Health Message (August 22, 2026)

Good Sabbath to you Church,

In these times our appetite is used against us for large industries to keep people addicted to food that has no nutritional value. Their tactics have become more and more bold as they specifically target children with junk food and snacks. And because the tastes and the combination of the foods such as fat and salt or processed sugary foods are so delightful people ignore what they might be doing to their bodies over time.

When it comes to our children, we have a responsibility to oversee their diet and to recognize that once we introduce them to an unhealthy "treat", we may be starting them off on a food addiction that will be hard to break as their pallet gets overstimulated.

"It should be the constant effort of every mother to conform her habits to God's will, that she may work in harmony with Him to preserve her children from the health and life destroying vices of their present day. Let mothers place themselves without delay in right relations to their Creator, that they may by His assisting grace build around their children a bulwark against dissipation and intemperance. If mothers would but follow such a course, they might see their children, like the youthful Daniel, and reach a high standard in moral and intellectual attainments, becoming a blessing to society and an honor to their Creator." (The Signs of the Times, September 22, 1881)

"Mothers who gratify the desires of their children at the expense of health and happy tempers, are sowing seeds of evil that will spring up and bear fruit. Self-indulgence grows with the growth of the little ones, and both mental and physical vigor are sacrificed. Mothers who do this work reap with bitterness the seed they have sown. They see their children grow up unfitted in mind and character to act a noble and useful part in society or in the home. The spiritual as well as the mental and physical powers suffer under the influence of unhealthful food. The conscience becomes stupefied, and the susceptibility to good impressions is impaired." (Counsels on Diet and Food, pg. 230)

“Teach your children to abhor stimulants. How many are ignorantly fostering in them an appetite for these things! In Europe I have seen nurses putting the glass of wine or beer to the lips of the innocent little ones, thus cultivating in them a taste for stimulants. As they grow older, they learn to depend more and more on these things, till little by little they are overcome, drift beyond the reach of help, and at last fill a drunkard's grave.” (Counsels on Diet and Food pg 235)

Let us be a good influence over our children's appetites, teaching them how important it is to make good choices early in life. God placed them in our care and gave us counsel on healthy living to benefit our families and their families for generations to come.

Your sister in Christ, Sandra Torres