Kids (or adults for that matter as well) who have eaten mainly or only processed foods have to have their palettes educated when it comes to fresh fruit and vegetables etc. Ten years ago my youngest daughter was at nursery school during a couple of year scheme of free fruit and veg for nurseries and P1 and 2. All three of my children have eaten a good amount of fruit and veg from early days and for Molly this was brilliant. She spent all 4 hours helping herself to all sorts of fruit and veg, but not in a pigging out sort of way. To some of this kids this was totally alien but as the year went on gradually got used to it and the waste at the end of the day got less and less. At about 3 months in my wife and I had a meeting with her named nursery teacher/worker. She criticised Molly for eating too much fruit and veg and accused her of being greedy. I nearly fell of my chair and was pretty well lost for words. To this day I am still stunned that a 30 stone, obese so called educator could accuse my daughter of being greedy. At no point was she depriving any other child of fruit or veg, she is a very slim and very active dancer, twirler, guide and tap dancer and still loves her fruit and veg. Her nursery teacher was the biggest hippocrite I have ever had this misfortune to meet. The fact that she was in a such role as an educator despairs me and a good look in a big mirror was long overdue.
For a project such as Jamie Oliver to go in and make radical changes to kids palettes was perhaps a touch over optimistic but you have to start somewhere. I would give him full marks for trying to make radical changes both here and in the States. Diet is a massively important subject and often brushed under the carpet by the PC brigade. I live next to my daughters former primary school and lots of kids walk past my door. At least 40 to 50% are overweight and something needs done about it sooner rather than later. Most of them are accompanied to school by their overweight parents. It is storing up massive problems for later life such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. There is a thread on this forum by an incredibly brave and honest member who has detailed his health problems over the last few years. I wouldnt wish that on anyone.
As a Ps Social workers in Dundee have started to take kids of parents who have ignored and dismissed all offers of help and assistance to morbidly obese parents with morbidly obese kids. They are killing their kids with food, its no different to any other form of neglect and abuse.
Sorry if anyone doesnt like my rant but as a former community educator I have rather strong views on this as obesity is in the main preventable.
Mike
