I often tell my children the story of Pinocchio who, as we all know, was lured to Pleasure Island by taunts of boys saying "Come with us. We know a wonderful place filled with giant cakes, pretty candies..."
As we know, those "giant cakes, pretty candies" were just a facade and, behind it, was a gruesomely ugly land where bad boys turned into donkeys.
The boys who taunted Pinocchio are today's food companies who are convincing us, the consumer, and our children, that the sugar coated, processed foods they're selling to us are good for us and our families and will even help us to lose weight.
Of course I don't want to make food an issue with my children because we know where that can lead, but I do want them to understand the difference between "strong" and "weak" foods. I believe it is fundamental to give them this base of a healthy relationship to food at an early age so that they'll keep coming back to it in later years.
I also know how extremely important it is for us, as their parents, to act as role models to them. That includes showing them that once in awhile, it's OK to eat a "weak" food, but that over all, we eat "strong" foods so that we can do well in school, in sports and in friendships.
As their parents, think about how much processed foods you're eating. Why is it OK for you to eat these "weak" foods? What can you be eating instead?
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