As we all know, Valentine’s Day is approaching. As usual, I’ve been stuffing my face with chocolates and sweets to the point where all I can wear is spandex or sweats. However, I believe the holidays are the times when it is okay to over-indulge without judgment. As I was eating some delicious milk chocolate hearts, I found this article on childhood obesity entitled “Obesity Threatens a Generation” by the Washington Post. I found this article interesting because it reminded me of “A Really Big Lunch,” by Jim Harrison. In the reading, Harrison eats a 37 course meal, which is quite excessive. It seems that our society is taught that more is better. But, I have to admit that I am guilty of having this mentality.
Childhood obesity is caused by multiple factors, but it appears that one source is from children over-eating both healthy and unhealthy foods. Nearly one in three American children is considered overweight. I believe we need to change our attitude of over-indulging in order to combat childhood obesity.
Here is the link to the Washington Post article.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051701373_2.html?sid=ST2008050900425
I agree with you, Blair. Have you ever seen any of Jamie Oliver's stuff? His thing is to try and revamp school lunches so that they are more wholesome. There was a tv series about it that took place in West Virginia. It was so disheartening because several of the children could not even recognize what a carrot or a head of broccoli was. I think that there should be a focus on an awareness of food and ingredients, not just shoving organic and sustainability down people's throats. Once we can make people aware of the basics of nutrition, then you can focus on the fancier things. It is articles like these that make me believe that eating organic and sustainable foods is only for the privileged - which is sad because everyone in America should be entitled to a decent meal. Anywho - that's my rant of the day! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd stuffing your face with chocolate is not over-indulging. I just ate a whole package of this treat I call "crack corn" that my mom sent me for Valentine's Day. It's caramel popcorn with pecans and dark chocolate. SO addictive!
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