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But I will agree, people are eating more processed garbage these days...and this ties into my posts on other threads about kids being stuck in daycare when both parents are working....if more parents sacrificed so a parent could be home with their kids rather than shoving them into daycare for 9 hours a day, then maybe they'd have the time to actually cook a meal rather than bringing home pizza, McDonald's, or making microwave dinners.
So, we're back to blaming working parents for not "sacrificing" for their kids? Give me a break. I work full-time and I can tell you we don't eat take out every night. I cook dinner 6 nights a week and that always consists of healthy, not processed foods. It is hard, and I admit it's a chore to come home after a long day and cook a healthy meal, but I do it and I know many other working parents that do it. To generalize and blame the childhood obesity problem on daycare/working parents is unfair and not accurate. My boys are both extremely thin but it's genetics. My huband was extremely thin as a child and they both take after him. They get a nice balance of healthy foods and snacks so it's not 100% due to me feeding them good food all the time.
I can also say that now that my older son is in elementary school he gets LESS exercise than he did in daycare. Daycare had the kids outside playing for several hours a day. Now he sits in a classroom. To blame "daycare" is incorrect when kids sit around MORE in "real" school.
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Originally Posted by NoExcuses
Rate of metabolism plays a huge role in the body mass and build of a person. Both my brothers and sisters never had any issues when it came to burning off calories, but, taking after my father's side of the family, I always have, but was very active when young. The busier I am, even now, the more I burn but it isn't the same as being a youngster.
Even slow burning kids, if playing outside a lot climbing trees, running, etc. will burn off and have muscle tone. That's a different kind of fat than those who sit and not do much moving.
I'm amazed that nobody has posted medical reasons for obesity in children-I have four boys and three of the four are skinny as rails. The overweight son has Cushings Syndrome. This boy was skin and bones until the age of five. From that year on he has continuously gained weight. Sad thing is that it took four years for physicians to discover he had a condition and now the growth is at a size that makes surgery risky. Everyone on here has blamed parents, fast food, working parents, society, processed foods and daycare. Stop blaming and look to solutions.
I'm very familiar with Cushings Disease. And yes, the Cortisol production is way out of whack.
But that's a rare disease. It's far more likely that kids are overweight because of what they're eating, and the exercise they're not getting.
By the way, I'm glad they finally got the diagnosis correct. Is he on a medication now, or are they still looking at surgery?
I do think that processed and fast foods play a part, I am just unwilling to say that "working" moms use these more than SAH moms. We all lean on them from time to time and the food that is readily and easily available has additives it didn't have when we were growing up. As formercalifornian pointed out - even things that appear healthy, often really aren't. I really don't think this is a working v. SAH issue in general...
Sometimes I think women are their own worst enemies. We just seem to thrive on making everything a matter of personal virtue. The in-fighting distracts us from the real issue of grocery stores filled to the brim with industrial foods devoid of real nutritional value. We all rely on convenience foods from time to time, and we women should be combining our resources to demand that food companies provide us with better options. But, instead, we'd rather make this thread a re-run of the interminable working v. at-home parent drama: "I'm better! No, I'm better!" Frankly, it's disgraceful.
Last edited by formercalifornian; 02-01-2010 at 10:53 AM..
I think parents these days are up against a giant....in the form of advertising. Kids are bombarded with commercials and advertisements telling them what they should be eating. School lunches are far from nutritious and when both parents are working to support the family proper diet may sometimes take a backseat to save time. This is not an excuse in any way shape or form, but it is what it is. I agree that parents should be more involved in their kids diet and activities but at the same time they need to work and put the food on the table. I would also like to add a little about the food itself these days. It is loaded with artificial hormones and preservatives and who knows what...this has a direct and indirect effect on a childs endocrinology and their development. Even the water contains PCB's and other chemicals which can mimic hormones and gonadotropins which may lead to slower or faster protein synthesis , overproduction or underproduction of cortisol and testosterone. It is mind boggling ....truly.
Having raised a child, one thing I learned is that in many areas there are certain things you can control and certain things you cannot even with your best effort. We can influence, discipline and educate our children, but at the end of the day, they are unique individuals with their own genetic make-ups who often make their own decisions. I think this applies in the area of eating too. You can certainly influence, and parental influence and guidance is indeed powerful but total control? No. I think it's unfair to lay everything at the parent's doorstep. Sometimes problem behaviors may be the negligence of the parent, but other times it's not. ( And yes, I do believe genetics also comes into the picture when we are discussing weight related issues. Not that I thing genetics=destiny, but it also is a powerful influence.)
I do believe processed food (not real) plays a huge role. We don't have real food anymore because of 'corn syrup' (not sugar) and fake flavors & colors (cheaper) over real ones.
It's all about making more money with less quality foods.And demand for this stuff 24/7.
Chocolate today tastes awful and full of oil unless you buy gourmet or foreign (Swiss, German, real English) chocolate. If you think a Hershey bar is real chocolate, woe to you.
They're doing the same thing to coffee. Half the coffees on the market taste like they dug up some mud and threw it in boiling water.
There is little quality just cheap knockoffs because people have made luxuries every day items....cakes, pies, coffee, cola....have to have them all the time, not just at holidays or on birthdays.
Who is guilty if the kids (or parents) are fat? Blame advertising (watch kids' tv on a Saturday and see the junk commercials..)? Blame Mom? Blame Dad?
The point is (as most people have said) there is not one factor.
Also, a lot of you stress PLAYTIME...outside...but there are so many reasons Johnny can't play outside....he has too much homework, it's not safe, there isn't a PARK or yard for Johnny..
Not everyone has the $$ for little Tiffany to take ballet Monday, do soccer Wednesday or karate on Friday, either.
I knew of a family where weight was an issue for Mom- 450 lbs @ 5'2". She had a 10 year old daughter. She was 4'9" and weighed 135 lbs. She was allowed to eat 3 chocolate covered donuts and a large chocolate milk from the donut store almost every day. For lunch- Nachos Supreme and a Gordite Crunch with a Large soda. Dinner- Super Sized Big Mac Meal. This was the amount and type of food she was allowed to eat DAILY. She was teased at school. She had to buy XL shirts from the JR. department. Her jeans were size 13's JR. and had to be hemmed. Her ankles, knees and back hurt if she walked for very long. Her Mom and Dad both told her she had her Mom's metabolism- so she expected to be over-weight.
In this situation- it was parents making bad choices.
Someone helped the little girl with her food choices and exercise. It wasn't easy. She had 9 years of eating anything and no exercise. She lost 45 lbs. in 7 months. She was and still is so proud of herself.
Playtime is really important, but I've seen lots of extremely active kids with pot bellies, which leads me to believe that this issue is multi-factorial. I think HFCS is part of it, along with inadequate sleep, rising levels of stress, decreasing fiber consumption, food additives, and petrochemicals, which leach into our food through many different vectors.
I wouldn't necessarily blame parents for a child being obese (pointing fingers doesn't get anyone anywhere), but I think it is the parent's responsibility to recognize the problem and do something to work on it. It doesn't matter if a fat kid only eats fast food once a week - if he already has a weight problem, he shouldn't be eating fast food at all, period.
I think part of the problem nowdays is that we use food as a reward. My niece goes to a day school and every week for a reward for good behavior they get to go to the "store" and pick out something - the "store" is stocked with so much sugar you're teeth might rot just walking in there. This teaches kids to associate bad food with feeling good. Poor, poor planning on an adult's part. This happens in the school system too. Ice cream or pizza parties for passing the standardized tests, etc. Food should be seen as a necessity, not as an indulgence.
So, we're back to blaming working parents for not "sacrificing" for their kids? Give me a break. I work full-time and I can tell you we don't eat take out every night. I cook dinner 6 nights a week and that always consists of healthy, not processed foods. It is hard, and I admit it's a chore to come home after a long day and cook a healthy meal, but I do it and I know many other working parents that do it. To generalize and blame the childhood obesity problem on daycare/working parents is unfair and not accurate. My boys are both extremely thin but it's genetics. My huband was extremely thin as a child and they both take after him. They get a nice balance of healthy foods and snacks so it's not 100% due to me feeding them good food all the time.
I didn't pin the blame for obesity problems on working parents and daycare, I just pointed out that its one aspect of the problem, and one reason why kids are eating more processed foods these days.
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