Brazil’s nutritional guidelines focuses on cooking healthy whole food meals at home. It also encourages their citizens to eat more natural and minimally processed foods. I love Brazil! They also urge their citizens to be critical of the misleading marketing practices of Big Food industries. On the other hand, the United States allow Big Food industries to dictate what the American citizen should be eating. It’s also shocking to learn precisely how food companies lobby officials, co-opt experts, and expand sales by marketing to children, members of minority groups, and people in developing countries. All the misleading scientific research on genetically modified foods, commercials, food pyramids, and those “Got Milk” ads by famous celebrities are all a BIG joke; which ultimately sends the wrong message.
I say we all should switch to the Brazilian food guideline and get healthy. Could you imagine the U. S. promoting eating home cooked whole foods at home? Unfortunately, I can’t! Nonetheless, It has been proven that eating meals as a family is linked with increased child and adolescent intake of fruit and vegetables and other healthy foods. Teaching children at a young impressionable age the importance of eating whole foods is vital for their future and generations to follow.
It starts at home. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. As parents we are responsible for teaching our children about healthy whole foods. A major part of the fast food education has always been in written form on advertisements, banners, brochures, and articles. Cutting back on television watching also will have a huge effect on their exposure. These misleading outlets have a major influence on children’s diet. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal is a book that examines the local and global influence of the United States fast food industry. I highly recommend reading it and the official nutritional guideline by the Brazilian government. I say, AWESOME JOB Brazil!
Suggested Readings/Credits
Brazil has the best nutritional guidelines in the world
The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food
Photo by: Yasuyoshi Chiba
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