After attending the MomsRising Food Power conference in New York conference, I was inspired to create my very first infographic!
While researching numbers, I was shocked to find out that Hispanics have the highest childhood and adolescent obesity rate. I’m sure this is caused by our connection with food.
Growing up my familia had an unhealthy relationship with food. We used it as a reward, as a reason to gather, and were raised to disregard our body’s fullness signal. We were told we had to clean our plate, no matter how much food was piled on it. To not do so, was an insult to the chef and this had to be avoided at all costs. Not surprisingly, this seems to play over and over in many households.
Hopefully, these numbers will compel us to do more. They were definitely a wake-up call to me.
If you’re passionate about food and its effects on our bodies, join MomsRising.org, the online and on-the-ground grassroots organization with more than 1.1 million members. They welcome your posts and are currently hosting a blog carnival. They will promote blog posts with the below topics, via Facebook and Twitter to their estimated 3.5 million readers. Click for more info: Junk Free Schools Blog Carnival – Submit Your Post!
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I’m not surprised by these numbers but it’s still a “wow” moment. I’m there with you when it comes to the habits and the cultural norm of not insulting the chef. I still have people trying to “fatten” me up but at the same time, they talk about others who have a little weight on them. It’s like you can’t win.
This is a great cause and one that I look at more closely now that I have my girl. Thanks, Migdalia!
@Sili You are so right re: how our cultura tries to “fatten” others up. Yet, they thn turn around and complain when that same person adds a few pounds.
Great post Mig!
Not shocking at all—it’s all in the culture but we have to turn it around and make our lives healthier—beginning with our diet.
Thanks so much!
Eileen Carter-Campos recently posted..Which Form of Reading Do You Practice at Home?
Eileen It does begin with our food! So much of it is fried and/or has a high amount of sodium. It is extremely unhealthy and it gets passed down from generation to generation.
Much of it I blame on the food industry its self. Too much sugar is in everything: From cereal to “nutrition bars”. To market Pop Tarts for breakfast should just be a sin. I love them to, but they contain so much crap in them. If all one eats is processed foods, I get why the obesity problem is so high.
Alissa Apel recently posted..Happy Mother’s Day Today and Every Day!
Alissa Apel Yes, yes, yes! We’ve been discussing this in @MomsRising’ s #FoodFri chats. There is a ton of food marketed to children, in particular, that sets them up to fail. There must be some type of corporate responsibility in place to protect our most vulnerable, because Pop Tarts and sugary cereals are NOT the way to go. It sets them up to fail AND all that sugar makes it that much harder for them to pay attention in school.
Great information, thanks for sharing!
Great information, thanks for posting!