Wednesday, February 10, 2010

how to fix obesity


Make one rule, you can eat only food that you have cooked, even if it is just a hamburger on the grill or a grilled cheese sandwich, don't eat it unless you have cooked it. Make peanut butter sandwiches with whole wheat bread, and add milk and fruit. Nothing wrong with that meal, way better than Mickey Ds hamburgers.

Michelle Obama is now weighing in (no pun intended) on the nation's obesity. All I hear is how to teach kids to make healthy choices. I hear about some schools labeling food as good food and bad food.

To me this is all wrong and will only make the problem worse. Once food becomes forbidden, you are guaranteed kids will want it.

I know one mom, she would not let her kids have candy, years later when they could ride their bikes to stores, they were binging on candy. So telling kids not to eat some foods is NOT the way to go.

I see articles in the paper talking about 3 things to help control obesity in kids.

1. turn off the TV

2. eat dinner

3. get adequate sleep

I mean, do we really need a study to tell us these three things.

This is insanity.


I say bring back old-fashioned Home Ec classes, teach kids how to cook, not how to eat. Big difference. Once you start lecturing on do this and don't do that, you will have lost the kids. Make real food in home ec class. Start home ec in grade 5. Don't bring out a food pyramid, don't tell kids not to eat fat, don't tell kids not to eat cookies. Just teach them to cook all kinds of food.

Scrambled eggs, muffins, french toast, sandwiches, sandwich spreads, casseroles, meat loaf etc.

Just eat real food and cook real food. Once in high school, cooking classes can be more advanced. How to cook a dinner for 4 with $10 for example. How to buy and prepare vegetables? How to find cheap food such as using Sam's Club or Walmart? How to plan family meals for a week?? and then cook them.

But whatever we do, DON'T tell kids that they cannot eat something. Once they know how to cook and prepare food, good choices will follow. Let's not assume people and kids are idiots.

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