Blanket Statements

I really can't stand blanket statements and I find myself battling them all the time.

In health class the kids are all told that they should be drinking only 1% or 2% milk. They come home and breathlessly announce to me that they can't have whole milk anymore.

Well that's not true.

Jake has moved onto 2%, mostly because he is concentrating on his Hebrew studies and will not be doing any extra curricular sports until next summer. Nate and Max however need all the extra calories they can pack in.

Nate is a very active boy. He practically vibrates with energy. School days without recess are a very bad thing, he'll be literally bouncing off the walls. He doesn't eat very much and as a result he is extremely lean. The boy has minimal body fat. Whole milk is very much called for.

Max, courtesy of CF, has nutritional needs that run counter to most dietary advice. He needs to take in significantly more calories, 2,900 to 4,500 calories versus active teenage boys who require about 2800 calories. He also needs far more salt, especially during hot weather. I literally had a dietitian tell me that it would be great if Max could eat a half a stick of butter a day. So in a way MacDonalds is health food for Max.

I guess the good thing is that I'm teaching our children to think for themselves.