The last time we visited Legoland and SeaWorld I was shocked by the amount of families that were overweight....parents and children trudging through the parks overloading with all the fried dough, sugary treats, candy and any other junk food they could find. Tantrums, tears and chaos! I couldn't stop staring - suddenly all the data about the rising rate of obese children made sense to me.
My friends and family are very health conscious. We all eat our veggies, fruits and fish and avoid the sugary junk foods that are so tempting (for the most part). "Morning meetings" usually end up in a conversation about the recent health food must-have or ying-yang doctor we have discovered. Recently my BFF and I hit up the local health food store for all the right ingredients and spent the entire day creating some of the meals/snacks that Jessica Seinfeld's book promised would make our children healthier (note to other mommies: skip the book - way too much prep work for very little health benefits - better to bribe child to eat the steamed greens).
We are fortunate to live in a community that supports local farms and seasonal eating. The woman who started the cafe at the private school our children attend, Ann Cooper, is now revamping the Berkley California lunch program and has written a great book about making a healthy lunch, Lunch Lessons. (I confess - I was more swayed to go to this school by its wellness program than by its academic record).
As a family, we are about to embark on a 60 day "cleansing diet"....we are centering it on regional, organic, seasonal and sustainable meals and removing all High-Fructose Corn Syrup for our meals (HFCS is bad on so many levels). My first step in this program was to stop buying fruit juices and offer water to my boys who claim they "are about to die from thirst"....after a 1 day boycott of liquids (and lots of drama about their impending dehydration), they are now drinking water happily and regularly (Wow!! Hope it all goes that smoothly). Fortunately none of my children are obese and they are very athletic and active, but the high energy levels are off the charts, so I'm hoping the new plan helps restore some peace and sanity (is it crazy for me to dream of calm, relaxed moments as the mommy of 3 boys?!?) I'll post our progress.....