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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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Lindsay Metcalf
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- mr. stinky feet - Profile | Pictures | Blog
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*EDITOR'S NOTE* Jim is off this week, so we've picked one of our favorite "Best Of" Mr. Stinky Feet columns from a couple years ago to rerun. Enjoy!
I get a bit freakishly obsessive about food – I admit – especially when it comes to feeding my children. No MSG. No high fructose corn syrup or other added sugars. Nothing fried. Hormone-free milk. You get the organic free-range picture.
There are very few things in life that I can control, and one of them is what I eat and what I serve my kids. Whether or not they eat the food is another issue, but at least I’m serving it.
So, when I see these QuikTrip billboards that read "Life's too short for oatmeal." with the photos of giant donuts and larger-than-life sticky buns, I realize that it’s an uphill battle.
The ads might as well read, “Eat sugary, fatty foods from QT. You’re going to die anyway, so why not from obesity-related diabetes.”
It reminds me of an experience I had several years ago while visiting some friends out of town. At breakfast one morning, my friend strapped his toddler daughter into her high chair and then placed a powdered donut in front of her. When she turned her nose up at it (smart girl!), he began to harp on her about eating a good breakfast.
Dude, since when is a powdered donut considered a “good breakfast”?
Donuts are not breakfast food! And, I’m not sure they’re really food at all. Yeah, they taste great, but unless you want to be napping by 10 a.m. as the result of a massive blood sugar collapse, it’s just not a healthy way to start your day.
Think about it. It’s starchy dough that’s deep fried and glazed in sugar. It’s like taking a French fry, rolling it in sugar, and feeding it to your kid.
Sorry to kill the sugar buzz, but, according to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. That’s nearly 1 in 5!
And it’s not only the food that’s important; it’s about the time we spend around the table as a family and starting our day off on a positive note. Of course many mornings we run out of the house just as scattered as the next family, but even a hard-boiled egg and some fruit is easy to serve up in a hurry.It really is less expensive to eat good food. A dozen eggs and a pound of fruit costs a lot less than a box of sugary cereal and a gallon of milk.
I am fortunate to have learned from a mom who served up a healthy hot breakfast every day – and there were eight of us kids! I’m not sure how she did it or how she remained sane, but she did. Maybe she kicked back and ate a donut after we all left the house.
All things in moderation. It doesn't hurt them to have an occasional donut, IMO, especially when they are young and can burn those calories off so much faster.Maggies, I'm with you. I may be more obsessive than most, but it's not like we never have sugar -- we have plenty. Treats are important in life!One Saturday out of the month we grab donuts at a local donut shop. Major treat for the kids, oh and adults too. Of course the rest of the day they are playing outside. Finally have dh on the healthy road.How about sticky-bun flavored oatmeal? Sugar is OK in moderation. There are people who eat like crap and are skinny, those are called skinny-fat. So, just because you are thin doesn't mean you are healthy. I myself like bananas for breakfast. My son likes granola bars and fruit snacks... sometimes he likes cinnamon rolls... or Chocolate Cheerios. QT actually has some healthy stuff, too. They have fresh fruit in there and some really great sub sammiches.Although I don't care for donuts, I understand their attraction, just don't pawn them off as "breakfast." Call them what they are -- a treat or dessert -- not a main course.Donuts are one of the few sugary foods I can turn down without even thinking about it. We had some friends in town a couple months ago and they wanted some specific KC-area donuts for breakfast one morning. Nobody felt good after eating them. Not that we felt sick...we just felt...blah. No energy. I would agree -- they're a treat, not a breakfast. But I don't mind giving my kids Cocoa Puffs for breakfast every now and then. But they have to eat a banana with them. :-)My daughter gets powdered-sugar donuts - the little ones in a pack of 8 - as a treat every now and again. We split them between three of us. She LOVES sweets but she also LOVES apples, berries, bananas, fruit leather, spinach, almonds and carrots. There are many times that her meals are a raw-food lover's dream. We're not always the healthiest house on the block but we encourage her to try good, fresh food and that is what she wants most often. We adults eat much the same but more complex foods, the little one is a purist. I think a lot pf parents will not give their kids something to try that they, themselves, do not like. I am not a fan of raw tomatoes (mine must be cooked) but my daughter loves them! Same is true with raw broccoli. I love it steamed but she will grab it from the supermarket bin and munch away. I also believe that many parents underestimate their kids capacity for liking a lot of things. How will you ever know what they like if you never let them try?Hurray! You are right on. I am considered obsessive, too, though I can tell you we have PLENTY of sugar "treats" too often. Our treats are almost daily at school. Doughnuts are a common birthday treat, along with ice cream for math club, Hostess cupcakes for the opening of the class library, Smarties and M&Ms for math, gum comparison for science... Then there's lunch: Mondays are white pancakes or french toast sticks with fake syrup. Yep. What makes me mad is I feel guilty having a treat at home since they had treats all day at school. Hard to have homemade cookies and milk waiting at home, ya know?
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