Too Fat for Fifteen

124

Replies

  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
    These fat kids are freaks.

    An overweight person is now referred to on MFP as a freak? How very motivatving...:huh:
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
    You are absolutely right. These fat kids are freaks. And it is there parents fault. The only way to address the issue is to claim it as an issue and deal with it directly. No sugar coating or eggshell walking. A child should not be that fat at that age. An adult shouldn't be that fat. The 17 year old girl had a starting weight of over 500lbs! That means she weighs more than 70% of professional football players. Her parents have turned her into a freak by not taking care of her. If the term 'child abuse' hurts someones ittby bitty feewings than I will call it 'child NEGLECT.' These children did not get this way overnight and their parents watched them grow bigger and bigger and did not make a move to fix it. Scotty's mom took him to a freaking buffet! A BUFFET! And lets not forget she took the easy way out and got gastric by pass, and so did his father. So they are not even setting an example and working out with him to help him. It is abuse. If you have kids and you are not enforcing healthy eating habits you are abusing/neglecting your child's basic needs and shame on you!

    "These fat kids are freaks." Do you have kids?

    I do have kids. And yes these kids are freaks and IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT! It is the fault of the PARENTS! The parents sat and watched these kids grow into this massive freakish size and did nothing about it at all! NOTHING! These parents are cruel and neglectful of their children's state of health and it is criminal to not provide the guidance and PARENTING that is part of the job of raising children. My kids eat healthy because I dont have bad food in the house. Don't go complaining about my 5 year old will only eat (insert crappy food here)! The kid is 5 and the parent is the adult. Who is the boss?

    Going to take a giant leap here, but have a feeling you were an overweight child yourself from the sounds of it....
  • sillygoose1977
    sillygoose1977 Posts: 2,151 Member
    You are absolutely right. These fat kids are freaks. And it is there parents fault. The only way to address the issue is to claim it as an issue and deal with it directly. No sugar coating or eggshell walking. A child should not be that fat at that age. An adult shouldn't be that fat. The 17 year old girl had a starting weight of over 500lbs! That means she weighs more than 70% of professional football players. Her parents have turned her into a freak by not taking care of her. If the term 'child abuse' hurts someones ittby bitty feewings than I will call it 'child NEGLECT.' These children did not get this way overnight and their parents watched them grow bigger and bigger and did not make a move to fix it. Scotty's mom took him to a freaking buffet! A BUFFET! And lets not forget she took the easy way out and got gastric by pass, and so did his father. So they are not even setting an example and working out with him to help him. It is abuse. If you have kids and you are not enforcing healthy eating habits you are abusing/neglecting your child's basic needs and shame on you!

    "These fat kids are freaks." Do you have kids?

    I do have kids. And yes these kids are freaks and IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT! It is the fault of the PARENTS! The parents sat and watched these kids grow into this massive freakish size and did nothing about it at all! NOTHING! These parents are cruel and neglectful of their children's state of health and it is criminal to not provide the guidance and PARENTING that is part of the job of raising children. My kids eat healthy because I dont have bad food in the house. Don't go complaining about my 5 year old will only eat (insert crappy food here)! The kid is 5 and the parent is the adult. Who is the boss?

    I was just wondering if you had kids because you called them "freaks". Horrible way to speak of children no matter what the circumstance.
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
    You are absolutely right. These fat kids are freaks. And it is there parents fault. The only way to address the issue is to claim it as an issue and deal with it directly. No sugar coating or eggshell walking. A child should not be that fat at that age. An adult shouldn't be that fat. The 17 year old girl had a starting weight of over 500lbs! That means she weighs more than 70% of professional football players. Her parents have turned her into a freak by not taking care of her. If the term 'child abuse' hurts someones ittby bitty feewings than I will call it 'child NEGLECT.' These children did not get this way overnight and their parents watched them grow bigger and bigger and did not make a move to fix it. Scotty's mom took him to a freaking buffet! A BUFFET! And lets not forget she took the easy way out and got gastric by pass, and so did his father. So they are not even setting an example and working out with him to help him. It is abuse. If you have kids and you are not enforcing healthy eating habits you are abusing/neglecting your child's basic needs and shame on you!

    "These fat kids are freaks." Do you have kids?

    I do have kids. And yes these kids are freaks and IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT! It is the fault of the PARENTS! The parents sat and watched these kids grow into this massive freakish size and did nothing about it at all! NOTHING! These parents are cruel and neglectful of their children's state of health and it is criminal to not provide the guidance and PARENTING that is part of the job of raising children. My kids eat healthy because I dont have bad food in the house. Don't go complaining about my 5 year old will only eat (insert crappy food here)! The kid is 5 and the parent is the adult. Who is the boss?

    I was just wondering if you had kids because you called them "freaks". Horrible way to speak of children no matter what the circumstance.
    ditto:drinker:
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
    These fat kids are freaks.

    And I'm sure you, sir, are absolutely perfect.

    I am far from perfect. But my children are at a healthy weight, know what fruit and vegetables are and prefer healthy food, to junk food, because their parents actually parent them. We educate them on what the difference is between a protein and a carb. They know what saturated fat is and they...GASP...read the labels on the foods they eat. Nobody is perfect but my kids are not obese because I wont let them be.


    I seriously hope that your kids do not touch junk food outside of the house and develope a weight problem, because if you call them a freak, be prepared for the problem to get MUCH worse. Trust me, my dad beleived in tough love. He called me fat when I was chubby, and then I felt like crap about myself and ate more...you have to have a more positive approach with childern. Its fine to say whatever on here, I just hope you dont make them feel bad about themselves.
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
    These fat kids are freaks.

    And I'm sure you, sir, are absolutely perfect.

    I am far from perfect. But my children are at a healthy weight, know what fruit and vegetables are and prefer healthy food, to junk food, because their parents actually parent them. We educate them on what the difference is between a protein and a carb. They know what saturated fat is and they...GASP...read the labels on the foods they eat. Nobody is perfect but my kids are not obese because I wont let them be.


    I seriously hope that your kids do not touch junk food outside of the house and develope a weight problem, because if you call them a freak, be prepared for the problem to get MUCH worse. Trust me, my dad beleived in tough love. He called me fat when I was chubby, and then I felt like crap about myself and ate more...you have to have a more positive approach with childern. Its fine to say whatever on here, I just hope you dont make them feel bad about themselves.


    And By the way, you are BLIND if you think ur kids prefer healthy food over junk...lets be realistic here!
  • You are absolutely right. These fat kids are freaks. And it is there parents fault. The only way to address the issue is to claim it as an issue and deal with it directly. No sugar coating or eggshell walking. A child should not be that fat at that age. An adult shouldn't be that fat. The 17 year old girl had a starting weight of over 500lbs! That means she weighs more than 70% of professional football players. Her parents have turned her into a freak by not taking care of her. If the term 'child abuse' hurts someones ittby bitty feewings than I will call it 'child NEGLECT.' These children did not get this way overnight and their parents watched them grow bigger and bigger and did not make a move to fix it. Scotty's mom took him to a freaking buffet! A BUFFET! And lets not forget she took the easy way out and got gastric by pass, and so did his father. So they are not even setting an example and working out with him to help him. It is abuse. If you have kids and you are not enforcing healthy eating habits you are abusing/neglecting your child's basic needs and shame on you!

    "These fat kids are freaks." Do you have kids?

    I do have kids. And yes these kids are freaks and IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT! It is the fault of the PARENTS! The parents sat and watched these kids grow into this massive freakish size and did nothing about it at all! NOTHING! These parents are cruel and neglectful of their children's state of health and it is criminal to not provide the guidance and PARENTING that is part of the job of raising children. My kids eat healthy because I dont have bad food in the house. Don't go complaining about my 5 year old will only eat (insert crappy food here)! The kid is 5 and the parent is the adult. Who is the boss?

    So if your kids did just happen to have a weight problem, (I know you said they don't, and that's great, but suppose for a second they did) you'd be okay with some adult calling them freaks, and commenting on their "massive freakish size"?

    I don't know, maybe it's just me...I was fat at 15, and if someone called me "massively freakish in size", it'd have killed me to hear that. "Like "I know I'm fat, I don't need someone pointing out I'm a 'fat freak'."

    Insulting doesn't help, just like sugarcoating doesn't. Sensitivity helps. Helping helps.

    People pointed out my whole life that I was fat...made all kinds of insulting comments like you made. Do you think that motivated me to go out and get fit? No, it made me hide from everyone and eat.

    No one is chasing these kids around with pitch forks calling them freaks. A child at that age who is over 200lbs is freakishly large. The medical community came up with the terms obese and morbidly(freakishly) obese because fat was not an effective enough descriptor. I am not saying lets demean these kids and call them names. I am stating a fact. FACT: These children are morbidly(freakishly) obese. The sooner people stop tip-toeing around the facts and address the problem, the sooner work can be done to fix it.

    And if my child was obese and someone called them a freak then it would be me, who would be responsible for my child's pain and indignity because i did not do the job of parenting I should have to ensure that I fed my child healthy nutritious food and not let them overindulge.
  • You are absolutely right. These fat kids are freaks. And it is there parents fault. The only way to address the issue is to claim it as an issue and deal with it directly. No sugar coating or eggshell walking. A child should not be that fat at that age. An adult shouldn't be that fat. The 17 year old girl had a starting weight of over 500lbs! That means she weighs more than 70% of professional football players. Her parents have turned her into a freak by not taking care of her. If the term 'child abuse' hurts someones ittby bitty feewings than I will call it 'child NEGLECT.' These children did not get this way overnight and their parents watched them grow bigger and bigger and did not make a move to fix it. Scotty's mom took him to a freaking buffet! A BUFFET! And lets not forget she took the easy way out and got gastric by pass, and so did his father. So they are not even setting an example and working out with him to help him. It is abuse. If you have kids and you are not enforcing healthy eating habits you are abusing/neglecting your child's basic needs and shame on you!

    "These fat kids are freaks." Do you have kids?

    I do have kids. And yes these kids are freaks and IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT! It is the fault of the PARENTS! The parents sat and watched these kids grow into this massive freakish size and did nothing about it at all! NOTHING! These parents are cruel and neglectful of their children's state of health and it is criminal to not provide the guidance and PARENTING that is part of the job of raising children. My kids eat healthy because I dont have bad food in the house. Don't go complaining about my 5 year old will only eat (insert crappy food here)! The kid is 5 and the parent is the adult. Who is the boss?

    Going to take a giant leap here, but have a feeling you were an overweight child yourself from the sounds of it....

    I was not an overweight child. I was an athlete. What I saw as a child was my grandmother get her leg cut off and go blind and die from type 2 (the preventable one) diabetes. I also saw 2 of my favorite cousins die from diabetes and my favorite unvle die of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented by proper diet and exercise. Children are getting tupe 2 diabetes at an alarming rate. We freak out when a parent smokes a cigarette with their children in the car but no on says a peep when a parent feeds their kids nitrate ridden(carcinogen...look it up) hot dogs, and trans fat loaded chicken fingers and fries. We just give up and say (que whiny voice) my 5 year old will only eat the mac and cheese and hot dogs and happy meals and candy. People are more cautious about the food they purchase for their pets than they are their own children. Everyone needs to come to grips with the fact that it is a PARENTS responsibility to clothe, shelter, nurture, and feed healthy food to their children. If you don't the fault lies with you if your child grows up being morbidly(freakishly) obese. And all the pain and suffering they receive in school from bullies and their ilk is ON YOU!

    Oh yeah, the legal term for a 15 year old is MINOR! A parent that gives a child alcohol can be charged with child endangerment. An adult not the parent that gives a 15 year old alcohol can be charged with CONTRIBUTING TO THE DELINQUENCY OF A MINOR! Being 15 does not make you more responsible. It just means your parents are STILL responsible for your actions for 3 more years.
  • These fat kids are freaks.

    And I'm sure you, sir, are absolutely perfect.

    I am far from perfect. But my children are at a healthy weight, know what fruit and vegetables are and prefer healthy food, to junk food, because their parents actually parent them. We educate them on what the difference is between a protein and a carb. They know what saturated fat is and they...GASP...read the labels on the foods they eat. Nobody is perfect but my kids are not obese because I wont let them be.


    I seriously hope that your kids do not touch junk food outside of the house and develope a weight problem, because if you call them a freak, be prepared for the problem to get MUCH worse. Trust me, my dad beleived in tough love. He called me fat when I was chubby, and then I felt like crap about myself and ate more...you have to have a more positive approach with childern. Its fine to say whatever on here, I just hope you dont make them feel bad about themselves.


    And By the way, you are BLIND if you think ur kids prefer healthy food over junk...lets be realistic here!

    Please read my post before commenting. I did not call any child directly a freak. There weight problems have made them morbidly (freakishly) obese. No one is saying chase kids around and call them names. I never call my children names. I let them know the realities of unhealthy eating and teach them how to make healthy choices. Also on Sundays our family has a cheat day where we are allowed to eat some junk food in moderation. My children are no weak, whiny, sniveling people who need to be rubbed on the head every time they are faced with unpleasant situations. Being a good parent means knowing when to have a positive approach and when to give them tough love. If all a parent does is blow smoke about rainbows and happy feelings they are doing their children a huge disservice. Because the real world will eat them alive. And yes my children do prefer healthy food because that is what they have been raised on. They also have been show and taught the effects of unhealthy eating and they see them first hand at school. They have encouraged their peers with love to eat healthier and exercise. Being realistic means taking responsibility of your role as a parent and properly preparing your children to thrive in the real world.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    i just wanted to make one comment...about children prefering healthy food. I was raised on healthy food, I never even had a piece of candy until I was five years old. I looked at a kid at my preschool eating twinkies and said to them, "Ugh, how can you eat that? Do you want some of my carrots?" nobody prompted me to say it, it was my own original thought that whatever that "thing" was they were eating, it didn't look good, or like a food source to me. I was twenty years old before I ever had my first taste of koolaid. I was always a healthy weight, due to my parents feeding me a nutritious diet and making sure I stayed involved in active extracurricular pastimes.

    Children learn to like and crave what they are taught is good food. See videos of children in asia happily gobbling down insects, frogs, you name it. We have socialized children in america (western cultures, I should include) to develop a taste for high fat, high sugar foods. That is not a naturally occurring condition, it's a learned behavior. And any person can learn new behaviors.

    The idea that children need to have access to junk food, or that they can't develop tastes for healthy food, is just not true.
  • mrsyac2
    mrsyac2 Posts: 2,784 Member
    i just wanted to make one comment...about children prefering healthy food. I was raised on healthy food, I never even had a piece of candy until I was five years old. I looked at a kid at my preschool eating twinkies and said to them, "Ugh, how can you eat that? Do you want some of my carrots?" nobody prompted me to say it, it was my own original thought that whatever that "thing" was they were eating, it didn't look good, or like a food source to me. I was twenty years old before I ever had my first taste of koolaid. I was always a healthy weight, due to my parents feeding me a nutritious diet and making sure I stayed involved in active extracurricular pastimes.

    Children learn to like and crave what they are taught is good food. See videos of children in asia happily gobbling down insects, frogs, you name it. We have socialized children in america (western cultures, I should include) to develop a taste for high fat, high sugar foods. That is not a naturally occurring condition, it's a learned behavior. And any person can learn new behaviors.

    The idea that children need to have access to junk food, or that they can't develop tastes for healthy food, is just not true.

    Very well said. My kids eat good and drink water (gasp) sometimes they prefer water. They enjoy vegetables I can't cook enough broccoli for my youngest she will eat all of hers then hit up everyone elses plate "do you want your broccolli" when we go to restaurants they order the house salad before their meal always amazing the server that their are children that actually enjoy decent food. People always say my child won't eat this or that all they will eat is this... that's bull Sh%t. They eat what you give them. I don't do special orders in my house and I am a young mom. It disgusts me to see children with caps on their teeth from sugary foods and poor hygeine just like it disgusts me to see overweight/obese children- I want to slap the mess out of the parents. Kids these days have too much damn power what happened to parenting. Everyone says wooes me or boo hoo life is hard... No Sh&t life is hard it's life. Don't use stuff in the past as a crutch towards your future. maybe if parents stepped up as actual parents this generation that we are raising wouldn't be so bad.
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    From a previous comment: I think the kids are up to 20 grams of fat a day. I looked at my diet and there is no way I can shave off fat to get down to 20 grams...unless I go liquid.
  • mlagena
    mlagena Posts: 154 Member
    Hey, I have a qestion for the parents.
    I've read some, "my kids only get healthy foods," but I was wondering - what about trick or treat??
    Just curious how you handle all that candy! lol
  • mrsyac2
    mrsyac2 Posts: 2,784 Member
    Hey, I have a qestion for the parents.
    I've read some, "my kids only get healthy foods," but I was wondering - what about trick or treat??
    Just curious how you handle all that candy! lol

    My kids get a little bit, Simply because of their teeth. I'm not a food Nazi but I also think about my kids well being. I don't want them having silver caps in their mouths just like I don't want them to be over weight.
  • sillygoose1977
    sillygoose1977 Posts: 2,151 Member
    Hey, I have a qestion for the parents.
    I've read some, "my kids only get healthy foods," but I was wondering - what about trick or treat??
    Just curious how you handle all that candy! lol

    My daughter doesn't ONLY get healthy food. Everything in moderation!:wink:
  • Hey, I have a qestion for the parents.
    I've read some, "my kids only get healthy foods," but I was wondering - what about trick or treat??
    Just curious how you handle all that candy! lol

    My daughter doesn't ONLY get healthy food. Everything in moderation!:wink:

    We dont do Halloween. So we dont have that headache lol.
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    Everything in moderation here too.
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
    i just wanted to make one comment...about children prefering healthy food. I was raised on healthy food, I never even had a piece of candy until I was five years old. I looked at a kid at my preschool eating twinkies and said to them, "Ugh, how can you eat that? Do you want some of my carrots?" nobody prompted me to say it, it was my own original thought that whatever that "thing" was they were eating, it didn't look good, or like a food source to me. I was twenty years old before I ever had my first taste of koolaid. I was always a healthy weight, due to my parents feeding me a nutritious diet and making sure I stayed involved in active extracurricular pastimes.

    Children learn to like and crave what they are taught is good food. See videos of children in asia happily gobbling down insects, frogs, you name it. We have socialized children in america (western cultures, I should include) to develop a taste for high fat, high sugar foods. That is not a naturally occurring condition, it's a learned behavior. And any person can learn new behaviors.

    The idea that children need to have access to junk food, or that they can't develop tastes for healthy food, is just not true.


    Its not that they need to have access to junk, its that they WILL have access to junk. I fully beleive that children should be raised on healthy food, and my nephew didnt have candy until he was five also, I think thats a normal age. After that, it was over!! He wanted sugar everyday! Of course he didnt get it, but sugar is like crack to these kids, they get addicted! You think that a child doesnt know what tastes good?
  • amietest
    amietest Posts: 57 Member
    I think a lot of you would find fault with how I let my kids eat. My main goal is to make food not a big deal, and not have drama that will show up in unhealthy food habits later in life, when they are grown.

    So I buy a lot of fruit and veggies, stock the house with lean meats and lean dairy, and also a variety of breads and cereals and sandwich toppers. Then, the kids have free rein. I cook healthy meals but if the kids don't want to they don't have to eat them. They serve themselves from the serving dishes. Sometimes, taco day means they eat cheese and beans and a tortilla. Sometimes it means lettuce, tomato and chicken taco meat. No drama, they can eat what they want, or skip it all and make themselves a peanut butter sandwich or have a bowl of cereal.

    If they want sweets, they can eat sweets. Normally in our house that means they have to bake them first, with help, so it's generally not instant gratification, but still, if they bake cupcakes and want to eat three of them, fine. Other than making sure they understand that the cupcakes aren't really doing much to help them grow - I'm not making an issue out of it.

    If and when they get a health or weight issue, we'll deal with it. But for now, I just want to keep eating a non-event. Eat what you want when you are hungry, otherwise just forget about it.
  • amietest
    amietest Posts: 57 Member
    I think a lot of you would find fault with how I let my kids eat. My main goal is to make food not a big deal, and not have drama that will show up in unhealthy food habits later in life, when they are grown.

    So I buy a lot of fruit and veggies, stock the house with lean meats and lean dairy, and also a variety of breads and cereals and sandwich toppers. Then, the kids have free rein. I cook healthy meals but if the kids don't want to they don't have to eat them. They serve themselves from the serving dishes. Sometimes, taco day means they eat cheese and beans and a tortilla. Sometimes it means lettuce, tomato and chicken taco meat. No drama, they can eat what they want, or skip it all and make themselves a peanut butter sandwich or have a bowl of cereal.

    If they want sweets, they can eat sweets. Normally in our house that means they have to bake them first, with help, so it's generally not instant gratification, but still, if they bake cupcakes and want to eat three of them, fine. Other than making sure they understand that the cupcakes aren't really doing much to help them grow - I'm not making an issue out of it.

    If and when they get a health or weight issue, we'll deal with it. But for now, I just want to keep eating a non-event. Eat what you want when you are hungry, otherwise just forget about it.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    i just wanted to make one comment...about children prefering healthy food. I was raised on healthy food, I never even had a piece of candy until I was five years old. I looked at a kid at my preschool eating twinkies and said to them, "Ugh, how can you eat that? Do you want some of my carrots?" nobody prompted me to say it, it was my own original thought that whatever that "thing" was they were eating, it didn't look good, or like a food source to me. I was twenty years old before I ever had my first taste of koolaid. I was always a healthy weight, due to my parents feeding me a nutritious diet and making sure I stayed involved in active extracurricular pastimes.

    Children learn to like and crave what they are taught is good food. See videos of children in asia happily gobbling down insects, frogs, you name it. We have socialized children in america (western cultures, I should include) to develop a taste for high fat, high sugar foods. That is not a naturally occurring condition, it's a learned behavior. And any person can learn new behaviors.

    The idea that children need to have access to junk food, or that they can't develop tastes for healthy food, is just not true.


    Its not that they need to have access to junk, its that they WILL have access to junk. I fully beleive that children should be raised on healthy food, and my nephew didnt have candy until he was five also, I think thats a normal age. After that, it was over!! He wanted sugar everyday! Of course he didnt get it, but sugar is like crack to these kids, they get addicted! You think that a child doesnt know what tastes good?

    I think a child's tastes are going to adapt to what they are exposed to. "tastes good" is a matter of perspective. I know there are folks who find coffee to be a delicious experience, the taste of it makes me gag. and I was directing my comments towards the mindset that it is "depriving" kids of something if you don't stock your house with a lot of junk. There are people who defend this behavior and explain that they want to make sure their kids "get something good" so they "have to" buy the junk. I call BS on that kind of thinking.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    I think a lot of you would find fault with how I let my kids eat. My main goal is to make food not a big deal, and not have drama that will show up in unhealthy food habits later in life, when they are grown.

    So I buy a lot of fruit and veggies, stock the house with lean meats and lean dairy, and also a variety of breads and cereals and sandwich toppers. Then, the kids have free rein. I cook healthy meals but if the kids don't want to they don't have to eat them. They serve themselves from the serving dishes. Sometimes, taco day means they eat cheese and beans and a tortilla. Sometimes it means lettuce, tomato and chicken taco meat. No drama, they can eat what they want, or skip it all and make themselves a peanut butter sandwich or have a bowl of cereal.

    If they want sweets, they can eat sweets. Normally in our house that means they have to bake them first, with help, so it's generally not instant gratification, but still, if they bake cupcakes and want to eat three of them, fine. Other than making sure they understand that the cupcakes aren't really doing much to help them grow - I'm not making an issue out of it.

    If and when they get a health or weight issue, we'll deal with it. But for now, I just want to keep eating a non-event. Eat what you want when you are hungry, otherwise just forget about it.

    with perfect sincerity, and curiosity...how is that working? Are your kids healthy? I think the underlying idea is ok, I just am curious about how well it is working out and whether your kids are getting the nutrition they need to grow up healthy. Some kids in that environment would instinctively select well, and some would not.
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
    i just wanted to make one comment...about children prefering healthy food. I was raised on healthy food, I never even had a piece of candy until I was five years old. I looked at a kid at my preschool eating twinkies and said to them, "Ugh, how can you eat that? Do you want some of my carrots?" nobody prompted me to say it, it was my own original thought that whatever that "thing" was they were eating, it didn't look good, or like a food source to me. I was twenty years old before I ever had my first taste of koolaid. I was always a healthy weight, due to my parents feeding me a nutritious diet and making sure I stayed involved in active extracurricular pastimes.

    Children learn to like and crave what they are taught is good food. See videos of children in asia happily gobbling down insects, frogs, you name it. We have socialized children in america (western cultures, I should include) to develop a taste for high fat, high sugar foods. That is not a naturally occurring condition, it's a learned behavior. And any person can learn new behaviors.

    The idea that children need to have access to junk food, or that they can't develop tastes for healthy food, is just not true.


    Its not that they need to have access to junk, its that they WILL have access to junk. I fully beleive that children should be raised on healthy food, and my nephew didnt have candy until he was five also, I think thats a normal age. After that, it was over!! He wanted sugar everyday! Of course he didnt get it, but sugar is like crack to these kids, they get addicted! You think that a child doesnt know what tastes good?

    I think a child's tastes are going to adapt to what they are exposed to. "tastes good" is a matter of perspective. I know there are folks who find coffee to be a delicious experience, the taste of it makes me gag. and I was directing my comments towards the mindset that it is "depriving" kids of something if you don't stock your house with a lot of junk. There are people who defend this behavior and explain that they want to make sure their kids "get something good" so they "have to" buy the junk. I call BS on that kind of thinking.


    oh I gotcha, I agree, not buying junk is not depriving. Trying to push fruit as a dessert most times is a good idea, and I think sweets are ok once in awhile, but very seldomly, and kids should know that its a special treat. Thats my plan anyways :smile:
  • My husband and I are both obese. So far, we have been succeeding in raising our son to make healthy choices. He is not deprived of snacks, but neither is he offered them - he has to come to us for them. The only time we really say no is if the majority of his food intake for that day hasn't been the healthy variety. If he's eaten the right portions of food for him for the day and they've been good choices, he can make one small choice of a snack later. And quite honestly, more often than not, his choices lean more toward a cup of yogurt or a serving of fruit or a string cheese stick than they do chips or cookies. That's not to say he doesn't choose chips or cookies, but he certainly eats them less than one would think.

    He ONLY drinks water. ONLY. And that is by his choice 100%. One day he was drinking milk all day long, the next day he went cold turkey by his choice over to water, and he hasn't touched a cup of milk in over 4 years. He has never wanted to try soda and doesn't like juice. Not like I'm complaining - water only costs us the cost of the water filters, and it's good for ya, so he gets all of it he wants.

    He packs his own lunch for school and most of the time the least healthy thing is the PBJ. It's mostly water, yogurt, and a cheese stick (and when it's not, it's usually water, fruit sauce, and a serving of fresh fruit, or similar) as the other items. He gets to have one school lunch per week, and he usually manages to make the healthier choice off the lunch menu, too.

    Trick or treat time is not a problem around here. We go out, collect the candy, he eats a couple pieces, and then he pretty much forgets about the candy stash by the next morning - my husband hauls it off to work for his candy-gluttonous coworkers, and nobody even cares. My son's autistic so it's actually more of a lesson in social skills and manners than it is about the candy. Otherwise we probably wouldn't even bother doing it.

    I'm hoping he continues these good eating habits. I would never want him to follow in my husband's or my footsteps in that respect.
  • JenniferH81
    JenniferH81 Posts: 285 Member
    I was always on the big side growing up too. However I'd have to place the blame on myself for it...not my family. Yes..portions were too large...and yes my mother constantly offered me snacks. But I very clearly remember SNEAKING food from the junk food cabinet also. I would just never feel full, and eat all day long.

    Now I feel like I might be too hard on my daughter about it. She's built on a larger frame like I am, she's 7 and about 65 lbs. however she's skinny. what worries me is how she's constantly asking about food. what time is lunch what's for dinner what time is a snack. all day long she's thinking about food. and yes, right now I control that...by setting specific times and what the food options are. but when she gets old enough to not care what I say (LOL) I see a problem coming.

    But about the show, I think losing weight is giving them all self confidence. I dont see them being on the show as a bad thing at all. They're helping teenagers everywhere, who watch that show and realize that they can do it too. It's like biggest loser...I know I get motivated watching them all cry in the gym ;) so a show geared towards teenagers really could do some good.
  • amietest
    amietest Posts: 57 Member
    I think a lot of you would find fault with how I let my kids eat. My main goal is to make food not a big deal, and not have drama that will show up in unhealthy food habits later in life, when they are grown.

    So I buy a lot of fruit and veggies, stock the house with lean meats and lean dairy, and also a variety of breads and cereals and sandwich toppers. Then, the kids have free rein. I cook healthy meals but if the kids don't want to they don't have to eat them. They serve themselves from the serving dishes. Sometimes, taco day means they eat cheese and beans and a tortilla. Sometimes it means lettuce, tomato and chicken taco meat. No drama, they can eat what they want, or skip it all and make themselves a peanut butter sandwich or have a bowl of cereal.

    If they want sweets, they can eat sweets. Normally in our house that means they have to bake them first, with help, so it's generally not instant gratification, but still, if they bake cupcakes and want to eat three of them, fine. Other than making sure they understand that the cupcakes aren't really doing much to help them grow - I'm not making an issue out of it.

    If and when they get a health or weight issue, we'll deal with it. But for now, I just want to keep eating a non-event. Eat what you want when you are hungry, otherwise just forget about it.

    with perfect sincerity, and curiosity...how is that working? Are your kids healthy? I think the underlying idea is ok, I just am curious about how well it is working out and whether your kids are getting the nutrition they need to grow up healthy. Some kids in that environment would instinctively select well, and some would not.

    It is actually working really well if you look at it a week at a time. There are the days they eat nothing but veggies and the days they eat only protein and the days they eat only carbs. They are healthy and their BMIs are lean but the doctor has never worried about their weight. They eat sweets but not to excess. The area where we do struggle is one of them doesn't like milk at all. Never has. She loves water and asks for it for every meal. But she does like yogurt, etc, and we do calcium supplements. Right now, we're trying to figure out if she is actually lactose intolerant and that's why she doesn't like milk or if it is just a taste thing. Otherwise, it's going fine so far. Who knows when they grow up though? It's all a guessing game as a parent.
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    Now I feel like I might be too hard on my daughter about it. She's built on a larger frame like I am, she's 7 and about 65 lbs. however she's skinny. what worries me is how she's constantly asking about food. what time is lunch what's for dinner what time is a snack. all day long she's thinking about food. and yes, right now I control that...by setting specific times and what the food options are. but when she gets old enough to not care what I say (LOL) I see a problem coming.

    But about the show, I think losing weight is giving them all self confidence. I dont see them being on the show as a bad thing at all. They're helping teenagers everywhere, who watch that show and realize that they can do it too. It's like biggest loser...I know I get motivated watching them all cry in the gym ;) so a show geared towards teenagers really could do some good.

    Your daughter may need more protein in each meal.
  • nikkijennings
    nikkijennings Posts: 130 Member
    Wow..... what a thread, I've gone through it in three sittings and am almost scared to post!!!! :wink: :laugh:

    My daughter is 10 years old. She is a lovely size for her height (dinky!) But I do send VERY clear messages to her and have done all her life.... If she doesn't eat her meal, she is allowed NOTHING later other than fruit, a message that she is now old enough to see the logic in and repeats back to me (regularly!!)

    There are three adults in the house and we all practice what we preach with this one too.

    She is praised if she eats healthily and makes good choices, I DO NOT let her eat what she wants when she wants..... like so many of you, we have a Wii, PS3, XBox, DS etc etc...... but where is my daughter???? Outside.... cycling, skates, skateboard, football, building dens, in the park. I am lucky that our house overlooks a green so she has a HUGE safe area to play on right in front of us.

    At school she plays the flute, tag rugby, football and dance.

    She also PREFERS water to anything else, but will have the odd glass of soda, milk, milkshake or juice.... but still prefers the water.

    Her school ONLY allows water to drink, and must be provided in clear bottles so that it can be checked.

    In the UK, our little ones are actually being taught about healthy eating and that message has been brought through from the age of 5.

    Our family has also signed up to "Change4Life" in the UK http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/walk-for-life.aspx

    And...... the worst bit is, all the adults in our house are obese or morbidly obese!!!!! Ouch (hence being on here!!!) I do, (gotta laugh at the previous comment!!!) have a very underactive thyroid as well as ME/ CFS/ Fibromyalgia..... but she still sees us trying to rectify the situation........
  • 2BaNewMe2
    2BaNewMe2 Posts: 102 Member
    I was a chunky kid. Both parents had to work, and I pretty much was allowed to eat whatever I wanted. A little neglectful? Yes. Abuse?? Very far from it. My brother is close to 500 lbs, he is 40 years old and he still blames my parents for giving him whatever he wanted. I say, grow up! Youre a big boy. My parents did give him whatever he wanted, and sad to say, the way they handled us being overweight ( the word FAT is wrong..it just is..especially when u are speaking about or too a child) was just wrong.
    So I ask parents this, what would you do if youre child ended up overweight anyway? You know, they get to a certain age when they can go out with friends and buy whatever treats they want. Do you put a teenager on a diet? Because in my mind, thats a type of abuse too. I was put on slim fast when I was 10 years old...insane, and stupid. My father ( who I love, but did make mistakes) would tease me and call me fat. That word hurts!! One min I am allowed to eat whatever, then all of a sudden, I am bigger than all the othetr kids and I have to drink slim fast? You wanna know what happened when he teased me and thought he was helping me with tough love? I gained a lot more. I didnt lose the weight untill I gotto college and realized my parents were wrong. I think the teasing was abuse, because it made everything a lot worse. I still remember some of the things that my father and other so called adults said to me. They burn in my memory.
    So if you concider it abuse or not, thats up to you. You should know that there are many chubby kids out there with thin parents. IF it does happen, please make sure you handle it the right way. Its better for a kid to be chubby than for there self esteem to be ruined because their mom didnt think they were pretty enough. Get them into sports, cook healthy, but dont call them fat. Thats the WORST thing u can do. Putting them on a fad diet or much worse a TV show, could really ruin their self esteem. Im sad for them.


    I agree with you on your dad calling you fat. My father always referred to me as "elephant" or "whale", but that was his way (Love and miss him dearly). I was not "fat" at this time. I however, was bigger than other girls my age (5'8", 164lbs). My friends were all petite, but I am a built large person even at my "ideal" weight. I think, even tho my dad didn't mean to be mean, that had alot to do with my weight getting so out of control (over 320lbs at one time). My parents weren't aware themselves of nutrition (my mom still isn't. She is diabetic and does not control her sugar well) and eating right, but they didn't overindulge us.

    Being a parent myself, I did not encourage my children to overeat, nor did I encourage them to eat healthy, because I was not brought up that way. However, I do not call them names that will demean them. I am not a big fan of fruits, so as an adult and parent, I never had a lot of fruit in the house. In hindsight, I wish I did, if just for the kids. But along the same grounds, I did not have a lot of unhealthy "snacks" either.

    My youngest (21) still lives at home and he is really making fun of our "lifestyle change". He actually commented on me counting out my Sun Chips at dinner (grilled hamburger on whole grain bun). He calls all of our whole grain pasta "fake pasta". But he eats it without complaint of taste. All 3 of my sons are overweight in various degrees. I now encourage them to make a change to their eating habits as well (since I have learned the difference, myself). Of course, they are all old enough to make the choices themselves. Was I an abusive parent by not being educated on living healthy? I don't think so. I agree parents are responsible for their children's health. But a lot of parents, me included (prior to lifestyle change), think health is only illness related.

    Anyway, I have not seen the show, so I cannot say if these parents are abusive or not. That's my opinion.
  • 2BaNewMe2
    2BaNewMe2 Posts: 102 Member
    OK that didn't work like I wanted it to!!:blushing: I was trying to reply on someone else's statement. How is that done?
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