A Role Model of Health and Wellness.

By Diane Hochman

As my two daughters get ready for bed the usual question comes around...

"Mom, Dad, can we have a snack?"

It's kind of hard to say no when my husband has a hunk o' chocolate sticking out of my mouth.

So of course I let them have a snack.

Actually, the chocolate is on the run. Larry still enjoys it, but it's been replaced largely with high quality (and delicious) nutritional supplements that we get from a direct sales company.

So it's much easier to negotiate a healthy snack than it used to be.

And Jill and Sarah will be the winners in the long run.

Larry and I both think back to our own childhoods, when snack cakes, cookies, and candy bars ruled the roost. Twenty five years ago, anything on TV or in magazines that had the word "wholesome" on it was good enough.

Then that same generation went through liposuction, developed colon cancer at alarming rates, and passed an obesity and diabetes epidemic onto their children.

Look around. You see the results of "wholesome" foods everywhere!

Today as a country, we look at things like saturated fat content, sugars, even preservatives. We watch what we eat.

We watch it as it goes right down our throats.

Hey, we're adults. We can make choices, and we can take responsibility for them.

We also have the power to commit to change and improved nutrition. Larry and I made that commitment in 1999 with life-saving results. I lost one hundred pounds and he regained the energy of his youth.

But the REAL responsibility lies in what we show our children. There is a real epidemic of nutritional deficiency in our country's youth.

A country that until recently gloried in its properity was happy to eat first and turn to the pharmaceutical industry later to fix the diseases of our poor eating habits.

But our kids watch what we do, not what we say.

And they certainly don't distinguish between "wholesome" and truly healthy foods.

And it's hard for them to take responsibility for their choices when they're not being shown any other options at home.

Everything is a balance. Hey, we helped the girls finish off their Halloween candy!

But we all make sure we eat and supplement well, and we understand what our bodies must have and should avoid in excess.

After all, I don't want my grandchildren to be unhealthy.

And I'd like to be around to see them!