All of our kids, ages 14-21, are slender to thin(the college freshman had put on weight-so far, it looks good but I do wonder a tad)
I have thought about this a lot as it IS a bit out of whack-we dont exactly go together the way so many families do. I watched part of wife swap last night and the heavy parents had heavy kids and the athletic parents had athletic looking kids
Two of my coworkers had babies recently. One is heavy and the other slender. Both have these 19-20 pound four month olds!!! Thats what my 3 weighed at their first year checkup!
They're bottle fed which surprises me a tad. I work in EArly Intervention and I would expect folks in this field to be more likely to breast feed, if that makes sense.
And proud as punch at how big their boys are. Anything is interpreted as 'hunger' and I seem to remember this from my mother and MIL when mine were babes. Fist goes in the mouth and 'hes hungry'. Huh? I think he is just putting his fist in his mouth!!!!!!
I think its is a multi faceted problem but I think we might be looking too far along the path when we look at vending machines in middle school.
I think we obsess too much about food and nutrition. Like many things in society today, we are competitive, we demand 'perfect', and our kids deserve 'the best'. We force kids who have no interest in breakfast to eat it because the media would have us think its the only way to college in 12 years. We have power snacks and sports drinks; we send snacks for test days(amazing that ACTs havent doubled, isnt it?)
I think we 'make' kids eat instead of letting them eat or not eat based on their hunger. Busier schedules with dual working parents and multiple activities(most of which involve a snack BTW)have probably fueled that type of scheduling
Then.....by 7th or 9th grade, depending on your area, the physical activities many kids have participated in move to a try out level(you CAN do this by thrid grade or younger but by middle to high school, you have no choice; rec soccer and baseball disappear)
Then...we super size everything and, by golly, we all love a bargain
To combat child obesity, I think we need to turn off tv's, computers, video games and have our kids begin enjoying more of the outdoors. Instead of hiring painters and people to mow and rake our lawns, we should be employing our own children. Allow them the opportunity to feel the satisfaction of caring for thier own property, being part of a team, and working hard so they can sleep better at night.1
I think we should ban soda's and other various 'soft drinks' in our homes and drink more water.
I think we should cut out any and all processed foods and eat only whole grains, all natural, NON-processed foods. Begin planning your week day meals and buy appropriate foods to fill up on. Instead of eating chips and pretzels and marshamallow cookies, etc., for snacks, eat fruits and cut up veggies. Buy and eat only organic. "All Natural" does not equal high quality or 'good for you' foods.
Read the labels and ingredients - make sure that serving sizes are proportionate. We live in a society where most people think that more is better, bigger is better...we want to 'get our money's worth'. In reality, we're eating way too much food, constantly needing and wanting to feel full - it's unnecessary. It's healthier to feel less than full after a meal. Most restaurants serve up to 3 times the normal portion size!! And most people eat it all up, thinking they have to or should in order to get what they paid for. Our stomachs have been stretched and we're teaching our children poor health lessons.
There are people who say that the only way to keep our kids exercising is through organized sports. I disagree. A person does not have to be part of a ball team or school team in order to be active. Part time jobs create action, family bike rides and walks through the woods, exploring the neighborhood, window shopping, swimming, kayaking, tennis, and dog walking all create action that is a form of exercise. Raking the lawn, vaccuuming the pool, painting the shed, washing the car or dogs, cleaning out the garage - all those jobs are exercise.
When I was growing up, we painted the fence around our house, and our house. We helped maintain the pool, we shoveled the snow off the walk and driveway - no snowblowers for us. We mowed our lawns, dug our own fence post holes, cleaned out the garage and helped my mom repaint the patio furniture. We vacuumed and moppped and stripped floors and did laundry. We worked as part of the family. We also went camping and hiked, we rode our bikes to the beach, 12 miles each way. Our parents didn't drive us anywhere, we had to walk or ride our bikes. We were only allowed to watch tv occasionally. We were told to go outside all the time. We dug holes at the park, rode the swings for hours. Even when my oldest sister brought home Pong and the original Donkey Kong, my mom didn't let us just sit there and idly play the games. We had 'home grown' stimulation - for the body and the mind.
We slept better, we ate better and we were more responsible on the whole. Not only will the above lifestyle changes help in terms of obesity, it will also help in self esteem and mental clarity.
I agree that the lack of physical activity activity is a huge factor here, but I also think there is something else that contributes to obesity (and not just the childhood variety, either) -- the quantity and easy availability of convenience and fast foods.
After you drive past 2 dozen fast food and carryout restaurants to get there, take a walk through your local supermarket -- people just don't have to cook anything anymore if they don't want to. Just about any food can be purchased frozen, pre-packaged and/or ready to eat in every way, shape, form and variety. Quick and easy for the consumer, but also loaded with fat, calories, sodium and other preservatives that make this stuff taste good, but at the same time make them very unhealthy.
Meal planning and preparation are becoming a thing of the past. Why should anyone have to take time to make anything fresh and/or from scratch when they can buy it ready made, or easily made from a bag or box?
With the majority of families being ones that have two parents working outside the home, and always in a time crunch to get the family fed, this one to soccer, that one to music ... the quickest and easiest way to get the evening meal on the table is to pick it up on the way home. There is no preparation, no cooking time, no clean-up -- if there actually is time to sit down to eat, that is. How many times have we gone thru a drive-thru and ate dinner en route to someplace else? I know I have. And sometimes I'm too lazy or just didn't plan in advance what to eat, so I order something for carry out. I have a friend who, with her husband have two very demanding careers. I think she actually only cooks one meal a week, on the weekend. The rest of the week they eat out, or carry-in.
I don't think people realize the fact that not only is this not healthy for anyone ... but that it is a huge drain on family finances to eat out so much. These same friends claim they can't afford to live off one income, but I think if they considered the savings in meals out alone, they might be surprised. But I'm off track here.
This all ties into how over-scheduled most peoples lives are these days. The push for success equates to more hours on the job for working parents. The push for star athletes, 4.0, well rounded children equates in an excess of extra-curricular activities which require parental involvement and/or participation which equals less family time and thus, less time to think about and prepare what the family is going to eat. So the next best thing? Fast food, or something from a box or can.
These times have changed! Is home economics even taught in school anymore? Do our children even learn how to cook? How to manage a home? My DM really didn't teach me those things and I didn't get married until 27, so saw no real reason to cook. My meals as a single person were mostly consumed during happy hour.
And now that I've added my two pennies, I'm off to the kitchen to see about dinner for my own family!
I agree with everyone here! Between the fast food and the 'food products' found in cardboard boxes, I'd guess that 95% of the calories going into people's mouths is CR*P. It seems like the healthier the food it, the more expensive it is as well..guess I've learned to adjust when I see how much I'm saving by NOT buying the junk foods. I actually recently had to deal with a checkout clerk who (being overweight herself) held up my red bell peppers and exclaimed "Do you know how expensive these are?" I retorted that they cost less than a bag of Doritos...she just looked at me like I was crazy! It just shows the mentality out there. And don't get me started on the chemicals and artificial ingredients in prepared and fast foods. It just seems like people don't care what goes into their mouths as long as it's cheap and tastes good.
Even most of the snacks youngsters eat that are supposedly made with real fruit juice...the label has so many artificial colors and preservatives on it that anything real or natural loses it's benefit.. I feel that not only is the rise in obesity rates linked to these bad food choices, but so it the rise in ADD/ADHD...but that's another soap box tirade! :)
I am overweight as is DH
All of our kids, ages 14-21, are slender to thin(the college freshman had put on weight-so far, it looks good but I do wonder a tad)
I have thought about this a lot as it IS a bit out of whack-we dont exactly go together the way so many families do. I watched part of wife swap last night and the heavy parents had heavy kids and the athletic parents had athletic looking kids
Two of my coworkers had babies recently. One is heavy and the other slender. Both have these 19-20 pound four month olds!!! Thats what my 3 weighed at their first year checkup!
They're bottle fed which surprises me a tad. I work in EArly Intervention and I would expect folks in this field to be more likely to breast feed, if that makes sense.
And proud as punch at how big their boys are. Anything is interpreted as 'hunger' and I seem to remember this from my mother and MIL when mine were babes. Fist goes in the mouth and 'hes hungry'. Huh? I think he is just putting his fist in his mouth!!!!!!
I think its is a multi faceted problem but I think we might be looking too far along the path when we look at vending machines in middle school.
I think we obsess too much about food and nutrition. Like many things in society today, we are competitive, we demand 'perfect', and our kids deserve 'the best'. We force kids who have no interest in breakfast to eat it because the media would have us think its the only way to college in 12 years. We have power snacks and sports drinks; we send snacks for test days(amazing that ACTs havent doubled, isnt it?)
I think we 'make' kids eat instead of letting them eat or not eat based on their hunger. Busier schedules with dual working parents and multiple activities(most of which involve a snack BTW)have probably fueled that type of scheduling
Then.....by 7th or 9th grade, depending on your area, the physical activities many kids have participated in move to a try out level(you CAN do this by thrid grade or younger but by middle to high school, you have no choice; rec soccer and baseball disappear)
Then...we super size everything and, by golly, we all love a bargain
The list goes on and on...
To combat child obesity, I think we need to turn off tv's, computers, video games and have our kids begin enjoying more of the outdoors. Instead of hiring painters and people to mow and rake our lawns, we should be employing our own children. Allow them the opportunity to feel the satisfaction of caring for thier own property, being part of a team, and working hard so they can sleep better at night.1
I think we should ban soda's and other various 'soft drinks' in our homes and drink more water.
I think we should cut out any and all processed foods and eat only whole grains, all natural, NON-processed foods. Begin planning your week day meals and buy appropriate foods to fill up on. Instead of eating chips and pretzels and marshamallow cookies, etc., for snacks, eat fruits and cut up veggies. Buy and eat only organic. "All Natural" does not equal high quality or 'good for you' foods.
Read the labels and ingredients - make sure that serving sizes are proportionate. We live in a society where most people think that more is better, bigger is better...we want to 'get our money's worth'. In reality, we're eating way too much food, constantly needing and wanting to feel full - it's unnecessary. It's healthier to feel less than full after a meal. Most restaurants serve up to 3 times the normal portion size!! And most people eat it all up, thinking they have to or should in order to get what they paid for. Our stomachs have been stretched and we're teaching our children poor health lessons.
There are people who say that the only way to keep our kids exercising is through organized sports. I disagree. A person does not have to be part of a ball team or school team in order to be active. Part time jobs create action, family bike rides and walks through the woods, exploring the neighborhood, window shopping, swimming, kayaking, tennis, and dog walking all create action that is a form of exercise. Raking the lawn, vaccuuming the pool, painting the shed, washing the car or dogs, cleaning out the garage - all those jobs are exercise.
When I was growing up, we painted the fence around our house, and our house. We helped maintain the pool, we shoveled the snow off the walk and driveway - no snowblowers for us. We mowed our lawns, dug our own fence post holes, cleaned out the garage and helped my mom repaint the patio furniture. We vacuumed and moppped and stripped floors and did laundry. We worked as part of the family. We also went camping and hiked, we rode our bikes to the beach, 12 miles each way. Our parents didn't drive us anywhere, we had to walk or ride our bikes. We were only allowed to watch tv occasionally. We were told to go outside all the time. We dug holes at the park, rode the swings for hours. Even when my oldest sister brought home Pong and the original Donkey Kong, my mom didn't let us just sit there and idly play the games. We had 'home grown' stimulation - for the body and the mind.
We slept better, we ate better and we were more responsible on the whole. Not only will the above lifestyle changes help in terms of obesity, it will also help in self esteem and mental clarity.
I agree that the lack of physical activity activity is a huge factor here, but I also think there is something else that contributes to obesity (and not just the childhood variety, either) -- the quantity and easy availability of convenience and fast foods.
After you drive past 2 dozen fast food and carryout restaurants to get there, take a walk through your local supermarket -- people just don't have to cook anything anymore if they don't want to. Just about any food can be purchased frozen, pre-packaged and/or ready to eat in every way, shape, form and variety. Quick and easy for the consumer, but also loaded with fat, calories, sodium and other preservatives that make this stuff taste good, but at the same time make them very unhealthy.
Meal planning and preparation are becoming a thing of the past. Why should anyone have to take time to make anything fresh and/or from scratch when they can buy it ready made, or easily made from a bag or box?
With the majority of families being ones that have two parents working outside the home, and always in a time crunch to get the family fed, this one to soccer, that one to music ... the quickest and easiest way to get the evening meal on the table is to pick it up on the way home. There is no preparation, no cooking time, no clean-up -- if there actually is time to sit down to eat, that is. How many times have we gone thru a drive-thru and ate dinner en route to someplace else? I know I have. And sometimes I'm too lazy or just didn't plan in advance what to eat, so I order something for carry out. I have a friend who, with her husband have two very demanding careers. I think she actually only cooks one meal a week, on the weekend. The rest of the week they eat out, or carry-in.
I don't think people realize the fact that not only is this not healthy for anyone ... but that it is a huge drain on family finances to eat out so much. These same friends claim they can't afford to live off one income, but I think if they considered the savings in meals out alone, they might be surprised. But I'm off track here.
This all ties into how over-scheduled most peoples lives are these days. The push for success equates to more hours on the job for working parents. The push for star athletes, 4.0, well rounded children equates in an excess of extra-curricular activities which require parental involvement and/or participation which equals less family time and thus, less time to think about and prepare what the family is going to eat. So the next best thing? Fast food, or something from a box or can.
These times have changed! Is home economics even taught in school anymore? Do our children even learn how to cook? How to manage a home? My DM really didn't teach me those things and I didn't get married until 27, so saw no real reason to cook. My meals as a single person were mostly consumed during happy hour.
And now that I've added my two pennies, I'm off to the kitchen to see about dinner for my own family!
I agree with everyone here! Between the fast food and the 'food products' found in cardboard boxes, I'd guess that 95% of the calories going into people's mouths is CR*P. It seems like the healthier the food it, the more expensive it is as well..guess I've learned to adjust when I see how much I'm saving by NOT buying the junk foods. I actually recently had to deal with a checkout clerk who (being overweight herself) held up my red bell peppers and exclaimed "Do you know how expensive these are?" I retorted that they cost less than a bag of Doritos...she just looked at me like I was crazy! It just shows the mentality out there. And don't get me started on the chemicals and artificial ingredients in prepared and fast foods. It just seems like people don't care what goes into their mouths as long as it's cheap and tastes good.
Even most of the snacks youngsters eat that are supposedly made with real fruit juice...the label has so many artificial colors and preservatives on it that anything real or natural loses it's benefit.. I feel that not only is the rise in obesity rates linked to these bad food choices, but so it the rise in ADD/ADHD...but that's another soap box tirade! :)
Denise