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July 22, 2006
Growing Brains Need Essential Fatty Acids!
I was just reading MR's McClean's magazine, and read about a boarding school for obese children in California. I'm all for tackling adolescent obesity, as you know, and even for using stern measures to do it. But two facts jumped out at me as alarming.
1) This school only allows the children 7 - 12 grams of fat per day.
2) One of my college friends, Phil Obbard, is the executive director.
1) is alarming because such a low level of fat doesn't allow for the consumption of essential fatty acids. That's scary for adults: essential fatty acids are needed for all kinds of biological functions. But they are REQUIRED for the functioning of receptors in the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Deficiency in essential fatty acids can lead to neurological abnormalities. By feeding these kids too little fat, the school is actually damaging their brains. Almost any nutritionist these days will tell you this. The days of super low fat are over: people have realized that unsaturated fats, such as flax and olive oil, are essential for healthy metabolism. And for growing brains! Please, please please give these kids a teaspoon of flax oil morning and night. It's just eighty calories, and would be much better than the unlimited fruit and diet Snapple the school is dishing out. PLEASE! Stop the brain damage! Fat isn't making these kids fat -- too many calories is what makes kids, or anyone, fat. Please feed them the nutrition they need. Is anyone at this school using nutritional software? Does anyone care about the children's health, not just their weight? In their description of the diet on the website, it says they're talking about 15-20 percent of calories from fat. Yet seven to twelve grams a day is not fifteen to twenty percent of most any resonable calorie intake. It's Susan Powter nutritional advice from the early nineties that should not be tested out on growing children.
2) is scary because Phil Obbard was one of my college friends, and now he is the executive director of a school that is causing brain damage to teenagers. I would be really, really excited about his current work and supportive, if only I were to find out that they are actually using nutritional software, feeding the children appropriate amounts of essential fatty acids, and overall tending to the kids' health. But unless this article is grossly misrepresenting what's going on, they're not. And that's scary.
Phil, if your google alarm goes off on this, please, please please write in that you've gotten some good nutritional advice and have added flax and olive oil to these kids' diets. Seven to twelve grams of fat a day is not healthy. It's perfectly possible to have a low calorie, high nutrition diet that is not deficient in essential fatty acids. I can make up a whole host of menus to do this for you. If you're responsible for these kids, you're responsible for the damage the diet is doing to their long term health. I completely agree that obesity is a public health disaster, and I totally support extreme measures to end childhood and adolescent obesity. But obesity avoidance has to start and end with good nutrition, not diets that sacrifice health. It's possible - even easier! - to do both. Give the kids some flax oil and take the calories out of the carbs. The kids will be smarter, happier, and more satisfied. There's a reason why they call those essential fatty acids "essential."
I read the sample menus on the school's website, and I think they could be easily improved. Cut out the nutrient-free carbs such as fat free bagels, and add a teaspoon of flax oil and breakfast and lunch and a teaspoon of olive oil or some hazelnuts or almonds at lunch. Eating too low fat will make anyone crazy, especially anyone who is trying to cut calories. Teach the kids to cut calories and count RDAs, not just to count fat grams. Fat free bagels are not healthy! Omega 3's with those eggwhite omlettes would be a small, but brain-saving change. Lose a little of the fruit, add in some nuts. Lose the useless carbs. I'm pleased to see that at least they have high protein fare. That should keep the kids from dropping dead. Throw in a few grams of hazelnuts and a teaspoon here and there of flax and olive oil and you might have a healthy diet. Teach the kids to use nutritional software so they can self-monitor for nutrition.
The website states that they have nutritionists on staff and that they teach kids about nutrition. It is mind-boggling to me that they are serving fat free bagels and fat free chips to obese children when the last ten years of research indicates that extremely lowfat, high carb diets that lack essential fatty acids aren't healthy. I'm thrilled to see the eggwhite omlettes, lean chicken and turkey, and fruits and vegetables on the menu. But why not recognize that some kinds of fat are not just healthy but necessary for proper metabolism and growth? I promise, these kids will feel better, perform better, and lose more weight (and keep it off) if their nutritional needs are met.
Posted by april at July 22, 2006 5:16 AM
Comments
While it is possible that Maclean's magazine has published incorrect information, I doubt it. The notion that fat is the culprit is all-pervasive. If the "fat camp's" goal is merely to result in weight loss, the program might succeed but the kids will pay a high price: poor nutrition and a set of beliefs that if followed, will lead to future health problems. Shame on them!
We can blame the fast food industry all we want but it all comes back to the parents: if they made healthy meals at home (or chose healthy foods in restaurants) and didn't feed their kids that gak on a regular basis, their kids wouldn't be suffering from the effects.
P.S., I strongly suggest you e-mail this wonderful rant to Maclean's, April. They do publish letters from readers. JD :-)
Posted by: Judith at July 28, 2006 5:21 AM
Um, there's a simpler explanation: genetic potential. Regardless of environment, people have only so much potential toward certain thought patterns...that is, for example, there are reasons most people feel they need to work, all of them stemming from the 'slave' program embedded (either chemically, or energistically) in their genes.
And though this threshold may becoming within reach by more and more, it is a complex circumstance.
Posted by: Pat at July 28, 2006 5:24 AM
While I of course agree that parents should not feed their kids gak, I think there are many forces at work, here, which makes it very difficult for the average parent not to. First, most parents eat gak. Second, advertising plays a significant role in shaping our perception and our desires - parents as well as children; were this not the case, then corporations would stop spending the billions that they do on advertising and we would all buy generic brand goods, fast food restaurants would go out of business, etcetera. Third, the addictive nature of the gak that the kids and parents eat... Fourth, the complexity of values, meanings, norms, and more which are connected to the ritual of eating and also to the food itself. Unfortunately we're living in a world where withholding a donut and burger from our kids is the equivalent of deprivation... There are many, many other sociological and psychological factors at work which, I think, undermine a parent's ability to make good choices for their kids...
Posted by: Alex at July 28, 2006 5:24 AM
did it occur to april that a 300 lbs 5 foot 8 child has plenty of essential fat already stored in their body?
Posted by: anonymous at July 28, 2006 5:25 AM
"Dietary goals will vary by student, but a typical day of controlled foods will include 10 g of fat, 70 g of protein, and 20 g of fiber. Uncontrolled foods, such as soups, salads, fat free yogurt and fruits and vegetables, will add to these totals to some extent. Research shows that teens should not feel hungry at these levels."
So obviously fat content is not going to be limited to 10 grams a day. I've been on a calorie-restricted, Ornish-type low-fat diet for two years now and I look and feel great. 15-20% of calories coming from fat is a healthy level, much more so than these kids are used to on a daily basis. I agree that the menu choices could be better, but I don't think that the program is a dangerous one.
Posted by: AH at July 28, 2006 5:26 AM
April Smith believes anything she reads, but she really gives extra credence to Canadian magazines as an exclusive authority on fact and analysis. Perhaps some independent research, maybe from more than one source, before jumping to Canadian-style conclusions, eh?
It's a bit much to be accusing friends of child abuse. It would almost be like accusing a "friend" who organized nursing strikes of engendering abuse of hospital patients, driving up the cost of health care, creating more uninsured children whose parents have to craft their own vaccines from home-made petri dishes.
It would be unfair, because it would be wrong and stupid.
April, we all know you can do better.
Posted by: Zengerite at July 28, 2006 5:27 AM
Actually, my source is the Academy of the Sierra's website, diet management page. The direct quote is:
"Menus
Dietary goals will vary by student, but a typical day of controlled foods will include 10 g of fat, 70 g of protein, and 20 g of fiber. Uncontrolled foods, such as soups, salads, fat free yogurt and fruits and vegetables, will add to these totals to some extent. Research shows that teens should not feel hungry at these levels."
You can check it out for yourself here:
http://www.academyofthesierras.com/diet.html
Posted by: April at July 28, 2006 5:28 AM
Hello,
I went to this school. And actually, we were allowed up to 20 grams of fat a day and up to 2000 calories. We also had an unlimited supply of fruits, vegetables and yogurt each day which we could eat as much as we wanted.
It is not as bad as you make it seem. Also none of my friends and I have suffered "brain damage".
-Courtney
Posted by: courtney at March 30, 2008 4:46 PM