Hunger
When I was younger, I had a friend that grew up in a home where if they were fed dinner one night a week, they were lucky. Their only meal daily was truly their school lunch which was paid for at a reduced price. There were times when she rarely ate her lunch because she was embarrassed to eat everything on her tray. I always tried to share some of my lunch with her but she wouldn't always take it. I also knew that she didn't try a lot of foods because she rarely ate. It was very sad. However, the good news is that today she manages a makeup counter and has a wonderful husband and two beautiful children. She does whatever she has to in order to ensure that her family is fed every meal everyday. :-)
The Gonzalez family in Honduras depend on seasonal work in order to provide food for their seven children. They are only able to eat twice a day and it is the same meal every time; beans and tortillas. Clearly tortillas do not provide the necessary nutrients that the children need to grow up healthy. They need better food and nutrition but unfortunately, they don't have the option right now. If only there were enough crops and animals to provide food for every part of every nation. I know that hunger exists but I do my best not to think about it because all it does is make me sad.
http://www.worldvision.org/news.nsf/news/honduras-hunger-200904-enews
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Nutrition in kids hits home with me every day. I may work with older children in an after school setting, but I have been around children my entire life. I have seen children that are underweight and I have seen children that are overweight. It hurts my heart when I see these children because I am positive that they are either not being fed enough or fed too much. However, I do also realize that some children just choose not to eat because they are either picky eaters or they are to interested in playing so they don't eat as much as they would normally.
I also hate when I see some of the food items that parents pack in their children's lunches. I am sorry but Oreos, Doritos, fruit snacks and a leftover piece of pizza do not constitute a great lunch for children. I am not the master at packing lunches, but what happened to a peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, an apple or banana, carrots or celery and a yogurt. I understand that no child wants all healthy stuff so I would throw in a small bag of chips or 2 cookies. That at least helps children as they grow to make better choices when eating out and while snacking at home.
Another aspect of nutrition among children that bothers me are the school lunches. A chocolate chip waffle with syrup does not cover all of the food groups. We, as a country, complain about child obesity, yet we do not provide nutritional lunches or enough physical activity because reading and writing are more important than the health of our children. You can't tell me that 20 mins a day of physical activity is that hard to incorporate into curriculum.
Nutrition around the world is always a debate because there are so many countries that are poor and do not have the resources that the United States does. However, many of the countries that are poorer economically, do have a very large amount of land that they can use to provide fruits and veggies throughout the country. However, the price of these crops doesn't always allow for families to afford the food that they need. Then where there seems to be enough money, people still eat poorly by eating junk, too little or too much.
Nutrition is always a hot topic for me because I do work with children everyday and I always cringe at what I see my children eating. I wish that I could pack their lunch or provide the school lunch for them because I am appalled at what constitutes a lunch these days. Nutrition isn't a part of the curriculum anymore either which doesn't help teach the children at least an iota of education regarding nutrition.
www.economist.com
I also hate when I see some of the food items that parents pack in their children's lunches. I am sorry but Oreos, Doritos, fruit snacks and a leftover piece of pizza do not constitute a great lunch for children. I am not the master at packing lunches, but what happened to a peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, an apple or banana, carrots or celery and a yogurt. I understand that no child wants all healthy stuff so I would throw in a small bag of chips or 2 cookies. That at least helps children as they grow to make better choices when eating out and while snacking at home.
Another aspect of nutrition among children that bothers me are the school lunches. A chocolate chip waffle with syrup does not cover all of the food groups. We, as a country, complain about child obesity, yet we do not provide nutritional lunches or enough physical activity because reading and writing are more important than the health of our children. You can't tell me that 20 mins a day of physical activity is that hard to incorporate into curriculum.
Nutrition around the world is always a debate because there are so many countries that are poor and do not have the resources that the United States does. However, many of the countries that are poorer economically, do have a very large amount of land that they can use to provide fruits and veggies throughout the country. However, the price of these crops doesn't always allow for families to afford the food that they need. Then where there seems to be enough money, people still eat poorly by eating junk, too little or too much.
Nutrition is always a hot topic for me because I do work with children everyday and I always cringe at what I see my children eating. I wish that I could pack their lunch or provide the school lunch for them because I am appalled at what constitutes a lunch these days. Nutrition isn't a part of the curriculum anymore either which doesn't help teach the children at least an iota of education regarding nutrition.
www.economist.com
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Birthing Around the World
I myself have never given birth. I have also never experienced the birth of a family member or someone close to me. However, I am pregnant and will be experiencing birth in February. We are so excited and cannot wait to meet our son!
In high school, I did do a career shadowing project with a labor and delivery nurse. I was able to experience the birth of a little boy. There was a woman in excruciating pain and she was throwing up and everything but once her son was out and she was holding him you could tell that the pain and the sickness were a distant memory for her. It was amazing to watch and I will never forget it.
In South Africa, women are horribly afraid of giving birth. They are expected to watch another woman give birth in order to face their fears. After birth, the mother is to be secluded to her hut until the bleeding stops and the placenta and cord is buried. It is said that the mother bites the cord and placenta is buried so that it is returned to mother earth. After that the mother waits for her child to urinate and pass a stool before the child is introduced to the village outside of the hut.
I learned that birthing in South Africa is something that I would not be interested in doing. However, I believe that if I was born and raised in South Africa, I wouldn't know any differently and would very easily participate in the birthing rituals performed there. I can't wait to give birth in a hospital with doctors to take care of me and the baby and be my support system if something goes wrong.
In high school, I did do a career shadowing project with a labor and delivery nurse. I was able to experience the birth of a little boy. There was a woman in excruciating pain and she was throwing up and everything but once her son was out and she was holding him you could tell that the pain and the sickness were a distant memory for her. It was amazing to watch and I will never forget it.
In South Africa, women are horribly afraid of giving birth. They are expected to watch another woman give birth in order to face their fears. After birth, the mother is to be secluded to her hut until the bleeding stops and the placenta and cord is buried. It is said that the mother bites the cord and placenta is buried so that it is returned to mother earth. After that the mother waits for her child to urinate and pass a stool before the child is introduced to the village outside of the hut.
I learned that birthing in South Africa is something that I would not be interested in doing. However, I believe that if I was born and raised in South Africa, I wouldn't know any differently and would very easily participate in the birthing rituals performed there. I can't wait to give birth in a hospital with doctors to take care of me and the baby and be my support system if something goes wrong.
Littlejohn, M. (2010-2013, November 2). Spiritual
Birth. Retrieved from Spiritual Birth: The Spiritual Art of Birth:
www.spiritualbirth.net
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