Buy Walking VideosParents Underestimate Child Obesity
Something about this article doesn’t sit right for me.
I think it’s this line of reasoning.
While most parents agree childhood obesity is a major health issue, many underestimate their own children’s weight and fail to take corrective steps to manage weight gain. Without intervention, childhood obesity can take a hefty toll on a person’s life-long health.
“It is critical to address obesity in the childhood years – at home, and in schools and other community settings,†says Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., director of the National Poll on Children’s Health. “But in order to address childhood obesity at home, parents must first recognize that a child is not at a healthy weight for their height. Parents also must be concerned enough to want to do something about their children’s obesity.â€
I don’t believe parents should restrict their children’s diet. Every summer from the age of nine until seventeen, my grandmother placed me on a restrictive diet. I’ve written before about how misperceived my grandmother was about my obesity (or lack of it). The honest truth is that I don’t think parents should try to help their child lose weight. They should lead by doing. If the parents eat healthy, the children will follow along. I’ve written about this before as well:
In the end, it bothers me that doctors are wasting money on these kind of studies and not working on figuring out what is making us fat in the first place.
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February 29th, 2008 at 6:45 am
ristrictive homes fair worse than junk food homes or worse inconsistant rules ristrictive diets yet the junk food keeps being brought in the home.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:16 am
“In the end, it bothers me that doctors are wasting money on these kind of studies and not working on figuring out what is making us fat in the first place.”
We all know damn well what makes us fat. There just isn’t an easy fix for it, that would still allow us to not have to practice any self control, so we keep looking for other reasons.
February 29th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Maybe a “restrictive diet” is as simple as not allowing kids to have real Coke or Capri Sun when they get home from school. Maybe it means packing 2 oreos in their lunch rather than the entire roll or not giving them money for crap from a vending machine. Maybe it means cooking them something better for dinner than a happy meal from McDonalds. Just as you would not allow your child to run through your house screaming on a regular basis just because they want to, I believe you shouldn’t allow them to eat whatever they feel like. Is that the type of restriction you are opposed to? It seems unrealistic to assume that just because a parent chooses to have milk and carrots with their lunch that a child will also request that if given the choice.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Hmmm. Actually, they do.
My daughter is four years old, and my husband and I have been cutting fat and calories in our household for about three months now. My daughter still has hallowween candy left over and she almost never asks for it. Instead, she’s asking for yogurt, raisins and english muffins for snacks. She even works out with me sometimes, when I do my aerobics.
I think what iportion was getting at is the parents who count and restrict every mouthful their child eats while at home, so said child just goes out while at school and trades for lunch, buys Krispy Kreme dough nuts from band drives and shoplifts chocolate bars… the ‘forbidden’ becomes so tempting that much like anything else, kids will go out of their way to get/do something that they shouldn’t, simply because they know they shouldn’t. I personally remember doing a lot of things for the specific reason of knowing my parents would hate it (piercing my ears 7 times comes to mind immediately).