Too Fat for Fifteen

but it's a lot smaller of a battle to get them to finish their milk

this is why schools allowed chocolate milk into the scene. Parents give in to avoid the "battle" and kids come to expect that they will have their way.

my mom gave us a choice: milk (white lowfat), or water. or, if you prefer, stay thirsty. we drank our milk. or not. but childhood stubbornness didn't make my mom budge an inch. and me and my siblings were of healthy weights all of our childhood.

We also have to think about the obesity problem, and WHEN it started. When my parents were kids, there wasn't a problem with obesity. I was born in 1980. I think that the problems started around that time. I also think it's tough to know what to do when you don't even realize how big of a problem obesity is going to be. NOW, we obviously know its a huge problem and we need to watch what our kids eat, but back then, I don't think they realized the problems that their actions would cause down the line.
We don't know the problems we are causing now with our kids for the future. NO parent is perfect and honestly, if you put all of your time into watching what your kid eats, they may end up with self esteem issues, which is going to do much more damage than being a lil chubby.
Its a sticky situation and I dont have kids yet, I just hope that I help them make the right choices. I will make sure my child is involved with sports, and try my best to teach them what food is, its fuel! I think if you just teach them on their terms, they should be ok. My sis in law is a great example, I ask my nephew what his favorite food is, and he says " Broccoli, because its good for me "

I had to comment on the giving kids choices issue. I only buy water & white milk at the store, if you don't like it, too bad. My kids 4, 8, & 9 know that if they are thirsty they get water. My nephew drinks Kool Aid, tea, & coke, NEVER water at home. When he would come to my house he would tell me he didn't like water , and my response would be then you must not be very thirsty. Yes he whined & cried, but now he knows I will not budge on the issue so guess what? He drinks the water. I ask my kids every day what they ate for lunch & what kind of milk they get. My 8 year old recently went a whole week getting flavored (sugar) water with his lunch. When I found out I made him take a lunch box all week, he did not like this at all. Now he is back to buying his lunch with the promise that it will be back to white milk every day. I have had weight issues all of my life, do I blame my parents??? No, my brother & sister are not overweight. Do I wish I would have been taught about diet & exercise at a young age? Absolutely. My parents didn't have weight issues, so maybe they didn't know they needed to teach me these things. Hind sight is 20/20. I, however know what growing up overweight is like so I made it a priority to teach my kids about nutrition & exercise. My kids do the 30 Day Shred with me!!! But you look at my brother & sister who don't do these things with their kids. Do you call it abuse or neglect? In some extreme cases yes, when your six year old is over 100 pounds or something extreme like that. But others, I think it is just a case of you teach your kids what you know.

I had to comment on the giving kids choices issue. I only buy water & white milk at the store, if you don't like it, too bad. My kids 4, 8, & 9 know that if they are thirsty they get water. My nephew drinks Kool Aid, tea, & coke, NEVER water at home.

Most of us drank Kool-aid already sweetened, but we went outside on our bikes, to our friends house, walked to school, in the pool, hopscotch, jump rope...

BINGO! We didn't sit inside and play video games

I just had to add that I was looking through our recreation center catalog for classes for my daughter and they now have a wii sports camp. WTF??

Haha, now our daughter's have Playstation 2 (husband has PS3), Wii, DS games, etc. But they also did the Power 90 workout all summer and now back in school and have PE 4 days a week. It's about balance.

Nice! My daughter did my first day of couch to 5k with me today. And now she is plopped on the couch watched Food Network Challenge.

I have four children and one of my precious children is very overweight. It is terribly heartbreaking to deal with. The other two that are still at home are a normal weight. My 18 year has terrible eating habits, she will go to the store and buy a big bag of doritos and a jar of cheese dip and eat the whole thing in one sitting and she is thin. My overweight child, I think, eats ok, but is very inactive and has a super slow metabolism. Recently she went to Jenny Craig and is exercising regularly now, but she asked me to go to JC, if I would have suggested it she would have exploded. She has lost 18 pounds so far and I think she will keep it up and lose more. She has a long road ahead of her, but I going to with her every step of the way. I have tried many many things with her over the years, but she had to make up her mind to do it. If someone would have told me that I was abusing my child, well let's just say they would have been sorry. It is always easy to talk if you haven't had to deal with the problem.

When I was a kid I was always active. I would come home from school do what needed to be done and go outside and stay out there until the street lights came on didn't matter the weather. we (all the neighborhood kids) played kickball,football, baseball, basketball you name it we played rain,sun, or snow. I cut the grass and shoveled snow. Didn't sit in the house and watch tv. On saturdays I would count down to 12:00 to be able to go outside with my friends. Now as a mother my girls are always outside. They come home and finish their homework and hit the door they play while I cook and I'm in and outside with them while I'm cooking we come in eat dinner and go right back outside until the street lights come on. My kids own every gaming console that is out and yet they are still outside riding bikes,skateboards,playing basketball, or just running around. They are also active in sports for every season except the summer where we are still outside playing or swimming.

Parents say they are so busy but I think its pure laziness now that is my opinion but thats so it may offend some. I gained weight because I got lazy and was still eating like I was that active. Now I'm active again.
I'm a very busy mom working fulltime, taking care of the house,kids, and yard, going to school as well, working out 5 days a week, cooking dinner for the family but Everyone stays active it's a balancing act. My girls eat junk food not all the time they know too much of something isn't a good thing healthy or not you can still gain weight. My girls are all about looking good and feeling good. My daughters are 6 and 9 years old and have ran a 5k this past spring the susan komen breast cancer walk or run. I was so proud of my girls for doing it and for the fact that they did it for a good cause.

Parents need to lead by example there is so much you can do with your kids to get active go play basketball, race the neighborhood kids (I do that and man are they fast) We play catch. The problem is the parents don't want to go outside either. Why would the kids want to go outside when their parents are just plopped on the couch. Lead by example don't follow the rule do as I say not as I do.

That's the other thing, what's with all the flavored milk these days? Am I the only one who remembers my mom ALLOWING me to mix in chocolate syrup once or twice a week as a treat? When did chocolate or strawberry milk become acceptable as a lunch food in our public schools? What A$$H0le made that ok? I mean, even in the 70's when I was growing up, we knew that you shouldn't drink chocolate milk every day.

Totally agree! When I was in school we only had chocolate milk on fridays. And when my mom let me have hersheys in milk I called it dessert. The one good thing I will say is that now water is also an option with school lunches.

Aww yes, I remember it well, Chocolate milk Fridays for a nickel, every other afternoon milk time was white only! :drinker: I love the idea that when you were young you called 'Hersheys in milk' your dessert.....perfect!

You are absolutely right. These fat kids are freaks. And it is there parents fault. The only way to address the issue is to claim it as an issue and deal with it directly. No sugar coating or eggshell walking. A child should not be that fat at that age. An adult shouldn't be that fat. The 17 year old girl had a starting weight of over 500lbs! That means she weighs more than 70% of professional football players. Her parents have turned her into a freak by not taking care of her. If the term 'child abuse' hurts someones ittby bitty feewings than I will call it 'child NEGLECT.' These children did not get this way overnight and their parents watched them grow bigger and bigger and did not make a move to fix it. Scotty's mom took him to a freaking buffet! A BUFFET! And lets not forget she took the easy way out and got gastric by pass, and so did his father. So they are not even setting an example and working out with him to help him. It is abuse. If you have kids and you are not enforcing healthy eating habits you are abusing/neglecting your child's basic needs and shame on you!

I grew up in a household of unhealthy eaters. My parents ate like crap and taught us to eat like crap. I had to become a Marine to get away and learn what healthy eating and fitness were and I am thankful for it. These fat kids are neglected. And it is there parents fault. The only way to address the issue is to claim it as an issue and deal with it directly. No sugar coating or eggshell walking. A child should not be that fat at that age. An adult shouldn't be that fat. The 17 year old girl had a starting weight of over 500lbs! That means she weighs more than 70% of professional football players. Her parents have turned her into a freak by not taking care of her. If the term 'child abuse' hurts someones ittby bitty feewings than I will call it 'child NEGLECT.' These children did not get this way overnight and their parents watched them grow bigger and bigger and did not make a move to fix it. Scotty's mom took him to a freaking buffet! A BUFFET! And lets not forget she took the easy way out and got gastric by pass, and so did his father. So they are not even setting an example and working out with him to help him. It is abuse. If you have kids and you are not enforcing healthy eating habits you are abusing/neglecting your child's basic needs and shame on you!

Definitely no sugar coating there. But I do agree it's the parents fault hands down. Pure laziness