Everything is consequential; good or bad, all the choices we make have repercussions, and that applies to diet as well. If we leave our kids at home alone with video games and frozen pizzas, they’re going to play video games and eat frozen pizza. So what are Americans waiting for? If everything in life has consequences (including that Egg McMuffin you ate on the way to work), then what are the repercussions of our poor-diet, sloth-like lifestyles? By removing physical educations from schools, making fast food a dietary staple and replacing the dining room table with a television, it’s no wonder an adult-related condition—type 2 diabetes—is showing up in school-aged children. Eating poorly and couching it all day leads to overweight children, which is just a hop, skip and jump away from diabetes.
Andrea Sachs, senior editor at Time magazine, hooked up with Howard Shapiro, D.O., author of “Eat & Beat Diabetes with Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program to Prevent and Control Diabetes,” co-written with chef Franklin Becker, for a few tips on obesity, diabetes and weight management. Shapiro offered some simple tips to nourishing our kids without jamming fruits and vegetables down their throat. He suggested swapping out chocolate-chip cookies for frozen yogurt, or shaving calories by eating a Popsicle instead of ice cream. He also promoting litter the kitchen counters and cupboards with fruits and vegetables, and if your kids still don’t eat the goodies, incorporate them into a meal the next day.
Baby steps are better than no steps; and since “everything is consequential”, those baby steps should pay off.