"Honey, We're Killing The Kids."

[Atman]

Especially after the contentious DU thread about kids too fat for their car seats, I'm thrilled to see this show being promoted on TLC. Hopefully the people that NEED to watch it will watch it, but I fear people won't believe the show is talking about them. They'll switch to TVLand and open another bag of Cheetohs. But for all those who blasted me and others by suggesting that fat kids were just genetically challenged, I hope you'll check it out. I know I will.


"Honey, We're Killing The Kids."

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[NMDemDist2]

1. atman, your link goes to Microsoft's home page N/T

[Atman]

3. Whoops...I took it off the TLC page...I'll try to fix it!

Oh, that is supposed to be the permalink to the Fat Toddler thread. The TLC link seems to work fine. I'll try to fix the DU link though. Thanks.

On edit: There...I forgot to take the >h t t p://< out of the link code.

[SmokingJacket]

2. There are some kids who have metabolic problems...

but in most cases, allowing a child to become obese is a form of child abuse. It might happen out of ignorance and love, but it's still abuse.

There are studies that show obese children have a poorer quality of life than kids undergoing treatment for cancer. Other children are vicious to them, they can't play like regular children, and they are likely to have health problems for the rest of their lives.

It's not easy producing three healthy meals every day for your kids, and fighting off the junk that really presses in from all sides. It's hard making sure they get exercise for a couple hours every day.

But aside from love, empathy, and education, a healthy body is the best thing can give your children.

[renate]

4. amen to how hard it is...

It's not just their natural inclinations to eat crap, it's peer pressure. They don't make groovy-looking Capri Sun-type juice bags (you know, those shiny ones) for anything that's 100% juice instead of corn syrup, so my daughter is embarrassed by her juice box every day. And she says (this amazes me, that it's still this way) that hardly anybody has brown bread in their lunchboxes. She doesn't fuss about how her food is different, which is really sweet, but I know she'd like those crap juices and white bread if she had a choice.

Some of her friends come outside to play carrying snacks like giant doughnuts, etc, and of course she's envious--who wouldn't be? Luckily there's another mom in the neighborhood who gives her kids healthy snacks or I'd never get a moment's peace in the afternoon.

I know a lot of parents give up and give in, but I'm still not sure I'd call it actual abuse to let a child become obese, because there are so many other factors outside a parent's control.

[SmokingJacket]

7. My kids try to guilt me about the juice thing too...

"Jamie's mom is so nice..." etc. Oh, well! I'm actually pretty lenient when it comes to snacks -- once they eat their fruits, vegetables, milk, grains, and they're STILL hungry, they can have cookies, ice cream, whatever. They're incredibly energetic little boys, so I figure they can use the calories.

A parent doesn't really relinquish control over what a kid eats until they're at least ten or eleven or so -- until then, the parent has to buy pretty much everything that goes into the kid's mouth. Aside from the kids with real metabolic problems, it's totally the parents' fault that a child is obese.

[KittyWampus]

10. One way to withstand peer pressure is to get kids involved in cooking

and, when possible, growing stuff. :)

[gollygee]

5. Their definition of obese is ridiculous

I know there are kids who are obese and way too many, but 40 pounds at 3 isn't it. My daughter is quite tall but not *exceptionally* tall and was 40 pounds right around her 3rd birthday. And she outgrew her carseat and I had to get a new one. I wish they'd focus on truly obese kids and not kids like my daughter, and I wish car seats were made to accomadate NORMAL children's growth.

Here's a recent photo of my daughter to show she truly isn't obese.

[Atman]

6. Well, they do make larger car seats

We went all over this in the other thread. They are a bit more expensive, perhaps, but that is because of manufacturing costs associated with the smaller number of units. The people in the CNN report aired last week were complaining not about the lack of seats, but that they didn't think they should have to pay a premium to get one. Unfortunately, there is little a manufacturer can do here. They can cheap out the larger seats to bring the cost down, but would you feel comfortable knowing your child is in a sub-par "safety" seat?

Your daughter is obviously not obese. Look at the bright side...maybe the extra few bucks you spend on the seat will come back to you one day via her Olympic Volleyball Team endorsements!

[NMDemDist2]

8. after reading the linked thread

i'm off for a long brisk walk. and, just for the record, I think High Fructose Corn Syrup is poison and refuse to let it in my house.

the Cooking and Baking group has allowed me to take over my family's diet and I've started cooking most everything from scratch. it's cheaper and not much more work with a little planning and the food is so much more satisfying. smaller portions of "real" food stick with you better so we snack less. home made bread and muffins are yummy and using honey and less refined sugar has to be better for us.

while neither of us are obese, we are slowing losing weight (after all we didn't put the weight on overnight) and feeling and sleeping better. Not to mention our food budget is a third of what it used to be.

Once in a while we'll go to a fast food joint and realize we don't like the taste anymore. the only exception is In & Out and even that is getting less so.

we're moving this summer and I'm looking forward to growing more of our own food. between the exercise of gardening and being forced to use up the results I see better health all round in my future!

[Hell Hath No Fury]

9. I was just talking with my sister....

about this last night.

I was thinking back to grade school (back in the mid 60s) and at the kids thought to be "fat" back then. The biggest (weight wise)kids in the class were really just a bit chubby -- an extra 10 or 15 pounds on them at the most. It was that way for most of the other grades in the school, too. I never saw a kid back then as big as lot of what I am seeing today -- that is what is shocking.

Of course back then we had two recesses a day during whch we played constantly. We had PE several times a week. And we had school sponsored lunches made by the Italian ladies of the parrish -- an entree, a dessert (usually jello or pudding) and a drink. Our drink options were milk, chocolate milk, and orange juice. No sode, no chips, no snacks, no crap -- just the basics.

I have one of those should have a genetic predispostion to being fat -- my Grandma and Mom both weighted over 200 pounds at under 5'4. If I am not careful I can go there too, but I am conciously making choices that will break that cycle. All genetics is not destiny, and we should never view it that way.