Life skills

Like the US, Britain has seen increasing levels of childhood obesity. Unlike the US, they're making substantial national strides to address the issue - first, by banning junk food from school grounds (a move that happened last week), and now, by introducing cooking classes as a required part of the secondary school curriculum (article in the Times Online here).

There are various initiatives at the local and state level in this country to remove soft drinks and junk food from schools; however, I have yet to hear anything about introducing essential life skills like healthy cooking. One could argue that students should be learning this at home; however, that's clearly not happening, and the nutrition education that will no doubt occur as part of the experiential cooking instruction is certainly beyond what students could receive at home.

Who's up for offering cooking classes - and as long as we're dreaming, serving those up with a side of regular PE?