Qué comes tú?/What do you eat?
Abie Lane Qui–ones-Benítez
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Introduction
I would like to focus on how quality of consumption may be critical in my students’ understanding about food and responsibility. The eating habits of the children in the United States are alarming. As a nation that has access to the best resources and products in the globe we must improve on the patterns of consumption if we want to prevent food-related illnesses, especially among children. In a recent survey of children between the ages of 2-15 and their families were asked their consumption patterns of the following types of food: fruit, vegetables, sweet foods, and soft drinks. The results showed that most children consume sweet foods and soft drinks more often than they do fruits and vegetables (Department of Health, 1997). The alarming factor is that the lower the income the higher the consumption of sweets and soft drinks (Killen & Robinson, 2000). Immediately a question comes to mind: Is it that we consume less low-fat products at lower income families because prices or because of the desire to eat sweets? It is interesting to know that frequently low-fat products are priced higher and that a closer look may indicate that in fact sweet foods are not only delicious but they are cheaper (Willett, 2002). All this makes me think of the need to know more about eating habits and consequences. First we must agree on the fact that children’s eating habits are limited by what is available to them at home and at school. In addition, children’s lifestyles are very much influenced by the home environment and the school program. Furthermore, the American Dietetic Association calls for increased attention to the role that television may play in developing eating habits, especially those related to advertisement of unhealthy foods and the sedentary conditions related to television (Collins, 2002).
My focus in this unit and background information is on quality eating habits. Although both physical activity and quantities consumed are an important part of a healthy development, I have chosen to focus on how to make healthy decisions about food. I must look at the possibilities of providing children with the information necessary to make choices on what they eat and in addition to help them know what personal and environmental responsibilities we have as consumers. Thus, my concern is that we must start by teaching them how food can be altered and managed for more nutritious and healthy consumption.
