This was right on! There are so many times when I had to walk a mile to get to my friends house (I lived in the country) and I wanted to! Ya, would of been nice after a day of playing in the creek, walken up hill to get to the cool spot in the woods, swimming, ect. that it would of been awesome to get on my wheeler or scooter and buzz home or have mom pick me up..but no..a little more excersize for me and ya know what? It was great to come home and have spent the day outside and to be so exhausted that a Play Station wouldn't of crossed my mind! This business of kids sitting at home watching the tube or playing computer/video games is a shame for our kids! If they only knew what they were missen!! It's our responsibility, as parents to show our kids what they (and us) are missen! So our first family outing won't be climbing Mount Everest, but by cracky, we can take a walk, do a little fishing, or make a game out of picken up sticks in the yard...just get out and enjoy life....turn the TV off! ( I say as I sit infront of my computer..lol...but did have a day outside ;-)

Sorry folks ...

I don't normally post to threads I haven't read 'cover to cover', but I thought this blog post was fascinating and apropos to the thread:

ModBlog: Parents, Back Off!

There have been some reports in the news about this study of parenting style and obesity:

Food Restriction May Cause Child Obesity (Web MD)

Read the Full Study

In the study, researchers followed two groups of families with children ages 5 to 7 years old– one in which the children were at a high risk for obesity and one with a low risk. They looked at some of the styles of interaction of the parents around food – did they monitor fat intake? Did they attempt to restrict food consumption? Was there pressure to eat more? By following the two groups of families, as well as the various parenting styles, the researchers could try to ferret out more of the interactions.

It seems that in the high-risk group, parental restriction of food predicted a larger weight gain. This association did not occur among low-risk children. Additionally, pressuring kids to eat was associated with less weight gain in both groups - in fact their BMIs dropped, which, depending upon the child, wasn’t always good. In other words, kids do exactly the opposite of what you tell them. Surprise!

Good things about the research: It’s trying to tease out ways that obesity risk might enter in, as well as the children’s weight to begin with. It’s following the groups over time, so it isn’t just a purely correlational, cross-sectional study.

Not so good: There weren’t a whole lot of families in the study (57 total). But more importantly, it’s always difficult to ferret out these interactions that go both ways. Is the parent acting in a certain way because of something about the child, or vice versa? It’s very often both, with parents and children participating in a back-and-forth dance that psychology researchers call “bi-directional”. Figuring out what is going on is difficult, and answers are pieced together bit by bit. However, this study was making a serious attempt to add to the knowledge on this important issue.

The researchers point to previous work that showed that parental control of child eating was associated with the children having poorer ability to self-regulate their eating behavior, and higher body weight. However, it wasn’t clear whether the children’s eating patterns and weight were eliciting the restrictions or the other way around. When you get down to the details of this study, it showed both, but definitely that the parent’s style does plays an important role. (The researchers didn’t have a lot to say about the bit where parents encouraging their kids to eat apparently produced less eating – I’m sure they didn’t want to advise parents to try this!)

The answer seems to be to encourage activity and eating nutritious foods (read: don’t have junk in the house), and let the children regulate the amount of food they eat.

PS - JennLynn, Cygirl and others who feel obesity is child abuse ... This certainly isn't hate mail ... but I'll just ask that you to consider not judging people by their looks alone.

I was obese by age 5, enrolled in Weight Watchers and fretted over incessently by my well-meaning and fat (like all the women in our family) mother. I followed every eating plan, I took every amphetamine prescribed and endured a lot of psychological trauma being the weird fat kid - at home as well as at school. I don't think I ever ate a bowl of cereal during childhood without it being meticulously weighed by my mom first. We never had any type of junk food in the house and I was an active kid.

I didn't have any type of metabolic disorder - at least not one that could have been recognized at the time ... still I kept gaining. I think my mom would literally have given her life if that could have made me slim.

I feel ... no, I know that I became as fat as I did in no small part due to the intense dieting I endurred during my growing years. I weighed 300 pounds and had developed an eating disorder by the time I turned 18 - all this back in the pre-Obesity Epidemic early 80's. My parents were so well intentioned, yet dieting backfired in every way possible for me.

Just one story you might keep in mind next time you're ready to judge someone you don't know.

Monika, you are right and so are a few others that have posted in this thread. My daughter lost her excess weight without me being on her back and just having healthy choices in the house. Being in her older teens, she might have learned some from my example. The point is, I never approached this as a "diet", but a healthier way of eating. She does occasionally indulge in some junk food that she bought herself, but I see her just as often make herself a salad for a snack. But never do I "get on her case" about it. She's learning about balance, not deprivation and the rebelliousness is just not there because she's making her own choices.

Monica, i am sorry if you thought i was harsh.I do not judge by the way a person looks but i need to say if i do see a obese 5 year old i must be right in saying this is not healthy.Children dont get obese by eating healthy foods and having lots of activities.I think it also safe to say obese children are getting the bad foods from their parents.Most of the obese children have unhealthy parents from what i have seen in the schools for the past 20 years.
So i stick to what i said,it is the parents that must take control(somehow)

I was an obese 5 year old who never ate sugar or junk food (we were too poor for that stuff, and I didn't like it anyway), and was so active people were worried something was wrong with me. I slept 4 - 5 hours a day, and if I wasn't sleeping or in school, I was doing something, usually something physical. My siblings weren't as active as I was, but they weren't slugs either, and they were also overweight. Both my parents had weight problems, my mother even as a child, and she grew up at a time when there was hardly such a thing as junk food.

It's a dangerous game, to look at an effect and presume the cause is self evident.

So kwik,tell me what the outcome was/or is and now what kind of healthy lifestyle are you on that is working for you?What are your stats?
Is this a medical problem you have and is it corrected.
Are you telling me that fat parents breed fat kids case closed?

The outcome is, I went from an active but obese kid to an active but obese adult. My "healthy lifestyle" is low carbing, and thus far I've lost a little over 100 pounds, judging from clothes sizes.




An irrelevant question, one I couldn't answer anyway, as I don't weigh myself.




Some people think it's a medical problem; others think it's a "lack of willpower," and all I have to do is "put down the fork."




I thought I cautioned against presuming to know the cause by looking at the effects? Why then would I commit the same fallacy myself?

Krissi ~ That's exactly what I would have done in your place. I'm glad it's working well for her and she's finding her own balance.

Cygirl ~ You didn't hurt my feeling, no need to feel sorry. I posted because either you hadn't heard that the cause of childhood obsesity it's not always as simple as junk food and inactivity - or you don't believe it. It's up to you if you want to continue generalizing but keep in mind that people like kwikdriver, myself and many, many others have no reason to lie to you.

To me, hovering over a kid, weighing their food, restricting them, having them take diet pills or any other harsh weight-loss methods will make them just as fat or fatter then letting them eat junk and sit in front of the tv. It sure would make the parent feel better for DOING something, but I'd wager that kind of pressure backfires in ways we're just starting to understand.

What set me off lately is overhearing a bunch of 10-12 year old girls in the mall... one says to her only SLIGHTLY bigger friend (not a one of them the least bit overweight!) "My Mom says you have a big butt and if I eat what you do, I'll never have a boyfriend!" Okay, now THAT is child abuse!!!

What I ment was to ask..........

If you know no medical reason for your/others childhood obesety,you say fat parents just dont bread fat kids,and they are still obese even with proper diet and exersise...............then why are they obese at a young age. I would love to know what your answer is.
Everyone seems to think i am being mean but i would like the answer.Dont tell me there isnt one.Too many people here to tell me they know.

What's a "medical reason"? Something tells me, and it's only the barest hint of a suspicion, that your definition of "medical reason" and mine would differ considerably.

I didn't say kids become obese with proper diet and exercise; I said even active kids who don't eat junk food can become obese, as I know well.

For the context of my statement, please re-read your own post:




By the way, it isn't a question of "meanness;" generally when someone tries to be "mean" on a message board it makes me laugh my ass off, and that's a very good thing. The problem I have is when people are unable to differentiate between their opinions (which are all too often informed by prejudices born of ignorance) and fact, and are unable or too stubborn to change their opinions in response to countervailing evidence.

this is a subject very close to my heart, even though i don't yet have kids. you see, i think the biggest parenting mistake my parents ever made was trying to get me to lose weight.

someone way back on page 1 said if only their parents had put them on a diet maybe they wouldn't have endured the torment of growing up fat. i doubt it. read monika's post - i feel similarly to her.

things were slightly skewed in my house, because i was pressured about food/weight before i ever grew fat. i saw it happening with my brother too, who is 15 years younger than me - as soon as he got the slightest bit - and i mean by 5 pounds - heavier than being a 'skinny kid' my parents started on at him. they did it to me too.

we did not eat junk food at home. my parents cooked us healthy, nutritious meals. very little processed food, no fast food at all, chocolate/sweets once a week. what did i do, as soon as i had the opportunity? bought chocolate for myself. when i was with my mum i would beg and plead to be allowed chocolate on the way home from school. when i was going to school by myself i would take money from her purse every day and buy myself chocolate and crisps.

what was this? emotional eating? it's possible; i wasn't happy at school. i personally think it was an insulin problem that was triggered by puberty (which started for me at age 10). but if it was emotional in part then it was also due to wanting something that was forbidden, that was limited, too much. the focus was too much on it. i wanted it all the more because i couldn't have it.

i think the fact that my parents restricted my food, tried to stop me eating junk, made me conscious about weight, etc, did far more harm than good. it certainly didn't get me to try and lose weight. if anything it made me defiant. accept me as i am, damnit, don't judge me for my weight.

children associate food with nurturing, with love. to deny/deprive them constantly teaches them terrible lessons.

i'm NOT saying don't feed your children nutritiously. the best compromise i can think of if i hopefully some day have kids is to create a balanced, wholesome way of eating that can be shared by the whole family, but not to deny them the junk when they want it.

to my mind, the most important thing you can do for your kids is to build their self esteem and give them a sense of being valued and loved. they will endure enough bullying at school/in the streets - they need a safe, unjudgmental place to come home to. kids will often interpret your reasonable concern for their health as disapproval; after all, if kids are calling them fat and bullying them for it outside the home, and you pressure them too, it will just make them think that you think the same of them that those kids in school do. that's certainly what it did to me.

i think it is very worth trying to avoid your kid developing an insulin problem, and if you have one, it's likely that your kids will have too. i'm very conscious of that. i'd try and develop my kids' tastebuds to like healthy food from a very young age. but if/when they get exposed to junk food, which they undoubtedly will, i will not restrict them too much. i will probably make sure they eat 'healthy' food first, but i will not deny them. and i will never, ever talk to them about their weight, or make them feel judged or pressured.

the way i see it, if kids feel accepted and loved at home, then when they decide they want to lose weight, if they have developed a weight problem, they will come to you and ask your help. if they feel judged and 'bad' because of their weight - and if you pressure them to diet, they will - they will not come to you for help. and their self esteem will be in tatters. like mine was.

Define 'bad' food (take off the low carb hat and think 'standard dietary advice before you answer)? Is a potato a bad food? How about spaghetti or rice? Bananas? Pineapple? Given the current dietary advice to get several servings of carbohydrates a day, I doubt that most people would label those as 'bad' foods for a child to consume and yet a steady diet of such things is likely to promote insulin resistance in a child who is genetically predispositioned to it and if their parents are obese, chances are they are so predispositioned.
You also make the assumption that young children spend 24/7 with their parents. Ever hear of day care and babysitters? Grandparents who love to spoil their grandchildren with 'treats'? Single parents must work and so children go off to day care and eat what the day care provider feeds them for 1-2 meals a day plus snacks. Even in families with two parents, the majority of those both work outside the home. I've witnessed first hand what government food programs and guidelines consider 'healthy' snacks and meals for kids. My oldest DD gained 7 pounds over a period of 11 weeks in a YMCA day camp program one summer, even being very active all day (they don't let those kids just sit around), while eating all those 'healthy' foods. Think she might have a tendency towards carbohydrate intolerance? I do. If you want to blame the parents across the board, that's your choice, but I believe you would be in error in doing so.



Kwikdriver, I quite agree. Correlation does in no way prove causation.

my son was on the heavy side all the way up to 2 years ago.. he is 14yrs now.. I never put him on a diet.. I would cut down his servings.. He didnt need to eat 2 hugh plates of speggi or 3 bowls of ceral.. I know he is a growing boy.. Now since he started playing football 3 years ago.. He gets into shape pretty quickly.. On the off season he can gain up to 20lbs..

His stats now.. he turned 14yrs in april.. 6'2 225lbs wears a 14 shoe.. ok the shoe has nothing to do with it.. but i'm amazed at the size foot he has.. and he still has 6 more years to go.. omg.. Now i'm feeding a football team.. lol

charmed