Changing Channels Health Article

Swinging into the kitchen to start dinner, I automatically switched the television on—and was startled when the set produced nothing but snow and hiss. Ten minutes later, my partner Steven hit the same button. Snow and hiss. He blinked at the blank screen for a moment, clicked through a few nonexistent channels, and turned it off. "Yikes," he said, and we stared at each other uneasily, like contestants on some twisted version of Survivor who find themselves abandoned on a desert island with—uh-oh—nothing to watch.

Without really meaning to, we’d gotten into the habit of turning the TV on at dinnertime, mindlessly watching the news segue into a rerun of Friends into Seinfeld. A week earlier, we’d decided to cancel cable. An experiment, we told ourselves. For a month, at least, we’d experience life unplugged. The experiment was under way.

"So," Steven said, glancing around the unusually quiet kitchen. "What’s for dinner?"

I remember exactly. Local asparagus had just appeared at the market. Fresh bay scallops were on sale. I’d make asparagus and scallop risotto. While I sautéed the rice with spring onions, Steven suggested adding zest from one of the Meyer lemons in our garden. In the past, we would have stirred the risotto and tossed the salad with the TV jabbering away. Now we jabbered away, reminiscing about the first time we’d had risotto in Italy, then about the time we made it for guests and it turned to an inedible starchy lump. That night, though, the risotto was creamy and rich, the tang of the lemon zest perfect with the earthy flavor of the asparagus.

In the weeks that followed we made grilled tuna with mango salsa, vegetarian lasagna, bread and lentil soup. Dinner became the main event and we spent more time planning and cooking—and lingering over the meal to savor every bite. We’d almost forgotten how wonderful that could be.

It’s been six years since we pulled the plug on TV. Friends still give us a hard time, raving about the newest series only to stop and say, "Oh, that’s right, you don’t have cable." Once, when a cable salesman called and I patiently explained that we don’t have television, he couldn’t grasp the possibility at first, and then, with heartfelt solicitude, he said, "Oh, I’m so sorry."

Frankly, I don’t even like to mention it anymore. It’s hard to say you don’t have television without sounding smug, especially since the average American now spends more than four hours a day watching the tube—a factor that may be a health hazard. A recent Tufts University study of Hispanic volunteers over the age of 60 linked watching television with higher risk of metabolic syndrome—the nasty combination of excess weight, elevated cholesterol and blood pressure, and insulin resistance that leads to heart disease and diabetes. Each additional daily hour of TV corresponded with a 19 percent increased risk.

The greater worry is kids. A survey of 287 schoolchildren conducted at Baylor College of Medicine found that overweight children reported eating half their dinners in front of the TV, while normal-weight kids only did 35 percent of the time.

I remember when I was a kid myself back in the early 1960s. Swanson’s TV dinners were catching on and ads showed a harried mother rushing into the kitchen with a grocery bag full of Swanson’s. "I’m late," the copy read, "but dinner won’t be!" Occasionally, on nights when my father was away on business, my mother let my brother, sister and me sit down to instant TV dinners, tube on. But when Dad was home, all of us gathered around the table. Those are the meals I remember with real delight, all of us talking about what we’d done during the day, arguing, laughing and carrying on.

By pulling the plug on television, we’ve been able to reclaim that delight. Tonight Steven and I are making pizza from a recipe we dreamed up ourselves—Italian parsley, bits of canned tuna, capers and very thinly sliced Meyer lemons, topped with mozzarella—along with a salad of red leaf lettuce and arugula from the garden.

"What’s it like?" people often ask when we tell them that we don’t have television.

What’s it like? That’s easy. It’s delicious.

Resources

Healthy Eating for Kids Recipes and Menus
Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes
Quick and Healthy Recipes and Menus
Healthy Eating for Kids Center