Feeding Kids Today

So we are super concerned with the food our kids eat at school and very critical of how cafeterias are preparing the lunches. Okay, that is understandable but as long as I remember cafeteria food tastes like crap!

But what about what parents are feeding their kids at home? Why aren't we concerned about that?

Whatever happened to personal responsibility? We blame childhood obesity on bad cafeteria lunches. But do the math- kids eat on average 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. That is 21 meals. They eat 5 of those meals at school. So five meals a week that are not so great for you are causing childhood obesity?

Am I the only one that sees something wrong with that? If you see the logic there PLEASE tell me!

As a parent I take full responsibility for what my children eat. If I want them to eat healthy I need to provide not only healthy meals and snacks but a decent role model who eats healthy as well. I do eat junk food, I am not a health nut who lives off healthy foods only, it doesn't work for me. But I find that moderation is the key. My children are allowed treats, we have chips and ice cream in the house. But they eat more good food then junk food. Treats are just that, treats. Ice cream is not a daily dessert. (okay when I am pregnant ice cream is a daily dessert for me I'll be honest)

Some people blame our bad eating habits on the fact that we are too busy. But that is just an excuse. When something is important you make time for it. You buy healthy foods and take time one day to prepare it so that it becomes a grab and go snack during the week when you are busy. For example, buy fruits and vegetables and spend a half hour washing and cutting them up. Then when the kids are hungry you only need to open the fridge and grab some prepared food. Is that even too much? You can buy a veggie or fruit platter in the grocery store and everything is prepared for you!

Is mealtime crazy? Spend one afternoon prepared meat for the week. Pre-cook the chicken and ground beef and ground turkey and have it ready to go in the fridge. Then you add a few ingredients at night and you ahve dinner. Again, if that is too much you can buy precooked meats in the grocery store.

The truth is we don't need to eat junk food and high fat food all the time simply because we have less time. We don't need to hit the fast food palce on a daily or even a weekly basis if we don't want to. We can choose to, but we must accpet the consequences for that and not blame the places where we buy our food. Not everything needs to be made from scratch to be healthy. But to blame things like school lunches or not having enough time, or all the restaurants that serve unhealthy food in portions that are too big, well that is just letting go of personal responsibility. And our kids are paying the price. We are paying the price ourselves with our health issues.

And honestly if the food is so awful at school there is one simple solution. Pack your kid a lunch and have them eat that instead. It is cheaper and healthier.