Dieting

Dieting. It’s one of those subjects you either love or hate to talk about. Me? I’m pretty indifferent as long as you’re one of those people who talks about it rationally. If you’re one of those 98 pound girls who want to loose five pounds, I say I want to tape you a chair and feed you a double cheeseburger from McDonald’s. Then I tell you to shut your face, because obviously you know you’re not fat. DUH! You have two perfectly good eyes and a mirror.

But the real subject I want to talk about is good, healthy dieting. You know, where you eat three balanced meals a day and exercise AT LEAST one or two times a week (three to four is better)? Yeah THAT kind of dieting! Or maybe we should call it “being healthy”?! As Americans, we are the unhealthiest country in the world in so many ways than one! We’ve got high schoolers (and even MIDDLE schoolers) who starve themselves and throw up ever calorie they consume! (What the HECK has the world come to?)

About a month ago, the gym I work at hired a nutritionist for people to meet with. As employees, my mom and I could meet with her for free, so we decided it couldn’t hurt any. She asked us how active we were and what types of things we ate and how many servings of each food groups we ate daily. Because I’m a teenager and active with dance and show choir four days a week, she told me that it’s pretty average for me to consume 2,000 calories a day. Then she gave me healthy snack ideas for home, because I already eat my fulfillment of unhealthy snacks at lunch (yay for Swiss Cake Rolls!) It was really eye-opening for me, because I really thought I did a good job of eating healthy, but she showed me how to take it to the next level. I was extremely happy I went because my family has a history of cancer, diabetes, and other heart-related problems.

Because of these obvious reasons, I think we should have programs like these at schools, because I really don’t think pre-teens and teenagers area aware of how many delicious and healthy choices are out there. I’m NOT saying that we can’t eat some unhealthy snacks (I love them just like the next guy) but teen obesity is a scary issue with Americans nowadays. I heard one in THREE kids under the age of 18 are obese. That is a CRAZY stastistic! I think it’s time for American schools to take charge. You can’t just change the lunch menu and what’s in the vending machine. Two meals kids eat a day are at home. We need to educate them on these topics now. Even starting with fifth graders! Start young, so they have the right ideas and have practice what they think is healthy and should be eaten daily. Even monitor what children are eating, and sit them down to talk to them one-on-one. It’s like drugs or drinking underage. It’s unhealthy and bad for people!

We just had three snow days in a row. I ate junk food the whole three days. Everyone’s guilty of it! You can eat unhealthy foods, as long as it’s not a huge percentage of your intake everyday. I think it’s time for schools to take an active part in making the younger generation of America healthier!