Overweight kids- Who's to blame
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Parents in 99.99% of the cases.
Medical in .01% of the cases.
I get mad (silently) at my brother every time I visit. He has five children, two are obese (the oldest two), two are overweight (grade school) and one is still a regular weight (2 years old).
Whenever I've visited, the cabinets are full to almost bursting with cookies, chips and snack cakes. It makes me mad because I was an overweight kid and I remember how awful it was once I got into middle school and I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone, especially my nieces.0 -
Very touchy subject as I have a niece that falls into this catagory. But do I blame my sister for her being that way? Not completely NO I DO NOT!! Here is why... it has to do with our "genes" and body type. As a child I was on the heavy side but all though my teenage years I was on a diet!! My mom's body type is the same that I have as well as my sister. My niece eats fruit, veggies but yes she also eats "kid food" mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets etc... My sister as well as my niece is VERY aware of her weight issue and constantly trying to "get it under control". But it is NOT COMPLETELY the way she is eating that she is the size she is. Her body type and family genes HAVE SOMETHING to do with it too!!!0
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Growing up in a home of overweight teens I think it is partially the parents fault but also partially the teens... I was not overweight until after I got married, but my siblings all are... now YOUNG children have no responsibility since they don't know any better...0
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Another way to think about it. This week, the FDA approved the marketing of the "morning after" pill over the counter to girls 15 and above. What does that tell you about respect and the role of the parent?
Nothing wrong with girls 15+ having access to it. Granted, this was a revenue based decision that aids the advertising industry, so the government's role in it was all about payola, but functionally this is good for women.
Again though, in most cases it wouldn't be needed if parents were doing their jobs and teaching young women about life.
Yea right....nothing wrong with letting 15 year old girls (girls mind you, they aren't mature women) buy a pill that takes away any possibility of risk being involved with having sex at that age.....
Any possibility of risk? Now now. You obviously haven't learned.
I get it, you don't like it. BFD. Be such an awesome parent that it or a wire hanger isn't needed.0 -
Another thought on school lunches:
When I started teaching they gave us a handout with the rough calorie count for a school lunch. The high school portion was roughly 800 calories, so I asked why it was so high. I was told that it's because over 50% of our students were living in poverty, and we had to assume that school breakfast and school lunch were the only meals those students would get that day.
Was that based on some PTA bs, or some legitimate scientific research, or did they even tell you where they came up with such assumptions?
You mean how many kids were in poverty? It was based on the number of kids who qualified for free lunches.
No, that's easy to figure out and any trained gibbon could do so.
The assumption that the only meals they were getting were the ones at school. What research was done to support something so silly?0 -
I'll chime in here because I missed the original comment. My son gets to eat "hot lunch" once a week as a treat. I counted up the calories of the school lunch he gets on Fridays: about 700-800. He's six. The example lunch I used was pizza, chocolate sundae, mandarin oranges, and shredded lettuce with ranch.
Canned mandarin oranges shouldn't count as fruit. Yet people scream about the reform of school lunches.
Where on earth does your kid go to school that he's 6 years old and he's eating pizza and a chocolate sundae for lunch? And you're worried about the mandarin oranges being counted as fruit? I work in a public high school and we do not serve ice cream. Pizza, yes. Canned fruit? Yes. Chocolate sundaes? Uh, no.
He goes to Joe Q. Public elementary school in the midwest. Pretty standard stuff. We've lived in MO and IL and ran into about the same type of food. I commented on the mandarin oranges being counted as fruit because they are "following" the federal guidelines for school lunch with certain servings of vegetables, fruit, dairy, and grain. Under their guidelines, canned oranges in juice or heavy syrup counts as fruit. So, yes, I'm worried about that.
I worked in a public high school for five years. Now I'm in a private school. We serve plenty of crap here, too.0 -
Parents, Children, Teachers & Government are all at fault.0
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Another thought on school lunches:
When I started teaching they gave us a handout with the rough calorie count for a school lunch. The high school portion was roughly 800 calories, so I asked why it was so high. I was told that it's because over 50% of our students were living in poverty, and we had to assume that school breakfast and school lunch were the only meals those students would get that day.
Was that based on some PTA bs, or some legitimate scientific research, or did they even tell you where they came up with such assumptions?
You mean how many kids were in poverty? It was based on the number of kids who qualified for free lunches.
No, that's easy to figure out and any trained gibbon could do so.
The assumption that the only meals they were getting were the ones at school. What research was done to support something so silly?
I believe it was based interviews with parents and students. And probably partly on the experiences of teachers. Kids will often tell their teachers that they aren't getting enough food at home, or that their parents work nights and they are responsible for making their own dinners. I had a student get arrested once because he was asking the gas station for the food they were going to throw out at the end of the day. They said no and he made a scene. It was a pretty poverty-stricken community.0 -
Parents, Children, Teachers & Government are all at fault.
*sigh*
Any time you trust the government to tell you what's good for you, you're asking for it.
Example: Pizza is a vegetable.0 -
I believe it was based interviews with parents and students. And probably partly on the experiences of teachers. Kids will often tell their teachers that they aren't getting enough food at home, or that their parents work nights and they are responsible for making their own dinners. I had a student get arrested once because he was asking the gas station for the food they were going to throw out at the end of the day. They said no and he made a scene. It was a pretty poverty-stricken community.
Ah, interesting! Also really soul breaking. Kids shouldn't have to be in that situation, and the police arresting for that? Well... I try to be nice in this community, so I won't say what I'm thinking about that.
So there was a rational basis for doing that, wow. Urban setting?0 -
I believe it was based interviews with parents and students. And probably partly on the experiences of teachers. Kids will often tell their teachers that they aren't getting enough food at home, or that their parents work nights and they are responsible for making their own dinners. I had a student get arrested once because he was asking the gas station for the food they were going to throw out at the end of the day. They said no and he made a scene. It was a pretty poverty-stricken community.
Ah, interesting! Also really soul breaking. Kids shouldn't have to be in that situation, and the police arresting for that? Well... I try to be nice in this community, so I won't say what I'm thinking about that.
So there was a rational basis for doing that, wow. Urban setting?
Rural. The delta region of Arkansas (southeast corner of the state). It wasn't a good state of affairs. The community had recently integrated the mostly African-American school in a small neighboring town with the mostly white school in the main part of town. There were some growing pains. It didn't help that there was a lot of gang activity and this particular student was dressed in a way that made the gas station attendant assume he was a gang member.
edited for typo0 -
This is interesting! I second that motion, as I personally make an effort on giving proper meals to my kid. I tried making own snacks or treats to ease his cravings. Meanwhile, I do explain to him why mommy only allows junk food once in awhile. By the way, my kid is coming 4 years old, and he understand that being overweight is bad for health. However, the school has to cooperate and reinforce healthy eating too. I am from asia, and our health board do encourage eating healthy. Thus most of the schools are providing healthier meals.0
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Any possibility of risk? Now now. You obviously haven't learned.
I get it, you don't like it. BFD. Be such an awesome parent that it or a wire hanger isn't needed.
I'd be happy to debate pros/cons in another thread devoted to the subject. I am that awesome parent.... and you have no special insight. BFD to your opinion as well!0 -
partly parents and partly schools/government!
Nope. Theres no partly. Its fully parents. If your school doesn't provide healthy foods and keeps pushing high calories junk foods then talk to them. Many communities are now doing it and for almost the same cost. The fact that NO parent screamed at the schools when they passed out pizza as a serving of veggies shows that parents are the one neglecting.
As a teacher, I would like to know how what I do is responsible for obese children who come to MY classroom? Am I the one feeding them junk food instead of nutritious food? No. Am I the one who allows them to sit on their butts and play video games, watch TV, text, etc, when they should be outdoors playing and getting exercise? NO.
AND, I would also like to add that I teach HEALTH, and right now I am making a very serious effort to teach these children all about healthy eating, nutrition and the importance of exercise. I'm not harming them, I'm helping them.
IT IS ENTIRELY the fault of the parents AND partially the fault of the pediatricians who refuse to tell the parents their child needs to lose weight, for fear of "offending" the parents.
true, doctors in general are sorely lacking the will to tell people the truth. But, I think this is in part due to the food industry somehow influencing the medical industry as well as the government. don't ask me how. its just too convenient a dynamic not to suspect some influence.
Some in the medical research community are speaking out but they must tread lightly as they are often dependent on government grants for their research funding. And government, is, of course, highly influenced by Big Ag and the Big Food conglomerates.
i totally agree0 -
Does the marketing, cheapness, and high availability of processed high calorie junk food and sugary drinks make us want them or are they that cheap and available and tasty because that is what we really want? It is a bit of both I think. The food companies have turned food into a fix for our overstressed American style lives. It is not a drug, but they know exactly, and test to make sure, how to make their products have the perfect combination of sugar, fat, and salt to make them very tempting. At the same time, they tend to be low satisfaction foods once they get into your stomach so you don't feel full when, calorie wise, you ought to.
The food industry can be blamed for some of the problem, especially among poor children who often can't access or can't afford healthy fresh foods. There is also strong evidence that television advertising is much more effective on young children than adults.
The government has some blame in this because for decades they let the food industry sell their surplus ingredients to be made into cheap school lunches, much more likely to be eaten by poor kids than rich kids. They also kept the price of sucrose artificially high to protect a small number of wealthy sugar company owners in the south which pushed the junk food industry to replace sucrose with HFC wherever possible.
Government economic policies have also been uniformly anti-family. In most rich countries, everyone gets some paid leave, often more than big companies in the US offer voluntarily, and paid parental leave, nonexistent in the US, is guaranteed in most of Europe. At-will employment also factors into it, since particularly at the low end of the market, parents will often be forced to choose between disobeying an employer and risking termination, or getting home in time to feed their kids a proper meal. European countries also subsidize child-care and universal pre-school too. There is a good argument that most women serve the larger economy better by working and letting a smaller group of professionals and semi-professionals watch children all-day, then we ought to make pre-school affordable.
Still those who can afford to buy fresh food and don't share the blame.
I think the fault lies squarely on the shoulders of people in authority and the companies of the industry which can respecttively regulate behavior and create affordability of food by legislation and supplementing parts of the food industry and investment. People want lots of things and we don't get them if it is not in the interest of money and the government. Money and securing profits for agri-business corporations should not mean that the default food for people in this country should be "processed high calorie junk food and sugary drinks" and their cohorts, starches and simple carbs.0 -
a topic that is missing here is television commercials. The TV bombards kids with food commercials and I know that food commercials cause people to eat more than they need too. I certainly eat more when i watch networks with advertisements. televised sports is the worst. they advertise the worst food you can eat.
You see food advertisements during sporting events? I only ever see drug commercials and beer commercials.
i see those also, but i see the food too; and the car commercials, and the beer and liquor commercials too.0 -
Here's my view on that:
a) There must be some control in schools. Where I live and study there is obesity, but at lower rates, and every school that has a bar and cafeteria does the following:
- the school bar has some snacks - they have sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and healthy fruit juice. They do sell some pastries, but there are healthier options and none of them is extremely caloric (no chocolate or cream, just jam, coconut, etc). Some times there are candy bars. No soda. No chips. No vending machines.
- the school cafeteria offers a HEALTHY menu. There is soup, one or two main dishes to choose from, salad, fruit (or yogurt/jello) and water. There aren't many fried foods. It's pretty balanced.
b) Parents have to take responsibility. They're not only cooking (or buying) for themselves, they have children to feed and it's their obligation to make sure that the choices they make aren't leading their children to obesity (and eating disorders). Besides, if parents introduce their children to vegetables and fruit at a young age and establish some reasonable boundaries about unhealthy foods, they're more likely to enjoy fruit&veggies and to understand the need eat some things in moderation, even if those are really really reaaaally yummi.
c) I don't know if you'll agree with me, but kids themselves. I felt fat before I turned 6 years old. At 11 years old I'd worry about my food choices and tried to change my habits because I *knew* and understood the effect they had on my health. I knew that I was chubby because I had a sweet tooth and because I didn't do sports. I have always understood that I had responsibility over my body. We need to teach kids about all the dangers of unhealthy eating.0 -
A while back I saw a photo essay on "What the World Eats".
Quite interesting.
For example:
Japan
Italy
Chad
Mexico
China
Germany
and then you have the................. US......
Disregarding medical conditions it's 100% parent's fault. If your kid is fat it's thanks to you. Not the school, not the daycare BUT YOU.
But the US folks look so much happier with pizza in their hands!
Oh and I feel all giddy that you used my thread! Thank you!
I used your thread? What are you talking about? I got this from TIME. :huh:0 -
OK... so my question is.... if it's not the parents' fault.. then who's fault is it? The kids'? I don't think so. They don't do the shopping or the cooking.
My entire family is overweight. I have NO IDEA what it feels like to be under 150# because I have never been there. I have always been overweight. We ALWAYS had chips in the house but it was a TREAT to have fruit.
Since I have been learning and trying to change my habits I've TRIED talking to my family and getting them to change their ways especially since my sister is doing the SAME THING with her kids! Thankfully, none of them are overweight (YET) but I rarely see them eating a balanced meal. I think they have pizza in that house atleast 3x/week!
People need to wake up and stop blaming EVERYONE ELSE for them being fat and their kids being fat. It isn't "society"... it isn't "technology" it isn't "i'm too poor to eat healthy" or whatever else... it is YOUR FAULT.0 -
I'll wager that what you *knew* about nutrition and body image at ages 6 and 11 had more to do with how you were educated and socialized on the subjects, both at home and at school, than it did with what you'd consciously chosen to study. I'll also wager that your understanding of the responsibility you personally had over your body was taught to you by those that raised and educated you, rather than a self-created awareness.c) I don't know if you'll agree with me, but kids themselves. I felt fat before I turned 6 years old. At 11 years old I'd worry about my food choices and tried to change my habits because I *knew* and understood the effect they had on my health. I knew that I was chubby because I had a sweet tooth and because I didn't do sports. I have always understood that I had responsibility over my body. We need to teach kids about all the dangers of unhealthy eating.0 -
Hey don't knock yourself too much. Parenting is hard! I have recently just stopped taking a medicine that causes weight gain and it's really a difficult thing. I gained 30 pounds on it and I just didn't have the mindset to care until I stopped taking it. It's good that you recognize it and are working towards managing the problem. You are already ten steps ahead of what I could do for myself, Kudos!0
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I think that a lot of people are losing the knowledge of how to cook. It seems like "home cooking" can be loosely defined as anything actually heated in the house, such as microwaved, over-processed foods or a reheated serving of KFC.
Families are eating out way too much, the lines at drive-thrus are always packed. I know, I have just recently given up fast food as a way of life.
Many grocery stores stock such complete crap that we are led to believe is decent food.
A lot of people don't make meals from ingredients anymore, they buy the whole refined, processed, dehydrated or frozen package. The meats and milks are laden with growth hormones and antibiotics.
Everything is LOADED with sodium, to stimulate our deadened palate.
Vegetables and fruits are routinely sprayed with poisons and some are waxed.
And we top off the meal with "single serve" bottles of soda, sweet teas or sugary juices. They have introduced a 1.5 liter bottle that is supposed to be a single serve bottle. Pretty soon we'll need bigger hands just to grasp our soda bottles.
And don't get me started on the poison that is the diet soda, a chemical time bomb, masquerading as a health drink.
MFP is a wonderful place to determine the actual value of food. I am learning so much.
Jan
I love you.
My buddies joke that I'm a "Sara Lee" because I make everything from "scratch". I was teased for laughing at someone when I said I needed mushrooms and they handed me a can.... I am a "real food" snob. They tell me real food is expensive...My bill for a month for a family of 4 is $200. We eat like kings but then again, I grow my own veg, and try to make most of the rest.0 -
A while back I saw a photo essay on "What the World Eats".
Quite interesting.
For example:
Japan
Italy
Chad
Mexico
China
Germany
and then you have the................. US......
Disregarding medical conditions it's 100% parent's fault. If your kid is fat it's thanks to you. Not the school, not the daycare BUT YOU.
But the US folks look so much happier with pizza in their hands!
Oh and I feel all giddy that you used my thread! Thank you!
I used your thread? What are you talking about? I got this from TIME. :huh:
We are Italian... we eat like that ^^^ BUT there is a SERIOUS candy problem in ITALY (mostly children), its not really HIGH CALORIE candy, mostly small hard dulcini, but its KILLING teeth.... that is all :happy:0 -
I second that! I was obese as a child, but my mom was always on a diet, so we never had any junk food in our house. I ate as much of that stuff as I could at all my skinny friends' houses.0
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I was a fat kid but it wasn't my parents fault. They were actually pretty
strict with food probably to the extreme. I wasn't allowed junk type stuff at home but that didn't stop me from getting food I wanted. Friends houses, convenience stores, grandmas house. You can restrict the type of food your kids eat all you want but watch out for kids like me that'll fight against it. I see parents who are complete extremist when it comes to food which is fine but it would be more beneficial to teach kids moderation and not this whole good food bad food carp that people want to teach.
I second that! I was obese as a child, but my mom was always on a diet, so we never had any junk food in our house. I ate as much of that stuff as I could at all my skinny friends' houses.0 -
While I tend to think genetics plays into it alot, I do believe that some kids just eat more than others and us as parents need to be aware of it and offer healthy food. I have two daughters. My older one (10yo) a bit chunky (thick through her waist like me and her dad) and my younger one (6yo) as skinny as a rail. My older daughter was always such a solid kid from about 6 months on. I swear I could hide small animals in the rolls on her arms and legs. Besides baby food, as she got older, I fed her what I ate, cottage cheese, lean meat, veggies. She was never a fruit eater (except strawberries), but the girl was a milk drinker. Lots of milk. Maybe 2-3 cups a day. Since I don't count calories for my daughters, I don't know if that made her chunky, but I do know that she just eats more than my younger daughter. Simple as that. She has here and there gone through phases occasionally where she has leaned out too, but is usually more on the chunky side. I do think she may have a tendancy to fight her weight like I have since I was 9. I will try my best to guide her to make good desicions on food and encourage her to be active. They both will always be involved in something that requires physical effort.0
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All I want to say is, don't blame video games! Someone always wants to blame the game industry, be it for violence or obesity. So yeah, DON'T DO IT! lol I actually think I may have been thinner when I played games more often, probably because I was too distracted to eat anything. XP0
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I don't know - my daughter is overweight (age 5, 72 lbs) but her brother is not (age 9, 68 lbs). My daughter is very sedentary, and my son is very athletic, just like his mom and dad. Personally, I race triathlon and carefully monitor my intake but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get her to be active and do the same. She's 5 - she just isn't into it yet.
At school, I assume she's eating pretty well with the lunches they provide. My ex and I try our best to feed them healthy meals at home, but she's still not losing weight. If we don't watch her portions she will eat, eat, eat! We went to a birthday party the other day, and there was pizza served. I came over to check on her, and asked how many pieces she ate. She said 4. I don't even eat 4 pieces! That's close to 800 calories.
She always complains about her belly being too big. I hate to think she has weight issues already at age 5. The only thing we can do is keep her on a calorie-restricted diet and get her to be more active. It's been challenging because her mom and I are divorced.
I was a lot like your daughter.. Still am... I did enjoy activities such as dancing and swimming but I was also that weird kid who all the adults liked because I could sit perfectly still for hours and read a book. I was also VERY food centered. I would take advantage of EVERY opportunity to get food. It would have HELPED if my parents didn't have junk in the house, never ordered in pizza, never served me processed foods, etc.. but it wouldn't have solved the problem. Why have I been this way since birth??? I don't know. I have one sister who is also like this.. but two sisters and a brother who are not. I also have one niece who is like this.. but her two brothers and her sister are not. I believe in my heart it's something genetic in the way our brains respond to food.
Keep supporting your daughter and trying to encourage the healthiest lifestyle possible without making her feel bad about her weight. I believe it definitely would have helped if I could have had more exposure to healthier foods as a child, though like I said.. that's only part of the battle.. Good luck to you and your family.
I was the same way! I always hated sports and preferred to be alone and engage in quiet, sedentary activities like crafts, video games, and reading. I mean, I'm still like that, lol. It wasn't until I started doing "fun" activities on my own that I liked exercise. Food has always been intensely stimulating to me, even though I was an extremely picky eater. I'm the type who doesn't like different foods touching on the same plate (still don't, I usually put everything in separate bowls/plates unless it's something that makes sense to me like fish and veggies or fish and rice), and I hated a lot of traditionally American foods like hamburgers, sandwiches and condiments. I always loved pasta though and I swear that at one point buttered noodles were a dietary staple.0 -
I have a friend that actually makes her slim daughter walk around the park with her but her chunky son doesnt.............*kitten* BACKWARDS if you ask me. but its not my business so I dont instigate!0
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Very touchy subject as I have a niece that falls into this catagory. But do I blame my sister for her being that way? Not completely NO I DO NOT!! Here is why... it has to do with our "genes" and body type. As a child I was on the heavy side but all though my teenage years I was on a diet!! My mom's body type is the same that I have as well as my sister. My niece eats fruit, veggies but yes she also eats "kid food" mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets etc... My sister as well as my niece is VERY aware of her weight issue and constantly trying to "get it under control". But it is NOT COMPLETELY the way she is eating that she is the size she is. Her body type and family genes HAVE SOMETHING to do with it too!!!
So then, based on your logic, a skinny set of parents won't have obese children because "they have skinny genes"? Can you back this "hereditary" statement up with known scientific evidence. It has nothing to do with gene structure, as "obese" is not programmed into our DNA. There is NO gene coding for "obesity". Also, just because your niece is eating some fruits and veggies doesn't mean she is eating ENOUGH of them in place of the other "kid" stuff you mention. What's the ratio of healthy to crap food? Take a look at that part of the equation.
That there is the problem.0
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