French kids and their health!

Thanks to fellow fitness enthusiast, Will, for posting this article this morning....

French Kids Don't Get Fat: Why? 

Important things to note: 

• France has one of the lowest rates of child obesity in the world 
• Rates have remained stable during the last decade 
• US kids are three times more likely to be overweight than French kids 
• Associations with food 
• US -- with "guilt" and "calories" 
• France -- with "pleasure" and "celebration" 
• In French households, children are usually expected to eat the range of foods that adults do without complaining 
• School lunches -- 
• Water only 
• Healthy grown-up foods like radishes, endive, fish 
• Sweet treats only once per week 
• Fried foods usually once per month 
• Moderation is stressed! 

French parents spend time teaching their kids to eat, just like they teach their kids to read!  Can you imagine..... I think that most parents I know spend time eating while on the go or in transition from one thing to the next.  If we made meal time a learning time, and active time with discussion and teachable moments -- how much more could we benefit from that time spent with one another?  

Things I read that I like: 

• Saying "are you still hungry?" instead of "are you full yet?" 
• Saying "you don't have to eat it, but you do have to taste it" 
• Why isn't food education part of a school's curriculum?  I think this would make a drastic change to the way our kids eat! 

Perhaps we can't control what adults eat, drink or purchase as their consuming habits are already set after decades of decision making throughout adulthood.... so maybe Mayor Bloomberg should not look to controlling soda consumption as a method to improve the health of our City, but to the lack of food education inside of our NYC public schools.  Sounds like a great place to start!