06.11.07
tea and childhood obesity
posted by Michelle Rabin | 12 comments
A news release from Beijing on June 6th caught my attention. “Scientists have proved that drinking tea can help people lose weight.” This information was provided through Guo Xirong, director of the Nanjing Institute of Pediatrics, where they were investigating childhood obesity. “It has been confirmed that the continuous intake of oolong tea contributes to enhancing the function of fat metabolism and to controlling obesity.”
It is unfortunate that the details of the research were not offered or available. It does make intuitive sense however that, in addition to whatever mechanisms may be involved in improving fat metabolism, the elimination of high sugar beverages (including fruit juices) and their substitution with tea, would provide significant advantages to overweight children. I hope research in the U.S. will begin to investigate the health benefits of childhood tea consumption. I believe that this one shift, for our children, will have significant, long term health benefits. Obesity is just the tip of the iceberg.
I am co-authoring a book for children about tea. I’ll let everyone know as soon as it’s available. The manuscript is finished and we’re looking for an illustrator to complete the picture book.
June 11th, 2007 at 11:46 am
That picture of that beautiful, but unhappily overweight child, illustrates perfectly the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.” As a high school teacher of 21 years, I am seeing more obese children every year. Education reseach has shown that overweight children suffer more social isolation than any other group. From school lunches to super-sized portions at fast food restaurants, these kids are bombarded with the message “bigger is better.” Thank you, T-ching, for being on the forefront of helping this group. I’d love to see our Espresso Bar (yes, we have one at achool) replaced with a Tea Table. . . anyone care to join this effort? The Queen
June 11th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Thank You Regena for what we all were thinking I am sure. I am tempted to approach the Allentown, Pa. school district with your timely suggestion. It would be a first that I know of in this area of health concerns for the city. I need to check and see if they have any high end coffee offerings for the students , not just espresso…PJF
June 11th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Paul, if I’m not mistaken, Regena was suggesting substituting TEA for coffee, not high end coffee for expresso.
June 11th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
Sandy, I’m sorry I guess I should of indicated that I meant replacing the coffee with Tea. I would first do the “Recon” to see who in the district is serving what. Then suggest replacing it with the more healthy tea products. Some schools serve not just espresso, but country of origin coffees as well, in the more affluent school systems around us. I sold to a couple of them, before I closed the doors on Valley Supreme Wholesale. Sorry for confusing you, I do that a lot lately. Old age I guess…PJF
June 11th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
No need to apologize to me, Paul. At least you knew they served coffee to the students at schools. I’ve been totally clueless about it. And to think that they even offer “specialty” coffees.
If you don’t mind me asking, what caused the shift from coffee to tea?
June 12th, 2007 at 7:40 am
Sandy, I have been retired (kinda sorta) from the institutional/specialty side of the coffee business for about 6 years now. I still consult when asked. To my knowledge there HAS been no shift towards Tea in the Elementary or High School systems locally. Some of the Colleges are starting to catch on.( We have 3 major Universities, and a half a dozen local or regional colleges right near by)
We will be opening 2 very well placed Tea Rooms shortly, which should spring-board the awareness of the importance of tea to the college kids. They are pretty sharp and are always looking for new trends. If I approach the elementary school districts for in-house programs, and they accept. (wish me luck on that one) Just that effort towards awareness plus national attention should kick it into gear. I can also get the local press to help. I have a good friend who writes and illustrates along with producing books for children and schools. let me know if you would like his help ? I will put you in contact…PJF
June 12th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Paul
As I mentioned above, I’m looking for an illustrator for MY children’s book……perhaps you might give me the name of your friend the illustrator?
June 12th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Paul -
I was actually looking to discover how YOU made the switch from a career in coffee to one in tea.
I am very impressed that you are opening 2 new Tea Rooms simultaneously. I would think opening one is difficult enough, but 2 would be overwhelming. I applaud your efforts to introduce tea to the younger generations. If we can make inroads there, then the future will certainly look brighter. If there is anything that we can do to help promote your Tea Rooms or help with your efforts to educate the schools and the kids, please let us know.
June 12th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Thanks, Paul & Sandy, for the lively debate! It is my impression that it would be quite easy to open a Tea Room at the high school level, but another thing altogether to educate the young palate! Most kids think of tea as the highly sweetened and cutely-named products that more closely resemble soft drinks than Tea . . . I do have faith in the curiosity and intelligence of kids (they are ALL gifted!) and, if they only knew how delicious and healthy the genuine article was, they would convert. That is where your book comes in, Michelle! Get them at a young age!
June 13th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
A short comment on Regena’s mention about educating the young palate…
Last Saturday I was helping a friend to brew tea for the customers at the grand opening of her tea room in Los Angeles. The most astute customer who I served tea with was actually a 10 to 12 year old girl…I brewed some white and green teas for her. I explained to her what to look for in the tea’s fragrance, taste, aftertaste and other sensations, including observing the leaves by eyes. She was very interested. To a white tea that smelled a bit smoky and bacon-y she immediately said “hot dog”…great association of olfactory memory, no?
On Sunday evening, my tearoom-owner friend e-mailed me to inform that the young girl returned that day to the store with her mom again. This time she was saying all sorts of things about her tea, describing how the tea feels on her palate, its aftertaste, its smell…her mom thought she was a bit too, um, over-enthusiastic. : )
June 20th, 2007 at 4:05 am
Young people love our store; in fact, I just found two great comments on two MySpace’s about the store through Googling our name (which I’m going to keep private for now). It’s very gratifying. We had two young men in their 20’s come in from Los Angeles and told us we were ‘doing it right’..both ordered iced tea with no sweetener (we make it from fresh loose leaf) and savored it. We have people from around 10+ to 80’s and they are all excited about great tea…most have never had it! Someone came in and asked about putting our concept onto a large university campus they are doing business with already. The interest has been incredible in what we are doing. We have a very high repeat business, some customers coming in several times a day to have more.
June 20th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Congratulations on your success. It must be so gratifying. I am confused however as to why you choose to keep the name of the store “private”.
Thanks for spreading the word about tea and developing an innovative tea shop. Keep us apprised of all the kids coming in and drinking up. I”ll be interested to see what teas they seem to enjoy.