Parents - don't give your toddlers a McDiet, m'kay?

[Deja Q]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=40830

:wow:

Over 250,000 American children under the age of 6 are too heavy for car-safety seats designed for their age-group. Makers of car-safety seats are having to make sturdier models to ensure levels of safety for these seriously obese and overweight children are maintained.

Not giving them xboxes will help too.

[Robb]

1. X-boxes are quite low in saturated fat

:shrug:

[Ekirh]

3. Yes. . .

But the Carbs will get yah ;).

[Deja Q]

5. True, but they stunt a developing body... reduces muscle tone; atrophies.

It's not all about eating right and these bullshit diet fads that those greedy jerkwads want people to swallow. It's as much about mobility and maintaining muscles. And the cardiovascular system.

I'm having troubles at 33. And the sad part is, my childhood contained a reasonable amount of physical exertion too (despite some congenital problems.)

Just imagine what porky 3 year old will end up having to deal with.

[Ekirh]

2. Dear God

That's just horrible . . .

Yah I ate fast food and played video games a lot as a kid but at least I also did Soccer which helped a lot.

Glad to say I no longer eat fast food and I've recently started trying to drop weight as well . . . but of course that is off topic.

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. Oh oh - I can't wait for the righteous anger!

:popcorn:

Of course, I agree with you.

But I can't wait for the parents who say it's too time consuming to cook...

[Deja Q]

8. A couple years ago, I saw a woman with a 6 year old...

And I swear, her 6 year old's gut was the size of mine.

And I was 31 at the time.

:wow:

Inactivity and oversaturated grease.

That girl is headed for big troubles - both literally and figuratively.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

10. I was at On the Border the other day....

And I saw a family eating, but their 4 year old was eating a happy meal. First of all, the management should have asked them to take it out, and second of all, they have a kids' menu at OTB! Jeez, people. Teach your kids to eat what everyone else is eating. Quit letting them be finicky.
Duckie

[LostinVA]

15. In most places it's actually illegal to bring in other food

Because of the health code and insurance laws.... but I guess that's what you meant!

[Left Is Write]

18. I would never bring food in from another restaurant, but...

I can guarantee my son wouldn't be eating anything from a Mexican-style restaurant, except perhaps tortilla chips. It isn't because I "let" him be picky - he just is. It's not the hill I want to die on. As long as he gets peanut butter on whole wheat, yogurt, bananas, peas, and a multi-vitamin, I'm content to let him outgrow the phase.

That's not to say I don't offer him other foods; I do. I'm just not interested in turning it into a battle. Sooner or later he will get bored with his limited menu and turn his interest to what the rest of us are eating.

[Arugula Latte]

21. It's harder than it seems, isn't it?

My son eats veggies and other healthy foods; my daughter wouldn't even open her mouth for pureed veggies when she first started eating as a baby. It is soooooo frustrating. I try to do the best I can to get her to eat good food, but there are limits to what you can FORCE kids to eat ... believe me, I've tried!

[MissB]

23. It can't happen soon enough around here.

We went to a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant last week while on vacation. It looked intriguing.

They were just writing up their menu for the evening. The entire menu was one big drool fest. We'd stumbled on the finest restaurant in that little town, I think. The salmon dinner was $27, so it wasn't a budget place either.

Unfortunately, the only kid menu item they had was a pasta with red sauce. Um, my youngest just isn't there yet. I keep serving it to him in hopes that he'll try it and like it. Not yet.

We ended up at some other restaurant. :cry:

My youngest survives on peanut butter on whole wheat, yogurt, carrots and apples. He is willing to try new foods, he just doesn't yet like them.

[MissB]

17. If you really can't wait, there is a thread in LBN

that has several flamefests within it.

[YankeyMCC]

6. Time to demand manufactures produce

larger capacity car seats!

:sarcasm:

[Maddy McCall]

7. GADS no! Feed them peeps, instead!

:hi:

[Deja Q]

9. I destroy peeps because of the candy problem...

Hasn't helped much. :cry:

[Maddy McCall]

11. Damned things ARE delicious.

I could eat peeps and malted milkball eggs the whole month of April!

:hi:

[LostinVA]

16. Yum... stale chewy Peeps... specifically the bunnies

They get stale more evenly... yumyumyum...

[LeftyMom]

12. Some of those kids, including mine, are just large, not fat

Most of those kids are under four and too immature for a booster seat, but over 40lbs. Higher weight harmessed seats meet thier needs and are safer for all kids.

[Deja Q]

14. There's a difference between biology and conscious choice.

I'd rather concentrate on the article; I don't think it's suggesting that more people predisposed to weighing more are having more babies.

The fact we're having so many more cases despite a fairly small population means there is an external force afoot.

Or several.

Lack of physical inactivity caused by too much inactivity is legit.

Fast food is so prevalent, combined with peoples' general lack of time (multiple jobs and all), that McSlop will rake in far more bucks than the sellers of base ingredients for proper cooking.

Yes, it's still good to make sturdier car seats as, let's face it, a quality product these days is virtually nonexistent anyway. Too much profit (a few pennies) is at risk. But the whole situation still needs to be looked at and I am overweight too. (I should weigh 185, I weigh 200. One year ago I weighed 230 and was truly grotesque. And I'm still trying to overcome some very nasty problems... So I have every right to make comments.)

The trouble is, people don't want to look. They'll either anger the video game industry and in turn be called "communists" for trying to reduce or eliminate video game sales... or, worse, be called "fatphobic" or whatever because those mentioning these problems of today are prejudiced against the overweight.

And it's not being large. It's being overweight that's detrimental to one's health. There is a difference. And there are real signs that what's going on has nothing to do with genetics. Our society causes our ills. From obesity to road rage; and our media loves to say "there is a problem" but it sure as hell doesn't offer suggestions as what to do to improve about it. Now we see why. Dare to say something and ratings start to dwindle.

[LeftyMom]

20. I'm not saying that it's a matter of biology or naturally fat kids.

I'm saying that all a kid has to do to need a a high weight limit seat is be over 40 lbs before they're mature enough for a booster (four is usually considered the bare minimum for that.) That's not hard to do for kids who are hight weight proportionate but simply larger than average. My kid needed such a seat at two and a half because he was too tall for the regular harnessed seats (but also close to 40 lbs.)

These seats are needed for large kids, tall kids, squirmy kids, special needs kids and kids whose parents' cars have lap belts in the back, not just for fat kids. Suggesting otherwise is a gross oversimplification.

[Left Is Write]

31. Now that you mention it...

My son was in a booster seat when he was three, and he's nowhere near fat. He's taller than every other kid in his class - more than a head taller in some cases. He wears 5 Slim Levi's because he needs the length, but he's got no tushy!

[gkhouston]

41. I put my daughter in a belt-positioning booster when she was 27 months

old because she was so tall. The only harnessed seat that would have been large enough for her at the time were the oversized Britax models which wouldn't fit in our car. Luckily, she wasn't a squirmer and I've never had any problem in the past three years with her trying to slip out from under her seatbelt.

[Telly Savalas]

32. For the under-6 cohort, I don't think the video games play too big a role.

Most certainly for kids a bit older it's an issue, but for kids under 6, you're probably just looking at TV-based inactivity combined with crap diet.

[XemaSab]

34. Why do you feed LeftyKid nothing but McDonald's????

You're a bad mother!

:cry:

[LeftyMom]

35. But he loves the McCholesterolburger so

How can I tell him no?

[XemaSab]

36. I know the truth!

You stuff that kid like you're raising him for foie gras!

:cry:

[LeftyMom]

37. But it's legal and natural

and he really likes it when I pour cornmeal down his throat with a funnel.

[XemaSab]

38. He's going to have enough liver for the whole family!

:bounce:

[LeftyMom]

39. Mmmmmmmmmmm fattened boy liver

I hear it tastes just like hufu.

[Left Is Write]

13. My six-year-old...

still only weighs 37-38 pounds. And she's 48 inches tall (at last check - she may be taller now). She eats almost everything I give her (including the occasional fast food hamburger), but she must have a hollow leg. She can eat carrot sticks and a thousand calories worth of cucumber ranch dip, a big bowl of spaghetti with sauce and meatballs, and a hunk of bread with garlic butter - and still tell me she's hungry an hour later.

My son can eat his weight in peanut butter sandwiches. He's four. He's 44 inches tall and weighs 47 pounds.

My daughter is upset because many of her friends have graduated from their car seats but I still insist she must ride in hers. She doesn't weigh enough not to. She'll be too tall for the thing before she's too heavy for it.

[ForrestGump]

40. My six-year-old...weighs 600 pounds!

:P

[gollygee]

19. It defines obese as 3 and over 40 pounds

my daughter is tall for her age. She's been over 40 pounds almost the whole time she's been 3 but she's as tall as a 5-year-old. And she is tall (as are her father and I - so her height is not a suprise) but it isn't as unusual as the article makes it sound.

The problem isn't just weight.

And just to confirm that she isn't obese:

[LeftyMom]

24. My kid was over 40 lbs before he was three

He's not obese, he eats no junk food.

This is him in his first high weight limit seat (we weren't happy with it and got a nicer one.)


Here he is now (still not fat.)

[gollygee]

25. Cute though :D

I don't remember just when my daughter hit 40 pounds but I think it was around the time she turned 3. It could have been a bit earlier. I don't keep track of these things.

[LeftyMom]

27. I only know since I had to get a new seat.

At almost five he's only 44 lbs. Much taller though, his head's almost up to my armpits already.

[gollygee]

30. We got our daughter's new carseat I think *on* her third birthday

as I recall. It was for kids 3 to 6 and she was just turning 3 but had just hit the limit of the old carseat. So it must have been right around her birthday. I remember deciding that the weight issue was more important than a couple of weeks age-wise so maybe it was a couple of weeks before her third birthday.

[Nikia]

22. Children grow fast and natuaully have lots of energy

They will not get fat if they are allowed to actively play and perhaps participate in some kind of organized physical activity.
My sister and I didn't get fat during the summer when we stayed with our grandparents during the day even though we ate several ice cream treats, a hamburger, several glasses of kool aid, spagghetios, popcorn, some kind of candy that we picked up from a walk to the drug store with my grandfather, and some of what my grandparents were having for lunch nearly every day we were there. We were also active 4-5 hours a day.

[philosophie_en_rose]

26. It's not just about diet, HypnoToad.

It's not really about what we eat. It's about why we eat and what we do with the calories. I've lost (and gained) myself, so I know that one can be quite chunky eating so-called health food, as well.

You're right about health. That should be the focus. It's okay to eat a Happy Meal, even if you're fat. As long as it's part of a healthy eating plan. (Happy Meal is actually reasonably sized. If I ever ate at McDonald's, I would have that - instead of supersized food).

[Left Is Write]

29. I confess -

That's what I do too, if I wind up having lunch or supper at McDs (which is very low on my list of acceptable fast food restaurants - I'd rather get a great burger Culvers!).

I get a Happy Meal and share the fries, or I get a plain small hamburger and a fruit and yogurt thingy.

[philosophie_en_rose]

33. A Happy Meal is not that many points, actually.

Weight Watchers gives points to certain things and a Happy Meal (Though not ideal) wouldn't break the point level.

I think that Hynotoad has a point, though. If a toddler is eating a whole Happy Meal, perhaps he or she will be graduating to Supersized foods - not good. If an adult is eating a happy meal, it might be a reasonable portion.

[DS1]

28. Don't judge a seat by its blubber

capacity