Commentary: It’s fast food galore at Jewel Changi Airport. Aren’t parents troubled by our kids’ junk food intake?
SINGAPORE: News of A&West opening at Gem Changi Airport have taken the nation past storm, or should I say by a flurry of curly fries and frothy root beer.
Those in my generation who yet vividly recall sipping root beer at one of the many A&Due west outlets littered across Singapore are understandably nostalgic. At that place was much comfort to be found in a glass of root beer float when one was mugging for the exams or dealing with regular teenage angst.
Advertisements by fast food joints ordinarily capitalise on like emotions.
They feature images of happy couples and families to tap our innate desire for dearest and connexion. Images of cute babies trigger a release of endorphins. Toys and ice cream draw the hearts and minds of young children.
With health-consciousness on the rise, such advertising typically besides feature fresh, crisp greens to sell the idea that their products are healthy and wholesome.
Although most of us try to curb the consumption of fast food in our daily diet, sometimes convenience and hearing our children's shouts of hurray tear downward the defences of fifty-fifty the best of us.
Around 44 per cent of Singaporeans eat fast food one to three times per week in 2018, according to Statista. A similar percent (39 per cent) consumes it less than once a week.
At that place were 477 fast food outlets in Singapore in 2016, generating operating receipts of over South$1 billion, according to Singstat.
It'due south not surprising that fast nutrient ranks quite highly on the Singaporean agenda, given our busy lifestyles and the proliferation of fast-food outlets.
Plus, the unbearable heat of some afternoons make it extra tempting to duck into the commencement joint you tin notice, just to hide from the heat.
But should we exist allowing these things to sway us from our resolve to eat healthily as a family unit, and more chiefly inculcate good food habits in our young?
HOW BAD IS FAST Nutrient?
Enquire anyone and they'd tell you that fast nutrient isn't the all-time kind of nutrient to include in your diet. But exactly why is it and so bad?
The term "fast nutrient" more often than not refers to foods that are rich in energy (read: calories) simply low in important nutrients.
They are typically processed and high in fat, sodium and saccharide. A nutrition that features fast food regularly is associated with increased body mass index and obesity, forth with related health issues like hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Only hasn't fast food changed its ways to keep up with the times?
In recent years, to run across the ascension in demand for healthy nutrient options, fast nutrient giant McDonald'south has rolled out new carte items such as salads and wraps, revealed caloric counts of its foods, and included apple tree slices and corn cups in kids' happy meals.
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Could these multi-national companies aggrandize their menu multifariousness even more and make changes to their food sourcing and preparation, such as limiting the corporeality of salt they sprinkle over French fries?
This is what a contempo Forbes story suggested while highlighting the financial-moral conundrum that surrounds the global fast nutrient industry: It provides jobs for locals, but also contributes to a rise in obesity levels in the country.
One solution put forward is to "slow downwardly" the sector by using more local produce and expanding the availability of healthy and affordable options.
However, a recent study funded by the United states Department of Agriculture shows the industry seems to accept headed the other direction. It constitute the portion size and calorie content offered by nearly American popular fast food restaurants have increased over the by three decades.
The calorie count of mains has increased by 90, while the portion size grew by 39 grams, another research in the Periodical of the U.s. University of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Can we really imagine a world where fast nutrient is more than sustainable for life, and for growing children?
THE TYRANNY OF CONVENIENCE
Information technology'due south difficult to deny – fast food is an attractive option for busy families, fifty-fifty when almost of us regular joes do our all-time to put healthy nutrient on the table for the most office of the calendar week.
It is an easy win because of the taste, affordability, speed, and convenience (it tin fifty-fifty be delivered to your doorstep).
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For some families where parents have to work extended or odd hours to put food on the table, information technology's almost incommunicable to whip up a wholesome home-cooked repast in less than 30 minutes.
In such situations, instant noodles or a ham and cheese sandwich could likely be a daily thing. How can children from lower-income families get the nutrition they need in order to role well in school?
Nosotros all know that nutritious nutrient is essential for the healthy development of a kid. With the right conditions and resources, nosotros would endeavour to feed our children the well-nigh nutrient-dense foods we can provide.
Still in our fourth dimension-stretched and stressful realities, it is easier said than done.
Wendell Steavenson, in a Financial Times article, puts information technology succinctly: "…the rise of fast-food, vending machines, takeaways and online delivery services all encourage a food civilization of abiding, instant gratification."
Although I try my best non to make fast food a regular characteristic in our diet, there is a small part of me that holds addicted memories of dining out at McDonald'southward when I was immature. A hotcakes happy repast would make my Sabbatum complete, in my young mind.
As a family, nosotros exercise eat fast food on occasions, even though I spend a fair corporeality of that fourth dimension lecturing the kids nigh how unhealthy fries and nuggets are – all while being aware of how hypocritical it sounds since I'yard also earthworks in.
We limit their intake of store-bought juices to two to 3 times a week. And we don't allow soft drinks at all, citing the convenient excuse that information technology is not simply high in sugar only it also causes bloatedness.
Be AWARE OF WHAT Nosotros EAT
So nigh of united states have this love-hate human relationship with fast food but it isn't the but thing that irks the states. Because of the long hours children spend in school, we're likewise expected to pack healthy snacks for them daily.
Snack planning tin can exist a stressful affair. Apart from a scattering of healthier options like nuts or whole-wheat buns, I fret over what to provide that would be palatable and unspoilt by noon the next twenty-four hours.
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Possibly the trouble lies not only in how readily available fast nutrient is, but likewise how hard it is to find wholesome foods on the go.
Good for you eating is a daily dilemma, and at the moment it appears that no one is winning.
Fifty-fifty for families who eat clean and healthy, in that location are areas where we are willing to settle for less.
But every bit a wise friend in one case said, we should aim to eat well 70 per cent of the time, and allow some wriggle room for indulgences.
Now with the opening of Jewel Changi Airport, the indulgence of the moment might just be an icy glass of root beer float, or maybe a juicy burger at Milk shake Shack.
And while there's nil incorrect with rewarding ourselves, let's be more than enlightened of how fast or slow our daily diet is – and aim to dial back on the frenetic footstep of life and food.
June Yong is a female parent of three, an educational therapist and owner of Mama Wear Papa Shirt, a weblog that discusses parenting and instruction in Singapore.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/commentary-its-fast-food-galore-jewel-changi-airport-arent-parents-troubled-our-kids-junk-food-intake-292916
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