My little family no longer feeds itself. I HAVE to make sure they prepare a meal, at least two times a day. this happened when I upgraded, and continues, even tho I praise them for preparing meals. Before this upgrade, they would eat, and I would replenish food...when I came back... I felt comfortable leaving them for a day

Tuse, when you say they no longer feed themselves, do you mean they are starving? There's a discussion here that might help you.

Yes, I mean that they wont feed themselves, as in the past, and seem to have much greater illness

Did you check the thread that I linked for you?

yes, thnx, I'm just running into more illness. and NO.. they arent "starved", I keep praising the food prep and the sitting down. but...they just dont seem to be doing it on their own.
I used to be able to leave them for a day, and the food available would go down, and I could re-stock the fridge for them when I got home, and help them "prepare a meal" NOW...the food bar doesnt go down, as if they ate while I was away,

As Arthur states in this post, your families will not starve if there is food. He also states that the food will last longer now, as the peeps used to stuff themselves.

thanks, that was helpful... I guess mine just got too ill, while I was away for a day

It's no problem. Yes, illnesses tend to spread if the peeps are neglected.

I played for a long time before upgrading to .05 and felt the same way as you do after I did. After reading that post from Arthur, I began to view the fed bar in a different way and it has really helped me a lot. Rather than seeing a full fed bar as meaning "well fed" you have to learn to see it as "overly stuffed." Eventually, you'll get used to the idea of a half full stomach being normal and not having to buy as many groceries is nice for the bank account as well.

Illnesses that hit just after you have closed the game for the night or for a day at work or terrible. They eat away at our little people's health and eventually their happiness levels drop as well. If that wasn't bad enough, most are contagious and quickly spread to other family members. Treat them as quickly as you can when you return. Check family members' status and see who has the lowest health. Check the store for fruits and vitamins.

Hope that helps!