Modern day parents just get worse.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
Parents are failing at nutrition...sure. The system is geared for it.

I left the thread for a bit & thought about this before coming back. What kept coming back to me was the reduction/removal of home ec/nutrition classes from public schools. I was a fire hazard in mine, burned everything & DID set the stove on fire (they moved me to computer tech classes, had an aptitude for it anyway & was less of a hazard there) But I did still learn about the foods' nutritional properties, even if I couldn't cook them for ish. The home ec teacher also had a chemistry & biology degree, so she made it easy to understand why something most kids hated, like broccoli or spinach, was nutritionally important to the body -- she made a habit out of explaining why those components worked the way they did, and we learned quite a bit from her in more ways than just one (except I still can't cook, this is simply not something I have a knack for)

I think the lack of these classes now doesn't help at all. At the very least, a basic nutrition class focusing on the nutrients & chemical processes of eating would be a great science addition to schools & kids would have much more opportunity to understand why healthy foods are important -- being told "because I said so!" or "because it's good for you" doesn't really help... If kids don't understand the differences between fresh foods & junk foods, then how are they going to do it as adults? In this sense, I agree with you that it's a system geared for failure. You'll never have a grasp of what you don't understand.

a reply to: Nyiah

Its not even that (although bare bones skills can get you by in the kitchen, so it does help). But nutrition.

When I was in school we didn't learn anything about how carbs affected the body. Matter of fact, my entire life doctors have been telling us to eat more carbs and less fat. Because, you know...its a numbers game (more calories in fat than carbs, gram for gram).

Turns out this is even true. So we have 3 or 4 generations of people who have been advised by "authority" to eat in a manner that will decrease their overall wellness.

I don't think its a big mystery why diabetes, obesity, and heart problems have been on the rise for the last 100 years or so. The Food Pyramid is a good example.