Too Fat for Fifteen

mrsyac2

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

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

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

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

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!

exercisesucks

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!

We dont do Halloween. So we dont have that headache lol.

edorice

Everything in moderation here too.

lee112780

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

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

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

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

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

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

katerinab

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

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

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

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

Wow..... what a thread, I've gone through it in three sittings and am almost scared to post!!!! :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

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

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?