. However busy you are it doesn’t take too much to make something simple and reasonably healthy for children. Nothing fancy, but it’s got to be better than a daily dose of nutritionally empty fast food.
We are what we eat, but what choice are we giving our children?
Comments
Hectic lifestyle gives working people an excuse to choose fast foods. Some fast food restaurants even claimed that their food is well-balanced, healthy and safe to eat such as the McDonalds. They even published a special booklet containing details of nutritional information of each food item they sold. It seems that the data provided in the booklet is convincing but I’m still doubt at it.
By RCSC on 2009 06 14
Seems like children are once again the losers.
I read today that the number of under-fives in Europe with type 1 diabetes is set to double between 2005 and 2020, and it is suggested lifestyle factors are likely to play a role.
With so much ‘convenience’ in the preparation of food at home, and school and in fast food restaurants its no wonder our children are suffering from obesity and related problems.
By helenB on 2009 05 29