I just saw something on TV the other day featuring Obese Children. I will never understand how this happens. It has to start somewhere. Two obese parents were sitting there and the one parent was shown stating, "my husband and I are not skinny and my children will never be skinny." I couldn't disagree more. To be overweight or even allow obesity to creep up has started somewhere in adulthood or childhood. Whether it be lack of exercise or poor eating habits or a combination of the two. It's no news flash that in order to maintain, you have to burn the amount of calories you consume or it will be packed on somewhere.
It just plain makes me sad. I am no nutritionist by any means, but certainly have a strong opinion on the subject. Aside from allowing health problems to creep up for these children including, but not limited to diabetes, I'm sure once these kids get into school they can almost count on getting teased or called names because of their weight. These parents need to be leading by example instead of allowing their own excuses for themselves bleed into the health of their children. Another clip was a home video of the parent making her little boy "clean his plate" when he's yelling that "he's full, he's done". Why are overweight children forced to clean a plate?! I don't get it. All children should be taught to stop eating when their tummy tells them they are full. Obese children--if they walk away from the table with food on their plate, so be it! At least they are not continuing the cycle of stretching and stretching the poor kid's stomach to the same size of a person aged twice their own! I'm sure some parents worry that the child will be hungry later. Well, if the kid is hungry an hour later because they didn't eat their supper or is hungry at any time between meals, it's pretty simple to offer up snacking on RAW vegetables or fruit! Just anything that is high in fiber.
I'm certainly aware of health problems that could have to do with thyroid or other issues related to weight gain. These children & parents of these children are an exception and should be seeing a nutritionist to be sure they are offering their children the best diet possible for their needs.
Genetics plays a part in the weight game, however, I can't let anyone off the hook because of it. It does suck to have genetics going against you, but only the parents can change their own lives & impact their children's. I have been sedentary for far to long regarding regular exercise, but if I was eating sweets to my heart's content, dipping anything and everything in ranch dressing, using butter for my bread, eating ice cream, fatty chip dips & chips, and continued making unhealthy eating habits my regular scheme, I would still be topping the scale at 152 lbs like I was 2.5 years ago with a BMI of 26.1 in the "Overweight" category. I felt like crap, knew I looked like crap, and it was time to make changes in my diet and I did. My body is not as tone as I would like because I don't exercise, so I guess it's time to change that too.
Guess my family's preoccupation with weight & of course my own preoccupation with weight has shaped how I feel about it in general. Right or wrong - I would eat lettuce salads, drink only water and exercise like a crazy woman in order to get out of an obese/overweight category as quickly as possible. To me, there is no excuse for a perfectly healthy person to not have a healthy BMI and parents of overweight children need to make better eating choices around THEIR CHILDREN and consistently monitor their intake, regardless if they are willing to help themselves.
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