Why do we behave like a spoilt child when it comes to eating?
A spoilt child is characterized as someone who addresses all their wants, being too lenient (without any strong boundaries and rules), and pampering.
In most aspects of adult life, we behave as a responsible adult. When it comes to when we get up, general cleanliness, work ethic, daily routines, social interactions, we behave as a mature adult. We know the right from wrong, and have the mental discipline to do what is right, and stay away from wrong almost always.
However when it comes to eating food, we are exactly the opposite. When we go shopping, we walk around the middle aisles, and get attracted and tempted to any new flavors and colors. We get attracted to fat, sweet and a good spice. We buy more than we should, eat more than we should and more often than we should.
While our behavior is unpardonable (because we know what is right and what is wrong, but still choose the wrong), dieting is the most sought after thought in anyone’s mind. If we take an inventory of all thoughts, we think more about how to control our mind, as it relates to food. However, we are unable to implement those.
Here are few suggestions how humans should address this.
Food Companies that care for humanity: We need food companies that care for humanities’ long survival than their quarterly profits. They need to device strategies to promote healthy eating and start to retire unhealthy products. It may take a generation or two for the taste buds to get used to bland nutritious food, but we must do this.
School Education focusing on ill effects of unhealthy food: The schools should strictly prohibit unhealthy meals from the cafes. They should educate the kids about the wrong types of food and eating habits.
Grocery stores should limit shelf space and quotas for unhealthy food in their aisles: Over a period of a decade, they should gradually reduce the availability of unhealthy food. I remember a time when transfat was blamed, all food manufactures were forced to make the transfat in their food close to zero per serving. So I feel it is possible to do anything over a sustained period of time.
