Obesity in children?Are we setting our kids up for future problems

Well in my opinion until we make eating healthy as cheap as eating unhealthy I think this is going to be a problem for many people. I'm not neccessarily talking about actual sweets for desserts I'm talking about meals in general. It's a lot cheaper to make a hamburger, mac and cheese and a can of green beens then it is to make something that is healthier to eat. Just how our system is set up right now and that doesn't help. I also don't think helps is the lack of recess kids have at school. When I was growing up we got a 30 minute recess plus the rest of our lunch hour after we finished eating (for most 30 minutes or more) now they are lucky to get 15 minutes for recess. The rest of the time they are sitting in a classroom. They need to run around. Add to this how many kids come home and are not allowed to be out and playing for a variety of reasons. Now you have kids who aren't out and playing and of course not eating the healthiest you are going to get heavier kids, just how it works.

Yes well there are a lot of children in our western countries that are obese and the parents should watch exactly what they are feeding their children so that the children do not suffer and put on so much weight. It is not only USA that has this problem as Australia would not be far behind them either with this problem.

No in my Kitchen there always has been and still is Healthy Food more then Junk Food. When the Kids where little they where getting decent Meals, yes I did buy Crisps (Chips) and Cookies for their packed Lunches and that but they got these in moderation not to the extend that they would get fat.

I just did an article for another site about how we see 20,000 commercials for junk food and sugars are added to alot of our foods and it is not needed. We do not have physical education in the schools anymore. Also Latinos are more prone to the foibles of our diet. All this is making an epidemic of diabetes in this country. Diabetes is the root of many of the problems that are seen in the hospitals. In fact it's prevalence is killing more than cancer is. I saw that on television and was disappointed in Anne's comments and how misguided they were on national television. We are more healthy than unhealthy. We go out more to eat junk when we want it. Try not to have pop in the house either. Live in the country where we get more exercise also.

Recently, I also watched a similar topic at The Oprah Winfrey Show. There was an overweight boy of 8 years old who weighed close to 180 lbs. His mother was asked to bring her boy inside a room where there were lots of healthy and unhealthy foods. The boy went ahead and picked up the unhealthy ones. Although, the mother did try to pushed her son to eat the healthy food, she still gave in when they boy kept whining and screaming. I was thinking the mother should know that she is not helping her child. She IS killing her child. I tried to cook and serve healthy foods like fish and veggies. In fact, I rarely let my girls eat meat. Junk food is okay for as long as its not eaten everyday. I believe in eating moderately. A slice of cheesecake, a scoop or two of ice cream and a small serving of french fries are fine. I just make sure not to let them have it everyday. :)

I guess the popularity of fast food joints and junk foods contribute to this greatly! I think that moderation is the key and parents shouldn't give in at once to the demands of their children. They should have been exposed earlier to nutritious foods instead of burgers and fries. Hmm.. in my home, my mom makes sure that we have veggies to eat everyday so there are a lot of green stuffs here. I also eat a lot of fruits daily and hardly any junk food. Sometimes we order pizza or have burgers but all in moderation. =)

you know pl it definitely is the way we are brought up , when I was little there was food rationing and we didn't have sweets , when the rationing stopped we all went mad with sweets , when I was little ( I wasn't fat but not skinny either)when I was good I got a reward and I was good a lot lol , even yet I am often sen buying Ross " a wee treat" we seem to think we are showing our love buying sweets , at Christmas we all buy chocolates, Ross has now joined a Gym and I bought him a DVD instead of sweets as a treat , I know he will be 27 in a couple weeks but I still like to spoil him , I think we all re needing to cut down on the fatty sweets and junk food , I mean all of as in general not just my family , take care pal , be happy xx

Not really at my house but yes at my mothers house where my little almost 6 year old sister lives alot more junk and fast easy made microwavable foods. My mom is 60 and she buys fast easy stuff for my little sister like spaghetti o's and ravoli and ramen noodles and burritos and chips and junk food. When my little sister comes over she eats what I fix there are some foods she wont eat like alot of the vegetables which when she was a baby she ate. But then my mom started buyiung the junk and she has eaten it since she is 90 lbs and she'll be 6 in june 1. My mom swore to me that when the fresh fruits started back up like watermelon and cantaloupes and other good fruits that she will put my sister on a healhier food diet and I told her to buy leaner meats may be more but you can't put a price on health sometimes. And she is supposed to buy her a bike so she can get some good exercise. I am going to make her stick to this if I have to help out in buying the foods I know she has a budget and fruits cost alot and I am going to try her on some veggies maybe if she sees other kids eathing them she will..

i can't agree more with you... there are so many obese children nowadays... i think modernisation and fast food restaurants contribute a lot to this problem... parents are so busy working nowadays that they don't have time to cook proper food anymore... everything is instant and fast food is the most convenient food to feed their children when they have limited time... but they don't realise that they are killing their children slowly... also, it is possible that they don't realise what their children are eating because they are so busy... i hope that they realise their mistake and start to feed their children with healthier food...

yes we are in Canada too. North Americans are the most overweight people in the world and thus the unhealthiness so the experts say. I have been overweight all my life and always had the junk food. I crave sweets like crazy especially since I am perimenopausal.

Most people go fast food and junk food because it is fast and convient for them at the time. When they realize that it was a MAJOR bad decision it's already to late to take control of their childs life because they are either uncontrolable or to old and already make their own decisions. I've no kids of my own but I being 18 take care of my 3 year old sister a lot. And I make her eat healthy foods and sometimes if we are out I will get her a treat. But when it comes to what is in her kitchen at home it is alot different, she eats a lot of healthy foods there but her mom gets her lots of candy. But my sister plays and is always active enough to run it off. I find myself having to sit down and take a breather and she's still ready for more. As for the obiesity it is all in how the child is raised in the first few years of their life that instills what they will want to eat for the rest of their life. When I was a child we had home cooked meals and about the only time we got candy was, halloween, christmas and easter. And if we ate it all it was tough, there were some chips but those were mostly for when we had cook outs. So we knew what we could and couldn't eat. Today I'm not much into candy, but I do eat to much fast food because I go to college and really don't have the means to make a real meal, so I try to go home as often as I can. I know that diabetis and heart disease runs in my family and I want to be able to tell my grandkids someday that I never had a problem with that.

Give me rice, french fries and baked potatoes, I will choose fries. Fries taste much better than baked potatoes and rice. Both are made from potatoes which are carbohydrates substitutable for rice. It doesn't mean that if my parents banned unhealthy food at home, I will be healthy. I can still choose to eat at fast food restaurants, and it is so much enjoyable eating there. And enjoyable comes with price. One tends to overeat and not doing exercise. I do not deny parents do pamper their kids. They may keep the kitchen free from unhealthy food, but they will also bring the kids out to eat if the children whines. I would not say we are setting our kids up for future problems. People are hardworking at eating but just too lazy to exercise. The problems is there all the while :P

Actually it's not only a problem in USA but lots of countries in the world.It's really a big problem because if children gain more weight in early childhood then it's difficult for them to shed weight later.Actually to some extend it's fault of the parents because they feed their children like that.That is actually parenthood to see their child healthy but in that way they make them obese which they can't see earlier.See children are small and they don't know what is the right food for them so it is their parents who can tell them.They should also do regular exercise which most donot do.If after that also they gain extra pounds then they should be taken to the nutritionist.Only parents can make them not to gain more weight.

Purchase food for meal, dinner and breakfast only.

Overall my diet is pretty healthy - I don't eat many processed foods, I don't like chips (french fries) and burgers and pizza and stuff like that. I LOVE ice cream and chocolate but I try to control myself with them. Ice cream is definitely my weakness! When my daughter was young I never bought crisps, biscuits, sweets or junk food. Other relatives used to give her that kind of stuff but she didn't get them at home so she knew they were treats and not part of a regular diet. She also spent very little time watching TV. In fact we didn't have a TV for a good few years when she was younger so a lot of the time she was out running around with her friends playing and getting plenty of exercise. Exercise is also so important. I can't believe the amount of time some parents allow their kids to spend watching TV or on the PC. The poor diet and lack of exercise that so many children have nowadays is building up a whole load of health problems for them in the future. I just wish some parents would realise that.

I agree that obesity sets children up for health problems earlier in life. I wonder if it's a change in eating habits and food because I don't seem to remember many kids being obese when I was a child. I have thanked my mom for not letting me eat junk food all day and serving at least one vegetable at lunch and dinner. I know I wasn't that active as I had asthma, but I was never overweight as a kid. What gets me is these mothers who don't care that their children are eating so much. They will say things like they won't stop their child from eating even when their two year olds weigh over 60 pounds. That's abuse to me.