I cringed on the inside

yep, quite honestly, i get annoyed too.
while it's one thing to make choices for yourself, it's not fair to inflict these problems on your/a child.
i cringe along w/you, beach.

leslie

Sometimes I think parents let their kids eat junk food so they shut up. Not trying to sound harsh either. I was at a rest-stop a couple years ago and it had a Wendys and Baskin robbins in it. I saw a girl, she had to be about 8 or 9 with a huge sundae and she was obese for her age. I'm sorry but her mom and dad need to be slapped a couple of times. A girl her age and her weight does not need a huge sundae, which I might add has NO nutritional value.

When I have kids: TV will be restricted to an hour each day, READING will be encouraged, and they will have no fast food unless under some unforeseen circumstance. Definately no soda either...

Those kids are just a couple years away from diabetes and possible heart ailments.

Not just you.

Some people just don't seem to understand what life-long problems they set their children up for. My parents raised two obese children, and it took my brother and I into our 30's to have a healthy BMI. I've struggled with thyroid issues, joint problems, and on and on. Even though my weight is normal now, those issues will haunt my body and quite possibly shorten my lifespan as well as cost me more $$ in lost wages and healthcare costs.

I try not to militant with MY kids, but you can bet that we're a fruits and veggies loving house! Working on some happy s!

I know exactly what you mean. A friend of mine is morbidly obese and over time her children have become obese also. It makes me angry and sad for the kids.They're so beautiful, but her 10 yo weighs more than me! If u wanna stuff yourself with junk go ahead, but don't do it to your kids. I became overweight after having kids but now I'm doing something about it and I encourage my kids to make healthy choices so they don't become overweight.

My mom always said I'd be a tyrannt when I have kids. Mainly because I don't want them to have to go through what I went through being the "fat kid" in school.

Ok, OK, I'll chime in from the other side. I have a 12 y/o ds that is "technically" overweight. He is 5'4" and 140lbs. Our ped is very obese, lol, and has not mentioned it. My son could give lessons in healthy eating/living, and mostly follows a pretty strict (self-inflicted) diet. No sodas, high cal foods, junk food, etc. He reads labels, knows all about calories/carbs/protein/fat grams. He exercises much more frequently than my 10 y/o ds, that is skinny as a twig. I have to monitor 10y/o ds diet sooooo much more closely than 12y/o, as left to his own devices he would eat "hot fries" and chocolate cupcakes exclusively.

Who knows what goes on in the families homes? In mine, we do occasionally have "junk" on the shelves, but there is also fresh fruit and bottled water, grilled chicken, fresh vegs, etc. My 12y/o makes good choices 99% of the time, the 10y/o (if left to him) would be 15% of the time. The 12y/o is overweight! Go figure...... The same parents, same home, I just don't get it.

What is really sad is that the 12y/o really cares about his appearance (preteen, ya know) and the 10y/o could care less, he is my little slob, lol.

But parents do have a responsibility to teach their kids about nutrition and basic health, and help them make good choices, and have those choices available for them. If they can't or won't do that, I hope someone in their life does speak up about it, hopefully the pedi.

I will get off the soapbox now, and let someone else take a turn, just wanted to give a perspective from a Mom of an "overweight" kid.

ETA: the reason I keep putting "overweight" in " " is b/c it is kind of up to which theory you go with if he really is "overweight".

Yep. I cringe too. I also cringe when I have little 2 and 3-year old patients that have parents requesting pop for them to drink. And they wonder why their teeth are all rotting out!

As someone with a soon-to-be 7-year-old let me suggest that you drop that 1 hour to 0 hours. Reading, playing, whatever... just something that gets the mind going... the body usually follows.