So today was a no turkey day and I enjoyed it! I had some Kashi cereal for breakfast and protein bar...the plans to go shopping after dropping C off went out the window as I was tired and had an early conference call. Dinner was a lovely weight watcher frozen dinner of Shrimp Alfredo...It was very good.
I have a couple more days left and then it is back to traveling, which is a pain. I love that my job allows me to take care of my family and do what I am good at, but that does not mean that the travel does not cause me stress...It does and it is exhausting.
So I have been thinking alot about the flavoring and sweetners that are in the food that we eat and how that contributes to childhood obesity. I was an ovr weight child, but I remember that it was a big deal because I was one of very few children that was overweight in my schools. When I pick C up at school I see more kids who are overweight or borderline overweight. I keep wondering what contributes to this...it is easy to say that it is videos and TV having seemingly replaced playing outdoors. It could be that the parents do not have the time with both parents working to take children to organized sports nor do they have time to cook meals and depend way too much on Fast Food. I find few things that I think also may contribute.
I know from C's school that more often then I would like when I ask what she did at PE I hear that they watched a movie. I remember that even on rainy or snowy days, we had a gym and frequently had PE indoors during the winter months...In fact I can never remember watching a movie during PE.
Second, when I went to school, we had 3 recesses during a school day. One in the morning, one at lunch and one in the afternoon, whenever possible we went outside for these recesses. C's school has no recess at all. Next is that because we as a society have gone away from cooking from scratch, for whatever reason, we have become dependent on these prepared, processed foods. They are addictive and not healthy.
Third and probably most disturbing is that due to the economic issues that our coutnry is currently facing, these processed foods are the cheaper option at the grocery store. It is more expensive to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and if you eat it meats. it is much cheaper to go to a Warehouse Store and buy a huge bag of processed chicken nuggets and pizza rolls. In addition because more people are struggling financially, it means more kids are dependent on the free school breakfast and lunch options to make sure that their children get at least 2 meals a day provided to them. When you consider that the government has declared that the processed tomato paste on the pizza count as vegetable, it only makes this matter worse. I feel like our schools need to open their eyes and see that our kids are getting heavier and instead offer healthy alternatives to children. Salads instead of fries that kind of thing. We as parents need to demand it, but that is hard to do when the funding to our schools is getting cut every day, it is hard to justify spending more money for healthy food, when teachers are being laid off and kids are being stuffed into classrooms where there are too many kids for one teacher to handle.
Don't get me wrong, I know as a parent it is my responsibility to teach my child to eat healthy and make good choices. I make sure we have fruits and veggies in the house and offer them frequently. I am make sure C is involved in physical activity. She plays soccer and takes dance classes. It is not always easy for F and I to do this, sometimes it means that I am in the car doing conference calls while she is playing soccer or a dance class, but I feel these activities have such an positive impact on her not only for her physical health but also for her self esteem and self image.
Okay I am done ranting...I am just so concerned when I see these kids at school, because I know from personal experience that unless you change these behaviors early in life, they become harder an harder to change as you get older.
Take care for now and talk to you later.
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