Mr. M & I are far from health food icons. However, from what we've seen, we do feed our children better than the average bear. We started young and idealistic. Our oldest thought whole grain graham crackers were cookies until he started preschool. Over the years, and with additional siblings, the standards have relaxed some from that day. Yet what I consider our biggest success isn't with my children anyway. It's with my husband.
When we were first married, Mr. M had borderline high blood pressure. His current numbers, even though he's in his 40's instead of his 20's is in the "safe" zone. So what changed?
It wasn't his exercise habits. If anything, he's less active now than ever. (Not something we're proud of, just a fact.)
No, what we've changed is a) what he eats and b) his stress levels. Leaving the fast food industry was the best thing we've ever done for my husband's health.
What the restaurant industry doesn't share is how it kills it's employees two ways. 1) Free/reduced priced food. 2) Overtaxing their bodies There are reasons those jobs pay well for the education they require.
One of the easiest ways to lower blood pressure is bring your sodium consumption down to a (more) reasonable level. Eliminating fast food does wonders for this. Working in fast food, odds are a person is eating there once or twice a day, because well...it's cheap or free and they aren't paid overly well. They're still jobs aimed at low education levels after all. Odds are, that person will eat less fat too after leaving. And just the grease in the air can't be a good thing IMHO.
The work is physically taxing too. I have pre-carpal tunnel from all my years cashiering in various fast foods. It's not documented as well as with office employees/retail but is probably at a higher prevalence. These peeps just can't afford to pay for the treatment, and it's hard to prove a single job liable, since most people in this industry change jobs fairly regularly. The constant availability expected of employees with more seniority probably has something to do with that. Part of why I quit my last job was because they refused to cut my hours. I still think Mr. M's hernia surgery was related to that work, but again, hard to prove...but he never went back...and has been much happier since. I too, broke down from the exhaustion and constant time on my feet. This work was not for the middle aged.
I've also spent a fair amount of time waiting tables. In general, the higher tier the restaurant, the better you were treated. There were also more healthy options available, more breaks with shorter/split shifts, and better money. While it still shares some of the hazards of fast food, it's easier to eschew them.
Yet even after all this, the kids love their biweekly fries. Hopefully that's the only fast food legacy we leave behind.
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