Do you need to teach health and manners?
When you explore a bit of the history of diets and manners, it may feel like you’ve stepped into The Twilight Zone.
Many of the popular diets were so ridiculous—or deadly—that it’s hard to believe anyone would follow them.
For a Scripture-based approach to teaching manners, check out this post.
Stupid Diet Ideas
Need to lose weight? Try the Tapeworm Diet.
Simply swallow the little pill that contains a tapeworm egg. Wait for it to hatch. Then watch the calories melt away!
Think I’m joking?
Well … I’m definitely not recommending the Tapeworm Diet—but it actually was a “thing”back in the Victorian era (1830s to 1901).
“The Tuberculosis Look” was high fashion in that era.
Women took extreme measures to achieve thin, frail (sickly) figures, accented by pale skin, dilated eyes, rosy cheeks, and crimson lips.
As we often discussed in our homeschool, once we step away from the life-giving standard of the Word of God, we can quickly find ourselves lost in a dangerous, directionless swamp.
The Swamp Diet
Speaking of swamps, Thomas Short published a weight loss treatise in 1727. Because he saw overweight people living near swamps, he created “The Swamp Diet.”
The Swamp Diet dictated that people who wanted to lose weight needed to steer clear of swamps.
Dueling Diet Plans
Obviously, not all diet plans are quite so bizarre or extreme.
But, when you begin to study and teach health and nutrition, the conflicting theories can be confusing.
Consider just a handful of contemporary diets:
- Keto
- Vegan
- Paleo
- Whole30
- Gluten Free
Oftentimes, the instructions given in one diet precisely contradict those given in another.
Eat lots of meat? Or no meat?
Whole grains? Or no grains?
What about dairy? What, no dairy?
(Please, please, please—don’t ask me to give up my ice cream and cheese!)
Honor God with Your Body (Tip #1)
Intelligent people disagree on what constitutes the ideal diet.
Ailments and allergies and other health considerations influence what types of foods are included or excluded from family meal plans.
Regardless of what we eat, the most important health lesson we taught in our homeschool is expressed in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
Honor God with your body.
What about manners? (Tip #2)
Emily Post made an astute observation about manners:
Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.
The most important manners lesson we taught in our homeschool is expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:20.
We are His representatives. Act accordingly.
Sometimes it can be hard to translate what it means to be “His representatives” into actions.
That’s why we put together a Good Manners resource that simplifies the process:
Get clear action steps and character-building insights in our Bible-based approach to good manners
