So I have yet another view on the non-drinking and "having one drink to be normal" concept. Here is my thought...why do you drink? Maybe you drink because you enjoy the taste, you appreciate the combination with foods, you enjoy relaxing after a long day, you enjoy the refreshing beverage on a warm day, its part of your sports watching ritual, its a social component that you enjoy...this are all wonderful reasons that make perfect sense to me and I agree with. Now...for arguments sake, why do I exercise? I appreciate the views while I am running/biking, its a good stress reliever, I use it to clear my head, it keeps me stronger and able to do more physical activities, I enjoy the competition, its rewarding, it improves my health and well being. Again, all good reasons. So, if you think its bizarre that I don't drink because you know all of those reasons above and those reasons alone should be enough for me to want to drink, plus its just abnormal...then why couldn't I counter your "one drink" comment with "run one mile". I see a variety of benefits in it, I know PLENTY of people that run races on a regular basis so I could argue that in this area it is normal, but I know enough people that dislike exercise and I completely understand all of their reasons for disliking it so I would never push someone to do it or make them feel guilty. Does that make any sense? I hope so...I am not sure if I explained myself well.
This whole idea came from me thinking about childhood obesity. Because if children are somehow taught that drinking is the norm, and cool, and social, and makes everything more fun...how could we use that train of thought to encourage healthy eating and exercise. I don't think we can because of the "breaking the rules" and rebelling component of drinking. BUT, in European cultures drinking is taught at a younger age and children learn to appreciate the taste (and many could argue, don't end up abusing it because of that) and view it as a social part of a meal, evening, whatever. So if there was a way to somehow teach children that exercise/healthy eating can be appreciated and viewed in a happy, enjoyable light as opposed to a task or something you don't want to do but you have to, then maybe these healthy behaviors could become learned as well.
But, I guess all of these ideas and actions have stemmed from years and years of cultural growth and demise and everything else...so to change the train of thought would take years and years. Hmm...well, if nothing else, I can start with my kids haha
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