Too Fat for Fifteen

I'd much rather my kids drank the premade chocolate milk than the syrup any day! It's much better for you than mixing syrup with regular milk. Granted, when I buy chocolate milk at home, I cut it 1/3 and fill the rest of the glass 2/3 with regular milk. They don't know the difference (unless they see me do it) - but it's a lot smaller of a battle to get them to finish their milk. Especially my 3 year old who really doesn't like milk unless it's chocolate & has been that way ever since I quit nursing him.

I don't know, IMHO it's not a matter of which kind of chocolate milk they drink, it's a matter of not giving them the choice. I wasn't given the choice of chocolate milk at home. It didn't matter if I cried or screamed, I was simply sent to my room with no lunch or dinner if I did. Eventually, I got the picture. My mom was (I can say this now that I'm older and wiser) AWESOME about that. She didn't need to hit (well, usually at least, different times) to get her point across, she'd put the milk down, I'd either drink it, or I didn't, if I didn't that's fine, but I wasn't getting anything else. If I complained loud enough, she had this look, this unyielding, terrifying (to a 4 year old at least) look that said I was on the edge of certain annihilation, and if I did happen to work up the courage to continue to complain or scream, off to my room I went (and that was well before xbox or Wii) until I calmed down or (at night) went to sleep. That was that, there wasn't any discussion, no games, no bartering with her. I look back at those times and am in awe of her strength (4 kids, full time job, always 3 kids in a sport, supermom is right!).

All I'm saying is that we are the adults, we should be the ones making the rules, not giving in to the kids wants, and that's all chocolate milk is, a want, it's not a need, the kid isn't going to choke to death if he/she drinks plain milk (unless allergies are involved), so at that point it's a matter of parental choice.

All my opinion guys, everyone has their own parenting skills, I'm not making any judgement, just stating my own observations.

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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

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!

"These fat kids are freaks." Do you have kids?

These fat kids are freaks.

And I'm sure you, sir, are absolutely 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!

"These fat kids are freaks." Do you have kids?

I do have kids. And yes these kids are freaks and IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT! It is the fault of the PARENTS! The parents sat and watched these kids grow into this massive freakish size and did nothing about it at all! NOTHING! These parents are cruel and neglectful of their children's state of health and it is criminal to not provide the guidance and PARENTING that is part of the job of raising children. My kids eat healthy because I dont have bad food in the house. Don't go complaining about my 5 year old will only eat (insert crappy food here)! The kid is 5 and the parent is the adult. Who is the boss?

These fat kids are freaks.

And I'm sure you, sir, are absolutely perfect.

I am far from perfect. But my children are at a healthy weight, know what fruit and vegetables are and prefer healthy food, to junk food, because their parents actually parent them. We educate them on what the difference is between a protein and a carb. They know what saturated fat is and they...GASP...read the labels on the foods they eat. Nobody is perfect but my kids are not obese because I wont let them be.

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!

"These fat kids are freaks." Do you have kids?

I do have kids. And yes these kids are freaks and IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT! It is the fault of the PARENTS! The parents sat and watched these kids grow into this massive freakish size and did nothing about it at all! NOTHING! These parents are cruel and neglectful of their children's state of health and it is criminal to not provide the guidance and PARENTING that is part of the job of raising children. My kids eat healthy because I dont have bad food in the house. Don't go complaining about my 5 year old will only eat (insert crappy food here)! The kid is 5 and the parent is the adult. Who is the boss?

So if your kids did just happen to have a weight problem, (I know you said they don't, and that's great, but suppose for a second they did) you'd be okay with some adult calling them freaks, and commenting on their "massive freakish size"?

I don't know, maybe it's just me...I was fat at 15, and if someone called me "massively freakish in size", it'd have killed me to hear that. "Like "I know I'm fat, I don't need someone pointing out I'm a 'fat freak'."

Insulting doesn't help, just like sugarcoating doesn't. Sensitivity helps. Helping helps.

People pointed out my whole life that I was fat...made all kinds of insulting comments like you made. Do you think that motivated me to go out and get fit? No, it made me hide from everyone and eat.