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The ABCs of Eating
The ABCs of Eating
The ABCs of Eating would be a great title for an education course
that addresses all of the food groups, the benefits and detriments of those groups and how to
ascertain what our individual needs are from each category.
That does not seem like such a difficult concept, but do you see
any class being taught that addresses those issues? No, and more than likely you will not.
Because our society does not feel like it is an issue that should be addressed by our
education system.
Let me put this proposition before you, however. Has there always
been an evident need to learn to drive? No, driving was not around until the turn of the
20th century.
Driving is included in the education system, and taught as a
matter of course each year. The need to be educated in the ability to drive is relatively
new, and is not one of the "old world" school topics, but it is included because a need
developed.
Education about our eating is a need that has developed over the
last 30 years, and has now reached epidemic portions. Advertisements about our eating choices
are driven by the need to make a profit.
The commercials our children are watching have nothing to do with
their real nutritional needs, or the foods that actually are good for them to consume. Here
is where the educational process should bridge the gap.
Just as our education system teaches our children how to count,
read, and write, they should teach them about their eating habits. We educate our children
because knowledge is power.
It provides them with the power they need to make good decisions,
acquire jobs, create new products and processes, and to live out their lives as they see fit.
Should not they also have a basic knowledge of how to utilize the food resources around
them?
Teaching and educating about the basics of the food groups, how
they work with your body, the metabolic process of digesting those foods, how the body uses
and stores energy, and how to keep all those processes working at optimal levels is as
important as understanding the algebraic theorems and how they apply to our ability to
perform mathematically.
Determining just where in the education realm that such a class
would fit is another matter.
Members of the educational system will probably tell you that it
simply is not a matter of concern for the school system, that it is an issue best addressed
at home.
But how can it be addressed at home, if the person at home has no
knowledge to impart? We do not just acquire the knowledge needed for intelligent food
consumption with the birth of our children.
The basic food groups and what foods fall into each category is a
topic lightly addressed during the health classes taught at our middle schools.
But what about the metabolic process of digesting those foods, the
interaction of the food, the nutrients, and our energy needs? Knowing how to differentiate
between what foods will provide both energy, nutrients, and good taste is a learned
knowledge.
Do you suppose children would continue to stuff something in their
mouth if we addressed the consumption of Twinkies in the same way we do dirt?
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