We Are Killing Our Kids

Tonight on BBC, "Panorama" will be featuring a program on childrens' health called appropriately "Spoilt Rotten".

This morning's BBC Breakfast featured 5-year old Kaitlyn who has just had 8 of her teeth extracted because of teeth decay. The reporter noted that tooth decay is the "ultimate preventable condition" which can be "entirely avoided with brushing and diet".

In Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool (the busiest of its kind in Europe) more than 200,000 kids are treated each year.

Nearly half the dental extractions performed each year are on kids under five!

Kaitlyn's rather sheepish mum noted that her child had a penchant for sweets and consumed over half a cup of tomato sauce (ketchup) every day. She vowed to make an effort to break this habit.

The report noted that mothers faced the challenge of making vegetables palatable without the use of ketchup ... and would need to make a concerted effort to ensure their kids consumed the "mushy" peas on their plates.

For readers unfamiliar about mushy peas ... these are essentially peas that have been cooked to death. The thinking is that they form part of the whole "5-a-day" thing, even though they are almost entirely devoid of any nutrients.

Okay, here's my take out:

Parents are quite clearly ignorant of what constitutes a healthy diet for kids. This is because of a number of reasons including, but not limited to:

- they themselves eat a shocking diet, perhaps because that's all they know or that's all they think they can afford. I say "think" because it comes down to a matter of priority. People who buy food because it's "cheap" also buy stuff they don't need because they can't imagine their lives without it.

- parents are unwilling to take responsibility for their own health, let alone that of their children. No surprise here in the garden of immediate gratification.

- the government with its team of medical experts, dieticians and nutritionists still thinks that cooked animal products (including pasteurized dairy) and cooked grains are part of a "healthy" diet.

- there is no leadership from anyone, in spite of the fact that so many little children are suffering. We just throw our hands up in the air ... but do absolutely nothing. When will we finally accept that what we are doing isn't working? When the NHS becomes completely overburdened?

For anyone out there who really doesn't know what to do and really wants to do what's right for their own children, here's some direction:

1. "5-a-day" is nowhere near adequate. Frozen, canned and cooked fruit and vegetables should not count towards it. You and your child needs to do the bulk of your grocery shopping in the fresh produce section or (even better) at your local farmers market.

2. If you think you don't have the time to prepare fresh fruit and vegetables and you are unwilling to pay a premium for organic produce then, with respect, your priorities are screwed up. If you genuinely can't afford organic produce, then how do you pay for all that other meaningless crap you don't really need. Rethink your priorities and get real. Does that drink down at the pub or that Easter egg really matter more than your own child's health and wellbeing?

3. You either pay the price for staying healthy, or you pay the price for losing your health. Rethink your priorities!

4. Accept that you and your children are addicted to cooked animal products and cheap processed "food". If you have no idea how you could possibly survive without consuming all that garbage, then you are addicted. Accept it ... and do something about it. Start eating more fresh fruit and vegetables and less fatty foods, refined treats and condiments. Don't cry the money blues if you have meat in your freezer, fizzy drinks in your fridge and bags of crisps in your cupboards. Just reframe your priorities!

Okay, I've probably alienated 90% of all mothers and 100% of all health care workers. That's not my intention. You guys matter! But in the cold light of day, please consider that we only ever want to hear what we already think is fact.

And your children matter every bit as much (most would argue, even more).

We need open minds and inspired leadership, not more medications to pick up the pieces of a broken system.

Simple is always best.

If someone really wants to know what to do, the information exists if you are willing to take everything you think you already know about healthy nutrition and healthy living, throw it out the window ... and start from scratch.

Good luck.

If I can help, I will.