Okay Moms, this Post is to you. Why? Because statistically speaking, whether you work outside the home or not, you buy most of the groceries, and make most of the meals. The control we have over what our kids eat – even our big kids – is pretty profound.
This is a Power NOT to be wasted; and definitely a Power we need to recognize and acknowledge, …… and use.
Kids today are the first generation of U.S. children EVER predicted to have LESS lifespan than their parents. Here’s some other facts – read them, and be scared into action.
1. By the year 2020 – 7 years from now! – HALF of ALL Americans will have Diabetes, HALF. Type 2 is COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE AND REVERSIBLE. COMPLETELY. It’s also deadly and debilitating. If your child’s normal diet is cereals, breads, crackers, sweets, sodas, and Standard American Crap, then your child’s risk of developing diabetes (whether they’re overweight or not) is VERY high. The scariest stat is that YOUR child’s risk of developing this disease – AS A CHILD – has skyrocketed, especially if you’re ANY minority at all, but the increase is still across the board. Here’s a link to current statistics
2. Cancer is skyrocketing, still. Despite Mainstream Health/Govt Advice. If you’ve been reading my posts, you know that I often highlight different chemcials used in junk foods and “Looks Healthy But Isn’t” foods that are CANCER CAUSING. Our own FDA has given “GRAS/generally recognized as safe” approval to chemicals (flavor enhancers, emulsifiers, preservatives etc) that their own lab tests show are unsafe; they’ve given full approval to chemicals that other countries have banned as unsafe. If there’s a chemical in your kids foods, it’s probably damaging their body. Here’s a link with some pretty scary statistics on 17 different cancers and their projected rise from 2010 to 2020.
3. Behavior/Mood disorders: this is so broad, and spans so many types of behaviors and moods that it’s hard to condense this topic. Suffice to say that every year for the past couple of decades, more kids are being diagnosed and medicated than ever before.
4. Allergies: OMGosh. Food allergies, food sensitivities, airborne allergies – EXPLODING. Here’s a GREAT post from Mercola here.
5. Auto-Immune Diseases – ON THE RISE, all of them.
Moms, FOOD IS AN ENORMOUS PART OF WHY ALL THESE CONDITIONS ARE INCREASING AND EITHER ARE OR COULD AFFECT YOUR CHILDREN. The foods I listed in the Diabetes paragraph: cereals, crackers, sweets, sodas and Standard American Crap, those “foods” will develop and sustain every single condition I just listed.
We’ve been brought up in an age where women are either encouraged to leave the home and work, or spend their time schlepping multiple children to numerous activities, or both, – every day and night of the week. Cooking, packing, and preparing food as part of the average woman’s daily life is generally pretty low on the priority list.
Big Food and Big Advertising have jumped right on this situation and convinced us that “they’ve got our backs”. Don’t worry, you’re busy, so stop by the store and buy a frozen Marie Calendars lasagna, or a big bucket of Kentucky Fried and 2 vegetables with biscuits, or just feed them Hot Pockets or Toaster Strudels or Lunchables, and everything will be okay. IT’S NOT OKAY. It’s all been a Big Advertising Lie, with devastating consequences. Have you read Sugar, Salt and Fat, by Michael Moss? The Food Giants recognized 100 years ago that women would be anxious for short cuts to feed their family, and an Industry was born.
All those cereals with the American Heart Association Seal of Approval? Have you looked at the ingredient list and the carbohydrate content? What about the ingredients in Baby Formula? The ingredients and carb count in snack food? THIS STUFF IS POISON FOR OUR KIDS. Seriously. It’s not a mystery that the Human Condition is falling apart, mentally and physically. It’s the food – and we have the Power to step up and change that.
Want to rid your house of junk food and cereal and crap, but afraid of the backlash? Because a backlash will happen. These foods cause (1) addiction, and (2) a mentality that encourages immediate gratification as a norm. Backlash hurts, but there are ways to handle it: (1) Cook more, so there’s a “good side” and (2) start saying ” you just had a snack /or your meal, dinner/lunch is in an hour or two, you can wait.” 
Really, practicing and learning delayed gratification is a PRICELESS skill. Teaching delayed gratification is one of our jobs.
Think it’s going to be too hard to revamp your kitchen and family eating habits? It could be. Is that a reason not to? When your kids tell you that learning to read is too hard, or math is too hard, or biology is too hard, what do you tell them? You tell them they can do it, and they better do it. Well, you can clean up your families eating, and you can stick to those decisions.
When I made the decision that NO MORE JUNK/SNACKIE/MUNCHIE foods were going to live in my house, my family was furious. My oldest was probably 10th/11th grade, and then the other 3 were 9th, 7th, and 4th. I had to endure MONTHS of fury, whining, griping, and anger, from them and my husband. It wasn’t cute, or funny, or easy. I stuck to my guns. It wasn’t about my weight any more, I truly came to believe that that crap was toxic for my kids. Every month, the negativity from them lessened a little, until it completely, totally stopped. Now, my kids would literally fall over if they saw a box of crackers or cereal in the pantry. And they WOULDN’T eat it, because they’ve pretty much lost their taste for “food products”. Three of my older kids have gone to college and made really good decisions about food; and they know how to cook:)
Moms, we have the Power to really really change the direction of the Health Crisis and Epidemic that’s sweeping the country. We can make decisions for our family, take steps, that could possibly change the course of their life, and even their children’s lives (ever heard of Epigenetics). Let’s take hold of that power, make a plan, and stick to the plan. Choose Real Whole Foods for the health of our children.