Super-Sized Kids.

Last week I picked up a Time Magazine titled “Our Super-sized Kids”. Nearly the whole magazine is about how fat our kids are, what the demographics are, genetics, etc. Being a mom who struggles with my weight, and having parents who have always struggled with theirs, I am of course always concerned about watching how active my kids are, and establishing healthy eating patterns. Then today I read Reality Parents comments on an article he read about Childhood obesity, and I really appreciated some of his thoughts.

Are there kids who are overweight in this country? Yes, more than there probably should be. Do I see a genetic/heredity pattern in my overweight family? Yes. (When I was pregnant with my first daughter I prayed she would look like me and have her daddy’s metabolism because he is skinny as a rail without even trying.)

I think there are definitely different metabolisms, heredity things to consider, but I also think I have a heritage of poor eating habits as well. I was taught to always clean my plate. With 4 kids in the family, if there was something we liked we would over stuff ourselves for fear there would not be more tomorrow, that someone else might get it before we could. And of course, we were big on emotional eating, happy, sad, bored!!

While I do think we need to be aware of “weighty” issues, whether you are overweight or not, I think we (especially those of us who do struggle with our own weight) can actually do more harm than good when we put such an emphasis on weight at a young age. Actually not making food a big deal may be one of the best strategies I know of.

This summer my 6 year old gets bored when we are hanging around the house, and she will ask for something to eat. I know she just ate lunch 15 minutes ago, so I know she is not hungry. So I suggest to her that maybe she is not as much hungry as bored. “Let’s play a game, or go ride your bike” I suggest. Nine times out of ten she forgets about the snack, because she no longer needs it.

Cooking well balanced meals and teaching your children to eat healthy is important, but making them join the “clean plate club” even with healthy food will still cause them to gain weight. So for my 3 year old I place one or two bites of each thing on her plate, (For example. broccoli, grilled chicken, and mashed potato) Once she has eaten that if she wants more potato and no broccoli that is o.k. by me. I know that as she gets older she will eat more of the veggies if I continue to put it in front of her. If she does not want to eat with us (this especially occurs when we are out) then I wrap up her plate and that is what she gets when she is hungry.

Sweets are o.k. in balance. One friend said when she was growing up they did not keep treats and sweets in the house, so when they did get them they over ate on them. So you want to offer them sweets occasionally, this is not a bad thing. However, again my daughter woke up this morning and the first thing she thought about was the ice cream pops in the freezer. So, I tried to hold her out ’til lunch. If you can do that, great. If not, make a limit on how much they can have in a day. You can have an ice cream pop today, but you only get one all day. You can choose when to eat it, but once you eat it, that’s it. This allows them to have a little control over their diet.

Activity, Movement, and make it fun! Riding the bike, even a 15 minute stroll around the block, go to the park, swimming, anything that creates movement.

These tips, and all that Time Magazine and the other hundreds of articles you can find on Obesity in America have to offer, are great. The best thing to remember though is if you stress too much over it, you can actually cause a side effect besides being overweight, poor self image. When I began to hear my daughter talk about counting her points (weight watchers) or being on a “no-sugar” diet (sugar-busters) I knew … It is not the girls on t.v. that make my daughter question her body, but me. She sees how much I do not like being overweight, and how much it consumes me at times, and I think she struggles with that. Even though, as I prayed, she has has her daddy’s metabolism, she looks strongly to me as to how to view her own self. A friend of mine has a daughter who loves to play any kind of sport. Soccer, softball, you name it. Guess what her mom enjoys doing, any kind of sport. Make an experiment of it. Decide to drink water every night at dinner, say “I am doing it so I will be healthier”, and see how long it takes for your young children to decide to drink water with their dinner. The point?: What you do and exemplify may be the number one factor in your child’s health and self image.