It’s no secret that Health is one of the hottest topics right now and that the obesity rate amongst not only adults, but children continues to sky rocket. More often than not, when you see an obese child, the parent tends to be obese as well.
Improving your health and preventing health issues with our children starts in the supermarket. Have you taken a good look at the items in your shopping cart before you check out? On a recent trip to my local supermarket, I noticed an overweight young woman with her overweight children. I couldn’t help but take a look to see what was in her shopping cart. Sadly, what was in there were items that had no nutritional value at all what so ever. No water, fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, milk, eggs. There were lots of sugary, high calories sodas, maple syrup, crackers loaded with sodium and unhealthy fats. Pure junk. This is the typical shopping cart I see all the time.
I asked this young mother if I could take a picture of her shopping cart. She proudly said “Yes,” as my shopping cart was next to hers. While I was taking pictures of her cart, not once did it ever cross this woman’s mind to see what was in my shopping cart.
Improving your health and preventing health issues with our children starts in the supermarket. Have you taken a good look at the items in your shopping cart before you check out? On a recent trip to my local supermarket, I noticed an overweight young woman with her overweight children. I couldn’t help but take a look to see what was in her shopping cart. Sadly, what was in there were items that had no nutritional value at all what so ever. No water, fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, milk, eggs. There were lots of sugary, high calories sodas, maple syrup, crackers loaded with sodium and unhealthy fats. Pure junk. This is the typical shopping cart I see all the time.
I asked this young mother if I could take a picture of her shopping cart. She proudly said “Yes,” as my shopping cart was next to hers. While I was taking pictures of her cart, not once did it ever cross this woman’s mind to see what was in my shopping cart.
This is a photo of my shopping cart. As you can see from the photos, there is quite a nutritional gap between my cart and hers. My cart contains fresh fruits, vegetables, low fat milk, water, eggs, yogurt and even a healthy snack. Although my shopping cart is a great example of what a shopping cart should look like, the sad truth is that rarely do I see another cart in the supermarket that looks like mine.
If you take notice of the average grocery cart when you are in the supermarket, you will see many carts piled high with soda, white bread, frozen dinners, chips, ice cream, processed cheese, sugary breakfast cereals, cookies, etc. Most of the items in the average shopping cart have no nutritional value. Most people don’t think about the items they are putting in their cart. I don’t think that young mother looks at her children thinking to herself that her children are overweight and perhaps she should feed them foods that aren’t quite so sugary and full of fat.
It is us, each individual who needs to reform our own personal health. The next time you’re in the supermarket buying groceries, be aware of the choices you’re making. Your choices not only affect you, but they affect your children as well. Take responsibility and read the labels. If an item has more than 12 grams of sugar per serving, put it back on the shelf. If the item contains High Fructose Corn Syrup, put it back on the shelf. If you cannot pronounce the majority of the ingredients in a product, put it back on the shelf.
If you take notice of the average grocery cart when you are in the supermarket, you will see many carts piled high with soda, white bread, frozen dinners, chips, ice cream, processed cheese, sugary breakfast cereals, cookies, etc. Most of the items in the average shopping cart have no nutritional value. Most people don’t think about the items they are putting in their cart. I don’t think that young mother looks at her children thinking to herself that her children are overweight and perhaps she should feed them foods that aren’t quite so sugary and full of fat.
It is us, each individual who needs to reform our own personal health. The next time you’re in the supermarket buying groceries, be aware of the choices you’re making. Your choices not only affect you, but they affect your children as well. Take responsibility and read the labels. If an item has more than 12 grams of sugar per serving, put it back on the shelf. If the item contains High Fructose Corn Syrup, put it back on the shelf. If you cannot pronounce the majority of the ingredients in a product, put it back on the shelf.
It is possible to find healthy snacks that the whole family will enjoy. I discovered this snack in my local Kroger supermarket and have recommended this product to my clients as a healtheir alternative to potato chips and corn chips. 
Before you go to the checkout counter, take a look at what’s in your cart and ask yourself if the foods in your cart are nutrient rich, quality calories. Hopefully your answer is yes. If not, it's not too late to do a Shopping Cart Extreme Makeover before you leave the store.
