Comments on: What About The Children?

By: Rebecca Hoover

Rebecca Hoover — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:45:06 +0000

I’m going to play the devil’s advocate here and say that overweight parents raising overweight children does not equal child abuse. Far from it! And when you see a child that has been beat, burned, and tortured than you can see that difference. That said, it’s a huge problem that needs to be tackled from a multitude of angles ie., school, government, how about those damn corn subsidies? My husband and I were quite obese and I was constantly worried about my slightly chubby little girl. I talked to her doctor and was assured that she was fine but it wasn’t until I changed my diet that I was even able to begin the process of helping her. And when she became upset, we took action by joining Weight Watchers, I had already lost my weight but I hadn’t been able to really help her the way that this program did. And while it was thrilling for her to go to meetings with mostly older ladies, even at 12 she understood that we all shared a common bond. Now, at 15 she is thin and healthy, but more importantly she has a good understanding of nutrition and can make good choices wherever she goes. We need to offer help and understanding to parents and children who suffer from obesity. I commend you for deciding to take healthy choices when you’re invited places, I like the idea of living by example. Education and good examples can go a long way. Whew, I feel better.

By: Hanlie

Hanlie — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:59:16 +0000

I agree with you – you can’t change the child without changing the family. It’s a tough one!
.-= Hanlie´s last blog ..Book Review: Slow Fat Triathlete =-.

By: MackAttack

MackAttack — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:55:13 +0000

I work in government and I do think that government has a role. But, that's in conjunction with personal responsibility. I'm not skinny yet, so I don't feel like I have a leg to stand on, but I try to show people through my actions by making good choices. .-= MackAttack´s last blog ..Pete and Repeat… =-.

By: Leah @ L4L

Leah @ L4L — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:09:11 +0000

Great, thought-provoking post. You are so much more eloquent than I am! I have a very difficult time seeing obese children. Very difficult. It makes me mad. Mad at their parents. Mad at the government. Mad at our schools. Mad at our healthcare system. But no, I don’t think it is my place to say a thing about it. I don’t plan on ever having children but if I did, embracing an overall healthy lifestyle would be a huge emphasis on their upbringing.

By: erin

erin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:54:24 +0000

One of my biggest fears about having children is that my children will be overweight like I was when I was a child. I am determined to get my own problems with food worked out so I can be a healthy model for whatever children come our way in the future. .-= erin´s last blog ..How People Find My Blog =-.

By: Sweetie Pie

Sweetie Pie — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:42:20 +0000

This is so tricky, and this post brought a lot of things to my mind. I was that obese little girl, and my mother and grandmother were right there with me. Because both of my parents had to work, I started taking care of my younger brother when I was about nine years old, and I was often in charge of preparing food for him during the day (in the summers) and for making dinner for the family at night. While I’ve always loved to cook, and I typically didn’t get any complaints, I’m sure that the food I made was about as far away from healthy as it could have been. I grew up in the south– land of pork fat, gravy and pie, which probably didn’t help much either.

Now that I’m in my 30s and have gone from a 340 pound 30 something to an overweight (and happy to be just overweight) 30 something, I have given a lot of thought to my earlier years. Comments on my weight, which was always a problem, only made me feel bad about myself and led to more eating. I firmly believe that modeling proper behaviors, rather than lecturing about them, is the best way to go.

That little brother of mine has always had weight problems too, and is currently dangerously overweight. I started my blog earlier this year, in part, because I hoped he would read it. We don’t live close to one another so that’s as close as I can get to showing him the changes I’ve made. I think many morbidly obese people don’t believe they can lose the weight. I wonder if morbidly obese parents project that belief onto their kids. I think my brother sees weight loss as a hopeless and unpleasant proposition. I want him to see that I eat healthy food most of the time, but I haven’t completely given up treats. I want him to know how much I love biking and kickboxing and doing all of the active things that I can do now. I know that if I said anything to him about his weight, it would upset him and be badly received. Setting an example is my way of communicating without using what could be viewed as hurtful words.

I’m really enjoying your blog, by the way. I just found it a few days ago. I’m glad I did. You provide great food for thought.

By: Hadley

Hadley — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:40:29 +0000

This post made me think of this NYTimes Magazine article from not too long back. In essence, by living healthy lifestyles, we actually do impact those around us. Still, it's tough question. You can't, really, just tell people. If you do they'd be horrified and offended, and you'd seem like a jerk. It's just a tough situation. .-= Hadley´s last blog ..Ten Things =-.

By: Dr. J

Dr. J — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:16:48 +0000

It’s painful for me to see obese kids! But then, kids are people too, and therein lies the problem. Personally, I think it’s child abuse. I believe that the only way to ever combat this problem is to remove the unhealthy foods from being available, but we do not want to give up our addictive freedoms. Of course, the rare individual can be healthy and fit, but until the trough is improved it will only annoy the eater if it is changed. That’s why it is a tide that cannot be turned

By: Pam

Pam — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:16:29 +0000

Wow. My heart ached for that little girl, too. My parents are raising my brother’s children now (my brother died a few years ago, and obesity contributed it his early death), and the two boys are getting up there – the 17 year old was 330 pounds, and thank heavens he’s down to 285, which is still so big for a teenager, and the 11 year old – just turned 11, is 110 pounds. I hurt for them every time I see them , because I know what they are headed for. I just which I knew what to do to help.
When they come here for dinner, they get healthy food, and they eat it. Thanksgiving is at my house this year, and they will get it. I bake a lot for Christmas, so everyone will be getting it – all healthy, all tasty. I want very badly to prove a point to all of our loved ones that healthy doesn’t mean boring. Hope it works!
.-= Pam´s last blog ..Odds and Ends =-.

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:47:39 +0000

Part of me feels that if people can't take care of themselves maybe they arean't ready to have children but that's me. My parents did not teach me anything about nutrition, I'm only really learning it now. I mean, my mom doesn't even realize that water, a lot of it, is important everyday. .-= Robin´s last blog ..Erik McMuffin =-.