Unhealthy habits/Facebook posts from friends/family that make you :( ?

[ClaraRedheart]

I know it's NOT my job to police my friends and family... However,

My aunt just posted a photo of heavily carb-laden Chinese food plates that she (diabetic) and her husband (also diabetic) are about to enjoy. She does this all the time. I have told her this is dangerous and she needs to be careful, but now I'm just biting my tongue and hoping she doesn't get a nasty ulcer.

Also have a friend with a morbidly obese 5yo child that she buys 2 adult sized meals for (have witnessed this when I was in town to visit family... , I wondered what was causing it until I saw it first hand) . It's hard not to cringe when seeing photos, knowing how the parents feed him. Said friend does crossfit and eats healthily herself, but why stuff the child like that? Her other child is obese too. Have not said anything to this one.

Of course, there are the hoards of anti-vax friends... I just bite my tongue and move along.

Just curious what the rest of you encounter on facebook or even on a daily basis. Do you feel compelled to "educate", or are you like me and keep your mouth shut and wish you'd have said something?

[DeeAngel]

I would just block those people and call it good. If they don't care about their diet, then I don't care to hear about it.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm, carb laden Chinese food!

NOMB

I do, however, open my mouth, loudly and often on the anti vaxxers.

If they don't like it, they can unfriend me. Meh.

I'm with you on the anti-vaxxers. But I usually just link articles, share other FB pro-vaccine pages, or put up memes on my on FB page and don't respond to family or friends personally.

I am friends with one young woman who went to school with my kids and I worked with her mom. She has a troubled family history that I won't go into here but suffice it to say that I keep her as a "friend" in hopes that she will at least see the scientific research regarding vaccines. She's pretty rabidly anti-vax though and won't get her 3 kids their shots. (I've noticed people from all over the world will say "jabs" or "needles").

The political stuff got kind of heated during the election. My FB friends run the gamut of the political spectrum which kinda drives my own husband crazy. I didn't post political stuff though . . . and I'm not outing myself by saying who I ended up voting for in this election.

Speaking of diabetics, I gave up a long time ago trying to do any teaching to someone who is diabetic and still makes choices that are not healthy.

As to kids who are obese, I was a school nurse for 5 years and this is a big problem. Actually, it is a big problem for Americans. Just look around you when you are out at a public event. Most people are overweight.

One thing that really does frost my cookies is when someone posts about a medical issue or about someone dying BEFORE asking the family if it is ok or even true.

Last week we had a family member call us to ask if another family member had died - "It was on FB". Well, no . . . the family member was alive and well. I told that family member to kick the person in the tush and tell them to never post things like that unless you check to make sure it is true AND have permission from the family.

[Libby1987]

OP said "morbidly obese 5 yo".

If OP is not exaggerating, this is a friend and OP knows whether there are reasons other than sick eating issues in that house and the kid isn't already advocated/managed by appropriate professionals, then I would consider protective services when my gentle concerns fell on deaf ears, which they would.

I've seen media reports on this, it is considered a form of abuse with lasting irreversible repercussions in some situations. I would think carefully on it but I wouldn't stand by and do nothing. I don't believe CPS would necessarily tear the family apart immediately before giving the parents a chance to better care for their child, parents that per OP are setting up their child up for early chronic health problems.

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

I know it's NOT my job to police my friends and family... However,

My aunt just posted a photo of heavily carb-laden Chinese food plates that she (diabetic) and her husband (also diabetic) are about to enjoy. She does this all the time. I have told her this is dangerous and she needs to be careful, but now I'm just biting my tongue and hoping she doesn't get a nasty ulcer.

Also have a friend with a morbidly obese 5yo child that she buys 2 adult sized meals for (have witnessed this when I was in town to visit family... , I wondered what was causing it until I saw it first hand) . It's hard not to cringe when seeing photos, knowing how the parents feed him. Said friend does crossfit and eats healthily herself, but why stuff the child like that? Her other child is obese too. Have not said anything to this one.

Of course, there are the hoards of anti-vax friends... I just bite my tongue and move along.

Just curious what the rest of you encounter on facebook or even on a daily basis. Do you feel compelled to "educate", or are you like me and keep your mouth shut and wish you'd have said something?

I'm sure your friend with diabetes knows by now that her lifestyle choices are not good. She is an adult. Let her deal with the consequences.

The five year old child who is morbidly obese and being fed two adult sized meals bugs me. But we also don't know the full story. Hopefully, something can be done for this child because that is just sad. Children need our guidance and he is not old enough to decide for himself.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I've had to unfollow a lot of people who mainly post about how much they hate Hillary or Donald. I get sick of that tiring subject.

I generally find Facebook posts of people's meals ridiculously boring. I prefer pet videos, family photos, and interesting discussions. (Sadly, the latter is rare on Facebook).

I unfollowed a lot of people during the election . . . and while I check in on them periodically to see if it's "safe" to re-engage, the most vociferous among them are still ranting. I've also unfollowed a few cousins and one friend who obsessively post pictures of every meal they are about to eat, every craft project they finish and more than one picture per day of their "awesome baby." (That includes the two-legged AND four-legged variety.) Generally, if you're posting multiple times a day, most of it is not interesting.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I would recommend refraining from commenting since it will probably cause anger. I unfriended a cousin who decided to argue about something that did not involve her. Basically I reposted someone complaining about the hospital and it turned into a back and forth about whether her broken foot was an emergency and should have been brought back first. She lived in a different state so the hospital post has nothing to do with it. My sister who just graduated nursing school was laughing when I informed her that I have to decide what constitutes as an immediate emergency because I triage in the ER frequently. She asked about why do I think it's my job to determine what is an emergency.

FaceBook is not worth causing a rift in your real life family. Unfollow them or ignore it. My husband just engaged in a lively "debate" about politics with one of my cousins. Both of them were obnoxious in their ranting and accusations of stupidity, blindness, bias, etc. Unfortunately, it's created a rift in our family. My cousin thinks I agree with my husband (which I don't) and has unfriended me. While I disagree with my husband's politics at times, I can't side with someone else against him, so my cousin's wife unfriended me as well. It's not worth it. If you can't say something nice, just let it go. Unless, of course, you don't care about causing a rift with the person.

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

I disabled my FB account a while ago and have been much happier since.

[Supernrse01, BSN]

Just keep scrolling...

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

You answer your question in the first line of your post: "I know it's not my job to police my friends and family...."

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

Call me old fashion but I don't have a Facebook account. I give people my phone number and email. He keeps my life simple and easy.

[37changes, ASN, RN]

No facebook or any other social media here, either. For years. It caused me stress that was just not needed.

[Boomer MS, RN]

Call me old fashion but I don't have a Facebook account. I give people my phone number and email. He keeps my life simple and easy.

Amen.