At Issue . . . Freedom to Choose

Barbara Lohse, Ph.D., R.D., Principal Investigator

A recent visit to Hyde Park, New York, the home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, re-introduced me to a key concept of the Roosevelt administration: the Four Freedoms. On January 6, 1941, President Roosevelt spoke to the 77th Congress saying, “We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want....The fourth is freedom from fear.” 1

You may be wondering how this relates to nutrition.

On September 5, 2006, the Institute of Medicine gave notice that a report on the progress of preventing childhood obesity would be released on September 13, 2006. 2 This announcement compelled me to review the Focus on Schools Report from October 13, 2005, and the original report, Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, released September 30, 2004. 3 These reports projected a picture of overweight children as the enemy, terrorizing the future health of the U.S. In addition, vivid language—such as joining forces “to galvanize obesity prevention efforts of local, state, and national decision-makers,” and warnings that “young people are also at risk of developing serious psychosocial burdens due to societal stigmatization associated with obesity”—provide compelling arguments that freedoms such as Roosevelt’s must be aptly applied to nutrition-related decisions pertaining to the prevention of childhood obesity.

First, children should have freedom from want. Growing, developing children should not be placed on calorie-controlled, uninteresting diets. However, neither should they want for healthy, nutritious, tasty, and available meals and snacks. Parents need freedom from want with respect to nutrition and food behavior knowledge.

Second, children and parents should have freedom of expression for what and how their children eat. Likewise, we all need to realize that answers, especially long-term ones, haven’t been affirmed; thus, we need to be open to new ideas and expressions.

Finally, children should have freedom from fear that they are going to be judged based on body size and shape. Children who eat healthy foods and are physically active will demonstrate a wide variety of sizes and shapes; adults need to accept these size differences and avoid judgment based on a single measure, such as body mass index. The quest to prevent childhood obesity does not mean a quest for thin children, but rather, a quest for healthy children. In our eagerness to change policies and implement rules designed for efficacy, we must consider freedom of expression and freedom from fear and want so that children can eat wisely.

The new Center for Childhood Obesity Research (CCOR; http://www.hhdev.psu.edu/ccor/ ) at Penn State exemplifies efforts that consider these freedoms when addressing issues pertaining to childhood obesity. For example, research on childhood obesity that will lead to evidence-based approaches is ongoing. Plans to teach parents how to introduce solid foods to infants and to promote self-regulation of appetite in infants and children will provide freedom from want of knowledge. Log on to CCOR to familiarize yourself with the unique mission that speaks to the problem.

 

1. The Four Freedoms, http://www.libertynet.org/edcivic/fdr.html, accessed September 6, 2006.

2. Institute of Medicine, “Progress on Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up?” http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3788/25044/36873.aspx, accessed September 6, 2006.

3. Institute of Medicine, “Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance,” http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3788/5867/22596.aspx , accessed September 6, 2006.