[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Well for a start, nutrition advice for the last 20 to 30 years has been COMPLETELY WRONG, so people who think they are doing the right thing for their children are actually not giving them proper nutrition. The medical world is starting to catch up but, as always, the public will take generations to catch on. Examples:

- Full fat milk is always preferable to semi-skimmed (especially for children). Most parents believe they are being healthy by buying green-top.

- Full fat butter is ALWAYS preferable to low-fat spreads, for EVERYONE.

- Saturated animal fats are good for you, and are essential for healthy growth. Fat is wrongly demonized. Trans-fats (hydrogenated fat) is basically the devil, but other than that, saturated fat is better for you (and your kids) than polyunsaturated. This has been confirmed by the worlds' top heart doctors. The market hasn't caught up yet.

- as an extension to the above; obesity is not caused by a high fat diet. Obesity is caused by a high sugar diet, and large amounts of processed carbohydrates (wheat snacks, potato snacks i.e. crisps, chips...). As is diabetes which is also rising alarmingly amoungst children.

- Grains (including wholegrains), whilst an acceptable part of an adult diet for most people, are nutritionally void "filler foods". Parents pack their kids full of breads and cereals and so they have no room for foods with high levels of essential nutrients.

- YOUNG CHILDREN DON'T NEED TO BE PACKED FULL OF FRUIT AND VEG. This is a big one. Most parents are still following outdated advice that "healthy snacks" for children are things like fruit, and "healthy dinners" have large portions of veg.

In truth, they need a diet high in proteins and fats (both animal and naturally occurring plant-based fats)... they are essential to the proper development of body and brain.


So... for a start, there's that. Of course, there's also the problem of cooking being a "lost art" in many families. A lot of parents simply have no idea how to cook good food, so they (and their children) eat pre-prepared packaged food from boxes, tins and plastic packages. Most of it is made cheaply and is packed full of absolute garbage that can barely be labelled "food".

Finally is the worst part; eating properly costs a fortune. Crap food is cheap. Many families simply can't afford a decent diet. Anyone who claims that cooking good food from scratch is "cheaper than all that junk" is making assumptions not based on the facts when it comes to the price of food. Clean, fresh, proper dinner ingredients cost EASILY triple what a bag of cheap, convenient "oven food" costs.

Excellent post!!
Nutrition should be compulsory in schools from infants then children can tell their grown up what they need to be healthy.