Reflections From Montreal…
Last weekend my girlfriend and I were in Montreal for the annual SiteSell company dinner. Of course, we took this as an opportunity to spend an extra couple of days in one of my favorite cities, doing a little sight-seeing, and taking a nice break from the daily grind.
Of course, what I do here is never far from my mind – even if I am taking a break – so it’s not surprising that a visit to our hotel’s restaurant for a buffet breakfast led to a little reflection. You see, about a week back, I made a post about a study that showed 9 out of 10 adults could be overweight or obese by 2030. This led to an interesting discussion, including several good points by Johnny about personal responsibility and the parent’s role in raising healthy and nutrition-conscious children.
Anyhow, back to breakfast.
As Marilyn and I sat down to our coffee, a Dad and two very obviously overweight children; a boy about 12 and a girl about 15, entered the restaurant. With this recent discussion of personal, parental responsibility bouncing around in my head, I decided to see exactly what sort of guidance Dad provided in choosing a smart breakfast.
I was not disappointed; both kids descended on the buffet with all the subtlety of a cyclone. Alarmingly, both went so far as to use two plates each; one for French Toast and syrup, and one for bacon, sausage, hash browns and pastries. I had a hard time keeping my jaw shut.
Dad seemed completely oblivious to the fact that his obese offspring were seriously compromising their long term health by eating this way. Each one is going to be extremely lucky to avoid diabetes and heart disease at a very young age. Of course, as a Canadian tax payer footing my part of the bill for universal health care, I was not pleased to see Dad was doing his best to ensure I wouldn’t be seeing a break in my taxes anytime soon.
On the drive home, Marilyn and I discussed what our parents would have done. I don’t ever remember going to a buffet with my Mom and Dad, but had I, I can tell you exactly what would have happened…
Yep, my Mom would have filled my plate. I wouldn’t have laid a finger on it. She would have ensured that the necessities (broccoli and veggies) would be on the plate, as well as the good stuff. And she would have controlled the amount too, as she didn’t consider it polite to make a pig of yourself. Had I requested a second helping, she would have taken care of that, providing a small, balanced second portion, and only if she deemed it necessary.
Dessert… well, I would have been obliged to choose one of the various offerings, not sample each of the treats available.
To me, this makes sense. Left to their own devices, most kids will choose to eat what tastes good, and not what’s good for them. Based on taste, which wins – pizza pockets or broccoli? You can’t blame them – they simply don’t know. Evidently, some guidance is required.
So what gives? Nobody lives in a vacuum anymore, and I have a hard time believing most people do not at least recognize that there is some correlation between health and diet. So why the complete absence of guidance? What’s up with that?
I’d love to hear comments!
March 6, 2009
In a word – Amen!
March 6, 2009
In fairness – even when they were younger – I didn’t strictly supervise what my kids ate in restaurants (especially when we were on a vacation). We didn’t eat out that often, so when we did, it was a treat: they could have whatever they liked (within reason).
Of course, neither one of my kids is obese; nor did they take gross advantage of the opportunity to indulge. On occasions where we hit a buffet, for example, they never heaped their plates full, and rarely went back for seconds.
March 7, 2009
Elissa,
We treated our kids the same as you. The whole point is that YOU educated your kids to eat smart in the first place AND you would have staved off any issues before they became problematic. As you and Paul mentioned in your previous item, educating people about cause and effect is the most important issue.