Flights to the North Pole

Answer 1

While spending some time perusing blogs I came across an American mother living in France blogging about her life there. One post really caught my attention. She wrote of the meals prepared by the public school for the children's lunches. That particular day was an appetizer of cucumber and beet slices with vinaigrette and a main course of salmon with baked potato and green beans. For dessert they offered cheese and fruit. The drink provided was water. Now compare that with a typical meal in an American public school, probably something like this: Macaroni and cheese with tater tots (that counts as the vegetable!) and plain or chocolate milk, and maybe a piece of cake for dessert?

I remember when I was in grade school I was such a picky eater that I took my lunch from home everyday, and when I was in high school we had a salad bar, which I LOVED! My recommendation is to be aware of the daily school lunches and if it is not something moderately healthy pack your child's lunch. You can control portion size and types of food and know that you are doing something good for him.

It is really sad to see children become so overweight and we, the parents and school systems, are to blame. I am not pointing a finger, I just want us all to be aware that we need to set better examples for our children. The eating habits they learn from us will stick with them and unfortunately they will become overweight or obese adults if they learn bad eating habits as children.

I now have my own child, and although he is still an infant I am already trying to teach him healthy eating habits. I prefer not to let him steal tastes of the junk food that may be present, as my husband chooses not to eat well, and sees nothing wrong with the way he eats since he has almost no body fat. When my son reached the age that it was okay to give him juice I asked the doctor about it and he said he would be better off with water. How happy was I to hear this! I have always only loved to drink water, never much for juice, and now it is being recommended that I choose water over juices for my own child. So many juices are not actually 100% fruit juice, it is so important to read the label before you purchase. If I do give my son juice he will only get 100% fruit juices.

Here is a sample lunch you could pack for you grade school child: Peanut butter and Jelly on whole wheat bread, a small (100 calorie) bag of chips, and a banana. With milk, water, or 100% fruit juice for a beverage.

As a new mom and an exercise physiologist my suggestion is for us to take on the responsibility of teaching our children how to eat and be healthy, in general. Set good examples for them so they can live healthy, long lives without struggling with obesity as almost 30% of the adult U.S. population now do.

Answer 2

There are no regular flights to the North Pole, but there are charter flights you can take.

Expect to pay an arm and a leg for the privilege.