Kids set up for failure?

i was on my commute to work this morning at around 8am, and i looked up to see a woman push her small child onto the train. the little girl was probably about 2 years old.

in one hand, she was clutching a ziploc bag full of fruity pebbles. in the other hand, a tootsie pop. at 8am.

really lady? that's what you give your kid for breakfast? REALLY?

i was waiting for her to pull out a can of mountain dew with a nipple on it and hand it to her to wash it all down. i stared in horror for a few seconds and then went back to my book. just couldn't help thinking how that poor little kid doesn't stand a chance of developing healthy eating habits.

yesterday, a woman sat next to me with a small toddler on her lap and handed him a large bag of funyuns, which he proceeded to chow down on for a good 20 minutes.

don't get me wrong, i'm not the type to say a kid should never ever have fruity pebbles, lolly pops or junky snacks...but that just blew my mind. are people really still that clueless when it comes to nutrition? why, when there are so many healthy options to feed your kid, would you choose such nutritionally worthless snacks? i mean the lady this morning had obviously brought the cereal from home so it wasn't a case of being on the run and having no options.

has anybody else experienced things like this? i'm not a parent but i certainly hope that when i am, i am able to better watch out for my kids health. i know kids can be picky and fussy, but is there ever any reason to give a two year old a bag of sugar and a lolly pop for breakfast? 

Original Post by figurethefat:

While waiting for my kid at the clinic the other day there were two young  What also sucks is that fruity pebbles are marketed to kids!  Kids want to eat fruity pebbles.  My kid always want fruit loops when he was little.  Once I bought them and he ended up not eating them!  They tasted like crap compared to the whole grain stuff he was usually given :)

 The marketing is to the kids, but the parents fall for it. I didn't as a parent. I didn't want my child eating that crap and I certainly didn't want to pay that much money for boxes of cereal, artificial coloring and artificial flavors. Unfortunately, not enough parents have the nutritional intelligence to just buy the better stuff.

It doesn't matter if your kids want something. They can't eat what isn't in the house. They forget and move on to something else. I remember clearly being in the grocery store with my son and heading down the cereal aisle. He'd ask for all the pretty bright boxes of crap that he'd seen on TV. I would just look at him and tell him I wasn't buying boxes of fluffy sugar for breakfast. They I'd buy cheerios, kix, chex, raisin bran, etc. I'd get looks from the other parents too. Some wanted to applaud me. Some were just astounded that I had the guts to say no. Some would look guilty as they put that crap in their carts.

Original Post by moonikins:

 The marketing is to the kids, but the parents fall for it. I didn't as a parent. I didn't want my child eating that crap and I certainly didn't want to pay that much money for boxes of cereal, artificial coloring and artificial flavors. Unfortunately, not enough parents have the nutritional intelligence to just buy the better stuff.

It doesn't matter if your kids want something. They can't eat what isn't in the house. They forget and move on to something else. I remember clearly being in the grocery store with my son and heading down the cereal aisle. He'd ask for all the pretty bright boxes of crap that he'd seen on TV. I would just look at him and tell him I wasn't buying boxes of fluffy sugar for breakfast. They I'd buy cheerios, kix, chex, raisin bran, etc. I'd get looks from the other parents too. Some wanted to applaud me. Some were just astounded that I had the guts to say no. Some would look guilty as they put that crap in their carts.

 Bingo!  That is the type of parent I hope I will be.  Kids can't eat what isn't within reach of them.  And if more parents got their kids used to hearing no once in a while, we wouldn't have to listen to so many of them these days, screaming in the cereal isle because they can't have what they want.

Original Post by moonikins:

It doesn't matter if your kids want something. They can't eat what isn't in the house. They forget and move on to something else.

 EXACTLY!

I had experience of this kind of thing first hand from a family member of mine and how they feed their kids it got so bad that i stopped wanting to see them. 

So i totally know where you are coming from.

Original Post by jules817:

Original Post by moonikins:

It doesn't matter if your kids want something. They can't eat what isn't in the house. They forget and move on to something else.

 EXACTLY!

 agreed.

that, and it may not be necessary to finish everything on your plate...but you're going to try it.  and if you won't eat it, that's fine...you can wait until the next meal.

that's how i was raised...and you can damn well bet i ate my veggies/fruit.

The woman should've been smacked upside the head with a stale multi-grain baguette.

I believe in European countries they're now debating, or maybe already implementing, laws to get social services involved when children are obese. 

Original Post by hotfuss:

Original Post by peaches0405:

Original Post by hotfuss:

Original Post by purespark:

Original Post by loriklorik:

Soooo judgemental for something like a kid having a lolly pop...really? really? thats what sets you over the edge and sets off the "bad parent alert"?? a lolly pop????

 I wouldn't eat a lollipop for breakfast, so I certainly wouldn't let a kid have one.

But would you eat one later in the day?  I'm not sure I really understand why some foods are not ok for the morning but would be fine later in the day. 

 Eating alot of sugary junk for breakfast can set yourself up for sugar cravings for the rest of the day.  It's the first meal of the day, and any nutritionist will tell you that it should be balanced.  If not, your body ends up craving that sugar for the entire day, making you hungry before your next meal.  It's all about the insuline levels in your body.  a lollipop is about the worst thing you could possibly have for breakfast.

Thanks, didn't know that about insuline levels and cravings. Seems ironic that a lot of people eat more sugar in the morning(cereal, poptarts, muffins, etc) than any other time then. 

I agree that kids need balanced diets, but sometimes parents need to pick and choose their battles.  When I was little, every time we would go to the bank, they would give us a lolipop.  We knew this and expected it when we went to the bank.  If my mom had to go at 8am and decided we couldn't have it, just because it was early she would have to deal with the pain of us whining and complaining and it would probably be easier to let us have it then and remind us that we already had a treat when we asked for something in the afternoon.  I doubt that 1 8am lollipop doomed us. 

whether or not the kid the OP described was just having a special treat or if it was a common occurance isn't known.

Exactly. Here's a little story I once heard from someone's minister. Once upon a time there was a mother and two small children on a train. The little boy was completely out of control. He was whining and bothering other passengers. The little girl was eating candy/donuts/etc. She had a doughnut in one hand and a tootsie pop in the other. The boy kept accidentally bumping the back of the seat ahead of them. He only looks about four years old, but his legs are long... Bang bang bang...Then he stops! He's playing with toy cars along the back of someone's seat. The little girl is about two year old. She accidentally nudges another passenger... frosting from her doughnut gets all over them....

The mother sighs patting her daughters head. Then: One of the passengers has had enough. She decides to say something: " Can't you keep a handle on your children. Maybe if you hadn't sugared them up at 8am they wouldn't be out of control. "

The mother sighs: Yes, I know. I'm sorry. This isn't our typical morning. My children and I aren't usually like this... See. I apologize.Their father died this morning so we're on our way to the grandmothers. I'm not all here this morning... please forgive me. "

Moral:? 

Original Post by pavlovcat:

The woman should've been smacked upside the head with a stale multi-grain baguette.

I believe in European countries they're now debating, or maybe already implementing, laws to get social services involved when children are obese. 

 i really do think it's a form of abuse when it gets to the point that kids are very obese. that wasn't at all the case in the kids in my OP, but i've seen plenty of that too.

i mean, if i saw someone with a horribly obese pet, i'd consider them an animal abuser.

Original Post by enchantingimage:

The mother sighs patting her daughters head. Then: One of the passengers has had enough. She decides to say something: " Can't you keep a handle on your children. Maybe if you hadn't sugared them up at 8am they wouldn't be out of control. "

The mother sighs: Yes, I know. I'm sorry. This isn't our typical morning. My children aren't and I aren't usually like this... See. I apologize.There father died this morning so we're on our way to the grandmothers. I'm not all here this morning... please forgive me. "

Moral:? 

 well, this story is exactly the reason i OF COURSE didn't say anything to the mother. i was horrified, but i smiled at the baby and went back to my book.

America wouldn't have the childhood obesity problem if parents all over the US were feeding their children correctly. With that said I also have to point out that you have no idea what the kid actually had for breakfast. Maybe the mom fed her child a hot bowl of oatmeal or eggs and whole grain toast with juice freshly squeezed from an orange before leaving the house. How long was the commute? Maybe the kid gets fussy on the train and the dry cereal is a treat. I would pack dry cereal for a snack when my kids were little too. If you don't have kids then you really shouldn't judge until you've walked in a mothers shoes, believe me you'll find all types of tricks to keep a child occupied during long trips etc. The lollipop could be as well but there are safety issues with a sucker on a stick and all the pushing etc.

I've got 4 kids and none of them are overweight even the slightest. My kids have had all types of junk food in the house at any given time. I also have healthy snacks and fix well balanced meals. I don't forbid junk food, because then you could be at risk of them binging on it when they can get it. It's the "want what I can't have" that I want to avoid.

I do have a problem with a few of the parents in our community who have children who are very obese and the only thing I see these kids eat is junk. One little boy was at therapy for his weight problem and after therapy the mother would take him to the deli area and get him a huge milkshake and cookies etc. I could have choked the stupid itch.

Original Post by enchantingimage:

Exactly. Here's a little story I once heard from someone's minister. Once upon a time there was a mother and two small children on a train. The little boy was completely out of control. He was whining and bothering other passengers. The little girl was eating candy/donuts/etc. She had a doughnut in one hand and a tootsie pop in the other. The boy kept accidentally bumping the back of the seat ahead of them. He only looks about four years old, but his legs are long... Bang bang bang...Then he stops! He's playing with toy cars along the back of someone's seat. The little girl is about two year old. She accidentally nudges another passenger... frosting from her doughnut gets all over them....

The mother sighs patting her daughters head. Then: One of the passengers has had enough. She decides to say something: " Can't you keep a handle on your children. Maybe if you hadn't sugared them up at 8am they wouldn't be out of control. "

The mother sighs: Yes, I know. I'm sorry. This isn't our typical morning. My children aren't and I aren't usually like this... See. I apologize.There father died this morning so we're on our way to the grandmothers. I'm not all here this morning... please forgive me. "

Moral:? 

 *raises hand*

*jumps up and down*

Ooh! Ooh!  me!  I got it.

The moral of the story is that occurances like that are fairly rare.  And even though the kids in the story were all sugared up, if they were really kept under control most other times, then the little boy probably would have never thought that it would be ok to run around kicking other peoples' seats.

How'd I do? 

No?

Original Post by peaches0405:

Moral:? 

 *raises hand*

*jumps up and down*

Ooh! Ooh!  me!  I got it.

The moral of the story is that occurances like that are fairly rare.  And even though the kids in the story were all sugared up, if they were really kept under control most other times, then the little boy probably would have never thought that it would be ok to run around kicking other peoples' seats.

How'd I do? 

Good... pretty good.- Hands Peaches a great job sticker -These frog stickers are great to hand out as prizes or for a job well done! :)  On rare occasions I even hand out tootsie pops!!! None the less. The boy was only out of control in his seat though.

Original Post by peaches0405:

Original Post by enchantingimage:

Exactly. Here's a little story I once heard from someone's minister. Once upon a time there was a mother and two small children on a train. The little boy was completely out of control. He was whining and bothering other passengers. The little girl was eating candy/donuts/etc. She had a doughnut in one hand and a tootsie pop in the other. The boy kept accidentally bumping the back of the seat ahead of them. He only looks about four years old, but his legs are long... Bang bang bang...Then he stops! He's playing with toy cars along the back of someone's seat. The little girl is about two year old. She accidentally nudges another passenger... frosting from her doughnut gets all over them....

The mother sighs patting her daughters head. Then: One of the passengers has had enough. She decides to say something: " Can't you keep a handle on your children. Maybe if you hadn't sugared them up at 8am they wouldn't be out of control. "

The mother sighs: Yes, I know. I'm sorry. This isn't our typical morning. My children aren't and I aren't usually like this... See. I apologize.There father died this morning so we're on our way to the grandmothers. I'm not all here this morning... please forgive me. "

Moral:? 

 *raises hand*

*jumps up and down*

Ooh! Ooh!  me!  I got it.

The moral of the story is that occurances like that are fairly rare.  And even though the kids in the story were all sugared up, if they were really kept under control most other times, then the little boy probably would have never thought that it would be ok to run around kicking other peoples' seats.

How'd I do? 

No?

LOL  you passed ..

*gives peaches an A+*

Original Post by r4eboxer:

America wouldn't have the childhood obesity problem if parents all over the US were feeding their children correctly. With that said I also have to point out that you have no idea what the kid actually had for breakfast. Maybe the mom fed her child a hot bowl of oatmeal or eggs and whole grain toast with juice freshly squeezed from an orange before leaving the house. How long was the commute? Maybe the kid gets fussy on the train and the dry cereal is a treat. I would pack dry cereal for a snack when my kids were little too. If you don't have kids then you really shouldn't judge until you've walked in a mothers shoes, believe me you'll find all types of tricks to keep a child occupied during long trips etc. The lollipop could be as well but there are safety issues with a sucker on a stick and all the pushing etc.

well, i'm not sure i can think of a reason that fruity pebbles would be an appropriate choice as a snack for a toddler, but maybe that's a mother thing i just don't understand. but regardless, JUST a baggy of cereal would not have even caught my attention. JUST a lolly pop wouldn't really have either. it was the fact that the child had BOTH in her hands at once that i found ridiculous.

if that's the only way that woman was able to occupy her child on a 30 minute train ride, then IMO, there's something wrong there. 

i am not some overly judgemental holier than thou person. i understand motherhood is difficult, and kids throw tantrums and want what they want. i just can't believe people are defending a woman who would feed that combo to her child first thing in the morning.

OHH and i forgot to mention, on top of it all, the baby dropped the lolly pop before they got off the train, and she just stepped right over it and left it there.

 but maybe her free left arm was paralyzed right? or maybe she was blind in one eye? we should probably defend her for that too! wouldn't want to judge.

Original Post by jules817:

OHH and i forgot to mention, on top of it all, the baby dropped the lolly pop before they got off the train, and she just stepped right over it and left it there.

 

I thought you were going to say she stepped right over.... and popped it back in her kids mouth! >_<  I've seen things like that on multiple occasions. Now: That baffles me. Parents are aware yet seem not to mind whatsoever.  Something e.g., toys, binkie,bottle, cookies/food, etc...

It's been contaminated! ew.

Isn't it illegal to eat on the T? it is on the DC metro.

Original Post by jules817:

Original Post by kathygator:

I don't think giving kids a bag of cereal on the go is that unreasonable. The woman may have many challenges that we can't even imagine. One of them being that cereal costs her so little. Same with a bag of funyuns. Wouldn't give a tootsie pop to a kid, especially in the morning and boarding a train, however.

It's probably a bit of an overreaction to assume that these kids are doomed to obesity because they've got some less than ideal snack foods in their diet. Remember you're probably seeing them on the way to daycare or some such. Quick snack foods could be the result of a busy mom's harried lifestyle.

fruity pebbles aren't cheap at all as far as cereals go. a small box of those is like $4.

and i never said anything about the kid's being doomed to obesity. i didn't mention obesity in my post at all. neither child was overweight, nor were the parents. i just don't think kids too young to make their own choices should be taught eating habits like that.

and Tom, i realize it isn't any of my business. it's not like i said something to the woman.   

 

 Sorry honey, I thought by the title you meant that the kids were headed for obesity. My bad. :)

Original Post by floggingsully:

Isn't it illegal to eat on the T? it is on the DC metro.

 it's not! i was actually shocked when i realized eating/drinking isn't allowed on the metro when i visited DC. it's a good idea to avoid a mess i guess, but sometimes i like having my coffee on the train!

Original Post by jules817:

 it's not! i was actually shocked when i realized eating/drinking isn't allowed on the metro when i visited DC. it's a good idea to avoid a mess i guess, but sometimes i like having my coffee on the train!

I'd hate to be someone with a severe peanut allergy living in Boston. 

Original Post by jules817:

Original Post by pavlovcat:

...

 ...a horribly obese pet, i'd consider them an animal abuser.

 my cat is obese.  If you could ask her, she would tell you I was abusing her by not giving her enough food!