Obesity, where does it begin? When does a little baby become addicted to food and overeating?? When do good kids turn bad? Are kids overweight because of an oral fixation, or is it something deeper, more complex, perhaps even sinister?
Are overweight kids just trying to over-compensate for those pleasant, early memories of feeding directly from breasts?
Is childhood obesity really an epidemic? Are the next generations kids all going to be on heart medications by the time they are teenagers?? Last year I posted a whole bunch of photos of obese kids here, and I was amazed to see so many kids that are way past chubby or fat. These are big fat gigantic kids. What do you think when you see some enormous kid walking at the mall or at the supermarket? Are the parents usually fat too? Do you think that parents who let their kids become obese should have the kids removed from the home?? Are the mothers and fathers of fat kids causing serious damage to the health of their children? Do fat kids face social humilation? Are overweight people lacking in social skills as a result?
A nervous Abigail sat in one of the clinic's patient rooms recently. It was the 12-year-old's first visit and she was waiting to get into the BodPod, an oval, space-age looking contraption that checks kids' body-mass index. Her doctor wanted to know her BMI.
The new social cause for school counselors is to get fat kids to lose weight. While these counsellors have good intentions, it will also lead to a lot of meddling in the lives of parents and their children. The big issue used to be drugs, now it is obesity.
Hopefully doctors are more aware of nutrition and fitness nowadays. When I was a kid, every doctor's diet plan was the same blurry mimeographed sheet listing cereal for breakfast, boiled eggs for lunch, and skinless chicken breasts for dinner (each meal with a serving of fruits and/or vegetables).
This is a 12 year old girl who weighed 240 lbs. and her parents took her to have liposuction to remove 90 lbs. of fat. She was weighing 150 lbs. after the lipo. The solution that makes the most money for doctors is liposuction, stomach-stapling, gastric-bypass, etc. If you can lose weight on your own the medical and diet industry don't make money!!!
This is a weird photo, but the little girl is definitely overweight.
Three slices of pizza is two slices too many! Where are her parents to tell this fat girl to stop eating?
This kid's family wants him to become a sumo wrestler. I am not making this up. Sumo wrestlers make a lot of money in Japan.
Keep your kids away from the fast food restaurants!
Being the fat kid sucks during the P.E. class when all the other kids are showing off while the fat kid sits on the bench.
This fat kid needs to stay away from the cake, but most school cafeterias serve cake, and parents often give their kids lots of sweets to. In the old days, a good Mom would bake a cake or a pie on the weekends. Is that over now? Are bake sales and home-made cookies verboten?
Even China is facing an obesity epidemic due to the increased food choices that the prosperity of the limited free market economy has brought to the people. Here is a photo of an obese boy eating glazed dog. Dog meat is a favorite staple of many Asian nations.
This kid raised the water level in the pool by several inches!
In Puerto Rico, overweight kids are required to stay after school to ride the stationary bike and to do extra exercise so they will lose weight.
This Scottish boy needs a bra and a good diet!
These are fat kids, not dwarfs. How many dogs did these kids eat at their school cafeteria? Keep in mind that dog meat is served on the school menu in China.
This poor kid can't stand to look at the scale. Is he heartbroken and ashamed by his weight?
Even the sumo wrestling school turned him down. You can't wrestle if you can't get off the couch!
He'll never get that tub off the ground unless he drops a few pounds!! What do you think of obese people flying coach? Have you ever gotten stuck between two obese people for a flight that lasts several hours? Do you think they should be forced to pay for an extra seat?
This overweight kid participated in the Shaq Challenge and lost a few pounds. Ironically, over the course of his career, Shaquille O'Neil has been criticized often for being overweight and out of shape.
This kid has cool booties. As you can see, he is already developing a big belly. It looks like he has Hershey's Kisses in his hand.
A kid with a candy bar in hand as he studies and does his homework. Is homework forcing kids to eat more snacks in order to maintain their energy? Are kids overweight because of homework??
I feel sorry for this kid, and I have to wonder who put this shirt on him, and took this photo (which comes up all over Google). No doubt the poor kid has no clue what it is about, and it is very sad if he has been corrupted by cynical and perverted adults. What kind of adult would make fun of little kids? Damn, what's this world coming to??
A kid dressed as a bag of fries for Halloween?? Talk about being objectified! Hopefully his parents got the outfit for free from McDonald's!?
Look at Fatboy recording another podcast! No wonder he hasn't posted any messages lately!
This photo is darn creepy. I hope the poor kid in the photo is still alive. He looks like he is in bad shape.
Are those cherry tarts? Donuts? Apple scruffs?
I think this obese little kid is the same as the one below?
The UK governement is trying to take this kid away from his parents because they are endangering his health as a result of obesity. How are they going to keep him from eating if he is in foster care?? Are they going to put him in a home with a locked refrigerator?
What do you all think of obese kids and the childhood obesity problem?
18 comments:
Good post and highlights a real problem.
I think some parents think showering their kids with sugary treats is a way of showing love.
Oh, sad....
My son eats everything - vegetables and fruits, grains, meat, and has even recently discovered legumes. He also loves sugar, which we try to limit. There is diabetes on both sides of the family now, which puts him at a higher risk.
I worry sometimes that we place too much emphasis on this. He has been overweight for the last couple of years and we've tried to get him up and moving and away from the sweet stuff. We have finally succeeded - perhaps all to well. He is reluctant to eat anything and his qualifier now is that it must be healthy - and sometimes he refuses to eat it anyway.
I'm not sure how this happened. His father has always been active, and we have all always eaten well. I've become active in the last few months. Insights anyone? I am at a loss, frankly.
Ironman: Thanks for your comment on the USA & Scotland post.
I just wanted to let you know that I have moved the blog to obesityheadlines.wordpress.com. Your comment will appear at the new address blog of the shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience and I hope to see you again in the blogosphere. Thanks.
it is a question isn't it? I have a niece and a nephew who have the same parents, the same diet and exercise routine - yet one his obese and the other is underweight. When she chooses ice cream for sweets and he asks for fruit we just sigh - its no fair on the poor little bugger. Sometimes you just can't do anything - it's genetic. But I swear if the parents change their lifestyle and lose weight, then the child would too!
My heart breaks seeing photos of these poor kids -- I've seen a few shows with parents of obese kids and some just sit there and they how much they love their kids and don't want them to cry so feed them anything they want and they have toddlers that can barely walk.
When we became a family my hubby and I decided no sugar for our daughter at all for the first few years -- once she was old enough to go to parties etc. we allowed her to have a piece cake etc. - we didn't make any food off limits, but gave her lots of healthy options, never ever made her finish the food on her plate and let her eat when she was hungry not wait hours for a meal. She is 11, trim, healthy and active (just earned her black belt in karate this summer).
As parents we consciously chose to not pass along our food issues to her. She knows I diet - but my focus in talking to her about my food choices is NOT about weight or size, but about making healthy choices.
I'm not trying to toot my own horn, we're not perfect - but I just feel parents need to educate themselves about nutrition and put their child's health first. It takes effort and commitment - but it so worth it.
I have no answers. But I think a good first step would be for the parents to set a good example and to care enough to be kind but firm. This is a very sad happening.
Cas
Parenting is the key
There are no bad kids,only bad parents. Unfortunately some parents equate love with food and give their kids copious amounts. I'm with Lady Rose on this one, my heart breaks for all these kids.
I was the fat kid growing up. I think both parents and kids need nutrition and exercise education. I also think that we need to learn how to overcome our cultural pitfalls.
Great post Ironman!
Growing up both my parents and my three sisters were slim. I was the only overweight one from age 8 onward. I wasn't obese just moderately overweight, but got ridiculed just the same.
My parents restricted sweets in the home and sent me to school with lunch, but I would steal money from my father's pockets before I use to get allowance, in order to finance my taste for sugar. I was a secret sweeteater.
The thing is though that my parents didn't do much about it once they saw me gaining weight. My mother would take me to the doctor for check ups and he'd give her one of those diets you talked about, which didn't stop me from my secret binges.
In retrospect I think my reasons for eating were purely emotional brought on my anxiety, fear etc. but my parents weren't tapped into my emotional life so they had not idea and of course neither did I.
Yes, this is sad all these overweight kids if it is from too much food. I'm sure there are some cases where they have a medical issue that causes them to gain but that is few and far in between.
I worry that my on again, off again good eating habits are effecting my son. He's get a little chub but he is real active. My hubby is always pretty healthy so that counteracts me to some degree.
My daughter used to be slightly overweight. I have always encouraged her to only eat when she is hungry, and to stop eating when she is full.
I take her to the park at least a couple of times a week. Usually we play catch or some soccer or even basketball.
Recently we discovered that several folks walk their dogs at a local park, even though it is against the park rules. So we have been taking our JRT to the park. It is a large park, so briskly walking the perimeter takes about 45 minutes.
If you have the energy after work to take your child or children to the park, that is a great way to have fun with them and get exercise too.
This post makes me sad...growing up is hard enough for all of us. As a parent we should do whatever we can to ease the process. There are so many ways to keep busy and so many ways to eat healthier...even fun ways!
Love your new avatar photo - you sexy beast!!!
First off, Great Blog! :)
This is a very sad topic. I wasn't an over weight child (didn't start gaining until the teen years) but I can't imagine the lives of some of those kids.
If you look at why we gain weight as we get older, most of is slow down and don't get enough phyical activity. This is when we hear people say when I was young I could eat whatever I wanted and never gained weight. Kids today don't get the physical activity that we did as kids. There are too many things to do that don't require any activity. Although I think that it is important to teach good eating at a young age, I also think that increasing activity as a family will improve everyone's health.
I can't help but think that too many kids just don't play outside like I used to. They sit around indoors too much, either watching tv, playing vid games or surfing the net.
I know when I'm doing those activities it's too darn easy to grab a snack (or twelve).
Schools need to emphasize PE again and more parents have to say: "Go to the park and play. Come back when the street lights come on."
I believe I just read in the news headlines that genes contribute to overeating, which contributes to obesity. I'm kinduva believer in the "set-weight" theory. Which means it takes extraordinary effort for these kids, or adults, to maintain a healthy weight. But whether it's genes, fast food, lack of exercise, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to be healthy.
I am a believer in genetic coding a lot. Growing up, I remember my grandma and my mom were always on a diet. My dad's mom was a very heavy woman and my dad isn't exactly light. I'm not going to say that weight issues can't be maintained, but I honestly believe some people have to be constantly on top of their food choices and energy output.
As a kid, I was always outside playing. My mom used to always tell us to go to the backyard =0p But that didn't keep me from being slightly chunky. My food choices as a child weren't "bad" but they did focus on too much starch (a habit I still have trouble kicking) and not enough veggies (which still frighten me today!) But when the hormones of being a teenager kicked in, I was tiny/skinny. I probably ate worse (I remember guzzling several mountain dews a day) but I maintained a weight of between 100 and 110. HOW?! WHY?! I can't point my finger at anything other than random body chemistry.
I think school counsellors should maybe address the reason why kids are eating so much (identify the cause, not the effect) and NOT focus on their weight. And if you really want to get another problem out there, you might look at how over-medicated some of these kids are (especially in the US) I know my ADD nephew used to be super skinny until they put him on drugs to calm (slow) him down. Now they can't understand why he is putting on weight.
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