Of course, Pinocchio was thrilled by the prospect of becoming a real boy, but he almost blew it. Almost immediately, he became sidetracked by Lampwick, who was off to Pleasure Island— a wonderful place where there was "no school and no cops, and they let you break windows and play pool all day long."

Now, that’s the tricky part about temptation. It’s easy to avoid things that don’t tempt you personally! This Disney film was made in 1940, and, at that time, the promises of Pleasure Island might have been very tempting to a young boy. And with temptation always comes justification: “Ok, I’ll go to Pleasure Island today, but I’ll go to school tomorrow.”

Today’s temptations may be different, but the principle is the same. Let’s take food. Our brains are hard wired for instant gratification, and yummy food is virtually irresistible. But giving in is almost always accompanied by justifications: “I know I shouldn’t eat this, but I can always diet tomorrow,” or “I’ll get in an extra workout.” After all, who knows for sure what tomorrow will bring? If we want to avoid temptation, we have to put the thinking part of the brain—0r in this case, our conscience—in charge.

Another useful lesson to be learned from Pinocchio is that if we overindulge we might pay a long-term, hidden price. On Pleasure Island, the boys all turned into donkeys, considered beasts of burden, and were shipped off to the salt mines for life. In today’s world, overweight children often turn into overweight adults, and their struggle with weight control becomes burdensome and lifelong.

Health consequences can be severe. Until just a generation ago, type-two diabetes (the kind associated with overweight) was so rare it was called “adult onset diabetes.” Now, it doesn’t wait for adulthood but is being diagnosed more and more frequently in children. This is a sudden and dangerous trend. What’s worse is that diabetes has no cure! It can only be “managed” with an often-complicated regimen of monitoring and controlling blood sugar. Even when the disease is well controlled, diabetics face significantly increased risks of blindness or amputations, as well as kidney and heart disease. Yet, this devastating disease is largely preventable.

It’s heartbreaking to hear Pinocchio’s friend Lampwick bray, “I don’t want to be a donkey.” It’s equally heartbreaking to hear children crying, “I don’t want to have diabetes. I want to be like the other kids.” We can do something about this before it is too late.

I believe the most compelling message of Pinocchio is that we already know what to do. Although we may need guidance, we don’t necessarily need experts. The Blue Fairy knew that avoiding temptation was difficult. She gave Pinocchio a little help from his conscience and a second chance. She didn’t expect him to be perfect, but she trusted in his ability to learn.

There will always be temptation, but we can teach our children to resist it. We can control their environment so that we don’t have to deal with it so often. We can teach them better habits so things that were once irresistible no longer have such strong appeal. And finally, we can help them pause for a second and listen to their own personal Jiminy Crickets, who will be there to lend a hand when they really feel themselves faltering.