It was probably a secret plot to get out of doing housework. A few months ago, my husband and daughter were unloading the dishwasher
together. In their haste, they crashed into each other and dishes went flying through the air. In one quick moment, they destroyed almost all the bowls we owned. No more soup, cereal, or ice cream.
So of course, we had to get more bowls. I looked everywhere to find something that went with the rest of the set, and finally ended up with
some bland looking bowls that were sort of the right color. They did look kindof big, but in my Martha Stewart world, they had to be matchy matchy enough.
We began going through cereal faster. And ice cream. Finally I measured the capacity of the bowls—3 ¾ cups. Really! Who needs portions that
big? How did our society develop such oversize ideas about portion size? No wonder we are turning into such big people. The thoughts about how do we curb this inexorable drive toward obesity began rolling on. How do we make a difference in our sphere of influence?
My right and left brain argue about Mayor Bloomberg’s (defeated) efforts to stop selling the supersize sodas in New York City. It’s
just such an unhealthy choice, which has large public health ramifications. But restricting freedom of choice….I don’t think having as much regular soda as you want is in the Bill of Rights, but there is something in there about the freedom to pursue happiness, however you might define that.
When my kids were in high school, I went to the principal, asking to have some of the junk food removed from the vending machines. (Yes I
was one of those kind of parents). They had many machines, filled with high sugar, high salt, high fat foods. He kindly told me that he didn’t agree--adolescence is a time to have increasing freedom of choice, and that it was practice for
the real world outside of school. If the students were conly offered good choices, it wouldn’t be much of a learning opportunity. Furthermore, they had tried having some higher quality nutritional choices in the vending machines, and you guessed it, they didn’t sell. Principal 1, Jolyn 0.
As diabetes educators, do you ever feel like you’re the lone voice, advocating for healthier lifestyles? Thank goodness we have a group of likeminded people we can meet with, and share our successes, and sometimes our failures. I look forward to meeting with you, and talking online.
And yes, my husband and daughter are banned from unloading the dishwasher, at least together. As for me, I’m going shopping for another
set of dishes, with smaller bowls.
Hope you and yours are having a great holiday season! Looking forward to seeing you on March 1, 2014!
Regards,
Jolyn Moeller, RN MSN CDE
Program Planner