During an interview at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, childhood nutrition advocate Rachael Ray applauded the recent government bill that will regulate nutritional guidelines in school lunches, but says don't wait for a law to make a change, explaining:
"You don't have to wait for them to make a law, you can make changes in your own school by just going in there and telling them you care."
More importantly, the issue of childhood obesity may be better tackled at home with parents taking small steps to encourage healthy eating by starting with a conversation, not a lecture. Rachael advises:
"As long as you don't insult someone and start with a conversation instead of a lecture, it's really easy to find people who are willing to make small changes. Finger wagging turns everyone off."
Such great advice! Stop demanding that children eat their vegetables and start explaining why they should.
Rachael recalled her trip to Washington where she lobbied Congress to improve the nutritional value of school lunches by providing reimbursement to schools who followed federal nutritional guidelines.
She is pleasantly surprised that members of Congress listened to her advice, but criticized those who oppose the bill, saying:
"How could you criticize the idea of children playing in the sunshine and eating healthy food? I don't know any one person in my broad or tight circle that agrees with any of that."
She also responded to those worried about the new bill's impact on our countries heavy debt by pointing out that the obese children of today will be generating costly medical bills years into the future. She even calls their thought process "childish", saying:
"They can't see that debt yet, so they're not going to do anything about it, it doesn't exist. It's really childish, ironically."
Although Rachael has been a lifelong healthy eater, she hasn't always been keen on exercising. In fact, she didn't start running until she was 40, as she explains:
"When I started running, I felt like I wasted 20 years of my adult life. It makes such an emotional difference, and such a huge difference in your clarity of thought to vigorously exercise on a regular basis."
It totally does! See people, it's never too late to experience the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of a healthy lifestyle!
[Image via WENN.]
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