More Fat Kids
After this case in the UK, there is now a case here in the States of Child Protection threatening to seize a grossly obese child. While the mother says that her 250lb son eats like a ‘normal boy’, when I watched the video and saw the list of what she is feeding him, I noticed that he ate 4 eggs for breakfast - a lot for a 7 year old - ketchup with every meal, no water, and no vegetables at all the entire day. So it seems to me that she just doesn’t know what healthy food is.
I knew a lady that had a little girl that had a heart problem and was overweight. The doctors told the mother that she MUST put her daughter on a diet. So what was the mother’s solution? Reducing to half as much bad food - and a change from coke to diet coke - instead of changing the food she was eating completely. And on top of that, because she was afraid physical activity would be hard on her daughter’s heart, she didn’t let her get any at all, and would prefer for her to sit.
The Social Services would probably do better to educate these types of parents, especially since there seems to be more of them these days
Article: Childhood Obesity: The New Epidemic
Childhood obesity has become the new epidemic in health care, with the prevalence of overweight children in the United States doubling in the past two decades and tripling for American teenagers, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic. The prevalence and health problems associated with childhood obesity leads to several questions
Filed under: Children's Issues
Fast Food restaurants actually target blacks in advertising because their eating habits are so poor. Latino kids are actually fatter than black kids
Here is how it works, I like to eat out; however, I know that a diet composed exclusively of burgers, fried rice, french fries, Big Macs, pizza, and onion rings will equal getting physically done in a horizontal direction at the doctors that would be most unflattering and uncomfortable. Realizing this, I eat out about twice a week and cook at home the other five days of it! That is the end of this elusive little obesity quandary, plaguing America and its children.
With children, the same principles apply. Look, I honestly like kids and my nieces and nephews get spoiled rotten by me. A visit from Uncle Ed means a generally agreed upon “good time” by myself and these kids and they know it, at least from what their parents tell me. But with all that considered, I have not lost the value of the simple word, No. As in, “NO you are not getting another cookie or candy bar kiddo, because you will get sick.” And over time, fat!
I agree that these parents need to be educated more. When the doctor tells a parent to put their child on a diet, do they not work closely with those parents on how the children need to change their eating habits? That is crazy to me. My son has Type 1 Diabetes and we work closely with his Endocrinologist and a Nutritionist on what he eats.
I saw part of the piece on the 7 yr old and noted that his mother was also very overweight. I too, thought 4 eggs was crazy! My son is allowed to drink diet soda, but he also drinks 5-6 glasses of water a day.
I am not sure how to go about it, but parents really do need more education on food. Maybe more menu ideas and recipies would help?
I agree with you we have to become more concerned with out childrens health and, encourage them to eat more healthy.
Ick, nasty!
Desis aren’t that great when it comes to healthy eating either, but my mom’s pretty good about making sure that we eat well… we eat our curries and biryanis and the rest of it, but we always have a serving of veggies (either cooked or on the side as salad); and we’re not allowed to drink pop except on Friday afternoons; fruit is a staple snack in our home, and we have a quota on candies (something small everyday). Plus, we HAVE to drink milk every morning…
Al-Hamdulillaah, no one in my family is overweight (well, aside from my dad… :P)!
It also has a lot to do with what children now do with their time. When I was a kid, and I am 35, we had ot create things for ourselves to do. We didnt sit behind a computer, watch TV, or play video games.
Kids no longer do a lot of physical activity, they dont walk places, ect.
That’s a good point Abu Sinan…
In combination with the sheer number of fast-food and take-out options in the average neighborhood now, kids who just do nothing are the norm.
When we were kids, there was like 1 Mcdonald’s and it was out of our way. My parents only let us eat fast food every now and then and when we did, it was like a BIG DEAL. Now these kids feel like their entitled to pizza, burgers, tacos, philly cheese steaks, etc. I remember having my own car (as a teenager) and having to sneak and eat my KFC 2 piece in my car, in the driveway before I went inside (hmmm, sort of like at the masjid) because I just could not bring fast food into the house. Especially when momma had a real meal in the oven and on the stove.
I agree Abu, good point
My dad loves to regale me and my brothers with stories about this issue. Its a matter of pride to him that all he had to play with when he was a boy were sticks and a football (soccer) No TV or even electricity for that matter 
But, whether we move less or not I think it all boils down to diet in the end. No amount of walking and physical activity can save you from a lifestyle that involves takeout/KFC/McDonald’s/etc everyweek which so many people are prone to do.
And ditto about the regimented diet Anonymouse and TSRP
When I was younger there were no choices about what we wanted to eat. It was either the nutritious, very often gross, stuff my mom made or don’t eat at all. I remember once I didn’t eat my vegetables cause I thought they were gross. My mom wouldn’t let me leave the table until I ate them and I ended up sitting at the table for literally 4 hours. I used to be so pathetically stubborn 
But the good thing was I ended up not having to eat them.
It isn’t going to work for the child because the mother is in the same shoes.
What I would do if I was in her shoes is worry about the both together and work on a weight-loss plan/health plan as a team. If she isn’t going to bother to work as hard (and she may be trying herself), then her son will only see what he sees her do and want to do like her.
Sometimes what gets the body going as well is a detox diet - which for kids would have to be played around with, but if you cut out all the pops and all the stuff that for sure is not needed for atleast a week or two, that should start telling the body that it is time to clean up.