Turning
the tide on diabetes will require the next generation to establish healthy
habits early on.
When it comes to solving big problems, I believe in reaching for
the low-hanging fruit first. What’s the easy stuff we can get out of the way
before working on harder challenges?
Right now, many of us can go for the low hanging-fruit in a very
literal way: by visiting an apple orchard.
In the 1980s, Americans faced a 20 percent lifetime risk of
getting diabetes. Today we’ve got a 40 percent chance
of coming down with that disease.
You know that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” saying?
Well, it turns out there’ssome truth to it. Women who eat at least one apple a day are
28 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
What apples have over other foods this time of year is this:
They’re delicious, in season, and fun to pick. Especially if you’ve got kids.
When it comes to getting kids to eat fruits and vegetables,
apple picking is the ultimate low-hanging fruit. Coaxing a child to eat
broccoli and asparagus might be a challenge, but an apple she picked herself?
That’s an easy sell.
My philosophy on kids and healthy food is that we grownups need
to make the healthy stuff more fun than a Happy Meal. Sure, you can get a cheap
plastic toy to play with for five minutes along with that fast food. But how
about spending a day with your family in an apple orchard? It’s even better if
they’ve got hayrides or a petting zoo.
An unplugged day outdoors with your family in the crisp, clean
autumn air creates memories that last a lifetime. Apples fresh off the tree
have a special taste, one I find hard to describe, but I know when I taste it.
Some of my earliest memories are of apple picking with my parents when I was a
young child. That taste of a just-picked apple takes me right back.
One day of apple eating is insignificant compared to the amount
of food one eats throughout the rest of the year. But for kids it can also help
shape their lifetime eating habits.
Get your kids excited about apples by trying different varieties
to find their favorite one. Gorging on ripe fruit you picked together in an
orchard will make a lasting impact.
After you haul your bounty home, you can try using your apples
that you picked in different dishes (I like them in salads) and get your kids
to help with the cooking.
When looking for a snack, a fruit might sometimes seem like a
boring choice compared to all of the processed foods marketed to kids. But
those apples they picked? Those are pretty exciting.
Spreading peanut butter on apple slices or pairing them with
cheese and crackers can often suffice for a small meal.
Apple picking helps hook kids on snacking on fruit instead of
processed foods. It can do that for grownups too.
OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is the author of Recipe for
America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It.
OtherWords.org