3 ms·

Everything you said it true, but why isn't it such a big percentage in other developed countries?

by grecy 6y ago

falcolas 6y ago
As pointed out by others, this is happening in other developed countries as well, it’s just lagging behind the US. Personally, I largely blame our learned culture of referencing “children in Africa”. Want to fuck up a child’s eating patterns for life? Force them to clean their plate.
- sheepdestroyer 6y ago
  Hu? I grew up in France and I have always cleaned my plate as my mother told me. In my familly, it's the polite and sensitive way to eat. Same expectation when visiting friends. Really few are overweight. Since I moved to Japan, I learned that here too food is treated with the same deference : "you shall not let a grain of rice left in your bowl" is basic table decency. Few overweigh people here either. Both France and Japan have their food recognized as UNESCO cultural world heritages. In both countries people LOVE to eat and hate to waste. Maybe people should treat their food and themselves with respect and only put on the plate what they should and can eat?
  - Arnt 6y ago
    Cleaning your plate when you decide how much to put on it is one thing, cleaning it when your parents decide is quite another and IMO harmful. I've told my children that they should usually clean their plate. Not always, because noone's perfect, but if they make a mistake often it's time to think about what they put on that plate.
- c0nducktr 6y ago
  My grandfather would say "take all you'd like, but eat all you take" which had a similar "plate clearing" idea, but was also more responsible (likely due to growing up during the great depression). The issue with the "children in africa" thing is that someone else is setting the portions for you, I think. Everywhere I go, meals are just too big! I feel silly only eating half of a meal, especially if I don't have the ability to save the rest for later. Portion sizes, like everything else in America, are just bigger.
  - RickJWagner 6y ago
    In this respect, Covid has been good for my family. We wanted to try to help local restaurants, so we get take-out food 2 or 3 times a week. Since we're not eating in the restaurant, all the food stays at the house-- we get lots of leftovers! I frequently tell the kids to order what they want, but eat all of it. (If not today, finish it tomorrow.)

Everything you said it true, but why isn't it such a big percentage in other developed countries?

by grecy 6y ago

Everything you said it true, but why isn't it such a big percentage in other developed countries?

As pointed out by others, this is happening in other developed countries as well, it’s just lagging behind the US. Personally, I largely blame our learned culture of referencing “children in Africa”. Want to fuck up a child’s eating patterns for life? Force them to clean their plate.

sheepdestroyer 6y ago
Hu? I grew up in France and I have always cleaned my plate as my mother told me. In my familly, it's the polite and sensitive way to eat. Same expectation when visiting friends. Really few are overweight. Since I moved to Japan, I learned that here too food is treated with the same deference : "you shall not let a grain of rice left in your bowl" is basic table decency. Few overweigh people here either. Both France and Japan have their food recognized as UNESCO cultural world heritages. In both countries people LOVE to eat and hate to waste. Maybe people should treat their food and themselves with respect and only put on the plate what they should and can eat?
- Arnt 6y ago
  Cleaning your plate when you decide how much to put on it is one thing, cleaning it when your parents decide is quite another and IMO harmful. I've told my children that they should usually clean their plate. Not always, because noone's perfect, but if they make a mistake often it's time to think about what they put on that plate.
c0nducktr 6y ago
My grandfather would say "take all you'd like, but eat all you take" which had a similar "plate clearing" idea, but was also more responsible (likely due to growing up during the great depression). The issue with the "children in africa" thing is that someone else is setting the portions for you, I think. Everywhere I go, meals are just too big! I feel silly only eating half of a meal, especially if I don't have the ability to save the rest for later. Portion sizes, like everything else in America, are just bigger.
- RickJWagner 6y ago
  In this respect, Covid has been good for my family. We wanted to try to help local restaurants, so we get take-out food 2 or 3 times a week. Since we're not eating in the restaurant, all the food stays at the house-- we get lots of leftovers! I frequently tell the kids to order what they want, but eat all of it. (If not today, finish it tomorrow.)