Amid the debris on the table and the flecks of tomato sauce caked to the wall, focused and unrelenting activity is taking place: the consumption of broccoli. Astrid will not touch anything else on her dinner plate. Touch is not quite the right word. She has picked up a spoonful of butter beans only to cast them aside. She has grabbed a slice of bread only to tear it up and hurl the pieces to the ground.
The only thing she will eat are "trees" - what the rest of the world refers to as broccoli. When she does start devouring them, the green, bulbous vegetable heads pass hand-to-mouth in quick succession. Stalks re-emerge, semi-masticated. When she has finished the helping on her plate, Astrid looks up and asks for more.
Obviously there's no problem eating broccoli. Often regarded as a "superfood", it regularly makes it into the list of top 10 foods because, among other things, it is a good source of vitamin C and folic acid. Undoubtedly, it is a fine thing to eat, yet I still find it strange. Usually the problem is coaxing children to put it in their mouths in the first place.
An article I read recently asked: "Why do people not binge on broccoli?" I hesitate to draw any wider conclusions from this single case, but at least one young child does gorge on this green, flower-topped vegetable. Persisting with this unscientific and entirely anecdotal train of thought, the question then becomes, why do people older than three not binge on broccoli?
The article from which the quotation is taken was entitled "Sugar and Fat Bingeing Have Notable Differences in Addictive-like Behavior" and was published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2009. It describes how sugar and fat consumed in bouts of excessive eating can cause changes in the brain that "are comparable to the effects of drug abuse". Food laden with sugar and larded with fat creates a heady combination: it is habit-forming and waistline bulging. Sugars eaten in concentrated spells produce "opiate-like withdrawal signs", but do not tend to make people put on much weight. Fats eaten in a similar way do not produce similar withdrawal signs, but obviously do make people pile on weight.
If you start looking at junk food in the same way as drugs such as heroin or tobacco, it helps to harden your attitude towards it, especially with your children. Water is just as good as fizzy drinks and sugary juices. Carrot sticks are as handy and portable snacks as crisps. But it's not always easy to maintain this attitude. Astrid has already developed a taste for ice cream and displays "opiate-like" fondness for expensive Swiss chocolates. Nevertheless, these remain exceptions rather than junk rules.
Earlier this month, San Francisco's board of supervisors tried to limit the attractiveness of fast food to children by passing an ordinance that requires meals sold with toys to meet certain nutritional standards. In effect, it bans Happy Meals from McDonald's and other similar take-away meals with free toys because they do not contain enough fruit, vegetables or multigrain. Some parents have welcomed this state intervention, while others have seen it as government meddling that curtails freedom of choice.
The ruling is interesting but misguided. No doubt McDonald's, like bootleggers during the Prohibition era, will work out some way to circumvent it. Given the apparent addictive nature of these types of meals, perhaps the ancillary toys are the last thing on children's minds when they demand McDonald's. Parents, not governments, must take control of what children eat. Better still, children can be guided in their decisions about what to eat. You never know, maybe they will choose the broccoli.
* Robert Carroll
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Top 5 concerns globally:
1. Unemployment
2. Spread of infectious diseases
3. Fiscal crises
4. Cyber attacks
5. Profound social instability
Top 5 concerns in the Mena region
1. Energy price shock
2. Fiscal crises
3. Spread of infectious diseases
4. Unmanageable inflation
5. Cyber attacks
Source: World Economic Foundation
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Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
88 Video's most popular rentals
Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Zombieland: Double Tap
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone
Four out of five stars
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying