Are we going to raise an entire generation of overweight kids?

This so sad! Even carrots branded with the McDonald's logo were said to taste better by kids! Are we fighting a losing battle?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070806/hl_nm/kid s_fastfood_dc

my favorite part of Super Size me is when he says, "everytime we drive past a McDonalds im going to punch my kid in the head" haha i know its a bit ridiculous but...hilarious either way

Ya know, kids are weird.  They are sooo susceptible to marketing.

That said, my kids have had a McDonalds nugget from time to time and they are extremely fit.  They have NO (and I mean GENERATIONS on both sides of NO) genetic reason to be healthy and fit.  We have done two things.  For one, we offer a LOT of different foods all the time.  For another, we do NOT push 'eating' as being 'good kids'.  We sit down to eat and if they say they don't want to eat anything, we don't make a big deal out of it.  They don't have to.  Now - we also don't let them eat snacky-junk stuff if they don't eat healthy, but we just put the food away and if they are hungry later, they can eat that.  For the variety, I just keep putting the stuff on their plates.  They can eat it or not, but it goes on their plates.  My older two love broccoli and carrots.  The baby is harder... actually... he is trying me now because he is in the 5% for his weight (not height, there he is normal) and he won't eat hardly anything.  I get worried about him but I keep trying to repeat, "A child won't starve himself." over and over.  I think as parents we're so programmed to say that eating a lot in our kids is "being good" so we reinforce it over and over.  If they don't eat the healthy stuff, we get worried (like me) and start offering ice cream or anything just to get them to eat. (I'll admit to pulling out the apples, string cheese, and peanut butter and whole wheat bread for Ash from time to time, but I don't think I've done too bad.)  That includes McDs.  If they don't eat, offer fries, they'll eat that!  You know, my kids don't even EAT the McDs stuff all that well when I DO get it but they BEG and BEG and BEG to go there every day.  You gotta wonder what that's about.  My daughter and the baby actually leave fries sitting on their plates while they polish off the manderin oranges from Wendys.  The same manderin oranges I have in the fridge... that they pick at sometimes when I put them on the plates.  Weird.

I can't tell you how often at those kiddie play lands where my kids will be off climbing and running and playing and other kids are asking all excited to go play while their parents are saying "eat your food first!" and not letting them play.  My kids stop by for a fry or a drink or something and then go run off again.  In the end, they eat about 1/2 or 1/3 of the full meal but they've had enough and had fun playing too.  Those fast food meals - they ARE really high in fat so they go far in giving them energy.  If they can learn portion control and not "eat everything" rules, maybe they aren't so terrible.

I have hopes the one day, it will be illegal to market to children.

My husband said the other day that there is a bill in the works... don't know much about it though.   OH, no, he said that the companies are releasing news stories saying they are going to self restrict the kid's marketing.... or was it maybe the cable stations...?

LOL, sorry, I'm not much help, am I?

Here is a glimmer of hope I experienced!

Last weekend we were out boating so I felt like I could cheat a little and brought along chips and candy bars.  I offered my friend's 6 year old daughter a candy bar and her response was, "No thank you, I like to eat healthy.  May I please have some grapes."  She is SIX YEARS OLD!  I was totally surprised. 

And we wonder what the heck is going on with our WORLD today!!! I wasnt raised in a fast food family..... Everything was cooked, not out of abox so to speak.. home made salsbury steaks & mashed potatoes, not BOXED Banquet crap....  BUT... I still got this way as an adult finding it was easier to eat out / quick food..... even order in.. I  had more time to do other things I wanted to do.. even taking the kids to the park... McDonalds was a treat MAYBE and I mean MAYBE once every 2 months!!!!!!

superlissa~~~ We go boating too... That is when I have to AVAOID bordem eatting... I dont take mnchies anymore.... it would do me no good!

i worry we are rasing an army of anorexics rather... not overeaters.

*indignant huff* I am offended!! Just totally kidding ;)

The so-called "army" of anorexics will arise, if at all, as a backlash to the current army of overeaters we are raising.  Once the problem of childhood obesity gets sufficiently out of control, then you will start to see more and more super-restrictive parents putting their kids on diets and controlling their food intake to the point where they grow up with a general anxiety and distrust of food... Either way, really, it's terrible.  Kids should just be able to have a healthy relationship with eating.  Hell, we all should.  I should.  I guess that's why we're here.  Yay for CC!

if they keep being fed junk food and spending all their time in front of the tv then of course we'll have a new generation of heffers  

time to get it together people. let's get in shape and set a good example for the youngins who are looking up to us

Kids eat what parents start them off with. Please don't soley blame the media outlets for parents' horrible food choices. My son will ask for fruit before chips because he knows what my answer will be. Jst because we are experiencing difficulties doesn't mean we don't know better. PARENTS DO BETTER! Don't expect MCdonalds to feed your kids 2x a week and then not advertise to them.

Yeah don't blame McDonalds.

My parents always supplied me with a steady stream of junk food. The end result was my stomach steadily expanded after I reached my adult height at age 15.

I never went to mcdonalds, or any fast food place, when I was young.

Me and my brother grew up eating pretty much the same, and yet I have been heavy all my life, and he has never even nearly been a pound over weight. So perhaps there is only so much parents can do.

I grew up on garden food and all homeade stuff and let me tell you not all stuff that is 'homeade' is good for you. Huge cinnimon buns Huge pies and cakes and etc. What i had in my life that a lot of kids dont today is i played outside all day long riding my bike, making tree houses or just playing in the dirt. I was active so i could eat whatever i wanted and not gain excessive weight.


if they keep being fed junk food and spending all their time in front of the tv then of course we'll have a new generation of heffers  


That statement bothered me I must add I dont have overweight children and i havent a clue what its like to raise one and im sure most ppl that have kids wouldnt want someone saying omg your going to be a heffer not the right kind of attitude to have towards young ppl who are struggeling with weightgain.

I was raised on very healthy food, probably healthier than most families during the 80's but was still slightly overweight during my childhood.  There was never junk in the house, dessert was sliced fresh fruit and I never had processed food like Hamburger Helper until my 20's.  AND I was a tomboy that ran around in fields and stuff for hours until Mom called us in at night.  I slimmed out when I got involved with track and field and volleyball at my school.  I think that parents being more involved with getting kids active is just as important as what they feed them.  It's silly to blame McDonald's for this epidemic as there are MANY factors involved. 

I think we should be more concerned with the alarming rate of obesity, rather than an army of "anorexics".  Anorexic is a serious mental illness and I'm going to leave it at that.  Thin and health conscious doesn't always mean that a person has an eating disorder.  I think that term is thrown around far too much, especially on this forum.

Physical activity doesn't solve the problem in my family unless it's on the level of running 50-70 miles a week, which just isn't practical for kids. None of my siblings are thin or ever were, and they range from teens to 20s. They tend to be high-normal or mildly overweight, even with lots of regular activity. My mother and I are the only ones who aren't borderline overweight (on either side of the borderline) and it's because we both strictly control our intake. Perhaps ironically, we also exercise the least, but we both have non-sedentary careers that probably result in a net "activity level" about the same as a sedentary job/schoolwork plus artificial exercise.

As a teacher, I'm surprised by the SHIFT in weight in even the last 14 years I've been teaching... it seems like there are FAR less kids at "healthy "weight.

LOTS of overweight girls... still very pretty/popular.. cheerleader/dance team etc. (most states won't allow weight requirements anymore) who SAY that they are very happy with their bodies (and wear the clothes to prove it :-)  )

AND

LOTS of super skinny waif girls who NEVER eat... and make it clear that that don't intend to...

Notice I say "girls"... the boys for the most part HAVEN'T changed... yes, there are still the big uns... and the skinny uns... but for the most part... the boys are still average... 

I do know that when I was a kid (granted I was still BIG... who knows how BIG I could have been..) I walked to school every day... though the woods--about a a mile... my mom didn't even know my path--shortcut---who would let their child do that today?  When I came home from school, I would get on my bike and ride the nine miles to my best friend's house...  You let a six=year-old do that by themselves today... someone would call you negligent because it's dangerous.. and they'd probably be right... so moms are busy... and can't ALWAYS take you to "play"... so you're watching TV and playing video games instead... and it's not just to kids... when a pizza hut commercial comes on, it looks pretty good to me, too :-) 

This is going to apply to most Americans, not the pockets of imported culture within the United State, or throughout the rest of the world.  They have their problems too, but not nearly the same magnitude of those which the USA is experiencing.

There are several things that need to happen in order to shape future generations...pun slightly intended ;).  All of it involves money, because in this country that is what peoples' lives are based around.

Problem is, none of it is likely to happen.   I'm not being pessimistic, just realistic.  Most of these problems are a double-edged sword.

We need to stop being such a financially driven society.  This works on several levels.  Parents need to stop working so much and spend more time with their children.  In order for parents to stop working so much, they need to lose some of the greed, or places of business need to be more lenient as far as time off and time put in are concerned, whichever the case may be.  In the same breath, though, families cost money, so of course it is the parents' responsibility to work at least enough to support them.  See the double-edged sword? 

So, if parents have to work, childcare needs to be less expensive, both in a "day care" sense and as far as medical issues are concerned.  Day care becomes less of a problem once kids are school-aged, but then we have to worry about what kids are being served for school lunch.  Why are they getting pizza and soda?  Because of money.  Why are they getting cheap boxed and flash-frozen stuff filled with sodum and sucked dry of nutrients?  It's cheaper.

Yes, advertising (of ANY kind) should not be geared toward children.  But if they were playing outside or encouraged to do other things like play with legos, put puzzles together, use their imagination, they wouldn't be subjected to the TV in the first place.  Parents lacking the time/money will cook up a boxed meal and still the kid in front of the video game where they'll be left alone.  But instead what they need to instill the value of activities that don't involve just being glued to the couch in a trance-like state while visions of pop-tarts and green sugar ooze and fast food kids meals get pounded into their heads.  Play catch for an hour, go fishing, run in the sprinklers.  Bad weather?  Do a puzzle, color something, do a learning activity.  When they're old enough, they'll keep the enjoyment of these things with them.

Then comes another issue.  Thing is, kids are sociable.  They get to a certain age, they don't want to play outside by themselves.  If all their friends parents' let them play video games and eat doritos and drink mountain dew all night, well that's what they'll want to do to!  Teaching the importance of independence is good, but equally imperative is teaching social skills so children can function in the community.  Therefore, that makes the community as a whole responsible.  Every parent of every child needs to put forth the effort, encouraging kids to try sports, camps, or other activities that promote, well...activity.  Double edged sword again.  These activities cost money, and time.  As above, working parents lose out here because not only do they have to pay fees, but they also miss work to take kids to practices, games, be chaperones, etc. 

However, what about urban poor communities?  They don't fit the suburban model of two parents with 9-5 jobs and enough extra to enroll their kid in baseball.  Some of the communities are dangerous, and there isn't a place to play outside, not safely.

We need to slow down, and be less lazy.  Foods should not have an expiration date of 2012, that is scary.  Junk food needs to be removed, healthy foods need to be less expensive than their awful counterparts.

I'm getting far too long-winded.  What I'm trying to say is, we're spoiled, and we're spoiling our kids.

We need to stop being such a financially driven society.  This works on several levels.  Parents need to stop working so much and spend more time with their children.  In order for parents to stop working so much, they need to lose some of the greed, or places of business need to be more lenient as far as time off and time put in are concerned, whichever the case may be.  In the same breath, though, families cost money, so of course it is the parents' responsibility to work at least enough to support them.  See the double-edged sword? 

Totally agree!!!!!  This has bothered me for a VERY long time.