Slimmer population due to mandatory home economics classes

[razz]

This is an idea that should be considered, don't you agree?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/what-s-the-secret-to-japan-s-slender-population-serious-eating-education-1.2894221

The Japanese population is taught diet and food preparation from Grades 5-12 and are aware of the importance of eating well resulting in a limited number of obese,
Since McDonald's inaugural golden arches were erected in Tokyo more than 40 years ago, fast food franchises have flourished, but Japanese waistlines haven't. It’s a trend government planners say is thanks to mandatory home economics classes.

Today, there are more than 3,000 McDonald's franchises in Japan. The public has also embraced other greasy chains, such as Wendy’s, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken. In fact, it's become an annual tradition for Japanese families to down a bucket of deep fried poultry on Christmas Day.

And while Japan's population is not as skinny as it was before the Big Mac came along, they're not as fat as us. More than 25 per cent of Canadians are obese, according to the latest statistics from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). About 3.6 per cent of Japanese adults are overweight.

Boys cooking
A boy's cooking club at Azabu High School, where home economics is mandatory. (Danielle Nerman/CBC)

"Obesity rates have been gradually decreasing since 2003 in children and teens," says Takuya Mitani, a health education planner with Japan’s Education Ministry. Mitani says the government was able to stabilize the problem through early recognition and an aggressive approach to food education in Japan’s public school system.

[rodeosweetheart]

I don't know; many of us grew up with mandatory home ec (I know I did) and it hasn't seemed to help matters.
I think there are hormones/changes/additives/poison in the food that are making us all obese, plus the sedentary screen lifestyle that so many of us have had to adopt with changes in the workplace.
I think the children used to be active 3-4 more hours in the day, have recess 3 times a day at school. So I think childhood obesity has more to do with inactivity, and older people obesity has more to do with what is in the food, and how our bodies react to the lifestyle and the food combo.

[lessisbest]

I'm certified to teach nutrition and food safety classes, and have been teaching them for decades to all ages - children to seniors and everyone in between. I've been asked by a City/County health official to teach parents of toddlers how to feed them properly, which means teaching the parents nutrition first, then the special needs of young children. I teach a food safety class at the senior center as well as classes for elderly men who are having to take over some of the food duties when their wives are no longer able to cope with the task, or men who have lost a spouse. We teach children foods and nutrition through fun books at the public library. What I've found is people who are interested will utilize the information, and those who don't care - won't. Unfortunately, most people wait until they have a disease or condition (usually caused by poor eating habits) before they take any interest.

There are health classes, Human Ecology (formerly Home Economics) classes in Middle School, 4-H does a lot in this area, free classes at the County Extension Office on the subject, free classes at the Public Library, free classes at the Food Bank, etc. If anything, there is more information now than ever.

I took the Master Food Volunteer training through the Kansas State University Research and Extension Office and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are teaching classes all over the State.

[kib]

Being taught diet and food preparation for 8 years is a lot different than learning to bake Snickerdoodles and sew an apron in a semester or two, what I basically remember of my home ec education. I often wonder what our population would be like if we were taught fiscal basics, sound nutrition, food preparation and a handful of other useful life skills as an ongoing and large part of childhood education. Preparing us for how to live, as opposed to (or at least in addition to) how to make a living. For some reason, the practical advice given past the third grade, when we learned how to balance a checkbook, always seemed like it was just another school subject that had nothing to do with real life, sort of like trigonometry.

[kimberlyf0]

Having traveled to Japan we found that even among those who could afford cars it was uncommon to drive them all the time; many roads had tolls and driving a car is very expensive. People were walking to and from train stations and also to the small markets dotting their neighborhoods. Food portions were small, and for the most part food was low in fat and high in vegetables. Soda, where available, wasn't sold in 32 oz. cups and didn't have free refills.

Children aren't the only ones who are less active now; adults have more sedentary jobs and spend more time sitting at home, plus of course the car is king and most people drive even for errands that they could walk. It takes awareness and planning to get the necessary movement we need as humans. Today I plan to go to the post office, and I will walk the .3 miles to get there, and add in a few more stops to get in more lifestyle exercise. This same errand is one that my mother would have driven; that is the example I grew up with so I am forging a new way. DH just left for work on his bike, taking the dog to the groomer on the way (the .8 mile run will be good for her). My boys and I will walk to pick up the dog, and they will ride for an hour this afternoon, putting in 15- 20 miles. Late this evening DH and I walk and get at least 2 miles in. In the meantime I will spend time standing in the kitchen, doing the daily housework, and I make it a point to fold laundry while standing. The weather is nice so we'll spend 30 minutes or so outside cleaning up the porch and carport from the effects of recent rains.

It's easy to say that something in our food is making us obese, but I think it depends on our definition of food. To me, packaged food (other than the most basically canned food, such as beans, or frozen food, such as blanched unseasoned vegetables) isn't food, it is a food product. I agree that processed food contributes greatly to obesity in that it concentrates calories and has so much sugar and salt that it creates cravings and the inability to stop eating it. I know that I have a hard time stopping at one cookie! But to blame pesticides for obesity is probably making a leap that isn't fully supported scientifically. As for the hormones in animal products, even organic milk will have natural hormones in it; it's designed to grow baby calves very quickly. The issue may be more the sheer amounts of animal products that most modern North Americans eat on a daily basis.

I think that the classes in Japan teach not only knowledge about food and diet, but reinforce cultural expectations regarding food. Plus eating out in Japan was very expensive; teaching young adults to cook healthy food is likely to result in young adults who actually do cook. I know for me, 7th grade home ec was a joke; we learned to make Jello pudding, cherries jubilee, baked Alaska, and other such non-food.

[ToomuchStuff]

Several valid points have been made, and I wonder, how long is Japan's school year? If I remember hearing about it correctly (when arguments have been made to expand our school year), it is around 11 months.

[rodeosweetheart]

Now I am wondering about my home ec experiences. Now that I think about it, I recall no cooking whatsoever, just sewing and sex ed. Maybe that is why sewing has always seemed exciting to me. . .

[Dhiana]

It is much more than just home ec cooking classes here in Japan.

7-11 type convenience stores are everywhere here but they offer options that are 1000x healthier than convenience stores in the states! Instead of grabbing a bag of chips, cookies or candy bars, for the same price I can get a rice ball with a bit of salmon inside (or other Japanese favorite). I can get a whole meal of rice, fish, vegets and wee side of pickled vegets, for less than US$5. The clerk behind the counter will offer to heat it for me, too!

And don't forget about the amazing array of sushi options available at said convenience stores.

By whole meal I mean a reasonably sized portion of dinner, not a glutenous American sized dinner. Same for restaurants, where reasonably sized meals are served at restaurants and doggy bags are unheard of. It is not expensive to eat in Japan. It is expensive to eat the "Standard American Diet" in Japan.

The busiest restaurants in my area are the ¥100 sushi restaurants and is extremely popular with families. There is often a 45 minute + wait to get in.

Many of the Japanese households are like in the 50s where women are still housewives and the kids stay at home until married. Moms still pack the kids' lunches and still do a lot of home cooked meals. I don't think schools provide lunches if I recall. I don't have kids so I can't be sure.

There are millions of vending machines but 99% of them I encounter are drink machines, no snacks. The only food is sometimes a can of cream of corn soup to drink in the winter. Sodas are usually only about 20% of the drink options in vending machines. A huge variety of teas, coffees and fruit juices are available. No chip machines, no candy bar machines. At high tourist areas I'll see an ice cream machine or two. I almost never see anyone eating in public areas, such as while waiting for a train to arrive.

I'm sure the cooking classes help, but there is so many more little things that help keep waistlines smaller in this country. Not to mention all the walking one does.
Eating local rice, fruits and vegets is easy. Very high tariffs are placed on imported rice so I almost never see non-Japanese grown rice in the grocery stores. There have been a lot of food quality issues from food imported from China so many Japanese are unwilling to buy food products from China.
Saw shiitake mushrooms grown in China selling for about 30% less than Japanese grown ones. No one was buying them whereas the Japanese shiitake were sold out even at the much higher price.

I do believe that it would make a huge difference in what people eat if they know how to cook good foods. It would be nice if our schools could teach that to our kids.

[awakenedsoul]

I liked the article. I worked in Japan when I was in my early twenties. I remember that it cost $6.00 to buy one apple! I really missed the prices of California produce. The Japanese diet is so different than ours...I couldn't adjust and ate mostly Top Ramen. I supplemented it with this sweet bread that I bought in single serving packages at their equivalent of a 7/11.

When I was in Home Economics, I took sewing, childcare and development, and cooking. The teachers voted me Home Economics student of the year, even though I sucked at sewing on a machine. I've always loved the home. My mom taught me how to cook, and she is excellent. I babysat like crazy as a teen, and loved kids. Those courses were a lot of fun.

Our cooking class was basically all recipes with Bisquick. We made pancakes, waffles, applesauce muffins, etc...It did get me in the kitchen, practicing. I liked it. Now I make everything from scratch.

I think family habits have a lot to do with obesity. My parents were always in good shape. Meals are cooked at home, and they are sensible. My brothers and I were and are extremely active, and we are all lean. I weigh the same as I did in high school. If anything, I have to eat more food now. It's weird. High metabolism, I guess. I don't eat junk or fast food, though. I do have home baked treats, but in moderation.

I think your attitude and your emotions have a lot to do with obesity. It seems like deep seated pain to me. Many discouraged dieters come from abusive families. Depressed people often gain weight. Also, what you say and how you get along with others seems to affect the body as far as size, sickness, etc...

[Packy]

When I was a boy in jr high, half a century ago, we were often served pizza for the school hot lunches. What it was, was a thin crust, then a very thick layer of crumbled hamburger, which was very greasy, and then a layer of some kind of Ooeey-Gooey cheeeeese. That was it, except for some spices to make it smell good. No doubt, both were surplus commodities acquired and redistributed to public schools. That's about all, except that several of the interest groups on Facebook that I subscribe to, publish old photos of street scenes taken during the 1950's. They have drawn comments about how much thinner the general public was, even though having a large belly and smoking a big cigar was a sign of affluence and a lifestyle that required little physical exertion. At the same time, there was not nearly the same public awareness about fitness & the health risks of dietary excesses. See? Hope that helps you some.

[domestic goddess]

How do Japanese bottled teas stack up against American bottled teas? Here, they are a pretty poor product, considering that tea is such an inexpensive and easy drink to prepare from scratch. My family likes one in which tea is the fourth ingredient, after water, sugar and flavorings (this is plain sweet tea, without even lemon, so I'm not quite sure what the flavoring is). They mostly taste like sugar water to me, without any definitive tea taste. I guess I'm hoping that someone can actually make a bottled tea that tastes like tea!

[domestic goddess]

When I was in high school, my dad wouldn't let me take home ec. He wanted me to take all college prep classes. I used to think that I should have been better prepared to feed myself, etc., but having heard about the home ec courses as offered, I'm not sure they would have been helpful. But I had enough interest to get more involved in those things at a later age, and that interest has endured, even when I get exasperated and frustrated! I've backed off a bit from trying to do it all myself, and now dd is starting to cook, too. While I'm not sure I could ever eat convenience store sushi (I'm not actually sure I would eat sushi from anywhere), it really wouldn't be hard or expensive for convenience stores to offer better food options. But I guess they think healthier options wouldn't sell. I wonder if that is just supposition, or if that opinion is supported by trials at providing healthier foods and no one bought them? Packy, I used to love that hamburger pizza we had for lunch in school. It was one of the few remotely edible options we had in a sea of stinky, slimy canned spinach. Nobody ever ate that stuff, and I used to think that they served the spinach scraped off the lunch trays over and over until it got eaten or turned moldy, then they just opened another can. I honestly don't remember another vegetable, though I rarely bought my lunch, so maybe I just never noticed. It seemed that the cafeteria always smelled of cooked spinach. I guess I just really don't understand the frequent observations about children being sedentary, because my grandchildren and nieces and nephews certainly aren't! They are very involved in a variety of activities and are always on the move. The oldest is a cheerleader and has practice several times a week, and they cheer for various games several times a week, too. When cheer season is over, she likes to take gymnastics classes (which have replaced swimming classes, now that she is proficient) and other classes where she can be active. The middle girl isn't a cheerleader, but she takes gymnastics classes. They both play outdoors a lot and spend lots of time on the trampoline in the backyard. Even the toddler loves the trampoline; we have video of her bouncing on the trampoline before she was able to walk. It does seem to me that a lot of kids WANT to be active, but are discouraged by the adults around them as being too much work, or taking up too much time. Maybe instead of blaming the children we need to look at what is modeled for them by the adults in their lives. When dd, dsil and the oldest child first moved here, you never saw a child outdoors at all. Now there is more activity, though not the amount it was when I was a kid but, of course, those days are long gone. It seems that even when the parents send their kids to camp in the summers, it is to a camp with more sedentary experiences, like a computer camp. When I was a kid you went to what was called "conservation camp" where you learned a lot of outdoor, nature-type stuff, and had outdoor activities most of the day. We used to count our mosquito bites at the end of camp to see who had the most!

[ctg492]

Yes education from day one IMO would help. Continuing on through out the school years. How could it not make some lasting Impression. I too think the assorted things that are in food today have an impact, but not the entire population feels the results. Education in food health would cause people to be more aware of that topic too, so win win. Toss in recess, gym and perhaps a lifetime of better health awaits.

[Aqua Blue]

This thread got me thinking about my Home Ec classes 45 years ago. I vividly remember realizing it was all just advertising and it was the first time there had been advertising in school. English, Math, History etc didn't come with advertising, but brand name products were used in cooking. Those products were donated by the manufacture and a big deal was made about that donation. I even remember watching a couple of film strips about the superiority of their product. I also remember it not being about actually cooking from scratch, but more about convenience foods.


That was 40 years ago and I can only imagine it has gotten worse. I wonder if the Japanese home ec classes were like that.

[Dhiana]

How do Japanese bottled teas stack up against American bottled teas? Here, they are a pretty poor product, considering that tea is such an inexpensive and easy drink to prepare from scratch. My family likes one in which tea is the fourth ingredient, after water, sugar and flavorings (this is plain sweet tea, without even lemon, so I'm not quite sure what the flavoring is). They mostly taste like sugar water to me, without any definitive tea taste. I guess I'm hoping that someone can actually make a bottled tea that tastes like tea!

Most teas offered are unsweetened. Varieties often offered are Jasmine, Oolong, and a couple different Green Teas. It is only in the last couple of years that I have started to see Lipton's sweetened tea and so far only around busier tourist areas and the big cities.

[Dhiana]

I remember that it cost $6.00 to buy one apple!

Thankfully things have changed and I can get big, juicy Fuji Apple for ¥100.

[Teacher Terry]

WE rarely cooked anything in home ec when I took it. Mostly learning how to set a table etc. Only cooked a few things all semester. We had to draw pics of the inside of kitchen cabinets & place the dishes. Stupid!

[ToomuchStuff]

I don't remember cooking at all. Sewing yes (and I haven't been able to sew in years, don't use it/lose it). The flip side was industrial arts and I still use things like metal working and using tools.
I remember my sister making a few things (pancakes and cookies, because it was some homework). It makes me wonder if there was some liability issues, like there are that have driven away the industrial arts classes. (burns, poisoning, insurance liability, etc)

[nswef]

I remember wanting to do metal shop in ninth grade instead of home-ec. I wasn't allowed. So I took art. I did not want to take sewing, I knew how to sew, I knew how to cook and I knew how to take care of children, but I didn't know how to work with metal or wood. So in art I made a silver ring and a plaster sculpture, nothing out of wood, though.

[awakenedsoul]

Thankfully things have changed and I can get big, juicy Fuji Apple for ¥100.

Oh, glad to hear it. Is that about $1.00 per apple?