Conversation Leaders

The conversation leaders selected the following questions and articles for consideration

Premise:

• Our man-made environment emphasizes and supports a form of consumerism of which obesity is an outcome.
• Food is manipulated to pique and gratify our natural desires for fat, sugar and salt - ultimately increasing our caloric consumption.
• Innumerable inventions, starting with the wheel, are designed to make our lives easier - ultimately reducing our caloric expenditures.
• Our entertainments are increasingly tied to both increased caloric consumption and decreased physical activity, potentially decreasing deep social engagement and the practice of sustained attention.
  

Questions:
1)  As a society and as parents, how can we help our children attend to important aspects of life which are not fostered by any commercial interest?  

• Greenhour
• Turnoff Week
• Needham Unplugged
• Family Game Night
• School gardens
• Chefs in schools
• Food marketing
• Menu labeling
• Protecting recess and PE 
• Media literacy training
• Regulating advertisements to kids

2)  How have agricultural policies including subsidies impacted our food choices?

• Today's Food System: How Healthy Is It? - Abstract from the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition

3) As parents and as a community, how do we demonstrate and teach ways to make wise choices regarding food, exercise and entertainment in an environment that often promotes less healthy choices?

• Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price - NY Times article