Childhood Obesity

[FoxyT]

I want to hear your thoughts on this widely discussed topic. I am having troubles grasping on to why this is happening. Parents become lazy? Uneducated children?

I remember when I was growing up, my parents never bought any of that crap food, I hardly played video games, I was always playing out side and I sure wasn't allowed to watch TV for 3 hours straight. But things are different now with my two younger sisters and I am more then just worried.

[Love4Life]

Originally Posted by FoxyGoddess

I want to hear your thoughts on this widely discussed topic. I am having troubles grasping on to why this is happening. Parents become lazy? Uneducated children?

I remember when I was growing up, my parents never bought any of that crap food, I hardly played video games, I was always playing out side and I sure wasn't allowed to watch TV for 3 hours straight. But things are different now with my two younger sisters and I am more then just worried.

It's scary as hell if you ask me. My parents brought me up on healthy foods and I was very active so I lucked out, but so many of my friends had pantries full of junk food and processed garbage.

My daughter is 16 months old and I try my best to avoid anything packaged or processed. Her favorite foods are salmon, sweet potato and asperagus. She loves water and doesnt even get juice at the moment. I basically introduced her to all the foods I eat and love, and I really hope she'll continue these eating habits into the future.

I'm trying to think back to elementary school, and I really dont remember nutrition being taught properly if at all. I really feel that people just dont know what is healthy. For instance, my younger brother seems to think pizza (not home made) is healthy because there are vegetables on it. I mean really....it's like saying apple pie is healthy because there are apples in it. He is a smart boy...but this just blew me away.

[Casagal]

I was just discussing this at work with my employees over the change in Sesame St. character of Cookie Monster (who's now changed his ways and snacks on veggies rather than cookies).
PersonallI I don't think the culprit of childhood obesity is Cookie Monster, but rather on general inactivity and overeating that need to be regulated at home and school. I agree, my parents didn't buy us junk food and a trip to McDonalds occured as a 'treat' on payday for a cheeseburger and small fries. We were encouraged to play outside in the summer AND winter (sledding in the backyard) and my parents limited the amount of food and types of foods my brothers and I ate.
And of course, everything that we eat for the most part is processed, full of preservatives and added garbage. It's much easier to buy an item that's already prepared at a fast food place or supermarket rather than prepare it from fresh ingrediants (knowing what you put in it). I think in general, people need to change they way they view food as a nutrition source and get back to basics and of course, stay active!

[Dirtbiker]

Raising kids in today's world is tough. Advertising is especially influential on the young. It's up to us as parents to make the right choices for our children and elect not to give in. Fast food is easy, cheap and tempting when you have already had a long day and don't feel like cooking.

Are you a bad parent for buying your kids Mc Donald's from time to time. No. Just don't make it a habit for yourself or your kids. I kick my kids out of the house if the sun is shining. That's how I grew up. I ran, rode a bike, went swimming, played tag and all the things that go along with being a person my age. My son loves video games (so do I) but it's up to me (not him) to set the limits of acceptable gaming time.

Obese kids. Unless they have a legitimate medical problem, parents need to look no farther them themselves for an answer.

[1972girl]

When I was growing up fast food was a once a month treat kind of like a cheat day.We had to ask if we could have a soda and if it was o.k we split a 12oz can between two people. Now I think alot of parents just think of it as regular food.

[FoxyT]

Yeah that's the thing, food we grew up knowing as "treats" are now breakfasts, lunchs and dinners for kids nowadays. There are so many health issue's these kids will be facing, such as, diabetes, heart disease, life expectancy gets cut down by more then 30% and adult obesity.

It's just so sad really.

[pga617]

Yes, you see a lot more kids today eating on a regular basis what I only *wished* I could as a kid. We were never allowed snacks for fear they would spoil our appetite. We got pizza once/week on Friday nights with a small glass of soda. Fast food was an "event" and/or reward once in awhile and it was more so to play on the playground rather than to eat the food. Dinner was cooked at home on a regular basis, not picked up from a window throught the car and lunches were packed from home, not bought from vending machines. We had PE for 1 hr/day and rode bikes and played tag.

Many of today's parents are feeding their children as though they're adults. Think nothing of giving their children fast food on a daily basis....and not happy meals, full on super-sized meals! They do not want to deny their children by telling them, "no, you can't buy that candy bar". It is quite sad to watch.

When I walk through the grocery store, it saddens me to see the children deciding what is going in the shopping cart, and the parent isn't up to arguing or aren't educated themselves about nutrition enough so they pile on the Cheetos, ice cream, soda, chips, etc. while the fruits & veggies are non-existent. I see carts with no actual food, just boxes of man-made crap and think, "geez, those kids aren't making past 50 with diets like this".

[smdiskin]

Exactly, when we were children, we ate real food every day and sweets, cakes and fast food were rare treats. There were no computer games and TV didn't start until the afternoon, so unless it was bucketing rain, you were sent outside to play... so even though (for example) I ate as much as an adult man, I was never a fat child as I was very active.... (I can't believe I used out eat my dad who is 6 foot... at the age of 8)...

[twinnett]

I have to say, I grew up the opposite. My parents are very unhealthy eaters and we ate out almost every night. Growing up, I probably had McDonald's 5 times a week. Eating at home meant huge helpings of pasta and bread or macaroni and cheese...absolutely no veggies other than potatoes and corn. I had to go through a long journey to discover what truly was healthy and I never want my kids to go through that. My parents still eat out every night, do no activity and weigh 300#

As a teacher, I see many kids that ARE active and we're doing a lot to try to make them that way. We started a walking club at my school and we teach them about good nutrition. On the other hand, they can buy pizza for lunch every day if they want and they're only in elementary school. One of the "main" dishes in the cafeteria is nachos and cheese!

[canuck_chick]

I agree with the education issue. I am sure that most people know by now that fatty fast foods aren't good for you, but I don't really think they understand how nutrition works. I think nutrition should be taught in schools so that these kids are shown what their caloric needs are and what a healthy diet should include. Kids are teaching their parents things on a daily basis that they learn at school, why couldn't this be one of them?

The world today is definitely a different one than we grew up in. Same as most others, we ate our meals at home and my mom taught us how to eat healthy. We did eat out once in a blue moon, but it was a special treat. Playing outside was a given, who wanted to be inside when there was so much to do outside? We would leave the house after breakfast and only come back for lunch until dinner time.

Today, however, things are much different. Parents are having to work long hours to make ends meet and they don't have a lot of time or energy to prepare healthy meals. Eating out comes as a convenience to today's busy family. Playing outside in most places these days usually only occurs if a parent is there. There are so many worries and safety concerns for parents these days as well, it is easier for the kids to stay inside under supervision rather than having them outside running free. What is there to do inside other than watch TV and play video games? It sucks when the streets aren't safe enough anymore for children to play in.

[TurbulentFluid]

Originally Posted by FoxyGoddess

I remember when I was growing up, my parents never bought any of that crap food, I hardly played video games, I was always playing out side and I sure wasn't allowed to watch TV for 3 hours straight.

Exactly. Kids have 0 physical activities, plus "advanced" societies like the USA and EU countries are throwing gym/sports classes out the window. Plus, fast food used to be regarded as a 2-3x a year treat, not a rule.
Oh yeah, and parents didn't spend 23 hours at work supporting corporate tendencies and had time to NOTICE their kids.
Grow up guys, a 10-year-old eating a burger needs his/her momma and dada, not a Nutrition 808 class.

[FoxyT]

I have watched a few TV shows about the food they serve in school cafeterias. They say 90%of that food is pre-packaged, frozen, with tons of preservatives in it. Only 10% is actually made from scratch, with healthy ingredients.

Then there is the elementary school I went to when I was a little girl and that I did some volunteer work at in the last few years. They are turning to Spanish emersion, and had to make cut backs, well it was either a music teacher or a gym teacher. GUESS which one got cut! Yup you guessed it!...the gym teacher!

Yes it is scary nowadays for kids to be playing outside, but at the same time, Kids do NOT have to play out side to be active, they can join a sports team, they can join a running club, gymnastics, karate...need I say more?!! Not only do these types of activities help a child's well being physically, but they also help to build a child's self esteem.

[Dannys_momma]

I Have A 4 Year Old And When I Wasn't Eating Healthy, Neither Was He. I Think That Many Parents Themselves Aren't Educated Enough In Nutrition That It Makes It Difficult For Our Children Who Have No Control Over What They Eat. All They Know Is Crappy Food Tastes Really Good And Mommy Lets Me Have It. You Know?. I Think If More Parents Were Educated And Were More Active Themselves It Would Pass On To Not Only Their Children, But Perhaps Other Members Of The Family. Just My Opinion Of Course.