Whose fault is it that kids today are obese?
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Although I don’t think it’s fair to point fingers, in this case, I do believe it’s the parent’s fault. I know that there’s a lot of pressure from media to eat at Burger King, KFC and Dairy Queen, but who said that it has to be a weekly event? When I grew up, my parents took us out maybe once every 3 months! And when we did go to McDonalds, we were allowed a burger, fries and a drink – no supersizing back then.
We were also told to “go play outside”. But more often than not, my parents came with us. I remember hiking through the back woods, swimming at the local YMCA, and biking through the neighbourhood.
My parents cared enough to say “no” to regular food outings and “yes” to exercise. They cared enough to say “no” to video games and “yes” to veggies.
So do tell…who do you think is at fault?
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2 comments:
Parents are guilty. Good nutrition is learned at home. Several weeks ago my daughter pleaded with me to buy one of those instant lunch meals because everyone in the class has cool food (i.e. with cheese, processed sandwich meat. to make mini pizzas or nachos etc.). I caved and picked up 2. After we came home from the store I read over the nutrional content with her and she has since decided that she will not eat them any more. And I am guessing is lecturing everyone about ingesting too much sodium since she also has become the classroom plastic bottle inspector after our discusssion about bad plastic. So it is really up to parents to educate their children - show them how to use a nutrional chart and they will think more in the future about what they are eating.
It is also up to parents to get children away from the TV and computers. Get rid of the cable TV! We have lived without cable and it is a treat to go to Grandmas so that cartoons can be viewed occassionally, and even when we visit we end up outside anyway. Get children involved with the YMCA - they offer so many different programs that are affordable, from Summer camp, swimming and youth nights (swimming for an hour and participation in a group activity after - giving you 2 hours of peace and quiet- $3.00 for non members). Also if the cost is an issue, ask about the YMCA Strong Kids program. We are big advocates of this program and support it whenever we can.
Walk or Bike with them whenever you can- it teaches them by your healthy and environmentally friendly example and guess what - they love it!
Great points, Monica! Knowledge is power and it's up to us parents to teach our children how to read labels. And I agree that the YMCA is a wonderful place for kids!
Thanks for your comments.
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