Parents Please Wake Up

Well I have to be one of the few who TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU. When I married my bodybuilder husband, he was super healthy (still is, of course). I still don't eat as healthy as he does, but at least I don't eat junk all the time or eat fast food (hardly ever). We vowed that our chidren would BE TAUGHT...as PARENTS SHOULD DO...what's healthy, what's not, how much to eat, when to STOP, and staying active and exercising daily (even if it's just for a bit).

Our daughter is the healthiest child in her class at school...but we don't buy her the "easy" school lunches (which would save me so much time). I make her lunch every single night for school the next day, and you can be darn sure that it's VERY healthy...but also VERY good-tasting. I've been doing this every single day of her life since she was born...starting around 12 months, while she was still exclusively breastfeeding. She self-weaned at about 20 months of age, so she's had a "homemade lunch" (haha, literally!) since the day she was born.

And I wouldn't have done it any other way.

PARENTS...wake up. You are giving your children a death-sentence. They are learning from YOU. They want to be like YOU. They want to please YOU. Give them a positive role-model to look up to...you're #1 in their book!

how can you sit here and assume that these parents need to wake up and accuse them of giving the children they love a death sentence????? some parents CANT afford to buy the expensive foods and single parents who have to work may not have the time to prepare gourmet foods you and your bodybuilder husband can afford. shame on you for making assumptions. Instead of complaining next time you see someone at the grocery store while you are stocking up on your healthy foods and they are strugglilng to buy the cheaper foods so their kids they love can survive, throw them some money and help them out so you can stop feeling the need to accuse parents of giving their kids a death sentence for money they may not have

PARENTS THESE DAYS NEED TO WAKE UP and show their children what is healthy and what is not. They need to show them what to eat and what not to eat, just as much as they need to show them how to tie their shoes.

HEALTHY FOOD doesn't have to be expensive. We spend about $30 a week for two-three HEALTHY meals per day, feeding our family of THREE. We have SALAD at dinner instead of FRIES. Healthy? Yes. Cheaper? Most definitely. We don't eat ANYTHING gourmet. I am SUCH an awful cook it's not even funny. So don't presume that we're buying expensive foods that "oh poor pitiful me" can't afford. I HAVE bought groceries for the person in front of me at the grocery before, when I noticed they were struggling to buy the basics. HEALTHY FOOD DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE. You can buy healthy food that is CHEAP, too. I guarantee, if you STOP buying the junk, you will have more money for the HEALTHY food than you'll know what to do with.

My husband and I got married having NOTHING...between the two of us, we worked FOUR full-time jobs, and currently, he works one full-time job, I work one full-time job, and I also own an additional business that I started from the ground up, which we both work in. Is it HARD WORK to make the choice to put HEALTHY FOOD on the table? Do we have to work THREE JOBS to make things happen and have what we want in our lives and our children's lives? YES IT IS, and YES WE DO. That is the choice that we made, and we sacrifice certain things in order to make that happen.

Shame on YOU for making assumptions. I'm pretty PROUD of the CHOICES I make daily, in order to ensure that my kids are HEALTHY, ACTIVE, and not sitting in front of a boob tube, gorging on JUNK. I wish some parents (married, single, in between, illegal aliens, extra-terrestrials, or whatever kind of parents they are) would TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for their CHOICES to stuff junk into their kids, under the pretense of the "can't afford it pity party".

You CAN if you WANT to. You have to WANT it bad enough.

one more thing...no matter what our upbringing we are ALL capable of learning new things and making horrible mistakes all in one day.
It happens but I think passing the buck off on your upbringing is a little silly.
The diet and health industry is a forever changing thing and the information that we have today is completely different from what our grandparents and parents were taught. Just look at how the Food Pyramid thing has changed just in my 32 years of life!
It started as the 4 food groups then the pyramid thing with all the squares, then the pyramid with the long strips and now the "my plate" thing.
Yes, parents need to think about what their kids are eating but as an adult you have all the power required to change yourself...stop blaming your past and take a step forward. it is NEVER to late to LEARN and it is never to late to change. Begging parents to change on MFP is not going to get you anywhere...we are all here to make healthy living a part of our life so don't you think we are doing that for our families as well?

Indeed--

It ain't rocket science-- "education?" Is there anybody alive who can't tell that an apple is better for you than Apple Jacks?

But if you were not raised with fruit, like I wasn't its not that easy to just change your mind. Its not, I'm sorry. I cannot even eat apples because I never ate them as a child and now the texture makes me ill, and I cannot help but think if I was raised to enjoy fruit would that be the case, I don't think it would be.

I know that I am responsible for how I eat not but its not as cut and dry as "your an adult let go of your childhood."

I'm sorry, but it is that easy-- the question was do you know it's better for you? The education part is obvious-- unless you've lived under a rock, you know healthy food from unhealthy-- basic healthy food-- fruits, veggies, et cetera. Whether you were raised with it and/or have to develop a taste isn't at all the issue-- it's do you know what's good for you and what's not?

If you do, which as an adult I would think we all do, then the responsibility is yours to make the wise and responsible eating choices -- difficult? Maybe. Hard habits to break? Undoubtedly-- we all do, or we wouldn't be here. But our responsibility just the same.

Responsibility to our family? Sure-- but that's entering a topic that's very sensitive and personal-- and others need to stay out.

Well I am glad that it has been that easy for you, but for some people its not. I would undoubtedly say that I am a food addict and I am not addicted to fruit. So while 90% of the time I love to eat healthy sometimes its hard, I am talking about mental and physical cravings and I know this addiction stems from when I was a child, so like I said it is not as cut and dry as your an adult eat better, at least not for some of us. I have had cravings so bad they kept me up at night, and I am not placing the blame but I understand that it started as a child, plain and simple.

Responsibility to our family? Sure-- but that's entering a topic that's very sensitive and personal-- and others need to stay out.
I do not understand this, I am not saying anything about your responsibility to your family, only about my parents responsibility to me, I had great parents for the most part but when it came to healthy choices my parents did not live up to their responsibility and that is something that I WILL have to live with for the rest of my life.

I make healthy decisions but they are not EASY decisions and no just because something is better for you does not mean its an easy decision to make.

And my father was in the army, and he was a martial artist, he knew how to make healthy decisions and he didn't, and I take responsibility for how I eat but my relationship with food has been a hard one to change maybe not for you but thats good for you for me for a long time it was a daily struggle and I still get severe cravings.

This is not a cut and dry, easy to define subject and anyone who thinks it is, is kidding themselves.

Young or old we eat what we want. Filling the refrig with fruits, vegs, low fat whatever, Isn't going to stop school trading and just plain not eating. How healthy is not eating at all? Children are influenced more out of the house then in. It's called fitting in or finding persons like themselves. At any age we can decide when we want to control how much we eat 14 or 40. Blaming other people for our own choices is like saying we are not in control of ourselves. "Only I can hurt me, should I choice". Power, will and choice are ours to control.

LOL I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then. I think parents play a HUGE role in how there children eat. Yes, they may not eat the most nutritiousness stuff when they are around, but parents still control what goes on the dinner table and what they serve them for breakfast, snacks, etc. And when a parent teaches a child about good nutrition and teaches a kid to make healthy food choices it has lasting effects.

alot of kids can and do burn those calories off with sports. Moderation is the key and also not making blanket statements about how everyone should eat this or that. My neice eats like a horse, good food and bad and still look extremely skinny. My children are all fairly healthy, at decent weight levels, and eat good food as well as junk. The point is each child/ person is different and not everything is the parents fault. Maybe the better request would have been please pay attention to your children so you know if their having a problem with junk food, a lack of activity, or with portion sizes.

But what happens when these skinny children grow up and get jobs and stop participating in childhood sports? They have not been taught proper nutrition so they continue to eat unhealthy foods and soon are obese and develop obesity related diseases. I beleive we need to teach our children how to be healthy for life rather than how to be skinny children.

If they choose to become inactive after grown there is nothing a parent can do about that. This society of education teaches children about this subject at school so it's not like they don't know at that point that they need to be active and have a balanced diet.

Im sorry but this is wrong, the "education" you get from schools, the barely existent education that you go to lunch afterwards and eat pizza and tater tots, do you really expect that elementary schoolers (which is when I learned the food pyramid which by the way was never brought up again after elementary school) do you really expect them to ignore 18 years of unhealthy eating habits and change just because they are adults with a sedentary lifestyle, its true that children learn what they live, and how you are raised to eat and how you are raised to approach food will affect how you live for the rest of your life. Its your responsibility to change but responsibility also goes to their upbringings at home as well as what they ate at school.

The food pyramid" is no longer taught because nutrition experts no longer consider it a healthy way to eat. For one thing, it contains WAY too many grains.

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

Well said you are absolutely right. I remember going to McDonald's all the time.by the time i was 9 i had two 20 gal trash cans full of McDonald toys.At 12 i was 155 pounds. Not only is it unhealthy it is expensive. and honestly i have see myself making that mistake with my children to. fortunately tho both my girls love healthy food to like carrots ,fruits, yogurt and such, so lately they have had fast food once this month. and i plan on making it a bi monthly treat . my girls are both very active and i want them to stay healthy . I know my parents didn't do it on purpose but now there is more facts and education about this subject so there is no excuse for me to let my children suffer from being overweight. :flowerforyou:

You can feed a family of 5 very well on $500. Our budget for 4 people for a month is $500, but that includes our food, cleaning supplies, toiletries, alcohol, and dog food. My family is not going hungry, there is plenty of food in the house for the humans and animals. I do get the point that they can't phsyically get to a decent store - I have gone to the food desert stores - disgusting is the only way I can describe it.

I live in New York, and my budget for food for just my fiancee and I is $400 a month. That's just food, it doesn't include any other house stuff. We eat healthy food at home, and thankfully I have a good job and can afford it. If I lived in NYC where I work, my monthly food budget would EASILY be double that. Food isn't cheap everywhere, but even going off your quote, $500 a month is a lot of money for some people. More than many can afford.

What are you talking about I live in the village and I feed my self on like 50 bucks a week....

Which would be $200/person/month or $1000/month for a family of five. He's doing it cheaper in New York.

I live in Houston and my boyfriend and I spend 150$ a week on groceries. :O

We must be fatties then

You can feed a family of 5 very well on $500. Our budget for 4 people for a month is $500, but that includes our food, cleaning supplies, toiletries, alcohol, and dog food. My family is not going hungry, there is plenty of food in the house for the humans and animals. I do get the point that they can't phsyically get to a decent store - I have gone to the food desert stores - disgusting is the only way I can describe it.

I live in New York, and my budget for food for just my fiancee and I is $400 a month. That's just food, it doesn't include any other house stuff. We eat healthy food at home, and thankfully I have a good job and can afford it. If I lived in NYC where I work, my monthly food budget would EASILY be double that. Food isn't cheap everywhere, but even going off your quote, $500 a month is a lot of money for some people. More than many can afford.

What are you talking about I live in the village and I feed my self on like 50 bucks a week....

Which would be $200/person/month or $1000/month for a family of five. He's doing it cheaper in New York.

I am also curious whether the op has children? I had all the answers and was a perfect parent once. And then I had kids. lol

I was merely pointing out that the monetary value of food is not more expensive in the city than outside the city. As for carrying things and walking everywhere you go I am pretty used to that. I just look at it as extra calorie burn and embrace it instead of making hardship out if it.

And I was pointing out that a lot of people don't have the luxury of being within walking distance of places to actually buy healthy food.. or have the transportation to drive there.

My daughter had Ramen noodles last night for dinner and a pop tart this morning for breakfast. Sue me.

I freakin' hate it when people say "Parents you should be doing xyz". I find with parenting especially it's just best if people mind their own business. If my kid's eating McDonald's every day someone says something about it. If I'm giving them nothing but veggies and brown rice I'm "depriving" them. Can't win in this situation.

My daughter had Ramen noodles last night for dinner and a pop tart this morning for breakfast. Sue me.

I freakin' hate it when people say "Parents you should be doing xyz". I find with parenting especially it's just best if people mind their own business. If my kid's eating McDonald's every day someone says something about it. If I'm giving them nothing but veggies and brown rice I'm "depriving" them. Can't win in this situation.

Yep. I've never had an overweight person tell me what I should be eating or feeding my child. Even though it's sound advice....it's advice you should take yourself. You haven't been a child for a long time. I do think you struck a nerve with this one, probably because I do on occasion eat out with my child. Like above said when it comes to parenting (mind your business) especially if your not a parent it comes off like your saying you could do so much better & that we are bad parents, you haven't done so well for yourself and your telling others what they SHOULD be doing?

My daughter had Ramen noodles last night for dinner and a pop tart this morning for breakfast. Sue me.

I freakin' hate it when people say "Parents you should be doing xyz". I find with parenting especially it's just best if people mind their own business. If my kid's eating McDonald's every day someone says something about it. If I'm giving them nothing but veggies and brown rice I'm "depriving" them. Can't win in this situation.

Perhaps basing parenting decisions on what is right for your child's health, rather than what others say is the way to win.

My daughter had Ramen noodles last night for dinner and a pop tart this morning for breakfast. Sue me.

I freakin' hate it when people say "Parents you should be doing xyz". I find with parenting especially it's just best if people mind their own business. If my kid's eating McDonald's every day someone says something about it. If I'm giving them nothing but veggies and brown rice I'm "depriving" them. Can't win in this situation.

Perhaps basing parenting decisions on what is right for your child's health, rather than what others say is the way to win.

Dude, you completely missed my point. My point was it's no one's business but my own what I choose to give or not to give my children to eat.

I disagree. What you feed your child can affect others in many ways. And if they are fed so poorly that it becomes abusive then people have a right to speak out just as if you were physically or mentally abusing them in any other manner.

I'm sorry but I hate it when people blame their childhood for everything as a parent you do the best you can for your children and I'm sure yours didn't go out of their way to make you the way you are! I'm from a family of three children and I was always overweight unlike my siblings. The main reason being I was a greedy lazy kid unlike the others who where very active. We all had the same food but I would eat anything I could get my hands on as I had a strange fear of missing out. It wasn't my parents fault I was like that its not like I was deprived it was just the way I was.

I now have three children of my own and try to feed them as healthy as I possibly can on a very tight budget.

I just hate it though when preachy people who have no kids try to tell others what to do. It just gets on my nerves because your wrong whatever you do in some peoples eyes.

My oldest hates chocolate and the other day when we where out there was a woman giving out chocolate lollys my 3yr old nearly bit her hand off for one but my 6yr old daughter politely said "no thankyou i don't like chocolate" to which the woman replied "oh does mean mummy not let you eat it?" She soon shut up when I pointed out that my son was eating one. But ot wound me up because why is it any of her bloody business if she is aloud it or not. I also get funny looks when she tells people she doesn't like fizzy drinks either. So as I said you can do no right with these busy bodies.

This thread becomes a lot more bearable when you utilize the ignore feature.

My daughter had Ramen noodles last night for dinner and a pop tart this morning for breakfast. Sue me.

I freakin' hate it when people say "Parents you should be doing xyz". I find with parenting especially it's just best if people mind their own business. If my kid's eating McDonald's every day someone says something about it. If I'm giving them nothing but veggies and brown rice I'm "depriving" them. Can't win in this situation.

Perhaps basing parenting decisions on what is right for your child's health, rather than what others say is the way to win.

Dude, you completely missed my point. My point was it's no one's business but my own what I choose to give or not to give my children to eat.

I disagree. What you feed your child can affect others in many ways. And if they are fed so poorly that it becomes abusive then people have a right to speak out just as if you were physically or mentally abusing them in any other manner.

You have just proven my other point: you can't win with the outside world no matter what you do. Everyone has their opinons on what's abusive, what's not, what's good nutrition, what's not. Which is why people should just mind their own when it comes to other's parenting choices.

Which is exactly what parents that abuse their child in other ways say. Few abusive parents admit that they are abusive. But I suppose we should all just ignore it.

What we shouldn't ignore is that what I feed my child affects other people, wth? On top of that I have an obese person telling me what I should be feeding my child....anything wrong with that picture?

I was not talking about anyone in particular nor do I know what obese person your are talking about. I was merely stating that if a parent is feeding a child to point of that child being unhealthy that is a form of abuse and it is everyone's business when children are abused.