Childhood Obesity - Food Does Not Equal Love

Are you a parent that is afraid to say no? Do you need the affirmation of your children or loved ones to build up your own self esteem?

There is nothing cuter than a plump and healthy baby or a chubby-cheeked toddler. We all have different bodies and body types. A tall slender parent can have a short stocky child and a short stocky parent can have a slender child. There is no need to think your child should look like you and have the same shape of hands, feet, or body as you had at that age. However, you have to be realistic about your child's health.

Don't be the parent that enables their children and poor eating habits

There are some parents who want to put their tiny children on a diet for no reason than the parent is obsessed with food and diet and appearances. And there are some parents who do not recognize that their child is obese. If you said to a mother, your child is at risk of diabetes or heart disease because of her weight, chances are good that you would hear a very rough review of how you should mind your own business.

Even harder than that is assessing your own child's health. You see the little person you would die for and in your eyes she is perfect. Maybe she just has a little baby fat but we all know that goes away. Even if she becomes a little chubbier, you don't want to deny her the things she loves like fast food burgers and big gooey brownies. It never seems like one little treat will do anything long term negative to her health so why punish her by saying no?

Sometimes real love means that you need to be the tough guy

Well, if every mother felt this way, some would have to be in denial. Studies have shown that in the United States, children who were often fed fast food were taking in way more calories than are healthy for them. Included in these calories are unhealthy levels of saturated fats and carbohydrates. Children are at the mercy of the people who make them their meals and as easy as it is to be loved as the food provider, you have a higher duty to your children. You have to safeguard their health.

Fatty foods, processed foods, and sugary foods all have an impact on your child's lifetime health and wellbeing. Setting them up for a lifetime of pain and disability is no way to show a child love. You shorten their lives and trim a lot of the joy out of life by letting them slowly poison their bodies with junk food and you set them up for ridicule from their friends who will taunt them about their obesity. It is sad but true.

Rather than buy your children fast food, go to a park and spend quality time with them. Rather than open a can or box of processed food at home, get them to help you make a healthy meal. It's a much better way of showing love.

Childhood Obesity Is Caused By What Children Eat Not What They Watch

Here is the bottom line. Childhood obesity is a problem. It is a function of the foods children eat both at home and at school. The people responsible for feeding children are parents not advertisers. Running the line that it is all to do with advertising allows adults to run a "Johnny told me to" line, which would not be accepted as an excuse from a child.

It is not about blaming parents. It is about telling it straight. Unless we tell parents that what their children eat is their responsibility we will not see change. The only people who can change the eating patterns of children are parents.

A new video is doing the rounds on the internet. It is abut childhood obesity. The video can be described as provocative. It shows a mother with a child sitting at a table. The mother appears to be getting ready to inject the child with a drug and at the last minute she gives the child some "junk food" to eat. The question asked is if you wouldn't harm your child by injecting then with drugs what are you doing giving them food which is bad for their health?

Good question!

So given the amount of concern about this issue you would expect that such a video would be welcomed by those who are pushing the barrow of a need to do something.

Surprisingly this was no the case.

It is interesting to see how wedded people are to their own view of the world. This is particularly the case with "experts" and people who hold academic and other positions of authority.

According to Australian ABC news two leading public health figures did not like it. That of itself is fair enough. People have different tastes. It was the reasons, which caught my eye. The ad apparently put the emphasis on the child and put the blame on the parents instead of the people writing junk food ads.

Really! So who exactly is it that feeds children? Is it the parents or people writing ads? They feed their own children but no one else's. The word blame is pejorative and not helpful. What if we said it laid responsibility for what children eat at the feet of parents?

It was particularly interesting to see then that the productivity commission has looked at a range of programs to deal with childhood obesity. These are the ones so loved by public health people and academics because it results in funding for their programs.

The commission found that of the 27 programs assessed, none had a major impact on the problem Furthermore it debunked the notion that there was any direct link between TV watching and childhood obesity despite children being "bombarded" with ads. It found that banning junk food advertising would have no impact on childhood obesity.

This comes as no surprise to me but no doubt will astound some of our friends in academia land who will dismiss it, as it does not fit with their pre-conceived notions. It is always fascinating to see people who invoke research sing a different tune when the research is not to their liking.

What children eat is a function of what they are fed. The people responsible for feeding children are parents. If we are going to see any changes, then it is parental behavior that will need to change.