Fast Food Baby

erickirb

Have any of you seen Fast Food Baby? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rxx79C3m_g What are your thoughts?

rachrach66

this is ridiculous! lazy parenting is too blame! :noway: childhood obesity already soaring! poor children dont know any better. its really sad. :frown:

funfitfoodie

It's ridiculous! The way the kids cried when that were told that the "sweetie cupboard" was going and the mum who said something like "pasta takes too long to make... if you want pasta get a pasta pot" are the two moments that stick in my mind!

glamroxjax

I have no words...I have 3 kids 5 and under, and I would NEVER feed my kids like that! I do get nuggets and fries occasionally, because hell I like them too sometimes, but that is once, twice on a rare occasion, a month. I feel sorry for these families.

SandersWifey

The dad that says "I have no control over what he eats" really kills me

Ummmm excuse me but last time I checked the parents do the grocery shopping not the babies.

acave9406

My sister is like that, she has 2 kids and gives them Mcdonalds waaay too much (in my opinion) her 2 yr old and 1 year old both get their own pack of french fries each time and I think it's gross.
My daughter is 23 months, if we go to burger king she will only (her choice not mine) eat the apple fries which are freshly sliced apples that look like french fries and she'll drink milk with it. If we got to Chickfila she eats a medium sized fruit cup and maybe 2 nuggets? My husband prefers fast food over a home cooked meal so when we do go out I make sure my daughter doesn't load up on junk and neither do I. It's just lazy parenting to let your kid only eat that crap 24/7

coolsmartygirl

What kills me is seeing babies drinking in bottles and sippy cups pop and more. Research shows that even leaving a bottle of milk with a child can cause tooth decay, so these parents give their kids soda!!!

ilookthetype

This just inspired me to pop over the the celiac.com forum and ask if anyone there was grateful to be gluten intolerant. I'm so relieved that this will just NEVER be an option for me or my family.

dragonflydi

My take (and clearly this is just my opinion) on this is that the first step is to educate those parents and to take things slowly. The "take it all away at once" approach is usually too much of a change for most people, particularly children.

If I was working with that first family and had watched this video to see how they currently live, the first thing I would address was the amount of food being dumped on the plate of the child in the high chair. That was more food than an adult should eat, let alone a toddler and as for the type of food ... well, for most people on this site, that would be a given. Bad choice. Let's start with showing the parents what a reasonable portion is, even if it is of the same thing that was being dumped in that video. We need to start somewhere right? I believe those were fries ... so once they know what a reasonable portion looks like, let's work with buying frozen (look at the bag, the ingredients should say only "potatoes") and baking them, rather than getting deep fat fried ones. Maybe even trying a baked sweet potatoe fry ... which is a little sweeter and many kids love.

Next? The equivalent of 6 CANS of cola a day? Seriously? The parents need to see the expriment done here: http://www.odditycentral.com/news/what-coca-cola-does-to-your-stomach.html Occasionally, as a treat ... OK, I can see that. As the child's main source of liquid. No way. But for those children who have been given essentially nothing but cola so far, lets start by replacing just one of those serving with milk or water. Start small and move forward in time.

Third ... If a parent told me "I have no control over what my kids eat" the first things I would ask would be "If you don't , who does?" and "How does the junk food get into your house if you aren't buying it and bringing it home?" Clearly, if you don't buy it, they can't eat it and if you are buying it, you do indeed have control.

That "sweetie cupboard" ... again, start small. If you wipe the whole thing out in one swoop, the kids are going to focus and dwell on the fact that it is not there. How about swapping those fatty potatoe chips for some low fat veggie crisps or rice cakes that still have a crunch and a little less salt? How about replacing bags of MnM's with a trail mix with some raw nuts, pretzels and mini MnM's in preportioned bags and a rule that if you only eat the MnM's out of the bag, you don't get any more of them. How about putting the sweetie cupboard UP where the kids cannot reach so you have the ability to first ask that they have half an apple, orange or banana and then if they are still hungry and have behaved, done their chores, what ever, a half a sweetie can be doled out by a responsible adult and not just because, but because they have earned it?

Fourth ... giving in to that 'cute smile'? So, should I remind you that "He sure had a cute smile as a toddler" when you are standing over your adult child's grave after he/she has passed away as a result of diabetes? Heart failure? Stroke? Is that a face you only want to adore as a youngster or one you'd like to enjoy for decades to come. If things don't change, they are apt to end up with the former. If you love them, set limits for them and know that you are doing it for their well being.

Then there is family #2.

I honestly feel they are partially giving in here due to the child's prior illness. They clearly treasure him, they are just showing it in a way that is more detremental than anything.

He appears to be a healthy child now, so they need to move past the prior illness, even if that means talking to a professional/therapist/counselor, etc. That would be where I would begin.

I had an issue with them saying the parents eat healthy ... and then see them at the table with a Coke as their drink with their healthy dinner. Now this may not be an everyday thing, but if you are telling me you eat healthy and know it's being taped, I'd suggest making sure it actually looks that way (and did anyone else notice the extension cord being pulled through that scene? I had to rewind b/c I thought it was a critter and at first I thought "their biggest issue is rodents! LOL ...)

It bothered me that they told their son he was misbehaving after the bowl of food landed in his lap ... after this mother set the bowl so close to the edge of the table that I knew what was going to happen long before it did. How about instead of taking issue with the things he's doing wrong, you priase him for something done right? He had a green bean in his hands at first ... it looked like he at least tasted it. How about giving his praise for that rather than telling him he's a bad boy b/c his bowl ended up in his lap? You can't change that it ended up in his lap, what's done is done. How about asking him to help clean up the mess and priasing him for putting the food back in the bowl? Positive attention goes a long way. They remember how it feels to be told you did well and we are proud of you. Baby steps. They also did the all or nothing. They gave him an entire bowl of stuff they knew he would refuse to eat and then went to the fish place and got an entire order of something that he would eat. Why not buy the fish and chips, take them home. Let him know it is there and if he eats 3 of his green beans, he can have 2 french fries. Eventually, he will probaby learn that he likes things he refused to eat before. Small steps towards a much larger overall goal that will take several months to change. It didn't become a habit overnight, it is not reasonable to expect to be able to fix it overnight either.

The mother saying she feels his "eating something is better than nothing" ... if he was given a bowl of healthier food (does not need to be 100% ultra healthy items) and told "This is what is for dinner. If you choose not to eat it, then you will be hungry b/c we are not going to get you anything else" and then not stray from that, he may refuse to eat for a short period of time (not long enough to do any damage to himself), but eventually, he will start to eat what he is given. The parents just need to be strong enough not to give in in the meantime because he's going to be cranky and irriatable and a royal pain in the meantime because he's hungry, but he will eventually realize that they are giving him food that's not really so bad after all and he'll eat it. Positive reinforcement with that too. He finally gives in and eats something? Praise him. In the beginning, reward him. He ate his pasta! If he eats his broccoli too, we can go get a small ice cream cone. Make a chart. Make it a once a week treat ... the more effort he puts in eating what he is given, the bigger the weekly treat. Find out what works for your child (no two will be the same, even from the same household) and work from there, modifying as you go.

It takes some time, effort, asking what other people have tried with success and without and patience, but the bottom line is, no child should be taking in 3,000 calories of primarily fatty and sugary foods per day.

OK, that's my rather lengthy take. Great topic ... I needed something to take my mind of other things and this did the trick!

skinnyhopes

I know people who feed their kids like that.
I don't know what to say, but you have to admit it look goooooood.