Food and kids!
Okay, I knew this was going to be a big one
for me as a parent. Kids are given candy left and right in this
country. I remember attending a birthday party during one of our visits
here for a 3 or 4 year old. First, there were candy on the children's
plates. Then, there were popsicles. Then cake. Oh, and then I think they
maybe actually served some hot dogs. Well, things have been pretty similar this time
around! Candy is given out constantly to kids.
We just
came back from a week long camping trip with 5-6 other families here in
the summer. To be fair, it was summer here, and summer hours are
apparently different from school year hours. But, let's just say,
breakfast was sometime around 10-12, depending on when you and your
parents woke up. Lunch was never before 4 pm. And dinner was about 9 pm.
The kids were given cookies and candy throughout the day between
breakfast and lunch, but rarely did I see a healthy snack. Oh, and you
want cookies for breakfast? Here you go! Nutella? No problem!
We
eliminated artificial colors and flavors from our kids diet about 2
years ago. It is not cheap, nor is it easy, but it resulted in an
improvement in behavior from the kids. So, when they mentioned in
kindergarten they would be serving chocolate coins at a holiday party,
and Trader Joe's and Whole Foods had already sold out of the natural
ones, I made my own for Noah. That is how important it was to me to
maintain the diet. Well, here artificial colors and flavors are everywhere and in virtually
everything. I have yet to find a yogurt without artificial ingredients. Brightly colored popsicles are inevitable at any social occasion. It is a battle that is impossible to win. I
finally brought my own real ingredient popsicles to the last social occasion, and that turned out
okay, but it is just impossible to ward it all off. At the camping trip,
the kids would appear with all sorts of candy in their mouths -- chocolate, lollipops, gummies...
It is absolutely futile to avoid these. So I have given up for now. And yes, the behavior has
been worse than normal too.
Now the boys are in school in Chile. In pre-K, we were given a sort of menu to follow for snacks. It is great -- fruit one day, cereal one day, a sandwich, and yogurt. Friday is "free". Well, first grade is another story. Noah has reported to me that all the kids bring junk food -- packages of cookies, packages of potato chips, etc. One thing he described as a "hamburger made of candy", which I can only guess was an alfajor (similar to a moon pie). You can even go over to the kiosk at school and buy colorful lollipops, packages of cookies, and other junk food. Snacking here is abominable. Peanut butter on crackers, or other less offensive snacks are rarely to never seen.
Perhaps it is not surprising then that Chile has the highest rates of childhood overweight and obesity in Latin America. And it is rising. How high is it? About 1 in 5 of children ages 3-6 is overweight, according to data from the Encuesta Longitudinal de Primera Infacia (ELPI) 2012.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Chile!
Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote a post, and the short and simple recap is that we are now a family of 5 and have just moved to Chile for 7 months!
This should be dated early January!
In preparation for the move, we bought 6 large suitcases. We filled those 6 and 3 more, plus 2 small suitcases, and headed for the airport! Our babysitter came with Noah, Simon, Rosie and me on the train, and Nano drove the car full of 11 suitcases and 2 carseats (plus a booster seat) to the airport. He parked the car and we filled 3 luggage carts and wheeled them over to the check in at US Airways. Since Nano had Rosie's ticket attached to his, the computer said "see agent" when he was to check in his bags. This was the start of the trouble. The agent didn't understand that there were 5 people traveling, thought there were only 3, and tried to limit us to 7 bags. After a good 30 minutes of arguing, trying to be patient, and waiting, as the agent called some superior who actually knew how to count, we finally got checked in. By this time, it was getting late! We made it to security, but were missing some stamp that the same agent forgot to give us for the baby. So, back down Nano went while we waited some more. Finally, we got through security -- at least that went smoothly -- and made our way to the gate. Just as we got there, they started boarding. We had time to purchase a water and then we got on the plane. We were on our way! The boys played happily with the ipad and Rosie took a nap for the first flight (Simon followed suite toward the end of the flight). In Miami, we had to walk all the way across the airport to get to our gate. The boys were great troopers -- by this time, Noah was very tired. He was so tired he didn't want to walk, but he did. We finally made it to the gate, and waited to board. Once on the plane, we got stuck on the ground for a while. I urged Noah to go to sleep because he was so tired. We heard an announcement that there were some safety issues they were checking out. 30 minutes later they cleared us to leave the gate, and the plane made it's way to the Tarmac. Then, planes started passing us, and we started to suspect something. Finally, after another 20 minutes or so, we were sent back to the gate. We had to deboard the train, and walk back to the other side of the airport to wait for a new one! The boys were great troopers and walked without complaining. They tried to sleep on the floor at the airport but they were already too awake from all the walking, so I pulled out the toys and games I had brought for the plane ride. Then, I got Nano and myself a beer! We finally left the airport at 1:00 am!
We arrived in Chile the next morning at 11 am. The line through immigration was long but we got to take the short line for families and individuals with disabilities. It was a pretty short wait! We walked through the duty free store and on to the baggage claim to look for our bags. Lala and Tata were waiting for us and waving from above. We sent all our numerous suitcases through the security machines and then walked through the gates to the reception area at the airport. Lala and Tata had a large van waiting for us for all the suitcases, and the kids and I went with his mom to our new apartment.
The apartment is quite large for an apartment in this area of town, with ample bedrooms and a common living/dining area. There is also a galley kitchen with a laundry area with washer and dryer at the end. All of the furniture is either brand new or like new, though it is clear that the countertops and cabinets are quite worn. The floors are hardwood in the living area and wood laminate in the bedrooms and halls. There is also an ample entryway upon entering, and ample closets throughout.
This should be dated early January!
In preparation for the move, we bought 6 large suitcases. We filled those 6 and 3 more, plus 2 small suitcases, and headed for the airport! Our babysitter came with Noah, Simon, Rosie and me on the train, and Nano drove the car full of 11 suitcases and 2 carseats (plus a booster seat) to the airport. He parked the car and we filled 3 luggage carts and wheeled them over to the check in at US Airways. Since Nano had Rosie's ticket attached to his, the computer said "see agent" when he was to check in his bags. This was the start of the trouble. The agent didn't understand that there were 5 people traveling, thought there were only 3, and tried to limit us to 7 bags. After a good 30 minutes of arguing, trying to be patient, and waiting, as the agent called some superior who actually knew how to count, we finally got checked in. By this time, it was getting late! We made it to security, but were missing some stamp that the same agent forgot to give us for the baby. So, back down Nano went while we waited some more. Finally, we got through security -- at least that went smoothly -- and made our way to the gate. Just as we got there, they started boarding. We had time to purchase a water and then we got on the plane. We were on our way! The boys played happily with the ipad and Rosie took a nap for the first flight (Simon followed suite toward the end of the flight). In Miami, we had to walk all the way across the airport to get to our gate. The boys were great troopers -- by this time, Noah was very tired. He was so tired he didn't want to walk, but he did. We finally made it to the gate, and waited to board. Once on the plane, we got stuck on the ground for a while. I urged Noah to go to sleep because he was so tired. We heard an announcement that there were some safety issues they were checking out. 30 minutes later they cleared us to leave the gate, and the plane made it's way to the Tarmac. Then, planes started passing us, and we started to suspect something. Finally, after another 20 minutes or so, we were sent back to the gate. We had to deboard the train, and walk back to the other side of the airport to wait for a new one! The boys were great troopers and walked without complaining. They tried to sleep on the floor at the airport but they were already too awake from all the walking, so I pulled out the toys and games I had brought for the plane ride. Then, I got Nano and myself a beer! We finally left the airport at 1:00 am!
We arrived in Chile the next morning at 11 am. The line through immigration was long but we got to take the short line for families and individuals with disabilities. It was a pretty short wait! We walked through the duty free store and on to the baggage claim to look for our bags. Lala and Tata were waiting for us and waving from above. We sent all our numerous suitcases through the security machines and then walked through the gates to the reception area at the airport. Lala and Tata had a large van waiting for us for all the suitcases, and the kids and I went with his mom to our new apartment.
The apartment is quite large for an apartment in this area of town, with ample bedrooms and a common living/dining area. There is also a galley kitchen with a laundry area with washer and dryer at the end. All of the furniture is either brand new or like new, though it is clear that the countertops and cabinets are quite worn. The floors are hardwood in the living area and wood laminate in the bedrooms and halls. There is also an ample entryway upon entering, and ample closets throughout.
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