First Bite summary

Remember how much you hated it when your parents demanded you finish every last bite, even though you were stuffed?

Many of us do. Memories like this highlight another important element of our food environment. It’s not just the food you eat, but how you eat it.

The foods that are marketed to children these days might seem harmless, but only until you read the nutrients table on the packaging. The ingredients in many of these food items are nothing short of a nutritionist’s nightmare.

How do companies get away with it? In short, parents let them.

Did your grandparents ever encourage you to eat “one more bite”? You might have felt perfectly stuffed, but you certainly didn’t look it to them.

Why? Your grandparents, growing up in an earlier generation, may have had a different experience of food – and potentially of hunger – during their childhood than you.

Boys eat steak; girls eat salad. Unfortunately, this well-known cliche runs counter to what children actually need.

In fact, it’s girls who need steak more than boys, and in turn boys could certainly benefit from more vegetables in their diet.

Ever thought you were hungry, but then found you felt full after just a few bites?

Today we tend to respond to any hint of hunger by immediately reaching for food. But the truth is that most people in the Western world hardly know what real hunger feels like.

If you’ve ever visited Japan, you may have noticed how few obese Japanese people there are. This isn’t a coincidence: the Japanese diet has made its population one of the world’s healthiest and longest-living.

But there’s more to this example than just the virtues of eating healthily. Japan’s experience shows us that eating habits can be changed for the positive on a nationwide basis.