Fat moms = fat kids??

TraciStivers

Have you seen Honey Boo Boo? ... Nuff said...

Honey Who Who?

It's not a who who, it's a biscuit!

beckajw

There is no such thing as a fat gene. Your genetics have little to nothing to do with how fat you are or can be. My mother is obese. Has been all her life. I may have been the chubby girl growing up, but I never have been fat due to something out of my control. It's the habits and choices you make with food and exercise that really matter.

^^ This. My mother is obese and was obese when she had children. Although I have been overweight, I've never been obese. My sister has never been overweight. My aunt has never been overweight. She has one son who is and one who isn't. It's not about genes, it's about what you choose to do.

DoomCakes

I disagree. What will make your kids fat is if you're the type of mom who doesn't care about nutritional value or them being active. If you are the mom who thinks McDonalds for lunch is always acceptable, or three unhealthy high sugar snacks are good while they sit and watch 6 hours of tv... THAT will make your kids fat. What may make them THINK that the child will be fat is simply that the parent will continue the lifestyle that lead them to the weight they are and the child will pick it up.

The weight loss surgery might be because the surgery was a serious consideration into weight loss, which means the person may have mentally been prepared for a lifestyle change. I know people who have had surgery, and resumed eating crap and didn't lose a pound. If she had a child, and her child ate like her, they would be over weight.

Genetics may play a role in SOME extra weight, but I think it's not a big part. Most of my family is over weight including myself EXCEPT my aunt and my grandmother. The reason is because my grandmother came from a time when portion sizes were healthy and not ridiculous, and my aunt took her nutrition seriously. Everyone else in my family would eat what they WANTED not what they should.

starletlove

that isnt true, cuz im overweight and i did it wrong with my self and my 3 kids all are skinny and my oldest one is a tall and really skinny.
i try my best to show the kids heathly food and also that they can eat what they want but without to go over that limit like what alot parents do with candys, chocolate etc.
yes my kids get some sweets sometimes but they know thats not "food" just sweets, and they like fruits....and do like to do sport. so

how a mom live is the way the kids are, skinny moms have to fat kids and fat moms have skinny kids....

IF I AM FAT is my own fault, get the kids fat is also MY FAULT cuz im the moM...

starlet:flowerforyou:

Serenstar75

My daughter at 18 is still a very thin girl. She's a size 1-3 (depends on the brand) and 5'4" so she's taller than I am. But instead of having her eat bad foods, I encouraged healthier eating than I was accomplishing and also didn't allow much soda, candy or anything like that. She still doesn't like a lot of sweets or junk. I think it's just what we teach them. I know for me I grew up eating bad food and it's been a struggle because of that, so I avoided that as much as I could with her even when I was more overweight than I am now.

LPCoder

Here is a video on obesity and pregnancy. There are several parts to the video and I recommend watching it completely. Research shows that all the fat cells you have are laid down during pregnancy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of-qvDprr0w&feature=relmfu

Koshkaxo

Very interesting read. I think many people are kinda missing the point that its not soley blaming genetics for obesity, but rather saying that if you are affected with the gene your environmental factors take a greater toll than someone who is not. The anecdotes provided so far are all great examples that a fat mom =/= fat kids, the title is kinda misleading haha

flatbellybella

I was always a chubby kid and both of my parents are beyond fit.

People would look at me then look at my mom and things never added up... still don't lol

#Goodgenes

laura_lynn66

Have you seen Honey Boo Boo? ... Nuff said...

Honey Who Who?

funny! I didn't know who the heck she was before, either, until recently...what oh what has our world come to?

Brianna72994

Have you seen Honey Boo Boo? ... Nuff said...

Yeah but those kids are overweight because the mother is always feeding her kids spaghetti with butter and ketchup. Thats not really the healthiest.

As the descendant of a chef who was born in Italy and immigrated to the US, I find the idea of pasta with ketchup a personal slight. This is a death penalty case! :-)

The lady in the show mixes together butter and ketchup instead of using sauce. THAT is why the kids are fat, thats like all they eat.

raichhype

Not in my case. My mum is so skinny! It isn't healthy how skinny she is.

VogtAndrea

I was a mom who got prenant while obese. My daughter was never skinny but never fat till she became an adult. Even then she was healthy and active. Her children are healthy, active but not skinny. None of them are what anyone would call fat either.
The fact simply is that if your eating habits aren't good, you're not going to be feeding your children healthily enough that they aren't overweight. If there's a hereditary component, it makes things harder for them.
If that mom can turn things around for herself, she's more liable to do the same for her children and change their eating habits too.
Common sense.
As to morbidly obese moms.... it complicates pregnancies. It's harder for doctors and nurse-practitioners to do any examinations. Ultrasounds are much harder to show features and to find birth defects. It's harder to deliver on both mom and baby Gestational diabetes is a huge problem. BUT having said that, to be so extreme as to make a statement of the sort that was posted earlier is just rude, nasty, and someone has no concern about what they say hurting others.

bcattoes

Very interesting read. I think many people are kinda missing the point that its not soley blaming genetics for obesity, but rather saying that if you are affected with the gene your environmental factors take a greater toll than someone who is not. The anecdotes provided so far are all great examples that a fat mom =/= fat kids, the title is kinda misleading haha

Yes, I admit the title was meant to get attention. I guess I failed to realize how many people would read nothing but the title.

This actually makes me wonder if that is not where so much of the nutrition confusion on this site comes from. People only read the headlines of articles and papers, which are often sesationalized to catch attention, but they never actually read the articles.

NavyKnightAh13

Ok, first off, I was 243 when i got pregnant (didn't rejoin mfp until i was told i couldn't breastfeed anymore) with my son and i actually lost weight during the pregnancy. My son was born healthy and he is now 9 months old. I am getting healthy and trying to set up good habits for him and let him see what it is like to eat healthy and exercise (he is very active). can't be said for my husband whose mom used to eat fast food and so does he when he is stressed but we are very slowly changing that.

Now, my mom used to work out all the time, until her first heart attack, and even then the most she ever weighed was 161, and my father was always active as well. I was always overweight. never made sense, even when i was doing athletics and band. Now, I can say that there isn't a "fat gene" because its about lifestyle change and exercise. If the mom can turn it around, then so can the kidos.

CallMeCupcakeDammit

I eat all the food, so my kids don't have a weight problem. I was probably 60 lbs overweight when I had both of my kids. I had no problems with either pregnancy. I do feel like some of my weight problems have to do with genetics, because my mom fed us pretty healthy foods, and I was very active as a kid, but I was always on the chubby side. My brother could eat all day and not gain. My mom had my thyroid checked because she couldn't understand why I was overweight. She was never "fat", but she always had that lower tummy thing, which I also had as a kid and still have. That's really interesting, OP. Thanks for posting.

jjelizalde

Wow! This topic sure ran off the rails.

bcattoes

Now, I can say that there isn't a "fat gene" because its about lifestyle change and exercise. If the mom can turn it around, then so can the kidos.

I'm not sure you really understand genetics.

JewelsinBigD

I have 4 kids- one is heavy though not "fat", 2 are super thin- like 5-10% in weight and one is normal - 50% in weight. THey have the same parents, are served the same food and participate in the same sports. Go figure!