The Ontario Home Economics Association (OHEA) is pushing for
at least one mandatory food and nutrition course in Ontario schools, saying it
would improve public health.
The OHEA said approximately one-third of children in Ontario
are overweight or obese and increasing "food literacy" would
help more people understand nutrition labels, make meals at home, make the most
of their grocery budget and reduce waste.
"We think that all children need to have the basics of
nutrition and some cooking skills so that they know how to make food from
scratch and don’t reach out so often for fast food or prepared entrees or mixes
and other items that are so readily available in our stores," said
professional home economist Mary Carver.
"We can see the decline in health in Canadians in
general, particularly children, there’s a great rise in childhood obesity… a
rise in type 2 diabetes, a rise in high blood pressure and cardiac disease in
adults.
“All of these are lifestyle and diet-related issues and they
put a huge strain on our healthcare system," she says.
Carver said the current Ontario curriculum has 21 “family
studies” courses, seven new ones dealing with subjects such as food and
nutrition, food and health and food and culture added in 2013.
"A very small percentage of students across the
province actually get to benefit from this excellent curriculum," she
said.
The other 14 courses deal with child development, family
relationships, fashion design and other topics that used to fall under the
umbrella of Home Economics.
So, if they can't practice common sense, the Nanny State should pound it into their thick heads?
