It’s like the giant elephant in the room that everyone knows about, some are trying to corral, and others are completely avoiding.
Since beginning work on an obesity slash chronic disease prevention grant, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about childhood obesity…and I have to say that there are no easy answers. One thing that most Americans could improve upon is consumption of vegetables.
This recent article by Jane Brody in the New York Times highlighted the fact that only 26% of Americans eat 3 or more vegetable servings per day. She called for responses to this problem.
Here are some things that I think play a key role:
- time: It takes time and effort to plan a vegetable-focused meal vs. purchasing a pre-made or prepackaged meal. At the end of the day, many Americans are simply too exhausted to put effort into cooking a batch of quinoa or making stuffed green peppers. We live in a society where instant gratification is the norm, and unfortunately, this translates into quick fixes for meals.
- education: Many Americans have no idea how to properly cook or otherwise prepare vegetables. Children are progressing into adulthood without learning valuable cooking skills, which makes preparation of vegetables pretty intimidating.
- accessibility/economic concerns: Many children receive 2/3 meals at school, but have you seen some of the food offerings lately? No wonder children are not excited about eating vegetables.
So what can we do? Considering all of these barriers, I think a national campaign to improve vegetable intake needs to be launched. It's a very tricky situation because many industries (beef, dairy, etc.) feel very threatened by the government encouraging Americans to focus on a plant-based diet (and also hold or are linked to key positions in the FDA and USDA). But, it's time we start focusing on what is best for Americans, healthwise.
School lunch programs should be an increased focus. Many studies are showing that obesity concerns begin in childhood, and this is prime time for us to be proactive. Something must be done to even out the distribution of funds between districts to equalize access of healthful food.
What are your thoughts on childhood slash adult obesity?
To me, it’s a very multifactoral issue that is not going to be solved overnight (and maybe not even in a decade). Not a very comforting thought, right?!
Unlike this quinoa corn chowder, which is so comforting and delicious that you will not be able to eat just one bowl {I dare ya}.
quinoa corn chowder {the savvy vegetarian)
- 3/4 cup quinoa
- 1-2 T olive oil
- 2 medium potatoes
- 16 oz pkg frozen corn kernels or 4 ears fresh corn
- 4 cups vegetarian soup stock or water
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1/2 lg re pepper, diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 thin slices fresh ginger, diced
- 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded & chopped
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaf
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- salt & pepper to taste
Soak the quinoa for at least 15 minutes. Rinse and drain. Heat olive oil on medium low heat in large Dutch oven or soup pot. Sauté garlic, ginger, celery, & jalapenos for 6 minutes. Add potatoes, green beans, and red pepper and sauté for 5 minutes. Add spices and soup stock, bring to a boil, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add fresh or frozen corn and cook 5-10 more minutes.
I know that this post is more of a long rant and involves large blocks of text, which I find super annoying when blog reading. But I’d love your feedback, especially as I’m writing a school nutrition program, I’d love to know what kind of school lunches are out there, and how you feel we can improve upon the nutrition status of Americans.
