Are we over-reacting?

[Lincolnshirelass]

First of all, apologies in advance, and cards on the table. I'm a relative newbie and I'm also very far from being a good cook. But I wonder sometimes if we're not in danger of getting too hung-up about children's eating habits. Now don't get me wrong. Obviously it makes sense for children to eat a fairly healthy diet and not overload on the less than healthy stuff. But here in the UK (don't know about elsewhere) children sometimes have their school lunchboxes inspected and even things like sausage rolls or Scotch eggs have been confiscated. Periodically anti-obesity campaigners (prominent among them the delightfully ironically named Dr Tam Fry) appear on radio or TV and hold forth about the evils of children eating things with SALTFATSUGAR . And incidentally, that isn't a typo. The three ingredients of the Evil Empire are strung together into one demonic trinity in the eyes of Dr Fry and his ilk. Now plainly excesses of any of these can turn into a bad thing. But it's almost reaching the stage where a slice of cake or a bag of crisps is viewed as a form of child abuse. I also think it's unrealistic to try to withhold things from children completely. The old saying about forbidden fruits (!) tasting sweetest has a lot of truth in it. And to say a child won't develop a taste for things is unrealistic. I remember my Mum, who was a child when sweet rationing ended, telling me there were queues miles long for the children to eat the sweets they'd been deprived of.

Pardon me for sounding off at length, and sorry if I've offended anyone!

[AliceofX]

Honestly, I've stopped believing all the people telling us what to eat a long time ago. I mean, the current obesity crisis pretty much started with them harping on how bad fat was, so we replaced it with sugar and here we are.

And I'm not saying a good diet isn't important, but I just don't think the human body is as fragile as some people believe. If humanity survived the time when we threw poop in our drinking water then I think we'll be fine now.

[DATo]

I think it is deplorable for a school or government agency to confiscate foods from a child's lunchbox. Obviously rancid or otherwise spoiled food would be fair game, but to confiscate food based upon some nutritionist's opinion is going too far. I don't know why I am surprised to hear this however.

Even here in the U.S.A. which touts itself as "the land of the free" we are being herded into ever-smaller circles of acceptable behavior based upon some arbitrary opinions made by the PC crowd, the environmental crowd, or the "Mother's With Nothing Better To Do Than Save The World" crowd. And if it isn't some wingnut group it is the government itself. In New York the mayor wanted to put a cap on the number of ounces that a "sugary beverage" (soda) can be sold. Crime is skyrocketing, scholastic achievement is plummeting and all they seem to worry about is how much soda must be put into a single container? I think the world is going nuts.

[juliusotinyo]

Funny how simple mundane items in my society cause such a fuss on another side of the world! Although I agree that people should make better eating choices--my country notwithstanding, UK/USA attempts as mentioned are overreacting.

My granma is 100+ years old and eats red meat and pork at least 5x a week--usually salted or brined. Anyway, she's still quite physically fit. I guess sedentary lifestyles maybe the issue, or the environment, or a combination. I think scientists may just be in the dark as well.

I'd advocate for a balance. I don't think active people (especially school kids) need to exclude SALTFATSUGAR as it's also needed in bodily functions. I believe the greatest threat is nutrient degradation in food processing and chemical contamination.

[AliceofX]

Crime is skyrocketing, scholastic achievement is plummeting and all they seem to worry about is how much soda must be put into a single container?

Things like that remind me of the Byzantines wondering about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin while the Turks were at their doors. I think so many of today's "issues" are just a distraction from the real problems of the world.

[Tpop]

No one should ever take something out of a child's lunchbox! That is extremely disturbing. However, here is the USA, processed foods are becoming more and more common. They taste good, are convenient, and cheap. However, our bodies are not designed to process these foods. Our bodies spend so much time fighting the foods we eat that they are too busy to fight cancers and real diseases. There are many foods, dyes, and drinks that Europe has made illegal and unsafe, but are still legal here is the US. On top of it all, the government regulates certain dangerous foods and then completely disregards other dangerous foods. The Sugar Lobby in the US fought so hard against listing the % of daily value of sugar on the packaging of food, that the government did not make them. If you go to your cabinet and pull out any food, you will see a '% of your daily value' of fat, calories ect; but you will never see this for sugar. The government, many times, rolls over for whomever has the most money.

[CommMayo]

I agree 100% Tpop. So often in America our food is so far from real food. The processed crap that people live off of is disgusting. People here worry about food safety like crazy--they will toss out packages of perfectly good food just because it hit the "best by" date, but they don't give a crap about how much sugar, corn syrup, and artificial crap is hidden in our food.

Not to mention the handeling, breeding, and processing of our meat is aweful. I have friends who raise all of their own because they don't want corn fattened, genetically mutated meat on their plates.

[Tpop]

Not to mention the handeling, breeding, and processing of our meat is aweful. I have friends who raise all of their own because they don't want corn fattened, genetically mutated meat on their plates.

Very very true. My husband finally relented in letting me get a couple chickens go our backyard. And now we order ‘half a cow’ through a local butcher and I comes directly from a ranch. I feel like it’s the only way to get real meat!

[CommMayo]

I have thought about getting half a cow or hog. My chest freezer is currently full of deer and wild goose from hunting friends.

We have 15 chickens for eggs, but they are pretty much done laying for the winter. I keep them around for a few years because I hate raising chicks!

[Tpop]

I have thought about getting half a cow or hog. My chest freezer is currently full of deer and wild goose from hunting friends.

We have 15 chickens for eggs, but they are pretty much done laying for the winter. I keep them around for a few years because I hate raising chicks!

Lol. 15 chickens is a LOT of chickens. I live in the city, so 4 would probably be the most I would want. And you are lucky to have such amazing friends!

[juliusotinyo]

I have thought about getting half a cow or hog. My chest freezer is currently full of deer and wild goose from hunting friends.

We have 15 chickens for eggs, but they are pretty much done laying for the winter. I keep them around for a few years because I hate raising chicks!

I feel so sorry for you guys. Many USA/European brands have reached our stores but not so popular yet. I don't think any of us worries about what they eat, at least for now.

[Tpop]

I feel so sorry for you guys. Many USA/European brands have reached our stores but not so popular yet. I don't think any of us worries about what they eat, at least for now.

Just be careful with what you choose to eat that gets imported!

[R-Myra]

Honestly, I've stopped believing all the people telling us what to eat a long time ago. I mean, the current obesity crisis pretty much started with them harping on how bad fat was, so we replaced it with sugar and here we are.

And I'm not saying a good diet isn't important, but I just don't think the human body is as fragile as some people believe. If humanity survived the time when we threw poop in our drinking water then I think we'll be fine now.

Exactly. If we suddenly stop eating this than after a long time when we would start eating it again then we won't be able to digest it because the stomach will not have capacity to do that. So we can't totally stop their intake but we can minimise it to some level so that no one is in lose.

[Clinical1]

As Americans, we always overreact about food. One of the best things I have heard from a nutritionist is peel it, don't open it. If we avoided pre-processed food, and replaced it with freshly prepared, we would be much healthier.

[Helen_Combe]

First of all, apologies in advance, and cards on the table. I'm a relative newbie and I'm also very far from being a good cook. But I wonder sometimes if we're not in danger of getting too hung-up about children's eating habits. Now don't get me wrong. Obviously it makes sense for children to eat a fairly healthy diet and not overload on the less than healthy stuff. But here in the UK (don't know about elsewhere) children sometimes have their school lunchboxes inspected and even things like sausage rolls or Scotch eggs have been confiscated. Periodically anti-obesity campaigners (prominent among them the delightfully ironically named Dr Tam Fry) appear on radio or TV and hold forth about the evils of children eating things with SALTFATSUGAR . And incidentally, that isn't a typo. The three ingredients of the Evil Empire are strung together into one demonic trinity in the eyes of Dr Fry and his ilk. Now plainly excesses of any of these can turn into a bad thing. But it's almost reaching the stage where a slice of cake or a bag of crisps is viewed as a form of child abuse. I also think it's unrealistic to try to withhold things from children completely. The old saying about forbidden fruits (!) tasting sweetest has a lot of truth in it. And to say a child won't develop a taste for things is unrealistic. I remember my Mum, who was a child when sweet rationing ended, telling me there were queues miles long for the children to eat the sweets they'd been deprived of.

I agree, I think the lunch box inspection is disgraceful, especially as the kids having school meals don’t get frisked to see if they are bringing chocolate bars or crisps to school in their bags. If I had a child and somebody took their food off them and left them hungry, I’d be down that school so fast, confiscating teachers’ packed lunches, that they wouldn’t wouldn’t know what had hit them.

In my family, sweets were a treat, so there never were any in the house, so we never got into the habit of having them daily.

On the rationing front, my mum told me that there were queues of elderly women spending their entire pension on sweets as well as the children.