Shocked and amazed

I'm with you all. My daughter and I both have disabilities but I've played wheelchair basketball all my adult life and now she's been playing it for a couple of years and she's really coming on well with it, it's a great way for her to get fit. She also has a swimming lesson once a week and despite being totally uncoordinated, she can do 200m now. I can usually get a quick 30-40 lengths in while she's in her lesson so we both win there! Food-wise I've always been concious of what I eat and tried to eat healthy choices and my daughter copies me with that, she rarely has dessert even if it comes free with the kids meal deal, she has half eaten packets of sweets in several bags and pockets that I eventually throw away as I find them, she buys them because she fancies them but has one or two and is satisfied and stops - wish I had that sort of self control! She's another brocolli nut - we've always said to get her to eat up all her sweets we'd have to reward her with brocolli!! Hubby and I both work so it's not always easy to get to training/swimming or to cook good food but this is our life and we only get one go at it (unless we're Buddhist or Hindu, I think they get more goes!) so we need to take good care of our bodies. It's easy to make excuses but good food is often cheaper than junk, and joining a sports club or gym is often cheaper than a games console, and when you're tired and run down healthy food and excercise will pick you up far better than junk food and TV.

This is so true, I do not have children, but there are many in my life. I see a nephew who is overweight and wish with all my might that his parents would take control. They live far, so I don't know what goes on, but when we are with him, he is always begging for for food, and none of it healthy, then when he has an althletic achievement, he gets treats that can cause heart attacks. Luckily the other kids do not have a weight problem, but i worry about their general health. They live far, and we are not close, so i have no sway or is my input wanted, i am barely tolerated from day one. . I want to spit. Then, there is my godson, who is 3, dictates what the family eats. I beg his parents to feed him better choices, but they shrug. I tell them he will not starve himself, he will eat what he is given, it is a powerplay. And they say he is a carbaholic, so they have to keep feeding him the chips, the pasta and cookies. ARGHHHHH. And heaven forbid they take him outside to play.

I just don't get it, I was told what I can have and not have. If i didn't like it, then that was my problem. For snacks, i had a choice between fruit and veggies ( i wish they were ones i liked). I played outside with toys that I powered, not motorized toys like i see kids on all the time. After a day of playing and riding my bike, and not being hopped up on sugar, I slept, I had an attention span. Yes, I still had food issues, there are extremes in both directions but I have finally gotten it under control. We can find healthy food our kids like, and will eat.

I see too many kids, being fed tons of sugar and simple carbs, chemical laden soda's. Sitting around playing their hand held games, then explode from pent up energy. I just don't get it.

People who dont understand the negative effects that crap food and laziness have on a kid, who may well be a healthy kid, really gets to me. "Its ok, she is really active" or my favorite "He can have fried chicken and french fries because he is a little thin" are just ignorance. These kids will grow up thinking it is ok (like I did) and have weight issues when they get older. My endocrinologist thinks that a lot of my insulin resistance was brought on by my poor diet as a developing child. I havent told my parents this, as it would break their heart to know that they may have caused some of my weight problems, and I wont let it determine who I am now. But, I will NOT let the cycle continue to future generations because I didn't want to put in the time to fix it.

i acctually had a dietitian who told me to drop the meat and vegetable meals that i feed my daughter and replace them with high cal foods like chicken nugget and chips to bring her weight up
needless to say i told her there was no way on earth i was doing that after spending years teaching her not just healthy eating but how to eat at all
since she has a gastrostomy tube in i agreed to "feed" her overnight with a high calorie formula and to give her high calorie shakes but meal times shes getting healthy food for her future health. we still sail close to the wind with her weight but i would rather have her healthy and under the charts than "normal" weight for her age but unhealthy

my kids want mcdonalds and crap all the time. They ask for it on a daily basis. THey are inindated with it on tv and down every road we drive down! the difference is, i say no. sometimes we have it, but they ask for apples, not fries, juice and not pop. At home, they have a snack drawer in the cabinet and fridge. All of the healthy things (yogurt, apples, cuties) go first, then they have the "junk" (pudding, peanut butter crackers). Its all about moderation. We have salad every day for supper. even my 2 year old loves it!

Hrm..I guess I have a different perspective. I totally agree with feeding your kids a balanced diet and good nutrition. HOWEVER.. I have 18 mo twins and all the porker babies out there have set the standard!! Want to talk about frustration. . hearing about the damn percentiles every time we go to the doctor. Than all my friends with their fat babies (that they shove food or bottles in their face whenever they cry all day long) talking about how junior is in the 98th %ile for weight. WHoo HOoo!! It's not a test that your kid is winning..lol! I have SMALL, very SMALL boys. I could offer food all day long and they eat what they eat. They are at or below the 1 percentile and I have to work on increasing fats. That means they get real butter, avocado's, olive oil. For a while I was stressed about the next appointment worried I was going to hear about it again.. about their weight. They are VERY ACTIVE. I think it starts with birth and I see so many people saying oh my kid is going to be the next football star he is so big. I think doctors are shoving it down your throat early on. I know there are some hungry babies out there too but I think America has some big babies! I gave up and decided I will feed my boys healthy and if they are low on the scales they are low. I had to vent because it starts somewhere.

My twins were in the 0% and 5% percentile when they were babies (they're 12 now). Even though they were small they've always been very healthy. I'm not sure if a babies (toddlers) weight is the end all be all of indicating their healthiness.

I raised my children on home cooked meals and we all gathered around the family table at dinner time. It was the way I was raised and the way I saw fit to raise my own children. None of my 4 kids ever had an eating issue, none are overweight.

I still remember when I was kid, McDonald's was a rare treat, not a weekly occurrence. My father, a 6 foot ex-Marine, would order a Coke, a hamburger and fries (burgers and fries came in only one size at the time) and it was enough for a satisfying meal. Today, we include a toy with this same order, call it a Happy Meal and expect our 3 year olds to eat it. How the hell can we expect them not to get fat?

America needs to relearn proper portion sizes. America needs to relearn proper body sizes. I am a good 15 pounds over the acceptable weight range for my height and people tell me "oh you're so thin, you don't need to diet; you don't need to exercise". It's epidemic and very sad.

Absolutely agree with the above poster...moderation, moderation, moderation! If my kids are at school all day and then play hockey for 2 hours and then do homework for an hour and they want to chill out playing an hour of video games while eating a bowl of popcorn then why not? I don't think I'm being a bad parent about it. They had their healthy meals for the day and their exercise...I certainly don't mind a little downtime and a treat. My kids don't have a stitch of fat on them (they're 12 and have six pack abs - I'm very jealous LOL).

Hrm..I guess I have a different perspective. I totally agree with feeding your kids a balanced diet and good nutrition. HOWEVER.. I have 18 mo twins and all the porker babies out there have set the standard!! Want to talk about frustration. . hearing about the damn percentiles every time we go to the doctor. Than all my friends with their fat babies (that they shove food or bottles in their face whenever they cry all day long) talking about how junior is in the 98th %ile for weight. WHoo HOoo!! It's not a test that your kid is winning..lol! I have SMALL, very SMALL boys. I could offer food all day long and they eat what they eat. They are at or below the 1 percentile and I have to work on increasing fats. That means they get real butter, avocado's, olive oil. For a while I was stressed about the next appointment worried I was going to hear about it again.. about their weight. They are VERY ACTIVE. I think it starts with birth and I see so many people saying oh my kid is going to be the next football star he is so big. I think doctors are shoving it down your throat early on. I know there are some hungry babies out there too but I think America has some big babies! I gave up and decided I will feed my boys healthy and if they are low on the scales they are low. I had to vent because it starts somewhere.

My twins were in the 0% and 5% percentile when they were babies (they're 12 now). Even though they were small they've always been very healthy. I'm not sure if a babies (toddlers) weight is the end all be all of indicating their healthiness.

I completely agree.. tell that to the percentile crazies out there.

my kids eat mostly healthy, they eat what they are served or they eat it as their next meal. usually the threat of spinach for breakfast makes them eat their dinner however we still eat out, and still have unhealthy meals at home sometimes. show me another 5 year old that loves artichokes and asparagus and brussels sprouts, along with salmon, shrimp, and any other kind of fish that isnt in "stick" form. lol
i allow one sugary drink a day (choc milk, soda, lemonade, juice, etc) but there are many days all theyll drink is milk with meals, and water in between.
they are pretty active, we walk to and from school (.7 miles one way) and walk to the park to play, etc. they play outside plenty - but they also play video games and mess around on facebook. my youngest will more than likely be a computer nerd or a gamer, and im ok with that. my oldest wants to get into cheerleading and ballet and gymnastics, and thats great too. each kid is different

Gaming systems aren't evil and they aren't to blame. Lazy parents who let their children spend too much time on them are to blame.

We always had a gaming system growing up. Started out with atari (lol) and then nintendo and so on and so forth.

We were still very active children, constantly outside with our friends playing, biking, rollerblading, etc.

Sure we played video games sometimes but we didn't spend all day playing just because we had a gaming system.

^this.
we have an xbox 360, wii, ps3, ps2, nintendo, super nintendo, and gaming computers. my kids play them. i play them. we still play outside

agreed!!!!!!!!!

And if your kids are out of the house away from you all the time you have no idea what they are doing - and some of those parents are just shocked when their kids get into trouble.

I haven't read everything, so this may have come up ... but I hate when parents (on here and in real life) make a big deal about how unhealthy fast food places are and how they refuse to get anything but diet coke there, but then feed their kids that food! If it's not healthy enough for you, it shouldn't be served to your kids.

Also, when do habits and tastes start forming? It's not when the kids are old enough to make their own food decisions! When they decide they want to lose weight because they're unhealthy, the groundwork has already been laid for preferences for unhealthy foods.

Hrm..I guess I have a different perspective. I totally agree with feeding your kids a balanced diet and good nutrition. HOWEVER.. I have 18 mo twins and all the porker babies out there have set the standard!! Want to talk about frustration. . hearing about the damn percentiles every time we go to the doctor. Than all my friends with their fat babies (that they shove food or bottles in their face whenever they cry all day long) talking about how junior is in the 98th %ile for weight. WHoo HOoo!! It's not a test that your kid is winning..lol! I have SMALL, very SMALL boys. I could offer food all day long and they eat what they eat. They are at or below the 1 percentile and I have to work on increasing fats. That means they get real butter, avocado's, olive oil. For a while I was stressed about the next appointment worried I was going to hear about it again.. about their weight. They are VERY ACTIVE. I think it starts with birth and I see so many people saying oh my kid is going to be the next football star he is so big. I think doctors are shoving it down your throat early on. I know there are some hungry babies out there too but I think America has some big babies! I gave up and decided I will feed my boys healthy and if they are low on the scales they are low. I had to vent because it starts somewhere.

My son is in the high 90%. Please be nice, hes a big boy, he is not a "Porker baby". He is just a big boy, hes also in the 90% for height. My youngest daughter is in the high 80%. We don't have candy, chips, fast food, pop, juice, etc in the house. My son has never had a peice of white bread. He also cannot have dairy or soy. Our doc told us its rare to see a child that cannot have dairy thrive and gain like our little guy did, usualy they lose weight and have a harder time gaining weight. I completely agree that kids shouldn't ever be force fed, but sometimes kids are just bigger then others. My oldest daughter is under 20% for both weight/height, and she eats the same as her siblings.

I got really lucky with our first child because she liked fruits/veggies more then junk food. None of our kids are overly picky. My middle child hates veggies, and thats fine. She eats lots of fruit. I still put the veggie we are haivng at dinner on her plate every night, and everynight she says "ewww" but she has taken an occasional bite lately, so eventually she might eat an entire carrot stick. We don't push it, we just eat ours and let her decide if she wants her. Its not worth fighting over and making it a negative thing in her life.

We do not have candy/chips/pop/juice in our house. I cook everything myself, we dont' buy bagged/packaged cookies or cakes, and def. not meals. We have to be pretty strict because of the allergies, but we would be anyway even if we could just give our kids whatever we wanted.

We buy things that we are fine with them haivng, and that is what they get to choose from when its snack time. Right now in our cupboard is animal crackers (also a treat btw), rice crackers and whole wheat ritz. All portioned into baggies, they can grab and go. In the fridge is carrot sticks, grapes, apples, snap peas, and yogurt/cheese stings for our oldest child. Again, in baggies, grab and go. They only drink water, juice is a rare treat, pop is a really rare treat.

I am also in Canada, and the winters last forever. Oct to April where we live, they can go out and play on really warm days, but thats only once a week or so. Once it warms up we are outside all day long. But just because its cold doens't mean they get to sit in front of cartoons or video games. They run, and spin, and jump, and play dollhouse, and color and find things to stay busy.

I cringe whenever I am around my neice. Shes almost 3. She gets up and has either nutella(seriously, just the nutella. Licks it off her toast) or sugar cereal (fruit loops, reeces peices cereat etc) then snacks all day long, refuses to sit at the table or eat her dinner, and is rewareded with a bag full of marshmallows. Shes small right now, it wont stay that way. She doesn't drink water, just juice and milk. All day long. Her mom put her on solids at 3 months, because she wasn't "sleeping well enough".

My son is in the high 90%. Please be nice, hes a big boy, he is not a "Porker baby". He is just a big boy, hes also in the 90% for height. My youngest daughter is in the high 80%. We don't have candy, chips, fast food, pop, juice, etc in the house. My son has never had a peice of white bread. He also cannot have dairy or soy. Our doc told us its rare to see a child that cannot have dairy thrive and gain like our little guy did, usualy they lose weight and have a harder time gaining weight. I completely agree that kids shouldn't ever be force fed, but sometimes kids are just bigger then others. My oldest daughter is under 20% for both weight/height, and she eats the same as her siblings.

I dont think she was talking about kids that are just "big". If they are in the 90% for height, they would be a bit bigger weight wise (usually) too. My daughter is a bean pole. She has always been 90th height, and 20th weight...... She is 6 and only weighs 48 lbs, but is 4' tall....... My neice though, is 3, also very tall, but has a LOT of muscle, so she outweighs my kid. But to look at her, she is a solid little bulk of muscle. If you are playing with her and poke or tickle, you dont get squishy bits, you get solid muscles. The ones that get me are the ones that are just plain fat children with very little muscle tone and sucking down pop with a bag of chips. That is really hard to see when you see the parents and they are in the same shape and you KNOW that it is not a medical issue or a big strong kid..........