Childhood Obesity – Who is to Blame?
I was recently talking to a mom of an obese child and she asked me, “Do you think it is the parents fault a child is obese?” Well….this is a delicate situation is what I’m thinking in my head before I respond to her. Why is this so delicate? Because I firmly believe that YES it is the parents fault. Why would she even ask ME that question knowing that I will say that I do believe the parent is very much responsible for the health and welfare of their own children. I also think the parent is responsible for teaching their kids to wipe their own butts, eat with silverware, dress themselves, brush their teeth….basically teach them to do for themselves so eventually they can be functioning, contributing positive members of society. And are these expectations wrong?
My answer to her was YES it is the parents fault. Your kid is to learn from the parents how to do stuff so why wouldn’t the parent also be responsible for teaching the kid how to eat healthily! Your kid does not drive himself to the store, pick out a bunch of junk, buy it, drive home and then consume it. The kid doesn’t drive him/herself to McDonald’s or BK either. NO it’s the parent who drives to the store, buys with money earned the cookies, pizza, ice cream etc., bring it home and feed the kid it.The kid might want the junk and quite frankly, all kids want sugar and pastries, but the parent is the one who decides if the kid is getting it or not and how much.
Needless to say she was surprised that I told her she was in charge of her own kitchen. Fortunately she also listened and was not offended by what I said. She is the one in charge of the kids, what they eat, how much they eat, what is available in the house for them to eat, when they can eat and so on. She took this advice and her son has since lost 6 pounds in a couple weeks. All she did was take the junk out of the house, replace it with fruits for snacks, limit eating times and how much and guess what…the kid trimmed down. I am very sure he will not be obese in the very near future if the family continues the new healthy habits they are forming now.
Now if you are a parent and you are obese, what do you think you are teaching your kids? Are you teaching them to eat healthy, in moderation, fruits and vegetables? It is all about learning what works for you and your family. But you can be sure that you as the parent are setting eating and exercise standards for you children for the rest of their lives. So often we get people who come into our studio who say they want to lose weight and get fit. So we review changes they may have to make in their lifestyle and eating habits and well….sometimes they will do anything but give up their ice cream, or beans and rice or pasta like mom used to make it. Well then we can’t help you. You cannot get fit and healthy and continue to regularly eat crap. Sorry…just not going to happen. Did you hear that. YOU CAN NOT GET FIT AND HEALTHY EATING JUNK REGULARLY. Please start watching “The Biggest Loser”. Love this show….very unfit people lose an obscene amount of weight by monitoring their eating and exercising….yes it can be done. But NO you will not lose 25lbs this week unless you plan to also exercise 6 hours everyday and have every morsel you put into your mouth monitored. But you will lose 2 lbs and feel so much better.
If you are overweight and/or your kid is overweight then learn how to feed yourself and your family quality food to help you all lose some weight, feel great and be healthy. Plan to make changes. What you have been doing has made you and/or your family unhealthy and fat so changes will have to occurr. You will have to give up some things that are NOT good at all for you and your family. Sugar is the big one. Many, many families have and are making big and great changes for their families health and that is an awesome thing. Always available to help anyone out who is interested in changing their lives for the healthier.
God Bless You,
Evey
