I only have an antennae for my television set. I know, I know, what
does this have to do with what this blog is about? I promise, just like
Matlock, I will get to the point. Eventually. Anyway, there are so
many issues that we are facing as individuals, families, communities,
peoples, societies, etc. Childhood obesity. Education. Poverty.
Health issues related to each of these issues. Most of them overlap,
and there is no good or easy fix, and it’s going to take some time.
So, anyway. I chose to cancel my television subscription from the
bundled package, not just for budget issues, but, also that it is easy
to be able to sit and watch a show, or to have it on using electricity,
when it gets tuned out from our concentration. Plus, my son and I have
this condition called a 16p11.2 microdeletion. Without going into full
detail, there is a minuscule bit of information that is missing from 1
of the 16th chromosomes. Aside from a spectrum of possible learning
disabilities, the physical symptoms include increased appetite, and
decreased metabolism. Yes, I know that some metabolic studies found
that “slow” metabolism wasn’t significantly lower than “fast”
metabolism. Ours is slow even compared to those whose metabolism is
slow, because of the chromosome issue.
For more information, please visit here:
So, yes. Part of the reason why I cancelled the television service, is
to have more time to get active, so we can try to be as healthy as
possible. Those of us affected may still end up overweight even if we
ate the perfect combination of foods in the perfect portion sizes. Even
with the exercise, some of us still may end up on the bigger end of
normal. Losing weight will be more difficult, and we may end up losing
half of the weight with twice the effort. But, that isn’t an excuse to
not try. Trying is the journey, to help keep life interesting.
That leads me to the childhood obesity topic... It is true, that with
the convenience of prepackaged foods, that actual cooking is a dying
art. Open a can of that, stir in a packet of that, whip in a container
of some other thing. Then there is the highly processed stuff that is
very low on nutrition, and high in sugars, fats, and artificial
flavorings, none of which are good for you. So you get told to take the
kid to the nutritionist or dietician. That person wants you to feed
your kid whole wheat pasta, ultra grain bread, fresh or frozen green
veggies, none of which your kids know about, cut the hotdogs, no more
mac n cheese, eat fresh fruit - not fruit snacks nor canned fruit. All
the cereals like Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Cocoa Puffs, etc... Off
the menu... Now you’re being told to use spices that you don’t even
know what it is...
Thing is, poverty plays a huge role in not having the proper diet. It’s
not just trading a family bag of Doritos for a 3lb bag of apples. That
is the easy part. Go into the bread isle. Look for the store brand. A
huge loaf of bread, which comes in white or barely wheat. It’s
probably right around $1.25 for a long loaf of bread. Now go to the
healthy section of the bread display. A loaf that is half of the size
costs $4.49. If you have even 2 teenagers, you know that half loaf is
only going to last 1 day, if you’re lucky. It may only cover breakfast
and lunch. To make it through the week, you’d need to buy 10 loaves of
this bread at $4.49/each, and there goes $44.90 just on this multigrain
healthy bread. On the other hand, the store brand will let you get 5
loaves for a total of $12.50, and have enough money left to buy 4
gallons of milk AND still be able to buy a couple dozen eggs to add
protein to the meal.
Now, go to the pasta isle. Do the same search on the pasta. Store
brand pasta will cost about 1/3 as much as the whole wheat, not to
mention the store brand will be a full pound (16 ounces), and the whole
wheat is only 3/4 pound (12 oz). Here is where you will have to take a
pad of paper and a writing utensil, and for the comparison, you will
need to go to the produce section to look at how much green beans,
asparagus, carrots, and spinach costs. Write down the prices for what
ever unit of weight. Now go to the canned vegetable section, and find
the same veggies and write those prices are. Finally, go to the frozen
vegetable section, and write down those prices. Compare the difference
in price. You will find that carrots are relatively inexpensive, while
the prices will vary widely in other ones.
See the problem? The least healthy foods cost the least amount. On top
of which, many kids in the inner city don’t know or understand where
their food comes from. Having a horticulture program would immensely
help, and kids are naturally inquisitive, and will want to cook with the
foods they grow in the school or community gardens. But, the funds can
add up, and it has to come from somewhere. Why spend money on
something like this? It’s not only good education because it teaches
kids about real life from where/how food grows, how to cook, and be
healthy, but, just as importantly, if not more, it will save the future
of health care. You think health care costs so much now, with the
Affordable Health Care, which has had both sides of the isle pulling,
pushing, biting into, stepping on, and making a huge mess out of it?
Just think about how much more expensive, when today’s overweight kids
start having heart, lung, and joint problems due to the excess weight
since childhood? Another reason why our health care is so expensive,
aside from CEOs, attorneys, politicians and accountants deciding the
bottom line in both the care facilities and the insurance companies, we
have such a fragmented system it is not funny! Medicare is a single
payer program. Medicaid is prostituted out to various HMO’s whose
premiums are higher than if the “State” acted as its own HMO. Then
there are many types of employer based programs, and even within
individual HMOs, there are so many different categories and
subcategories of plans, you need to be a PhD in Law, Accounting, and
math to figure this stuff out, and how much in deductibles vs. premiums
vs. copays that are supposed to be paid, and we wonder why health care
costs so much? Then there is the thing of having supplemental
insurance... Because Medicare pays for this but not for that. Regular
insurance will pay for that but not these other things. The supplement
will pay for that, but not those other things. So now you wonder who is
supposed to pay, and how much is supposed to be your responsibility.
Maybe, if we eliminated the red tape, we could all save a bunch of
money, that could go toward education.
When I was in elementary school, we had the 4-4-3-2. 4 breads, 4 fruits
and vegetables, 3 milks, and 2 meats. That was it. The 4-4-3-2 method
of nutrition. That was in the late 70’s - early 80’s. What about
sugar? What about fats? It wasn’t mentioned, so they hoped we wouldn’t
eat too much sugar or fat, by not talking about it. Guess what? It
didn’t work. Gee... (sarcasm intended).
In the mid 2000’s, my son was in kindergarten, and even into 1st and 2nd
grade, it was Pyramid Pete. The base of the pyramid, which is
obviously the biggest, was the grain section. Above that, the next tier
not as big, was not quite half and half, was the veggie section and
fruit section. Above that, in a smaller section, about in half and half
again, was the dairy section and protein section. The top tip, the
smallest tier was the “other”, meaning fats and sugars combined.
Sometime later, it was the My Plate plan, and then recommendations
generically based on ages of children. Thing is, when you go to the
dietician, it’s one of those things that you’re told how many carb
points to use, and fresh fruit should be 2 or 3 servings, but if you do
3, you have to take a bread count off, and veggies should be 3-5
servings, meaning 3-5 cups of fresh or 1.5-2.5 cups of cooked veggies.
Then depending on if you are a child, male or female, adult, height,
weight, pregnant/not pregnant, etc... you need 2-3 servings of dairy
product, but they don’t tell you that cheese is actually a protein, and
depending on what type of yogurt, it could fall into multiple
categories, and then women need less protein than men, etc..... You’re
supposed to eat so many calories a day, or your metabolism will give out
if you’re too low, or you gain if it’s too much, but then they tell you
that this food gives you 1 starch + 1 fruit + 1 protein, and by the end
of the day, you’re feeling like you need to eat 3 heads of lettuce and a
half an acres worth of broccoli to get what you need. ugh. Follow me,
here? That’s okay, I’m not sure if I 100% follow me, either. But,
poor people don’t eat as healthy as wealthier people, because of the
amount of money available for food.
Without proper nutrition, our kids cannot function in school. Your
brain needs protein to think, yes. But, your muscles and your brain
need sugar to give it energy to work, also. So, if you go on a low carb
diet, be careful at how low the complex & simple carbs take you.
Rid the table sugar, good. To stop eating fruit because it’s too much
sugar, not good. Whole grains like Old Fashioned Oatmeal, perfect.
With cinnamon, even more perfect! Highly refined cheap white bread, not
so good. A ton of meat, just because it’s white chicken or fish, well,
too much can make you fat. Not enough, you can’t think. Moderation.
Zen. Yin-Yang. Balance. Yes. It’s that important.
Speaking of schools... It seems as if it’s increasingly true that they
teach to the test. the kids don’t get taught to think so much. Little
thinking means lack of critical decision making skills to solve
problems, because not all problems come with an equation like A = square
root of B + C divided by 2. But because they want to be known as the
best or most successful school, they want the kids to pass the tests.
So, now, it isn’t about how well the kids can think or understand what
they are doing, teaching to the test basically means they regurgitate
the information for the purpose of the test to pass that test. We are
not doing our children any favors here. Not to mention, some students
test well, even if they don’t do well on assignments, and others can
hand in perfect assignments and not test well at all. Now, with the
Common Core, it seems as if this new math thing is at a whole new level
of weird mambo jumbo of *(*%$%Y%$#$^*O!! It is so stupid, I’m not sure
if I can understand that level of stupid. People who know me well know
what a HUGE pet peeve stupidity is. To me, it’s the worst kind of
disease. Mind you, I’m not talking about the normal “duh” moments we
all have at some point. But, when someone is on a rampage, I’m sorry,
you can’t have 24/7/365 worth of duhs, and not be stupid. Stupid does a
lot wrong. Stupid can make your car break down at the worst possible
time. Stupid can kill people. Stupid injures people. Stupid can get
your or someone else fired from a job, or maybe not hired in the first
place. Stupid wastes your time, when you have a million and billion
other things to do, that are more worthy of your time. Is this what we
want the world to become? If you say yes, you are stupid. If you say
no, be afraid. This is what will be taking care of us, who come just
under the boomers, when we are old and frail. Don’t wait until it gets
there. We need to do something NOW!
*sigh* Actually, *deep breath*. I will take a cafe mocha frappe. Hold
the whipped cream. I want to taste the coffee and the chocolate,
unadulterated. Sit and have your favorite blend of coffee with me. It
will be fun. We will save the planet together. And the best way to do
it? Stop. Abusing. Our. Children. I will fight you with everything
I’ve got on this. I have no money, and I have back problems. I am
willing to pay dearly. So dearly it costs me everything to protect our
children and their futures.
We tend to think that as women, or mothers, we are the ones who are
fierce about our children. Fathers are just as capable of being
protective and uplifting for our kids. Just because the relationship
between you, as parents, can’t work, don’t leave out the other parent.
Thing is, it seems as if the good moms/dads who have the physical
placements who encourage the interaction of the other parents with the
kids, the other parents end up being duds. On the other hand, the
dads/moms who don’t have the primary placement of their kids are the
good parents, the other one plays these stupid games with them. Go
figure. Our children need both parents. The bond that our daughters
forge with mothers show our girls how to be grown women and mothers when
it becomes that time. The same is said for our sons and fathers, to
know what it is supposed to be to be a man. Set that example. At the
same hand, the relationship mothers have with their sons can impact what
kind of wife they take on, and whether they are capable of being a good
companion, while being able to be a good companion, because of the good
bond with their mothers. Fathers are important, maybe even a little
bit more so, with their daughters. The way dads treat moms, and the
relationship with their daughters will teach her how to be a good young
woman, who won’t compromise herself on the account of her lifelong mate.
Her future husband will be chosen based on that relationship, so set
that bar, and set it high. Make that future king of your princess have a
tough act to follow, and HUGE shoes to fill. We wouldn’t want anything
less than that for our children, would we? No. Absolutely not.
As a graduate with a BA in International Relations, with a minor in
Political Science, with experience in US/Native American affairs (a
little, anyway), and an activist/advocate involved in the campaigns, I
also think that the best form of welfare? Give people jobs. Even if
the people are slightly over qualified, with more people in the
workforce, the cash flow increases, thus creating more jobs and
everything... Pay them, and they will come. And it WILL help. That is
for sure.
Until next time, peace out.
