Overweight children

missy68

But when you see obese parents, it's obvious they aren't smart enough to handle their own diets I am not a parent, but according to the BMI chart, I am obese. I happen to disagree with this assessment, FWIW, and, I also disagree with the statement that I am "not smart enough to handle my own diet."

laladypoet

(or if they did, point me in that direction)

alixzafiris

Tide that sucks. I assumed as there's one in the heart of downtown Toronto, which is much larger population-wise than D.C, that you'd have one too. Wal-Marts are freaking everywhere around here, but irritating really...

wadingmoose

But, like most people here, you balk at the suggestion that weight gain can be caused by an eating disorder that needs to be properly evaluated and treated.  Just as you wouldn't tell the parents of an anorexic to shove a sandwich down a child's throat, you shouldn't deal with overeating by telling them not to feed the child.Children are both smart and resourceful.  If they're eating to fulfill a psychological need, then handing them a carrot and telling them to go for a run isn't going to solve the problem.  They're going to find food - whether it's hoarding it in the house, getting someone else to buy it for them or trading carrot sticks for the anorexic kid's oreos.  They will find a way to fullfill that need.Until people recognize and accept that overeating CAN BE as much of an eating disorder as the commonly accepted disorders, then the judgment will continue and kids who desperately need help won't get it.Do you honestly think a parent or a kid sanely eats their way to almost 600 lbs?  Do you think they do it because they know better and just feel like being ostracized and treated like absolute crap?

ndzenowski

also, there's a huge RISE in childhood obesity. what is that linked to? certainly binge-eating has been around for a long time. same with thyroid disorders. This x 1000

J&K10910

I didn't yet read all the responses, but I want to say this.  If negligence or abuse is in play, then yes.  Especially because someone who is neglecting to feed their child healthy food is also (IMO) less likely to get the child to doctor's appts, pick up meds, and otherwise help control issues that come alone with morbid obesity.However, I definitely agree that if it's simply lack of knowledge, counseling, education, and maybe work with a social worker or something like that should be a first step.  Depending on the abuse or neglect that could also work there too.  Obviously it should go on a case by case basis, and if the child is otherwise well cared for, yanking them out of their homes, away from their families, etc, could very well do more harm than good.  Education is sometimes the best place to start.

Swolf67

in most cases I think taking away the children is too extreme. this is a naive view, but abuse in my mind entails a lack of love and parents who have obese children don't necessarily not love them (sorry for the double negative). Counseling seems like a better option to me, or something like that, in order to maintain an environment where the family has lots of love still but has learned the importance of nutrition etc. plus it just seems like one more step towards Big Brother to me. on a side note, parents DO contribute to or cause children to become anorexic in many cases.  Scary example involves my aunt and her 2 daughters.  Aunt used to look like me (tall and curvy, NOT fat by any means). She became obsessed with "what everyone thinks" and bs media standards and became anorexic. During her second pregnancy she even LOST weight in the 3rd trimester b/c she was so mentally twisted and obsessed. She has two daughters and the eldest is now 15. Guess what, she's anorexic too and actually is terrified of eating due to anticipated reprimands from her mother and embedded fears about being ugly and unloved fed to her by her mother. The younger one is treading the same path though she's only 8. They are on 'diets' and they 'exercise' beyond normal childhood activities (i.e. have to use stationary bikes, run laps, etc while at home)so aye, parents contribute to anorexia too and that almost scares me more because the parents clearly care more about peoples' opinions and society's warped, trendy sense of beauty than their own childrens' health.

lpstl

The Jamie Oliver special sounds familiar, not sure if I've seen it the whole,l way through. That definitely sounds like a good start though. I really think most of the obesity problems we have in the west can be solved, or at least reduced, by education. When you see cases about parents who have morbidly obese children, they typically aren't educated middle class families. There needs to be more education in school about nutrition and fitness, and even childcare. Kids go through public school and take history and math every year, they are expected to know when the magna carta was signed and what the Pythagorean therom is, but no one seems to care if they know how to cook a cheap healthy meal or understand why boundaries are important for young children.

ac_in_dc

also, there's a huge RISE in childhood obesity. what is that linked to? certainly binge-eating has been around for a long time. same with thyroid disorders.There are lots of reasons, but these are the ones that come to mind straight off:Increasing portion sizes. More readily available processed foods. Corn subsidies and the rise of high fructose corn syrup as a ubiquitous additive.And food no longer takes up as high a percentage of household budgets as it used to.

laladypoet

moose, who are you talking to? I'm confused.

MeaghanandMichael

Have you seen in the news where they are going to be weighing children regularly at school now? I remember they would do it once a year with the lice check and stuff, but once a month or week brings up eating disorder issues. My girl campers as young as first grade have told me they are on diets or think they are fat. I wonder what the flip side of being weight conscious in public schools will be like.

ac_in_dc

also, there's a huge RISE in childhood obesity. what is that linked to? certainly binge-eating has been around for a long time. same with thyroid disorders.Oh, and our society is way more car-dependent than it used to be so folks walk less and kids aren't given the freedom to bike/walk to school like they used to. Or just run around & troll the neighborhood b/c of concerns about kidnapping.

LnDUBS

"there's a great blog out there about a family of five living on a grand a month. just sayin."I wouldn't call it a great blog. I read that one day she made her children eat bananas all day, Just bananas. That dosn't sound like a healthy diet to me.

laladypoet

lndubs, it was called sarcasm.

laladypoet

thud.this thread is now dead.

alixzafiris

Dammit Lala, why'd you go and kill it? You're such a life-ruiner!

Nebb

I think its the mixture of junk food AN inactivity that helps cause the problem. When I was a poor college student I ate nothing but pasta, chips, pizza and other things like that and I was at my lowest weight ever because I walked everywhere (I also didnt eat huge portions of anything either). The fact that no one walks anywhere now, that its hard to walk to where ou need to go depending on the size of your city, only exacerbates the problem if they are also not eating healthy.

laladypoet

heh. exacerbates.

J&K10910

Now that I've read the rest of the thread, I agree a lot with the points Moose was making about binge eating disorders.  But I think there's a difference between a 14 year old (who has a lot more control over what goes in his or her mouth) who is morbidly obese, and say a 6 year old that is.  I don't think there's any ONE answer, as obviously it's a case by case basis.  There's a thin line too, with whether or not it's abuse or neglect.

lyndausvi

you are right Nebb.  Kids do not go out and play anymore because they might get snatched up or something. So they just sit on the computer and play that way. Less activity plus poor food choices can equal overweight kids.

ricksang

Have you seen in the news where they are going to be weighing children regularly at school now? I remember they would do it once a year with the lice check and stuff, but once a month or week brings up eating disorder issues. My girl campers as young as first grade have told me they are on diets or think they are fat. I wonder what the flip side of being weight conscious in public schools will be like. No I have not ,but this pisses me the fukc off. You can't determine how much weight you gain/lose in a week. Yes, instead of having a childhood obesity epidemic, let's have a disordered eating epidemic. Hey, at least I will have a job to do

squirrly

For example, a lot of inner cities have very few true grocery stores. Low income families may not have access to a grocery store w/in walking distance, and public transportation may or may not get them to where they need to go. So, their only choice is go to the local 7-11 where milk is $4.50 a gallon, as opposed to $3 in a grocery store. Or, grab a $1 burger from whatever fast food chain is down the street.This is very representative of half of the city I live in.  On the upper-class side of town, there are tons of grocery stores, produce markets, farmers' markets, etc.  On the other side of town, full-size grocery stores are hard for ME to find, with a car.  The ones that do exist have very little produce, and often what they do have is poor quality.  It's also pricey.  And, I've yet to see a coupon for produce, meat, etc.  Coupons are plentiful for every packaged food sold here, though.  So, it can be very difficult for families in some areas to find/afford high quality, nutritious food.  For families in the "border" area between the have & have-not sides of town, they can probably find the food, and afford SOME good quality stuff.  Enough to do a respectable job of feeding their families, anyway.  However, MANY of those families rarely have a parent at home at meal times.  They may have only one parent, parents may work odd hours, multiple jobs, far away, etc.  One other thing to consider -- there are some cultures that prefer heavier people.  So much so that they find women, particularly, in the "healthy" BMI range to be underweight.  It is a challenge to change those cultural stereotypes, both to get the parents to stop over-feeding their kids, but also to get the kids to want to eat less.As for a solution, I'm not really sure.  I think programs that make fresh food more readily available should be furthered as much as possible.  I think nutrition and basic cooking could have just as much a place in school as art, music, and social studies.  If planned the right way, it could be combined with a math lesson (money/counting, fractions in recipes, etc.) or a science lesson pretty easily.  Waiting until middle school to offer home ec (now called Consumer & Family Science, I think) and making kids choose between band, home ec, shop, or computer class isn't really a good way to go.I think having a school nutritionist & making them available for counseling with students & parents is a great idea.  My hometown has 1 dietician for the entire school district & that person spends most of their time sourcing food that meets the gov't standards for nutrition.  Which, by the way, are difficult - proteins have to be fortified to the point that the school can't cook anything remotely fresh, and it rarely tastes good -- so they're still not learning that good food can be good for them.Taking overweight children from their families, though, isn't the solution.  It will just create more issues, for all the reasons pps have said.

KatieEHeim

I think it's really difficult to make a judgement call between what is neglect and what is the result of inequities in our society. My fiance and I live and eat very healthfully and groceries for the two of us cost more than $100 per week (including lots of whole grains, lean proteins, and fresh fruits and veggies). I have been a teacher in urban schools and in many homes it is just not feasible to buy healthful foods. You can get a much larger volume of processed, high fat foods (at the grocery store or fast food), and when you have a low income it is quantity for cost that matters, not quality. Obviously, that is grossly oversimplifying the problem because many other factors play a roll in weight and lifestyle. More education needs to be available to teach people proper eating habits (many people truly do not understand just how unhealthfully they eat), but making sure that healthful foods are not cost-prohibitive is also necessary. I would argue that some parents are being neglectful, some are undereducated about healthful living, some lack the necessary resources needed to support a healthy lifestyle, and many fall into multiple categories listed above. I do, however, feel that it is unwise and narrow minded to feel that we can judge these situations from the outside and make overarching claims about what should be done about "these parents." I also think that if you look at many people involved in politics, they should not really be making judgement calls about how others should or should not be living their lives.

laladypoet

I don't know much about this, but isn't WIC there to help people get good food who have a hard time affording it? is it difficult to get WIC? what do you have to do to be eligible?

squirrly

lala, it is, but as I best understand it, it just provides funds for people who have it to shop.  They still have a lack of stores/products.  And what they do have is still poor quality & pricey.  It's a combination of not knowing any better, not having access to good stuff, and not being around to cook it.  Parents definitely need to take ownership of it and try to work on it.  But I think we need to try to better educate the next generation so that they grow up to be better about this stuff in the first place.

laladypoet

non-organic, non-fancy food is still preferable to fast food any day of the week.