Footerpages

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Childhood Obesity- I Think It's Child Abuse.



Yesterday I was out and about running errands. Walgreen's first, then Wal-Mart, and the grocery store, and last but not least meeting up with the parents for dinner at a local restaurant.

I've obviously noticed before, but I wasn't exactly 100% aware until yesterday just how serious the issue really is.  Not only how many obese individuals there are now, but how many obese children there are today.  I actually counted them, and when I hit 58 in the span of 2 hours, I stopped counting. It was a disgusting feeling.  My heart goes out to these kids.



So what is it?  Whose fault is it?  Or is nobody at fault?

Some people place the blame on the fast food industry, or those easy frozen foods.  But I don't think that's it.  Not at all.

C'mon people.  I'm a parent, too.  I know how difficult it can be. 

Don't give me excuses about being too busy.  Everyone's busy. If you love your children as much as you say you do, you make time.

Don't give me excuses about being able to cook.  A five year old can fix a salad and sandwich, and there are so many recipes that do not involve "cooking".  If you say that to me, I will just say "you're lazy".  Take an extra 10 minutes to go prepare a meal for your kid.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing to take your kid out to Micky D's or Denny's every once in a while.  But that's the key.  Every-Once-In-A-While.  Not for breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week, 24/7 a yr..  Same goes for Dunkin Donuts.  I worked in a Pre-school a few years ago where the mother was so "strapped for time" (notice the snotty quotes?) that she would go through the drive-through every morning and purchase 3 or 4 donuts for her sons breakfast.  Donuts are not a nutrient rich supplement, especially for little growing bodies.  Donuts=junk food.

Also, don't give me an excuse that you "just don't like" healthy food.  You don't have to eat tofu and hummus every day.  All you have to do is incorporate healthy foods into each meals.  Like, for example, substituting beef with turkey.  Or making the switch to whole wheat instead of white bread.  Little things can make a world of difference.

Can you tell I'm pissed about this issue.  Hell yes I am!

Did you know that some young girls, barely into grade school, are showing the first signs of puberty. A study published this week in the journal Pediatrics finds that these early maturers are far more common now than just a decade ago.  The researchers suggest the epidemic of childhood obesity - one in five U.S. children ages 6 to 11 - may be the cause of precocious development.  That's insane. And sad.  It makes me want to take on all of these parents and yell "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!?!"

Let me just say this.  I understand that in some cases, children really can't help being overweight.  It might be a thyroid problem, or genes, or some other problem that really can't be helped.  In those cases, I'm sympathetic.  I really am.  But right now we're having an obesity epidemic.  And it's a crisis.  Do you know that because of sad reality obsesity will threaten to cut U.S life expectancy by as much as 5 yrs if something isn't done.  We get excited that people are living longer, but now it's being reversed.  Because we are getting lazy.



So am I being ridiculous when I say Childhood Obesity is child abuse?  I don't believe so.  Children learn what they live.
The parent is there to guide, love and protect.  Excuse me, but if you're feeding your kids TV dinners, pizza and/or fast food the majority of the time, then YOU ARE NOT DOING YOUR JOB.  You are the parent.  You are in charge. You buy the food.  There's no guarantee your kid will live to be 90 yrs of age, but let me tell you.  I'm just a mom and I'm no doctor, but if you start them out on the right path, there's a hell of a larger chance they'll see that 90th birthday. 

 
PHEW.

That's been reeling around in my head and my fingers are hurting from typing so fast.

I'm done.  If you do agree, pour your heart out.  If you don't agree, same goes.
What is your take on this issue?







8 comments:

  1. I hear ya on this! Have you watched the documentary FOOD INC? They say now about 1 in 3 kids will get type 2 diabetes..and in lower income communities the rate goes to 1 in 2....they says it's because it's cheaper to buy a 2 liter of soda than a head of brocoli! Or going to McD's and getting 2 burgers for $1 to feed their kids than buying fruit or veggies.

    I still don't think it's a good excuse either (about the cost to eat healthy) because it seems like it's pretty easy for people to get food stamps and I know some people on food stamps that get more money a month for groceries than we have allotted in our own monthly budget, and we buy a variety of foods, not that we buy all organic, but we eat normally and are healthy. Every once in a while my husband will sneak out with my daughter to let me sleep in on the weekends and take her to dunkin donuts in her PJs and get munchkins together...but we still feed her real food after she gets home and it's ONCE in a WHILE!

    ReplyDelete
  2. PS- at many grocery stores, boneless skinless chicken breasts go on sale for $1.99 a pound on a regular basis. That is healthy and not too expensive! I'll buy a large pack, grill it all up at once and then use it in different meals throughout the week, so the prep work is already done and so TIME is not really a factor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Things are a little bit more complicated for me ... as a vegetarian, what I eat is fairly limited but I made the decision right from the start that my children would not be restricted in a similar fashion.

    The problem though is that I don't cook fresh meat at home - more from squeamishness & lack of experience than anything else, but I will cook the frozen chicken/fish that's breaded as its not as obvious I guess?

    That being said - I actually don't have the obesity problem you're writing about (except perhaps with myself!) as the kids do eat a fairly well rounded meal whenever I can do it ...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Okay, seriously I agree!!! I just had my little sister here for a week and I was disgusted at my mom! It's totally parents' fault for indulging their children and not encouraging healthy eating and not discouraging late night snacking and binge eating all day. It makes me furious to see my chubby little sister walking like a fat obese man. :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. My take is exactly like your take. It pains me to see these kids. Life has been made too easy and too lazy. Gym has almost been taken completely from the schools as has recess. Parents must learn early on how and what to feed their kids, and demand better from the food industry.

    ReplyDelete
  6. in many cases it is neglect...parents using the tv and other means to babysit so they can do whatever, blog maybe...lol. i worked with a kid whose mom placated with food as well...it was rather disgusting...

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Candace-no, I've never seen Food INC, but now that you mention it, I think I'll seek it out. You are SO right on the money about it being cheaper to buy junk foods rather foods that have more of a nutritional value, especially if you're on government assistance. It's a backward system, that's for sure!

    @Shelia-YES! I didn't even mention excercise, but that's part of it as well. I can remember as a kid, we would have a 40 minute recess. Now it's only 20 minutes or less in most schools. I'm not sure about gym, but it is disheartening.

    @Brian-yes, I agree with it being neglect, aka Child Abuse. So disgusting. The thing is, no parent is perfect. We all go out to eat, we all have fed our kids fries, we all have sat our children in front of the TV. But the keyword here is MODERATION. Like I said, once in a while is fine, but if you do it every day...well then that's a huge problem. A lot of parents I don't think feel like they can put their foot down either, which is sad because the kids are depending on their parents to grow and thrive.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Have you seen the show "Too Fat for Fifteen" about the weight loss camp? OMG, it's just insane. They have a teenager on there that is over 500 pounds. They have a 200+ pound 11 year old. It's just insanity. I also just heard the other day that due to the childhood obesity epidemic, this generation is the first that isn't expected to have a longer lifespan than their parents did. How sad is that, with the plethora of medical advances that we have now.

    Anyway, I am a new follower from MBC and I would love for you to come visit me at http://www.createyourtraditions.com.

    ReplyDelete

I read all of my comments and often respond right back here in the comments section. Go ahead-you know you want to!!