2. “When Healthy Eating Goes Too Far” by Kathleen Fifield. Published by kiwi, 2015. Search terms: “Family Meals”.
a. This article puts forth the argument that parents are becoming overly concerned with pressuring their children to only consume ‘healthy’ foods. Kathleen presents the argument that this method can only ever have short term success if at all and will harm the child’s eating competency and backfire on the parent as the child ages. Kathleen’s conclusion is very similar to Ellyn Satter’s outlook, family meals, do not restrict, and discuss food instead of preaching about it.
b. The article sends a clear message that obsessing about healthy food does little to for the adult and child. Kathleen describes moms competing with moms on who makes the healthiest breakfast for themselves and who makes the healthiest lunch for their child. This competition is so focused on the “healthy” factor that the idea of enjoyment is left out. Kathleen also puts forth the message that parents’ anxieties about eating right is impressed onto their children.
c. This article affirmed for me that the extreme focus on healthy food has little to no payoff. While it makes sense, I did not know that the anxieties parents have over healthy eating can translate to those children gaining anxiety over food. For me this article shows how the controlling and restraining
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Eating competency is about attitude and self-respect with regards to eating. To have high eating competency is to be able to enjoy your food in the portion you desire, and listen to your body and feed it regularly. Satter says on page 4 of Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family, “competent eating is made up of a positive tension between structure and reliability on the one hand and self-awareness and self-trust on the other.” In her other Child of Mine on page 11, Satter states that this applies to children, that their eating competency is relative to being supplied with “regular, appealing, and satisfying family
There are many different beliefs about the proper way to eat healthy. People are often mislead and live unhealthy lifestyles as a result. Both Mary Maxfield and Michael Pollan explain their own beliefs on what a healthy diet is and how to live a healthy lifestyle. In the essay, “Escape from the Western diet” Michael Pollan writes about the flaws of the western diet and how we can correct these problems to become healthier. In the essay, “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, Mary Maxfield criticizes Michael Pollan’s essay about eating healthy, and explains her own theory on how to be healthy. She believes that Pollan is contradicting himself and that what he is stating is false. Mary Maxfield ponders the
Children are waiting endlessly to leave paternal cares and use their man-given freedom. After leaving the nest, we often come to find diverging roads that don’t have clear answers. It’s all about making the “adult choice.” Whatever that is. David Zinczenko, a health aficionado, argues that the fast-food industry is to blame for America’s obesity epidemic.
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko blames the fast food companies for causing the obesity epidemic. He told his own story as a kid growing up at the time when fast food was the most popular choice and how it made him a “portly fast-food patron” (241). He then accuses such companies of failing to put a warning label on high calorie. In addition, Zinczenko encourages the new spate of lawsuits against the food industry to give children and their busy parents an opportunity to have a better and healthier food choice. Though I concede Zinzenko’s opinion in addressing the responsibility of the food industry, I still insist that the industry is not the only one who is responsible for this “time bomb” (242). I believe the responsibility belongs to parents, who play an important role in their children’s food orientation, schools, for
Eating meals together as a family will encourage an environment that not only promotes healthier eating, but also allows time for family, for communication, nurturing family traditions, and their children learn life skills (Kaakinen et al., 2015). I will assist and encourage this family to find the time to shop, prepare, and eat together meals that are nutritious as well as healthy. Information and guidance would be provided to help the family understand the daily nutritional requirements of not only themselves, but also for their children. This family would need to take the initiative to learn the nutritional contents of food and be able to incorporate it into meals that provide these daily requirements. There are many Internet sources such as, www.USDA.gov, www.eatright.org, www.letsmove.org, and www.choosemyplate.gov that provides tips, guidance, and recipes that will help families develop healthier eating habits (Ogata & Hayes,
David Zinczenko assumes that fast-food restaurants have been consider guilty for obesity . On the one hand, he argues that they are inexpensive and favorable ways of eating and not to mention how fast and closed they can be to our homes. From this perspective, children today are victims of the cheap prizes and irresistible meals that are highly bad in calories as a result of gaining so much weight. On the other hand, however, he argues that it is the parent's fault by working long hours and not being able to pay enough attention to their kids especially on what they eat. In my own view, I agree that there is plenty of food for sale at grocery stores that are both nutritious and convenient. Though I concede that fast food is fascinating, but
It is apparent that living an unhealthy lifestyle, as well as eating poorly, negatively affects one’s health. From a young age it is quickly learned which foods are considered healthful as opposed to junk food. It is a parents responsibility to supervise the intake of their child's food, however there is a higher risk than ever before of childhood obesity.
Some people fail to see the true impact childhood obesity can have on a child's life. Children tending to overeat; they don’t understand that something that tastes so yummy could actually be bad for them. And with the cheaper pre-processed food usually being unhealthier calorie choices, people are unwilling to buy the more expensive fruits or vegetables that are required to build a good nutritional foundation. Plus, every generation has something that rubs off on the next generation; obesity is something that repeats through multiple generations, making the problems worse. “Parental attitudes to food, along with the kind of eating and leisure activities engaged in as a family and the level of support, are prim...
Parents always want what is best for their children. They strive to provide for them, teach them, and to watch them grow into healthy, loving individuals. Despite this many parents continue to foster a habit that may prevent the goal of good health, unhealthy eating. Americans today consume too much fat, sugar, and food in general and its shows; rates of obesity and weight/diet related diseases such as diabetes are extremely high. In order to slow and eventually put a stop to this trend parents need to not only be aware and informed, but also need to take action and institute healthy eating habits from the very beginning.
...e, H., & Moinpour, C. (2003). Evaluation of strategies used by family food preparers to influence healthy eating, Appetite, 41(3), 265-272.
It’s easy to assume that poor countries usually have the most unhealthy diets. Well, that’s a misdirected assumption. High blood pressure, high blood glucose, overweight and obesity, and high cholesterol are one of the 4 of the top ten risk factors that cause death. High blood pressure is the number one cause of death around the world and heart disease is the number one cause of death globally. All of them are caused by unhealthy eating. People tend to eat less fruits and vegetables which increase the risk of diseases and health problems, causing 1.7 million deaths a year.("Global Dietary Changes Threaten Health") America, one of the richer countries, has the worst eating diets. Nearly 2 out of 5 people in America are suffering from obesity.(Richardson) In a year, each person eats approximately 1.996 pounds. That’s a lot of food.
Parents are not teaching children how to eat healthy. They feed them cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, and fries. Kids are not being exposed to a regular diet of health fruits and vegetables. Now some people are just naturally overweight, but being “overweight” is not the same as being “obese.” Someone who is overweight has reached a maximum weight limit for their height. When someone goes beyond this maximum limit, then they are considered “obese” (Kiess 1). Research shows that “obesity is generally defined as the abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in adipose tissue” (Kiess 1). The increase in childhood obesity today is mainly the fault of the parent because they are unable to tell their children “no” when it comes to junk food (Kiess 104). Parents are the one buying all the food that comes into the house. They are the ones buying the sugary drinks and chips. They are the ones allowing the children to “have what they want.” Because parents are not teaching their children how to eat healthy, we will continue to see childhood obesity increase. Unfortunately, overweight children will be the ones who suffer because statistics show children who are overweight are more likely to become obes...
Child obesity is at its highest in the United States. With fast food restaurants spreading, new food products being produced, and health rates hiking in children between ages of 3-13, children are at a higher risk of reaching obesity. Nutrients are very important for children to contain in their body due to the fact they are growing regularly. Without the specific vitamins and minerals needed in the body, lack of physical activity, and false parental guidance, children are in jeopardy of becoming overweight. Should parents be responsible for this issue? Parents are accountable for their children’s health, because as their child grows, it is a parent’s job to supply correct and healthy resources to their children.
Childhood obesity is a health problem that is becoming increasingly prevalent in society’s youth. For a number of years, children across the nation have become accustomed to occasionally participating in physical activities and regularly snacking on sugary treats. In result of these tendencies, approximately one third of American children are currently overweight or obese (Goodwin). These grim statistics effectively represent all the lack of adult interference, in regards to health, has done to the youth of America. The habits of over consuming foods and under participating in physical activities are all too common in the children of today. Children cannot solve this issue alone, though. These young people need to essentially be given the opportunities to make positive health decisions and learn about good, nutritional values.
Food is a great obsession to human beings; it also can say something about us beyond what we decide to put in our mouths. Michael Pollan’s research shows that we are not really eating healthy we are convenient eaters. We much prefer quantity over quality, and this is the reason why we have an issue with obesity today, however, eating doesn’t have to be complicated. Yes, we need to worry about how we eat but not to the extent where it is unhealthy. Food is everywhere it’s a part of our lives. Without it we wouldn’t survive, but are we taking the easy way and eating too unhealthy? Is eating unhealthy all we have really known? What can our food choices say about us, beyond what we choose to put into our mouths? Is being defined by our food a bad thing? How does Social Media influence how we eat?