I had all sorts of ideas for the blog this week, but they were derailed by food. The best laid plans of mice and…cooks. Last week I attended a lecture given by a Pediatric Gastroenterologist covering pediatric obesity and nutrition. As much as I think I know about food, there is just ALWAYS something more to learn.
First, and while I knew this to be true, it was harsh to see in numbers: America got fat really fast…like REALLY fast, but kids got fat even faster. We’re all aware that the low-fat movement of the 80′s turned America to processed carbs, which is killing us, but what I didn’t realize is that childhood obesity went from under 5% to over 30% in a matter of 20 years. That’s not evolution: that’s environment.
Our speaker was very personable and funny. But as someone who sees the worst of childhood obesity and its corresponding disorders, he was quite matter-of-fact about…well…the facts. Kids should just not drink juice, especially toddlers. He would love to see sippy cups disappear. We should be eating at home, and when the issue of chocolate milk came up, he was quite clear: he used the words “mind-boggling amount of sugar”, and “it’s pure sugar”.
I’ve always struggled with the sugar that flies through America at the speed of light. It’s not ONE thing. It’s the Mom who lovingly packs a Hershey Kiss in the lunch, the kid who chucks the water for the chocolate milk, eats the Kiss and the cupcake someone brought in for their birthday, and then gets a tiny candy bar for turning in their 10th optional Math worksheet, and then it’s Friday, so to celebrate the weekend Mommy (who has no idea about the cupcake, the candy bar, or the chocolate milk) takes everyone out for a cookie…
IT ADDS UP.
This Mom (she looks like me) thinks her child ingested 4 tsps of refined sugar by nightfall. Oops…she ingested closer to 14. That’s not including a shot of morning OJ, lemonade with Friday night pizza, or any added sugar in the girls’ yogurt, bread, granola, cereals, and jam on the Sunbutter & Jam sandwich. Let’s add that up, because what’s more fun than Lori Math?
My daughter’s diet of mostly organic, whole foods included: 21 teaspoons of sugar on ONE DAY. In my head, she ate scrambled eggs, a piece of wheat toast with honey, yogurt with fruit and granola, OJ, water, sunbutter and jam, broccoli, a clementine, another small yogurt, a Hershey Kiss, water again (and hopefully a few sips of the organic white milk I packed), a cookie, more water, cheese pizza, a breadstick, and a small lemonade. And she did eat those things…along with 7 full tablespoons of sugar.
And here’s the rub: I’m very pro-cookies on Fridays. I love hanging out at Illinois Food Emporium and hearing the girls rattle on about this and that, even if it’s just once a month. I love kids bringing in treats on their birthdays. I’m not even totally against the occasional treat to celebrate an accomplishment (although I’m aware there’s a world of research against it).
What I can’t tolerate is the MINDLESSNESS of it all. The lack of planning. The wild bandying about of sugar, without thought or intention. We should take our treats, acknowledge it’s the special moment (not momentS) of the day, and take the time to enjoy it. We should work as a coordinated community to say YES, there will be celebrations. There will be cupcakes. There will be holidays and parties. But it will be done with full disclosure so a family can plan and adjust, creating a daily menu which is not…well? Neurotoxic. I’m not free of guilt here. I bought the cookie, poured the OJ, OK’d the lemonade, and packed the Hershey Kiss. And on birthdays? I’m Mrs. Sugar Coated Sugar With Sugar Filling.
Kelly’s half birthday was last week. She was disappointed, though she reserved her thoughts for herself…a real first. She wanted heart cookies, and made the small (and they were quite small) cookies above. I wrote the entire class in advance. Resetting expectations will take some time, as I’m sure when Kelly requested “heart cookies” she imagined I’d make something as big as her head. But you know what? I just couldn’t in good conscious.
The first step is admission of guilt. So here I go: I have a sneaking suspicion my kids, after years of their Mom studying and researching food, are still eating too much sugar. What are your thoughts about kids in America, the sugar they ingest, the community giving it to them, and the way it adds up? What role should our school’s play in notifying us about what they feed our children? How lax should we be about a community giving our kids food we’d never put on our own pantries? And for those of you with younger children, remember: someday they will be 7 and they will have thoughts of their own, especially about fitting in with their peers.
Grab some coffee and let’s chat about this!!!
7 responses so far ↓
1 Bill Welge // Jan 29, 2013 at 12:20 pm
Threshold for tasting sweetness needs to be part of this conversation. The more sugar consumed, the more sugar it takes in any given treat for our taste buds to detect how much sugar it contains. We have become desensitized to ever larger amounts. A period of avoiding all commercial dessert and snack food, making our own, while we gradually lower the amount of sugar from standard recipes will have the effect of lowering our threshold for tasting sweetness. Eventually standard recipe stuff will taste overly sweet and treats prepared with less sugar will be preferred.
2 The Momma // Jan 29, 2013 at 1:57 pm
LOOK AT YOU!!! Bill leaves a comment. Wow. I’m stunned. I’m…speechless. The big guy speaks. The Grand Pooba of dietary knowledge. FINALLY!!!
3 Robin // Jan 29, 2013 at 6:08 pm
Oh a topic close to my own heart. We avoid sugar except for honey and maple sugar (for minimal baking only). I make all our food and don’t do anything processed. When I started *really* looking at all our food last year I was shocked. Those organic cheese sandwich crackers? Full of junk. I gave it all away, every single thing that had fillers, dyes, things I couldn’t pronounce. I replaced it all with homemade. My son is allergic to eggs so that counts out cakes, cookies, muffins etc. Treats at birthday parties are organic lollipops (half th time he forgets to ask me for one). For his birthday we will serve fruit tarts. I crave sugar so I was glad to get rid of it. I found a dried apricot helps though its not the same as a piece of chocolate. I did find chocolate without soy lethicin in it but it took some looking! The better educated people get about the damage they’re doing to themselves and their kids the better off we will all be. Good job bringing it to the forefront!
4 The Momma // Jan 29, 2013 at 6:58 pm
Robin,
I’m often asked what I buy at Trader Joe’s, which I try to politely say, “Nothing”. Organic-schmanic. FULL OF JUNK. Whole foods means whole foods, and they don’t sell it there. If you’ve read the recent fun French books, they are all about getting “real” chocolate. Just sitting and savoring a very small piece will make you feel fully “treated”. I’m allergic, but I can eat the smallest thing, and if it’s delicious, it’s always enough. Thanks for the comment!
5 Missy // Jan 31, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Lori, I followed every single one of your posts during the summer when you were using recipes from the French cookbook. Can you share any other resources for parents wanting to try the whole food approach? As a full-time working single parent, I don’t have the extra time to prepare every menu item from scratch for each meal. I’m all for eliminating processed foods as much as I can, but cooking from whole foods seems to take much longer and I’m already pressed for time most evenings. Thanks a bunch for this post. Definitely food for thought for this mom.
6 The Momma // Jan 31, 2013 at 9:52 pm
Missy, this is an excellent question. Probably A#1. I think about this issue all the time, because when I worked, I wasn’t “into” whole foods, and now, I wonder if I could have done it. Let me think on it and get back to you. What a great book idea!!
7 Cooper's Mimi // Feb 1, 2013 at 1:02 pm
Love these thoughts and love the accountability. I will commit to advising parent’s when I am sending sugar to school for the birthday treat. Maybe we can start a trend. I’ve never been very trendy. This might be fun.