My son stopped eating fries and I had nothing to do with it

I have two sons. One is more curious about nutrition;  he’s currently is into acai bowls, helps Carolyn and I test recipes etc. Then there’s my older son. He isn’t super technologically-inclined but figured out Postmates/Shake Shack really quickly. While he’s very diligent about fitness and enjoys our organic, veggie-loaded family meals, he doesn’t care too much about nutrition. That’s fine, I have made a point not to shove nutrition down my kid’s throats (in the idiomatic sense, I guess those family meals are forced on them).

Last week, this study made the rounds. Less-healthy son is a current events buff. He came into the kitchen and declared he was giving up French fries. He told everyone about this study. The study found that those who had fries more than twice a week were twice as likely to die prematurely. For the record, non-fried potatoes (roasted, baked) were exonerated.

 I wasn’t going to tell my son to keep eating fries but this study has some issues. These fry lovers, we don’t know what else they did. They could also be soda drinkers or couch potatoes or super stressed out. It’s very difficult to tease out one relationship. And there’s a portion issue too, twice a week of fries makes you die but once is perfectly fine?

I get it, “fries twice a week is associated with early death but the relationship isn’t causal” isn’t too catchy. What interested me most of all of this was that this fact so changed my son’s attitude toward a food he loves (too much). Maybe, I need to be blunter? Video games, body odor and rudeness make you die early too? In any event, don’t tell my son about the technicalities of the fry news. And while we’re deceiving my kids, don’t tell my younger son about the sugar in those acai bowls.