We Are Making Our Children Fat

Many posts around the net and even in magazines have been focusing on the “Fat America” and even on how we are gaining so much weight and blaming it all on our children. I am about to be as honest as I can be with you all, but hoping it does not alienate anyone. I’d love some conversation with this post as well, so please feel free to respond for or against with the reasons why. Here goes….I feel that WE (as the parents) are making our children FAT.

I know that women gain up to 40 pounds while being pregnant, it is true that sometimes they don’t lose it all when the baby is born too (I went back to before weight after my first two children, not after baby 3 or 4). With that being stated it is also true many moms, myself included, will probably snack off whatever our children eat. Am I right? Okay, so now that we have all that clear, how much weight can we gain from that?

Truth is no one can really say, not unless they know what you do during the day. Are you working out after you snack on your child’s food? If so, how much? Or are you just sitting on the couch watching soap operas or getting online?  Now whose fault is it that YOU have got that way?

Tips:
- Stop eating after your child
- Eat smaller meals, a few times a day
- Eat healthier snacks such as veggie sticks instead of cupcakes.

Now to show you how we as parents are adding the weight onto our children.  I keep reading parents say they give their children chicken nuggets, french fries, etc. To me it sounds like fast food, if this is really the issue maybe you should eat at home. If you must eat out, order from the healthier side of the menu. Sure I know a chicken nugget meal with french fries and a soda sounds like the perfect meal for your young one, especially since it means you don’t have to make them a meal. Did you know you can get a healthier kids’ meal? Yep you can replace those french fries with apple slices, the soda with juice, milk or chocolate milk.

Here’s some facts for you on that McDonald’s Meal:

small french fries: 230 calories 11.0 g of fat
small kids soda: 410 calories
chicken nuggets: 190 calories 12.0 g of fat

Now if your child actually ate everything they just consumed: 830 calories and 23 g of fat. That’s just one meal, now if you ate some of that it still adds up for you. Yes, eating your child’s meal will not mean you don’t get the calories too.  If you replaced the drink and fries with apple dippers (35 calories) and a milk (100 calories) they would get: 325 calories.  Keep in mind fast food joints may sound yummy, but it may be best to grab one of their salads, yogurts or something with less calories. This will also set an example for your child.

Now let’s head home, what’s in those cabinets? Do you have them stocked full of veggies and fruits? Unfortunately many of us probably have shelves of cans of vegetables (which is good), maybe a few cans of fruits (another good), tons of pasta noodles, boxed meals, cereals, oatmeal and a shelf full of snacks for school. By snacks I’m talking Little Debbie cakes, Hostess Twinkies or Cupcakes, etc. Does any of this sound familiar? Now what does your refrigerator and freezer look like? I believe by now you are starting to see the drift.

At home do we snack in front of the television or just once each person gets home to tide them over until dinner?  I will not lie, we do not have as healthy eating habits as I wish we did and until recently I thought we were doing great as I did make sure everyone ate tons of fruit, pasta, sometimes salads and no candy. But after looking at myself and slowly recognizing a growing belly in one of my children I learned the eating out is gaining on us and it is time to live up to what I have done and start changing that. I realize it is not my children that have made me fat, but it me (as the parent that is making my child fat).

There are actually better things for us to snack on that might help curve those cravings. I got these from the Biggest Loser Site:

Instead of a bowl of fruit, exchange it for tomato salsa and a quesadilla.
Instead of carrot sticks, exchange them for bell peppers.

Children watch us; we are supposed to set the example for them. If we are constantly eating (snacking) our children will pick up on this, if we eat tons of junk food that is what they will do. Now I do realize as some will state, it is not just parents that do it, but schools, television, people in general. This is true, but if we really thought about it it is us that buy the junk our children want and while we can’t stop our children from buying in the school’s junk food dispensers many are trying to change that, some schools want to offer veggie sticks instead of candy bars. For the parents that don’t have that option don’t let your children take extra money for those machines.

Today, many states are starting to take notice of this trend and are labeling “childhood obesity” as abuse and even taking some from their parents. One child actually drew national attention when it was announced he weighed in at 555lbs and was only 14 years old, he is currently in foster care.  There was also the 200lb boy that was only 8 years old.

Tell It Like it Is had some very good advice to all parents and that is the following:

The most effective way of treating and preventing childhood obesity is for the entire family to adopt healthier eating habits and making exercise a priority. Dealing with overweight children, or preventing obesity in children, is a family matter that helps protect the health of children now and into their future. Parents who exercise poor nutritional habits and who lead sedentary lifestyles role model these behaviors for their children, with increased psychological problems such as low self-esteem and depression being common in overweight kids.

Finally, the last way we are making our children fat is by not interacting with them more and not making them interact more with the outside world. How many of you have some form of a game station at home? I don’t care if it is a Playstation 1, 2 or 3, Xbox or a Wii. Do you have one and how long are they on it? Growing up we use to spend hours outdoors playing baseball, kickball, tag, riding our bikes, etc. Today, our children spend more time indoors watching television, movies or playing the games. It is time to shake things up mom and dad, get them out of the house and have fun together.

Fun things to do:
-  kickball in the street
-  baseball at the park
-  a game of tag
-  walk around the neighborhood/town
- exercise
-  go on a bike ride/hike

Get the drift? By doing the healthy habits yourselves you can actually help your children. So, maybe you should look at the way you eat, exercise and focus on that and how to change it to help your children out.  Let’s thin down America just a bit and stop blaming everyone else for our children; after all we are the parents.  For those that aren’t sure if their children are overweight, need to gain weight or getting a bit close here are two charts.  Weight Chart for girls and weight chart for boys.