Sacring kids with food

You know, when I was younger, I was afraid of the dark closet, or what might be under my bed at night. I was never afraid of what I ate. I guess those kinds of things change in a generation. Here's an article by the Herald Tribune: What's eating our kids? Fears about 'bad' foods. From the article:

SODIUM: that's what worries Greye Dunn. He thinks about calories, too, and whether he's getting enough vitamins. But it's the sodium that really scares him.

"Sodium makes your heart beat faster, so it can create something really serious," said Greye, who is 8 years old and lives in Mays Landing, New Jersey.

Greye's mother, Beth Dunn, the president of a multimedia company, is proud of her son's nutritional awareness and encourages it by serving organic food and helping Greye read labels on cereal boxes and cans.

"He wants to be healthy," she says.

New Jersey? Here I thought this would have happened in England or Australia. Apparently, it's tight here in the good 'ol US of A. The poor kid in the story is only 8. My oldest son is 8, and I can tell you right now that he has never heard of "sodium." Or trans-fats. Or cholesterol. And he's a darned healthy boy too. And an organic diet? Eating food grown in manure? Thanks but no thanks. "Organic" is just a label and companies that advertise themselves as such do the bare minimum of what a bureaucracy tells them they have to do to put that label on. Again, thanks, but no thanks. The article continues:

Dunn is among the legions of parents who are vigilant about their children's consumption of sugar, processed foods and trans fats. Many try to stick to an organic diet. In general, their concern does not stem from a fear of obesity — although that may figure into the equation — but from a desire to protect their families from conditions like hyperactivity, diabetes and heart disease, which they believe can be avoided, or at least managed, by careful eating.

Now look - I don't let my kids eat whatever they want whenever they want. The kitchen in our house, as well as the fridge, is stocked with plenty of fruits and veggies, in addition to meat and dairy. I make sure the kids get their protein and fats, plus carbs so that they can grow to their potential. What I don't do is scare the pulp fiction out of my kids about sodium or trans-fat boogeymen hiding in everything they eat. That's what I'm against.

Public schools are not helping in this regard, listing some food as good, other as bad, without understanding what the heck they're talking about. Bureaucracies are even worse. Parents: let your kids enjoy their childhood while they still have it!