Anybody Recognize How Unhealthy You Family Eats?
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My son's diet is 'Whatever he will actually eat.' Because he is a small child, most of his diet is unhealthy. All attempts to force him to eat anything ended with him refusing to eat anything for days. Even candy.
So yes, his diet reads like a most people's favorite binge foods list. I introduce new, better food to him all the time. Sometimes he eats it and we find something new he likes. Like grilled chicken or fish.
But mostly it's pizza, canned pasta, hamburgers, french fries, chicken nuggets and poptarts. And ketchup all over everything but the poptarts.
ETA: Before you say anything about childhood obesity, my son is eleven and weighs 72 pounds. He was a preemie and has had trouble gaining weight his whole life. At two he refused to eat outright (this was the beginning of the food wars as I termed them) and he had to have a feeding tube installed so he got enough calories to live. He still has it, because he is a picky eater who is growing faster than his caloric intake. He is the exception, not the rule.
But yes, his diet is pretty bad. I do my best.
When I was a kid, I was forced to eat a couple of relatively common vegetables that I didn't care for. I still don't like those vegetable and won't eat them unless they are mixed up with other things (more or less "stealthed"). When my kids came along, the only rule was that they had to try things (and could spit out if they didn't like it). If they didn't like the entire meal, there was always the option for them to make themselves a PB or PB&J sandwich (which they could do on their own from about age 5). Neither of them suffer from "clean plate syndrome" the way I do. They DO eat some junk food, but mostly healthy stuff, by preference. I've given up on my husband. He'll lose weight or not when he's willing to change his lifestyle and eating habits - he doesn't eat totally "bad", but there's definitely room for improvement.
I'm presuming your son's feeding tube supplement is balanced and appropriate for his needs, so yeah, whatever you can do to get him to eat anything - and especially "explore" new tastes is good. You can only do what you can do.0 -
Oh yes! My son's GF lives here, and I have seen days where she ate nothing but donuts all day (about 5 of them). And she's slender to average (but no visible muscle definition)!
I'd look like a butterball if I ate like that. Plus I enjoy my balanced diet. A day without fruits and vegetables is not a good day.
Speaking of food wars, I have a 4-year-old grandson like that. He doesn't like to eat and hates most food. At my house, he never would have been given fast food at his age, but his mother gives it to him. She'll even make a special trip to get him chicken nuggets because it's one of the few foods that he says he will eat. At my house, he gets what other people are eating with strong encouragement to at least taste, plus I feed him the few things I know he will eat like apple slices, cheese slices, plain saltine crackers, french toast. Of course some days he hates everything and won't eat at all. Period. Not even the chicken nuggest his mom brings for him.
He looks like a concentration camp survivor - really thin, dark circles under the eyes.0 -
Okay, now a suggestion from me for those dealing with picky eaters. Let them help prepare food. Even the three and four year olds. You can have them mix things and dump premeasured ingredients in bowls. My son will often try food he's helped to prepare, even if he won't eat any of it. It's progress.
And yes, the formula is high calorie and designed as meal replacement for children unable to eat on their own. Hence giving it to him right before bed and right after breakfast. Any other time and he eats even less.0 -
You know what else is interesting? Next time you're in the grocery store, see what people BUY.
You know what's even more interesting than this, the difference between the average groceries being bought by a person in a low socioeconomic area compared to a more affluent area. I noticed the difference when I moved and it explains (on a shallow level) why less well off people are more likely to be overweight or obese.
Luckily I was raised to eat pretty healthy. My Mum is one of those freaky people who doesn't like anything sweet/fatty or bad for you. The 'worst' things she eats consistently is fruit cake and wholemeal banana bran muffins. I did not inherit these taste buds otherwise I wouldn't be here haha
Well, it does make sense. Most affluent people are more educated which means they most likely know more about nutrition. I work in a grocery store in an affluent town full of doctors and lawyers and it's no coincidence that the organic section of the store is one of the most profitable departments. I love observing peoples shopping carts! I get sad when I see parents and children shopping together and their cart is full of sugary cereals, frozen pizza, and tv dinners.0 -
My family wasn't too bad, apart from using margarine in everything (including reheated stuff because they didn't have a microwave) and canned veggies. The main issue I guess was letting us eat any snack we wanted apart from meals... and breakfast left much to be desired (nutella sandwich, cake, anything really). And that we always had way too much cheese (but we're French).0
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You know what else is interesting? Next time you're in the grocery store, see what people BUY.
Yup. I work in a grocery store as a cashier so I've seen it all!
Seriously though, now that I make a conscious effort to watch what I eat and to find out what's in the food I'm eating it absolutely pains me to see some of the stuff my dad eats. My parents eat healthy meals, but it's the snacking. I so wish there was a way of getting them to lessen the unhealthy snacks.0
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