Resolution No. 1

A great many in our culture have been taking parental responsibility much too lightly for some time now. Often leading hectic and stressful lives, too many parents have come to rely on the kinds of foods best avoided and neglect monitoring children’s eating habits. And parents who try to see that their children eat nutritiously have to fight an uphill battle against a culture basically not concerned about what’s best for its young plus a government more interested in the welfare of corporate interests than in the health and welfare of our children.

It’s too easy to stop at the nearest fast-food establishment or bring home a pizza, or give money to the older children to use for snacks and meals and to give in and buy the Cocoa Puffs and Pepsi in spite of knowing better. It’s also too easy to go for the over-processed and ready-prepared products than to prepare meals from fresh, whole and natural foods. And most deplorable are parents who indulge in sweet, fatty and salty junk food and pass the habit along to their children. But even parents with the best of intentions lose some control over what their children eat once the kids are old enough to buy some of their own food. By the time they are teens, their food choices can be a disaster, making it even more important that they eat healthfully at home.

It’s a national tragedy that we don’t value our children enough to make eating for health a top priority, to encourage parents to take enough time to carefully monitor their own and their children’s eating habits and purchase and prepare food accordingly. Though some improvements have been made over the past few years, government should at least end TV ads for junk foods, ban soft drinks from all schools, and improve menus in school cafeterias.  

Basically, it still boils down to choices, as does so much in life. We don’t have to have those Oreos or that Cap’n Crunch or soft drinks in the house. We can choose to supply the larder with more fruit and vegetables, whole grains and healthy snacks. We can educate ourselves about nutrition and we can read ingredient labels. And we can support any legislation that may result in healthier food for all of us.

In our desire to do what is best for our children and ourselves, we can drive right by fast-food establishments. We can convince ourselves that it’s more important to prepare a simple, healthy meal for the family than to pick up whatever looks good at the takeout or delivered to our door or practically live on industry contrived products that claim to provide all the good nutrition for good health. We can learn to prepare some quick, easy and nutritious dishes. We can make up our grocery list with health in mind. We can remember what Michael Pollan wrote in “Food Rules”: “If it came from a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.” 

Is there any better New Year’s resolution than to embark on a crusade to make sure the foods that our children eat do not contribute to the possibility of porous bones as they grow older, their blood vessels becoming clogged, their blood sugar level rising off the charts, their immune system being impaired and their weight soaring? Isn’t it a form of child abuse when children are left to themselves to choose what they eat while the food industry relentlessly promotes its most noxious products? We must do better than that. It all boils down to how much we value health and well-being for all of us. The future depends upon it.

“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” — Eleanor Roosevelt.

Since 1984, Dorothy Dimitre has written more than 1,000 columns for various local newspapers. Her email address is gramsd@aceweb.com.