Students need to learn how to enjoy eating for health
Paul Stapleton says given the role our diet plays in preventing disease, there's good reason for schools to teach the basics of healthy eating
The World Health Organisation has just issued new guidelines recommending that our daily consumption of sugar be reduced to less than 10 per cent of total energy intake, or, even better, below 5 per cent. The latter amount is equivalent to about six teaspoons of sugar a day, just over half the amount found in a typical soft drink.
Few can argue with this advice, given the number of both local and international news reports about the increase in obesity and its associated diseases, such as diabetes. But how many will take notice of this advice and actually cut down their intake?
My guess is very few, and the reasons are multiple.
First and foremost, we Homo sapiens are hardwired to enjoy the sensation of sweetness on our tongues. When we taste sugar, a rush of hormones hits a pleasure spot in our brains urging us to take another bite or gulp. This enjoyment is entirely understandable. For the first 98 per cent of our species' existence, achieving a similar sugar rush often came only at the expense of dozens of bee stings. In other words, contrary to today's abundance, sweets were a rare treat. Plop a slice of cheesecake in front of us and our evolutionary urges take over.
So we are naturally attracted to anything sweet, but we also know enough to listen to health authorities and control our sugar urges. Some of us with good intentions may cut down on sugar in our coffee or tea, or switch to a substitute. But this is a bit like asking your waiter to hold the chocolate sauce on your ice cream. It misses the root of the problem.
The real problem starts in our schools where, for example, students learn in great detail about how to determine congruency in triangles or the inner workings of plant reproduction. Yet when it comes to knowing about what ingredients to avoid putting into their mouths, a fundamental of good health, the curriculum is largely silent. How many students or members of the public are aware that potatoes raise blood sugar levels more than table sugar? Or are students even shown how to read ingredients' labels and nutritional information on food packages?