thoughts about the children of overweight parents

mrsyac2 · July 2010

Me personally- My kids eat as they wish but aren't allowed to go buck wild they have full access to the kitchen and our "junk food" cabinet. However my girls also eat vegetables, play sports, are always outside playing.

I didn't have an issue with my weight until I got older and loss myself for 3 years. I was an active kid.

My kids are ridiculously active I always send them outside to play. In my opinion kids don't play anymore all they do is sit in front of the tv, computer, and video games that's why I feel obesity rate is high.

As a child myself I played outside until the street lights came on. Drive around now and you don't see many kids outside that to me is sad. Years ago there was a few overweight children in a class and the majority was kids in healthy range- now the tables have turned more overweight less healthy range. People like to blame the schools but it's not there fault it's parents fault children only have lunch at school and sometimes breakfast and it's not a buffet. Too much processed food. I cook for my kids every night. Being too busy is just an excuse to me They have crock pots and it takes 30 minutes to make a meal if that. My kids teachers always commend me and my husband that we still sit down at the table to have dinner. I am very busy and we make it work. Fast Food isn't an all the time thing and is limited to Chik-Fil-a. Don't get me wrong we eat pizza and go out to restaurants for our Date night with the kids.

It's all about moderation I tell my kids too much of something isn't a good thing. Again this is just us!

melodyg · July 2010

My little boy is only 4 so we are still very much on the breakfast/lunch/snack/dinner plan. I struggle with him not eating at all rather than eating too much, so about the only rules we have are that he has to eat his meal before he can have snack food (snacks are usually fruits/yogurt/etc.) and that he has to try everything on his plate. Our kitchen is never "closed" but I do not let him eat right before a meal time. If dinner is running late, I'll let him have a healthy additional snack though (sometimes I need one too!) I also limit drinks because he'd fill up on milk and other drinks if I let him. He gets milk/tea/lemonade/etc. with his meal and water besides that.

I am *trying* to teach all things in moderation. We buy frozen yogurt, sometimes chips or mac & cheese but it is not an every day thing. I am just starting to confront the issue of friends with different "food values". Spent today at a friend's house I havent' been at since starting this journey whose kids live on mac& cheese, hot dogs, Totinos pizza, ramen noodles for lunch. I don't like those options any more (though admittedly, our standard PB on whole wheat probably isn't *that* much better). I've got to start thinking through how to deal with that.

We also go out for "ice cream" (usually TCBY) and have "dessert" at home sometimes too (usually frozen yogurt or fruit, trying to limit cakes/pies/etc. to holidays and special occasions!). We limit candy for Halloween, etc. to a piece or two a day right now (which means it is NEVER gone) but I am sure I'll start letting him make more decisions on that as he gets older. (LOVE the Love and Logic ideas from an earlier poster and agree it is a good book!).

To the original poster: 10 is an age that many, many girls are a little heavier as they have that pre-puberty pudge. That could even be so for the 8 year old. I know that, for me, that weight gain during that time (and earlier than my peers) translated into such a negative body image until... now. Even during the years I was not overweight (girls usually have a growth spurt and grow into that bit of added weight). Please be extra careful in monitoring food or talking about weight with your girls. Somehow I think that if I had a little girl I'd be even more worried about the messages I am sending about food. That in itself bothers me... though I guess I'm lucky for now that I have a little guy who takes after his daddy with a super-fast metabolism (lucky guys!)

bennettv · July 2010

Since this thread is about kids and eating I want to share something that happened at my house last night. My husband was at his golf league and the kids and I were on our own for dinner. I decided to have a plate of healthy whole food and not cook. So, we had blueberries, cherries, cheese, flax meal bread, avacados and smoked salmon. This past spring one of my uncles smoked a salmon for a family event. My youngest LOVED it. I hadn't thought about that in a while, but decided last weekend to buy some when I was grocery shopping. My oldest, who doesn't try new food -- ever, was taken in by how excited the little one was to again have smoked salmon. He was even willing to try some avacado to get a chance to eat some of that smoked salmon.

After Dad got home and they played outside for a while they wanted a snack. The only thing they were willing to have is smoked salmon. They finished what was left. My husband just shook his head, I think we have the only kids in the neighborhood with such a palate. Sometimes eating healthy can be really easy with kids.

laura11248 · July 2010

I think that is why I am so nervous for them. Unfortunately food has become an issue already and not by my doing! My oldest daughter and some friends were having cupcake wars. She was supposed to be the judge. She came to me in private and asked if someone else could be the judge because she did not want to eat all those cupcakes. She said, "I do not want to get fat MOM!" It broke my heart. When I said you can just have a taste of each...she said she still did not want to do that!
Body image is such an issue as she realizes that she is bigger than some of her friends. She has also been teased by a boy that used to live in the neighborhood. The boy happens to be larger too...I guess he was just doing to her what others have done to him! Kids can be cruel! I will continue to reassure her that she is beautiful make sure to have healthy food in the house and plenty of outdoor time!

Thanks again for helping out!

recipe4success · July 2010

QUOTE: "Actually eggs are grouped in with the Meat and Alternatives group (or Meat and Beans in the USA), not dairy."

I remember seeing pictures of the dairy with eggs -- maybe that's an old picture, maybe it wasn't the food pyramid. You'd be surprised at how many Americans thinks that eggs are part of the dairy group. We constantly have wait staff trying to sort out what our child could have off the menu and make sure to tell us that eggs are or are not in a certain dish. We gently remind them that dairy and eggs come from different animals. They are usually quite surprised. Maybe it's not because of anything the food pyramid has done, maybe it's just the fact that most people have absolutely no connection to where their food comes from. I've had parents get upset that my kids have told their kids what animal a certain kind of meat comes from. I believe if your going to eat meat you need to come to terms that the animal lost its life for your sustenance. Reverence and respect should follow. I know not everyone agrees, but that's what I teach my kids.

Yeah I believe (but could be wrong) that eggs used to be with dairy products, but now they are with meat. In other countries, they have different named food groups, and eggs and legumes are some of the things that get moved around the most

thoughts about the children of overweight parents

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