So here it is my second installment of the Girl in the 6th Row. I know I was going to talk about music this time but something else got stuck in my craw this week so music will come another time.
There was a recent US study that claimed that "children gain weight as they watch television." Something like 500 children aged 11 to 13 were monitored over a period of 20 months. For each hour they spent watching television, their food intake was found at the end of the period to have increased by 167 calories a day. This doesn't surprise me nor should it you, but it got me thinking that if kids are getting fat at home eating whatever is in the fridge, what happens when they go to the movies. Is the fat content consumed at home all day balanced out by the 2 (sometimes 3) hours of nonstop consumption of popcorn, nachos, candy and soda all having little or no nutritional value at all? I mean, I don't think I have ever seen anything in a movie theater that was good for me to eat or drink besides a $4 bottle of water.
So not only are we (sadly more often than not) giving kids' (and everyone else's) minds junk at the movies we are giving their bodies junk as well. No wonder people think that going to the movies is an unpleasant experience. It is also no wonder that in addition to the junk food sold at movie theaters, they also sell antacids. What would happen if the popcorn was made fresh hourly with canola oil and no fake butter? Or instead of nachos with fake cheese there were veggie chips, nuts or fruit? Parents would be much more likely to patronize theaters that didn't feed their kids crap and didn't smell like a fast food restaurant all of the time. The experience of going to the movies would be a healthier one (at least for the body). Maybe just maybe, if the indie movie chains - Landmark, Laemmle, etc. got together and established a healthy menu for their patrons, their audiences would feel better while they are there - be more apt to enjoy the experience and then be a bit more open to the indie/foreign movie fare that was being offered to them. I am not saying that there needs to be gourmet organic food. Putting out a basket of fruit or juice instead of soda would be a start and is not going to break the bank.
I don't think you are going to be able to change the big movie chains from their unhealthy menus but a little variety and consideration of health would be great especially b/c those of the chains that get the most kids.
I don't know. Maybe I am ranting for nothing. Maybe people love to eat and feed junk to their kids all of the time especially in the movie theater where it is dark and no one can see them eat enough popcorn to feed 5 other people. Not to mention the fact that they can also throw the crap on the floor and someone else will clean it up.
I would like to think that we care a little more about ourselves and each other.
Keeping it indie,
Julie
There was a recent US study that claimed that "children gain weight as they watch television." Something like 500 children aged 11 to 13 were monitored over a period of 20 months. For each hour they spent watching television, their food intake was found at the end of the period to have increased by 167 calories a day. This doesn't surprise me nor should it you, but it got me thinking that if kids are getting fat at home eating whatever is in the fridge, what happens when they go to the movies. Is the fat content consumed at home all day balanced out by the 2 (sometimes 3) hours of nonstop consumption of popcorn, nachos, candy and soda all having little or no nutritional value at all? I mean, I don't think I have ever seen anything in a movie theater that was good for me to eat or drink besides a $4 bottle of water.
So not only are we (sadly more often than not) giving kids' (and everyone else's) minds junk at the movies we are giving their bodies junk as well. No wonder people think that going to the movies is an unpleasant experience. It is also no wonder that in addition to the junk food sold at movie theaters, they also sell antacids. What would happen if the popcorn was made fresh hourly with canola oil and no fake butter? Or instead of nachos with fake cheese there were veggie chips, nuts or fruit? Parents would be much more likely to patronize theaters that didn't feed their kids crap and didn't smell like a fast food restaurant all of the time. The experience of going to the movies would be a healthier one (at least for the body). Maybe just maybe, if the indie movie chains - Landmark, Laemmle, etc. got together and established a healthy menu for their patrons, their audiences would feel better while they are there - be more apt to enjoy the experience and then be a bit more open to the indie/foreign movie fare that was being offered to them. I am not saying that there needs to be gourmet organic food. Putting out a basket of fruit or juice instead of soda would be a start and is not going to break the bank.
I don't think you are going to be able to change the big movie chains from their unhealthy menus but a little variety and consideration of health would be great especially b/c those of the chains that get the most kids.
I don't know. Maybe I am ranting for nothing. Maybe people love to eat and feed junk to their kids all of the time especially in the movie theater where it is dark and no one can see them eat enough popcorn to feed 5 other people. Not to mention the fact that they can also throw the crap on the floor and someone else will clean it up.
I would like to think that we care a little more about ourselves and each other.
Keeping it indie,
Julie
posted by indieIN | 4:05 PM
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