Eat your GREENS!!!!

Now this is a subject that has been bothering me for quite some time and I think I'll simply explode if I don't get it off my chest. It is an issue that every now and then pops in to visit me to let me know it's still lurking. So here I go.
We had a great summer, in fact it was fabulous because we had the rare opportunity to spend some well needed quality time together as a family. It was heavenly. We went to Disney (again), hung out with family, laughed, played, ate and ate some more. This is where I need to pause. It was on one of those wondrous occasions that my old friend returned to visit me. All our family (immediate and extended) were seated around the table and in my usual manner I took on the role of server with our host. While the meal was being served I heard my youngest refuse a serving of rice that he was being offered. I immediately knew from the kitchen that this was going to be an issue, not a big one, but an issue nevertheless. I could feel the raised eyebrows burning through the kitchen wall. You see the cultural melting pot that we have come to love as our family has for many generations used rice as a staple. As a child I remember having rice every day of my life, except Fridays when we had fish and chips (fries Stateside). There was no question as to whether we liked it or not, it's what was for dinner. YOU ATE IT. I actually remember hearing my sister say she hated rice and I thought she was lying, trying to get attention or something. 'How could you not like rice?'. So that was the way we grew up.
Then I became a mom and we had our own two chickadees who came with new and exciting taste preferences of their own. To be fair our eldest's preference was food, more food and always more chicken. That was simple enough. L'il Bit however began life pretty much eating everything we gave him, some things however he ate under duress. As he got older he increasingly began to request 'no rice', which at first was very disconcerting to me. It was our staple, it was what we ate! More and more I noticed that he really did not like rice so I decided to do a mental assessment. Does he eat vegetables? Yes he does, he loves vegetables. Does he eat fruit? Yes he does he loves fruit. As a matter of fact LB loved fruit and veg more than anyone else in our family. So then I asked, 'what nutritional value would he loose by not eating rice?' I didn't know so I did the research - and guess what I found out. The rice that we have traditionally been feeding our children, white rice, bleached and loaded with starch has zero nutritional benefits. If we were to truly attempt to derive nutritional benefit from rice then we would have been feeding our children Brown Basmati Rice for generations. But the truth is we have not. We have been following a tradition which is essentially of no value. When I discussed this with my husband he made the very valid point that rice is used as a filler so that the children do not get hungry again too soon after meals. Very good pint indeed. However, with careful planning it is possible to feed our children with a balanced enough meal, consisting of enough protein and carbohydrates that they will not get hungry again too soon, but rather will be energized by the food provided for them.
So what is the massage here? Before we dive blindly into the feeding traditions handed down to us by our parents, can we first do a little research to find out what the long term ramifications may be. Within our community many, many of our senior folk are suffering with high blood pressure. Research has found a direct link to the starchy foods consumed in high proportions by this community.
It is therefore my plea that we take a little time on this end of our children's lives to make educated decisions about their diets, so that they don't have to spend their adult lives undoing the damage done to their bodies.