My Pyramid (For Preschoolers)

Written by Greg

You know — this probably says something about our society. The USDA just rolled out a new site on MyPyramid.gov that is aimed at preschoolers. It targets children ages 2-5, and is titled, aptly – My Pyramid For Preschoolers. I’m sure the intent is for parents and caregivers to make use of the site. You can go browse around, and they provide a variety of tools to judge “normal” growth rates, meal suggestions, and even a site to with ideas for dealing with picky eaters. II have to say though — it bothers me that we’ve resorted to having such formalized information for our preschoolers. It seems as if the subject of food has gotten so complicated that even our youngest children need this information? Perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised by this, because there is certainly ample evidence to support the idea parents and caregivers don’t currently have the tools to help our children make good choices when it comes to what they eat. I started looking a little deeper, trying to understand why this site exists.

It seems that our government is mobilizing its resources to blunt the collective inability of caregivers to help our children grow up to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The following quote was taken from a study on school-based intervention programs:

Introduction of school-based prevention programmes is justified for a number of reasons: First, a large number of children can be monitored because most children attend school and much of their eating and exercise takes place in school. Second, we are able to influence children’s behaviour towards the desired aim of healthy living. Third, with intervention in school the peer group itself can be supportive and enhance motivation. Moreover the teachers can function as a role model and guide children’s behaviour.

School-based intervention. The implication is that parents aren’t getting the job done, and the government needs to take matters into its own hands. I don’t like that. Maybe the position is justified. In fact, based on the fact that obesity rates rose in 37 states over the last year, we probably need all the help we can get. With obesity in our country being so rampant that in 28 states, 1 in 4 adults is considered obese, I suppose government officials must figure that if we can’t manage to control our own weight, we don’t have much hope of saving our kids.

Does that sound too harsh? Probably so. Our government has taken it upon itself to save its citizens from themselves, in the form of public health initiatives. They’ve tackled a variety of public health concerns, many of which are justified. But my libertarian leanings just can’t square with what looks like a government decision to “intervene” with my kids over their eating habits. The trend just troubles me.