If someone were to look at your eating habits throughout the week, what would they find? Are you the one who religiously stops at Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks in the morning for your caffeine fix? Do you pack your lunch or eat out each day? Is eating out still considered a treat for you or is eating in a rarity?
For many Americans the hectic pace of life has led them to eat the majority of their meals away from home. Despite the numerous television shows that captivate our attention from Top Chef and Iron Chef to The Food Network, many individuals have no clue how to cook and have to rely on convenience foods for their meals. This can wreak havoc on our waistlines. A recent editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association proposed how to address this on the pediatric level with the reemergence of Home Economics. Most kids probably have no idea what “Home Ec” is, but the thinking is that having a revamped course that equips students with the know-how on cooking basics, calorie requirements, budgeting principles, food safety and nutrition, will lead to the development of life skills that will help to reverse obesity and the diet-related diseases that are becoming more prominent in this population (1).
Let us know your thoughts. Do you think bringing back Home Economics would make a difference with the eating habits of the current youth?
1) Lichtenstein AH, DS Ludwig. Bring Back Home Economics Education. JAMA. 2010;303(18):1857-1858.
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I do think this would help. And it should now include “child care” too with all the kids becoming pregnant at such young ages and not having a clue how to raise a child. It should be a required course for both boys and girls. I loved my Home Ec classes!! Bring them back!!
Yes, bring them back, however it will take a long time for them to be taken seriously as too many years have passed and this generation of teens know nothing of meals sitting across the table from each other. Sadly, eating in the car on the run is what they know. Cooking used to be important to young women particularly, now it is a bother.