Systematic control over our children
I’ve seen it everywhere. The headlines say Gen Z and Gen Alpha will be the first generations not to live as long as their parents. You’ve seen this right? That’s our kids. That’s my kids. They say it has to do with food, screens, and sedentary lifestyles.
There is plenty of information out there about what screens are doing to our kids. I just listened to a podcast by Mel Robbins (I love her) about what screens are doing to our brains….us…as adults…I can’t imagine what it’s doing to our children's little malleable brains. (Check out a clip here)
But now let’s dig into food - because food is my obsession. (We’ll dig into screen time on another day.)
If your child has been eating a Standard American Diet then likely their taste buds have been hijacked. They don’t know what regular food is supposed to taste like. Fresh, homemade food is bland to them.
This is not woo-woo information - but the big brands use scientists to make their foods addictive. Here’s something that’s even crazier - they use many of the same tactics (and the same scientists) who worked in the cigarette companies. They use ads that target kids, and if you are a minority- they have a higher number of commercials for crappy food. Not fair.
So, your dinner of cauliflower tacos with mushrooms and red cabbage garnish isn’t gonna cut through that.
So what do you do?
Just like for our toddler mommas, you are going to put all the food on their plate and you are going to encourage strongly that they take adventure bites. Let them eat the parts they will but keep introducing the foods. Don’t offer anything else. Don’t let them get a snack after dinner unless they have eaten all their dinner.
Our taste buds can change in just 7 days. 7 days! So start with a little kale salad on Monday, keep serving it every night, and then by the following Monday it shouldn’t be as bitter. You can even try this on yourself. (Cut the kale off the ribs, slice into ribbons, and massage it with lemon, olive oil, and salt. Soon you’ll be able to eat it raw, but start here.)
By the way, my husband and I were just talking statistics because I’m kinda obsessed with food and eating healthy. (I’m not perfect with my diet - I just really like the power of knowing what I put in my body changes my health) So anyhoo, did you know that, according to the National Institute of Health:
1 in 6 children in the US are obese
1 in 5 are overweight
1 in 4 are pre-diabetic
Our children are being duped. The food industry is controlling our children. Our children’s taste buds have been taken over. And momma, it’s gonna be a struggle to gain that control again. BUT you have to. It’s an uphill battle but watching our children with Type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol or chronic heart conditions in their 20s and 30s will be devastating. (According to UW Health 21% of kids aged 0-19 have high cholesterol and not all of those kids are overweight. Just for clarification - that's over 1 in 5!)
So what the heck do we do? We’ve got to step in. It is within our control. We just have to take a stand.
When my son turned 16 he started buying his own food, I felt a little helpless for a time. BUT we talked a lot about the 80:20 rule and it gave him some freedom while also helping him to stay on track. This is a good place for us all to start. 80% of the time you are sticking to healthy plant-forward options and 20% of the time you allow other foods in. 80:20 is a place to start only, ideally, to help our kids live longer it needs to be 90:10. BUT that may feel a little rigid to start with.
We do all the things to keep our kids safe. They wear seatbelts and helmets, you keep track of them on their devices, and we talk to them about stranger danger. However, we allow them to eat salty, greasy, sweet foods that are taking over their lives. If we could only see inside their body right after they eat a meal, maybe we’d be more diligent. But we don’t see the results of those meals right away.
What we do see pretty quickly in our kids is lethargy, mood swings, anxiety, overeating, lack of concentration, and even anger. These are signs you can pay attention to. Next time you bring them home from school after they’ve eaten one of those darn cupcakes with the huge disgusting pile of frosting, pay attention. Their behavior will very likely be altered. These are symptoms. Pay attention.
More on this - I have so much to say. But I’ll wrap it up here. ❤️
You got this!!! 🫶
