children and obesity

jlizgar

ummm what happened to the "If you don't eat this you don't get to leave the table" rule....I somewhat agree with hiding foods, if you have already instilled those bad habits in your kids and its super hard to break...but thats not what I will do with my kids. I want them to know what realy broccolli tastes like and what real veggies and fruits tastes like. I will let my children have sweets, but I will bake them myself(there are tons of healthy desserts out there) I watch kids right now, and everyday they want a pb&j on white bread. Yesterday at my house they had PB2 and homemade strwberry jam on whole wheat and the oldest said"how come this bread is brown and tastes funny"...so I told him it was healthy bread that spiderman eats haha. I think parents let kids rule their lives. If they dont like what's for dinner than i guess you can either starve or eat what's for dinner. And I remember doing the "plug your nose and scarf it down" thing cause I hated green beans. Guess what? I looooove green beans now. Be the parent, don't let your kids whining and temper tantrums make you give in. Stay firm, they will thank you for it later.

Thankfully my kids like most veggies so I dont have to always hide them...but for things like spinach, yeah, they arent too crazy about that but I hide it in brownies of all things! and you cant taste it at all and what kid wont scarf down a brownie? LOL
But my 4 year old likes broccoli...just plain ole broccoli, not slathered with melted cheese or anything like that!
and my 8 year old loves mixed veggies...and the 2 year old eats whatever I give him

imagymrat

I'm so glad to see such a passionate response from everyone. I do agree that there isn't necessarily a blame factor on the parents, truly I beleive parents don't purposefully make their children fat. Most have no idea what a healthy meal consists of. Parents need to be taught as well. I don't buy into the notion that you give a child a few chocolate treats and the sugar makes them instant addicts, if you find your kid gets a rush from it, andis bouncing off the walls, the solution is very simple, no chocolate. I say the word no so much in this house it's ridiculous. I found that the easiest way to have my children eat healthy, is to make them involved, they actually want to eat the meals they prepare. Mac and cheese isn't a bad thing if they make it with whole wheat pasta, go easy on the cheese and add veg to it. Kids love to be in charge of their food, it's a power thing, if they don't know any different then to eat healthy, then that's what they will do. Take them shopping, let them put healthy foods in the cart, I grill my kids in the grocery store, I make it a learning experience, I ask them, are these granola bars healthy? what about carrots? which soup would be better for us to buy? I teach my 6 yr old about labels on packages, half the battle is them knowing the difference btw a healthy choice and one that isn't, then you can plan meals around healthy eating with them. It's funny, on the rare occasionthat I do take my kids to a fast food restaurant. my 4 yr old, wants me to read the menu, then begins to tell me which foods are healthy and which are not,, usually she ends up with a grilled chicken snack wrap, and apple slices, I give them the OK to order what they want, this lets me see that a little knowledge even very early on, is a good thing. My 6 yr old son, will order a burger and a salad on the side..they make me proud! My teens even impress me, they order burgers meatless and downsize their fries...McD's staff must think their nuts!! lol

StephieWheats

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