Childhood Obesity= CHILD ABUSE

TheLostMermaid

If this is the kind of change that you wish to see in the world why not go make it happen instead of complaining about in a forum?

Clearly everyone on here wants a healthier life style. You want the kids to be healthy too?
Schools across the US are showing kids how to eat healthier. Teaching them how to get active. Even TV channels like the Disney channel encourage children to move and get outside.

People see the problem and they are trying to fix it. Fighting amongst ourselves is clearly not an answer.

http://www.change.org/

Make something happen

mojohowitz

_KitKat_

I had a crispy chicken sandwich with mayo from Wendy's this weekend, MFP told me it was a healthy choice and had great protein

Look should parents do certain things...Yes.Are some parents just lazy....Yes. There is no way to enforce this that would work for the whole. There is also no one size fits all way to look at it.


All the people saying don't feed your kids junk.....blah....blah...... Sorry if you deny a human something it does not teach them to make choices regarding that thing. Moderation is the best thing to teach anyone. My kids are active, physically fit and they do eat fast food, chips, ice cream and candy........but they also eat a family dinner every night, veggies, fruit and salads...they love salad. Sometimes people sound so extreme.......well don't give the kids junk, or every excuse on why all the kids has is junk. Food is readily available, they need to know about all of it and make decisions. Food is not a reward or something to be denied, looking at it those ways almost guarantee's the child winds up on MFP with food issues.

martinel2099

I think the problem here is education in general. I don't think there are many parents out there who intentionally are making their children super obese.

I"ll use myself as a real example. Growing up I was always a chunky kid and only continued to gain weight as I got older well in to my 20's. I used to think that I was just unlucky and had a slower metabolism than most kids and thought I was just a fat exception to the normal population. What made me fat was eating too much high calorie food, not a lot of activity because I liked computers and video games and drinking lots of sugared soda.

I wish 15 years ago my school would have launched a calorie counting program and tied incentives to students to track, weigh and measure their food intake. I tried all the tricks to lose weight growing up, had I known that I would have been more than happy to track. Now that aps like fitness pal exist it's even easier than ever to watch what you eat.

TheVirgoddess

You don't have kids. You don't know what it's like raising them. Your opinion counts for nothing.

Wow. This right here is why having constructive, adult conversations is impossible on a forum.

It's not impossible - but when you're a parent and literally everyone has a freaking opinion about your parenting when they've never me you or your child you get frustrated. There is *so* much judgment being thrown at parents.

I don't automatically discount opinions of non-parents, but some are so ridiculous that I have to. Does that make sense? You can have an opinion - of course you can. But it's like me having an opinion on your golf swing - I literally have no experience, so you wouldn't take my opinion very seriously, would you?

KayJaMikel

I have never been the most healthy of eaters, my mother cooked loaded in butter, fried things, etc., whatever she wanted, she made. She made the same veges all the time, string beans, corn is all I can remember. I remember once her making artichokes, which I did not eat. My grandma too. Grandma was German made perogies, stuffed cabbage, kielbasis, shells and cabbage, yummy, is all I can say, but I stayed thin until I had my first child. Then, I blew up, and my thyroid diagnosis.

Now, I don't know how to cook eat healthy and have been learning. My kids eat how I ate. Always. I have a super duper picky one who eats literally 1 thing every day. He will eat a few snacks, like ice cream, he loves popcorn and pringles, but his main meal is 1 thing, no veges, no fruits, etc. Anywho, my point is, since I am dieting, I will point out to the kids how many calories are in what they are about to eat, and I get "mom, I don't care." The one son is a super giant stalk skinny dude. The other is the picky one and it is worthless to tell him anything about eating healthy. He just wont eat it anyway and yes, he would rather starve. He is like me, eats to not die, food is not his thing, if he eats it is to stop his tummy growling. The third is my daughter, she is not fat by any means, but is is horrible shape. She is lazy though and exercise is not her thing. She has some flab in her tummy and she is always saying she is fat. I don't feel she is fat and I will not put my child on a diet, but with my dieting, I am trying to teach her healthier eating, but I am so new at it, it is very hard. Yes, I am responsible for how they eat, but I was taught the way I eat, by many generations, etc., pizza every Friday, drive through mcdonalds, etc., it is very hard to retrain yourself without the knowledge.

Anywho, I love my kids to death and have never laid a hand on them (I was hit a lot as a child with pots, fists, hands, belts, whatever my mother had to use to beat me with, and do not even spank their butts), and have never a day in their life abused them, but I share blame for how they eat, sharing with how I was taught and the things that are available to buy. You see stuff in the store and I used to think well they wouldn't sell if it if was bad for us. I was naive.

JenniferIsLosingIt

I was a fat kid to a single parent of 3 kids. I don't blame my mother one bit. I dealt with a trauma by eating. She had been a stay at home mom and was doing everything she could to make sure we were taken care of.

I also don't agree that just because a kid is fat they should be put in foster care. There are enough kids in the system.

Thank you! I find it highly offensive that we want to automatically blame parents and start snatching kids. For one thing there is genetics, and another you can plan carefully and do everything you know to do, and still have a child end up overweight. Are you going to follow these children every step of the day? To school, to their pals houses?? UGH! THis just makes me sick? Have you ever had to watch the look of hurt on a childs face when you tell them no you cant have this snack or no you cannot have a second portion of that item? How about trying to help the family with nutrition not snatch them from their families. I swear this has to be the stupidest damn thing I have ever heard..... and btw I work for a child abuse prevention program. This is just Stupid, with a capital S...smh

Grumpsandwich

Ive read this same argument adnauseum on these boards and truly wonder if any of the posters who disagree that healthy food is more expensive have ever been poor?

Not all cities have farmers markets to get cheap produce. ( So dont even use that as an excuse) There hasnt been one anywhere near me since the 70s. As for growing in your yard.... It doesnt grow all year round and i for one wouldnt eat anything grown in this soil lol ( I did SPEND the money to build above ground garden boxes though but i can afford to do that now)

Have you ever had to scrounge through furniture or for bottles to feed your family?
You manage to find $2 please tell me what you are going to buy to feed your family of 3?

a pack of hot dogs or a head of lettuce... You ever been in this situation?

Meerataila

What I'm reading is a lot of excuses. "My parents weren't educated about nutrition" "Nobody knew any better"......... hmmmmmm with all of the resources available for free on the internet nowadays, although I know back in the day it was much harder to access information.... there really is no excuse other than poverty to not be educated and implementing proper nutrition into a child's lifestyle. I DO agree with other posters that this is not just a parenting problem, this is ALSO a problem with the capitalist system in general. For example:



It is NOT solely the parents fault, however........ the fact that parents on here believe they should have no responsibility and the responsibility should be on the innocent child have flawed logic it seems to me.

I don't think that kids should be put in foster care in the majority of cases IF the parents are willing to educate themselves or become educated.

How is that a problem with the capitalist system itself? What economic system do you believe is best suited for food production?

This is a problem with the capitalist system because companies are willing to serve low quality foods at cheap prices in order to make maximum profit. In the capitalist system, competition and free market economics are the prominent dynamic, thus, the cheaper a company can make a product, without sacrificing quality to the point that no-one would buy it.... the cheaper the company will do it to stay on top. This is why McDonalds has been on top for ages......... yet........ go to McDonalds and try to buy a salad and the price is quite higher than cheeseburger.... Why is this? Probably not just because the ingredients are more expensive, but also because they know they have a large market audience of people looking to get healthy or stay healthy and therefore will sacrifice more money to have fresh healthy food when on the go. Simple supply and demand really.

The price for salad is higher because salad items are fresh (not frozen) and it costs more to maintain the supply chain of non-frozen items. McD's is in business because people buy their food. If people don't want to eat McDs food, then they can exercise some personal responsibility and make a different choice.

Or how about the cost is higher because corn is subsidized? And now that corn prices are going up, farmers are feeding their cows rainbow sprinkles and cookies because that's still cheaper. And why is it cheaper? Subsidies. There is no free market and people without sufficient funds to buy healthier food have no choice but to buy the artificially cheap subsidized foods, therefore personal responsibility does not apply.

k_nicole87

Wait, what happens to the parents that feed their kids pure junk but the kids aren't fat??? :huh:

JassiBear

There are four categories of child abuse- emotional, physical, sexual and neglect.

I happen to agree that allowing a child to reach the stage of obesity (we're talking obesity here, not being chubby, or overweight but a child being obese) is a type of neglect and is therefore abusive.
I trained as a social worker and did part if my training was done in a primary school. If a child came to school and they were clearly under nourished alarm bells would ring immediately. It is wrong to not feed your child enough because it is bad for their health, why then should it be deemed acceptable for a child to be fed so much that they become obese. Children today are getting type 2 diabetes for goodness sake.. if that isn't abusive I don't know what is.

That said, does that make the parents of obese children unloving abusers who need their children removed from their care? Of course not. Many parents who are physically abusive don't realise that they are and can be educated on better parenting techniques, a parent suffering from crippling depression might not be able to care for their children properly, are they an abusive person? Again, no. Should they seek out help for their children of course.

The issue is with education, and if a parent is unaware of how to help their child maintain or reach a healthy weight then they should find help or educate themselves. If they fail to do so they set their child ul for a life of obesity and all the may many associated health risks. That is irresponsible, it is neglectful and in my opinion it is abusive.

The very nice, educated user who posted this quote deserves an award for awesomeness. Kudos! Abuse is abuse! The word sounds extreme but the literal meaning of abuse is in accord with the idea I'm aiming at. Abuse doesn't always have to mean hitting or beating.

catb58

It's not always the parents' fault... My daughter is 9 and loves to eat. She's been putting weight on over the last 6 months or so and is overweight. When we go shopping, I try to educate her about food and give her healthy alternatives to sweets and 'junk' food. I ensure she has fresh fruit and vegetables to snack on and encourage her to think about why she's eating (for instance, she'll say "I'm bored, can I have an ice cream?"). I tell her how the body works, that food is energy and if we don't use all the energy our bodies keep it as fat for another time. I don't restrict her from having treats, but they are just that, treats; not an everyday occurrence. However, she'll trade lunches with kids at school and will come home with chocolate wrappers in her pockets or if she has pocket money she'll go to the shops with her brothers and spend it all on crisps, fizzy drinks, sweets... I do my best to ensure that she gets a healthy, varied diet but I feel like she is sabotaging my efforts and ultimately herself. I don't want to make such a big deal of it that she develops an eating disorder or a dysfunctional relationship with food but I feel I can't just leave her to her own devices. I was a chubby teen and I was miserable. I believe I set a good example now with my eating habits and I get plenty of exercise and encourage her to do the same but I'm acutely aware that there's a fine line between encouraging someone to be healthy and forcing them into doing something they don't want and potentially causing a bigger problem further down the line.

I'm pretty stumped as to what to do...

P.S. My daughter may only be 9 1/2 but she is very forward and switched on, for those that may think she's unable to understand what I'm trying to teach her. She has started going through puberty already so I'm sure this is a contributing factor to her weight gain.

9 1/2 is too early to go thru puberty. High body fat % is a CAUSE of early puberty, not a result.
If she has just started to gain weight rapidly over the past 6 months, I would look at what has changed in her world in that period of time. Divorce? Move? change in friends? Has she seemed more anxious or depressed the last 6 months? There most likely is an underlying problem that you may or may not be aware of. Seek outside help if needed.

My kids never had pocket money at that age. There was no need for them to have money, as I was always with them to pay for anything they needed. Is she left without adult supervision very often?

Wow....just wow. Let's ask the parent what she's doing wrong because you KNOW there couldn't be any other reason that there's something going on that YOU don't think could be happening.

My youngest sister started developing breasts at 6 because of a hormone imbalance, NOT because she was overweight. She had a hormone imbalance. There was no drama, no divorce and no lack of supervision. A HORMONE IMBALANCE...which continues to cause her problems to this day (she's 42).

MomTo3Lovez

bump for later way too much to read while I am at work lol

k_nicole87

Ive read this same argument adnauseum on these boards and truly wonder if any of the posters who disagree that healthy food is more expensive have ever been poor?

Not all cities have farmers markets to get cheap produce. ( So dont even use that as an excuse) There hasnt been one anywhere near me since the 70s. As for growing in your yard.... It doesnt grow all year round and i for one wouldnt eat anything grown in this soil lol ( I did SPEND the money to build above ground garden boxes though but i can afford to do that now)

Have you ever had to scrounge through furniture or for bottles to feed your family?
You manage to find $2 please tell me what you are going to buy to feed your family of 3?

a pack of hot dogs or a head of lettuce... You ever been in this situation?

Been there. I had to leave the hospital after giving birth to my daughter and go right to the bank to beg for an overdraft fee refund. Times get tough. Things happen. People believe that just because you're well off now, you always will be. I'm glad I no longer have to do that but it happens.

TheVirgoddess

I think the problem here is education in general. I don't think there are many parents out there who intentionally are making their children super obese.

I"ll use myself as a real example. Growing up I was always a chunky kid and only continued to gain weight as I got older well in to my 20's. I used to think that I was just unlucky and had a slower metabolism than most kids and thought I was just a fat exception to the normal population. What made me fat was eating too much high calorie food, not a lot of activity because I liked computers and video games and drinking lots of sugared soda.

I wish 15 years ago my school would have launched a calorie counting program and tied incentives to students to track, weigh and measure their food intake. I tried all the tricks to lose weight growing up, had I known that I would have been more than happy to track. Now that aps like fitness pal exist it's even easier than ever to watch what you eat.

Excellent point. When we were growing up, there was no discussion about food choices. We learned the pyramid and that was our total education on health and nutrition. I was very active, so I was very thin - but I had no idea one had anything to do with the other. People might think this stuff is common sense, but I was totally ignorant about it.

I am only JUST NOW learning about the things I'm putting into my body and how to properly care for it. I'm 34 years old! You can't teach your children things you don't know yourself. I've made an effort to learn about it, but I will not shame another person that hasn't made that effort.

cahtchme

I disagree. I didn't start packing on the pounds until I was 12/13 and I was perfectly capable of knowing what I was eating - and I was responsible for overeating and sneaking food and such.

Pirate_chick

totally disagree.

TheVirgoddess

Ive read this same argument adnauseum on these boards and truly wonder if any of the posters who disagree that healthy food is more expensive have ever been poor?

Not all cities have farmers markets to get cheap produce. ( So dont even use that as an excuse) There hasnt been one anywhere near me since the 70s. As for growing in your yard.... It doesnt grow all year round and i for one wouldnt eat anything grown in this soil lol ( I did SPEND the money to build above ground garden boxes though but i can afford to do that now)

Have you ever had to scrounge through furniture or for bottles to feed your family?
You manage to find $2 please tell me what you are going to buy to feed your family of 3?

a pack of hot dogs or a head of lettuce... You ever been in this situation?

And this. You can get two tacos from Jack in the Box for a dollar. I can literally feed my entire family for $5. You can't even get a pound of chicken for that, let alone an entire meal.

k_nicole87

If someone is intentionally force feeding their small child into morbid obesity, chances are there are other things that may warrant CSD intervention.