“I grew up in Israel and think I understand why many Americans are obese,” another writes. “They become addicted to fatty food at school. The big corporations are subsidizing 45% fat cheeses and meats to be served in school meals. The intended consequence is that kids are getting addicted to such foods and continue to consume it all their life.
“When we moved to the U.S., my kids could not eat the school lunch and we prepared for them the food they were used to in sandwiches — for example, turkey or chicken breast with 1-3% fat. Their taste developed to like such foods. They are now lean and not mean.”
The 5: Ah that old chestnut ‘you are what you eat,’ eh? That concept was just another in a long line of brilliant ideas championed by the FDA that have proved to be a disaster for teaching children about eating well. It’s almost as fallacious as this one:
Eat like this, and your body will begin resembling the pyramid.
What’s worse, look at any packaged food and you’ll find high-fructose corn syrup among the top ingredients. People like to say Americans have contributed very little to the bounty of world cuisines. Au contraire! We invented high-fructose corn syrup. And it’s everywhere. And kiddies love the stuff.
Listen kiddies, if you sit around all day drinking coke and eating Nutter Butters while glued to your Nintendos… your ass is going to explode. It’s a fact. Eat a carrot. Go kick a ball around.