Food companies and their misleading labels

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Food is for nutrition and to provide the body with energy and vital nutrients. Names of foods help us to know what the likely ingredients might be in it. But often, we notice that food names are misleading. They can fool a person into buying only to realize that it did not meet their expectations and imagination. For instance, take the example of samosa. An ideal samosa is refined wheat flour (maida) wrap with mashed potatoes and boiled peas inside. And when we say paneer samosa (cottage cheese stuffed fried dumplings), the picture that comes to our mind is of a wrap of refined wheat flour dough with paneer inside. But to your disappointment, you will find that these samosas are nothing but the normal samosas with mashed potatoes with or without boiled peas and just 1 small piece of cottage cheese at one corner!!! If we talk about rusks, most of these are made of refined wheat flour or maida which is not healthy. Maida is stripped of all the vital nutrients such as fiber, vitamins,
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Nestle's Parenting index study: The USA ranks as 5th best place to rear a child after Sweden, Chile, Germany, and Mexico!

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Parenting is a skill and an art. Parenting experiences are different and vary worldwide. Nestle did the first-of-its-kind study called The Parenting Index to see how these parenting skills fare in different nations of the world. Which place is the best in the world to raise a child?

Nestle and the parenting index

The parenting index is the list and ranking of countries based on their goodness to raise a child. Nestle carried out a study recently to know where each country stands as regards child-rearing. This study has never been done in the past and is the first of its kind in the world.  

Their results revealed that there is no perfect or ideal place to raise a family. But yes, Sweden is the best place to bring up a child followed by Chile, Germany, and Mexico. And the USA comes up next in position 5. This should be of use for the parent of today. 

Parenting Index (Source: YouTube)

The methodology of the Parenting index study

This tool is a unique and new one. It was to check on the ease of parenting in the world of today. The views of over 8000 mothers and fathers from 16 countries of the world were taken. These parents had children who were in the age group of 0-12 months. Several factors affect parenting by the caretakers and the study researchers identified 8 factors that universally affected parenting skills. And the most important of these factors was pressure.

In the USA, parents felt anxious and stressed since they wanted to give it all to their children. They also experienced pressures from others around them. 49% of the parents in the USA reported such pressures. Helicopter parenting was also seen in these American homes and parents of the higher income bracket families would go to any extent to see to it that their children succeed.

Nestle and their opinion

Nestle study [Source: World Stage Group]
Know all about Work-Life Balance and how to achive it here

Thierry Philardeau, Head of Nestlé Nutrition said:

"At Nestlé, we are always challenging ourselves to better understand the complexities of the parenting journey,"

"We believe finding solutions to the universal pressures faced by parents, today will help them feel better supported in the decisions they make during the first crucial 1,000 days of a child's life. And in doing so, we can strengthen our commitment to helping 50 million children lead healthier and happier lives by 2020."

Parents in the USA have more pressures than those from Sweden but they are able to get the best health and well-being resources for their children. But 51% of these request improvement in the form of shared parenting responsibilities. Many also desire paid parental leave. They also want help to boost their confidence as parents.

Problem areas in the USA parenting experience

Besides the above, 46% of American parents felt that they have intense pressure, especially from social media on child-raising. They fear social shaming. 30% of the parents also felt that they did feel lonely as regards child-rearing techniques despite being in the midst of family and friends. 45% of these mothers from the USA suffered from postpartum depression or baby blues. China revealed 47% of mothers had baby blues. 29% of American parents felt that they were not prepared for parenthood and had to face unexpected realities due to it.

Dr Ming Cui, Professor of Family and Child Sciences at Florida State University says:

"Today's parents are increasingly parenting in a state of anxiety, which can be reflected from findings in this report, such as the external/internal pressure, lack of confidence and financial demands they say they are experiencing. Influenced by popular media along with technology advances, many parents from different cultures and socio-economic classes feel pressured to do it all."

Parenting and COVID-19 pandemic

Did the coronavirus pandemic affect the parenting? Yes, it did. In fact, it lessened the societal pressure and parents felt less tense. They got more mutual support and more sense of belonging leading to social cohesion. Ming reports:

"To promote positive parenting and ultimately children's healthy development, parents should not overlook their own well-being and should take good care of themselves, such as leaving empty spaces on their calendar and taking a break,"

Nestle also has taken some positive and concrete steps to help their employees who have become parents This study will be done again in 2 years to see the evolution over time.

For the copy of the parenting index, click here

 

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