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Apparently, the health risk that obesity poses for all Americans is such that our President is considering taxing sugar sweetened drinks and other drinks and foods that are high in calories but low in nutrition. Do we really need our food and drinks taxed out of our price range to force us to have better eating habits? I believe Americans can do a better job without the extra taxes now that we are more aware of the health risks and how these risks affect the cost of health care. As parents, grandparents, and care-givers, we have total control of what foods and drinks we serve our children.

As time began to move at warp speed and more mothers entered the job market, there has been less time for preparing the type of nutritional meals our parents and grandparents served us as we were growing up. With fast food chains on every corner, the temptation to pull in, order, pay, and be on our way is too great against the thought of going home to prepare a meal from scratch, serving, and cleaning a kitchen at nine o'clock on a week night. Often, we feel we must weigh a home-cooked meal against time spent with our spouses and children. The sad truth is parents are setting the stage for a lifetime of bad eating habits.

Many parents feel pressured to prepare a meal quickly for children complaining of hunger as soon as they step into the house. In most instances, the foods higher in empty calories are the quickest to prepare and serve; think hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, and veggies covered with cheese. Parents also give in too quickly to picky eaters. Most of us have heard more than a few parents talk about the foods their children refuse to eat. Vegetables must be served to children while they are young if parents hope for them to acquire a taste for them. Small children will refuse new vegetables as they are introduced into the diet, but parents should continue to offer these foods several times a week until the child has a chance to get use to them.

In many households in America, the parents do not serve fruits and vegetables because they do not eat them themselves. If parents eat few nutritional foods, they are not serving nutritional foods to their children, either. When children hear their parents telling others that they hate the taste of broccoli or speckled butter beans, or another food, the children decide they hate the taste of these foods before they have even tasted them for themselves. Parents are extremely influential in the eating habits of their children.

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