Tuesday, August 31, 2010

You Are What you Eat.

When it comes to parenting I try to stay as neutral as possible. Parenting is such a unique experience for all of us that while I certainly have my personal likes/dislikes, I try with all my might to keep from judging others. Breastfeeding, cloth diapering, co-sleeping...they are all such heated debates and while I know whats right for my family, I can't say I know what's right for others.

But.

I can not for the life of me help judging others when it comes to nutrition and diets and what not. It's the one thing I get all judgey wudgy about. I try to mind my own but the obesity epidemic that is rolling its way across our nation is sickening. No one seems to want to take the blame or own up.  i can't help but point the finger at the parents. When you oversee every little detail of your child's life how do you possible slack on the most important...their HEALTH!

A good example...

We grabbed a coffee the other day a little after lunch and there was a mom and her daughter (oh, say, maybe 8 years old?). Both were overweight. The mom got a ginormous chocolaty coffee thing and she got her little girl a large...LARGE!!... blue coolatta and a doughnut.
Okay, I'm no rocket scientist but I am pretty sure this is the reason we have such an obesity problem.
Not only is that an insanely unhealthy snack but the portion sizes push the calorie limit to the absolute brink. My guess is it probably had as many calories as some people's meals.
Even if you pay devil's advocate and say 'oh, maybe it was a special treat" why not get her a kiddie size, or even a small? Why a LARGE???

Parents need to step up and take some responsibility for what their kids eat. Society certainly plays a part and with the constant push for fast food and designer TV dinners but at the end of the day we are the ones who shape and form our children's eating habits.

I stand by that the old saying "You are what you eat" and if this is so then I'm currently a bowl of cheerios and a plate of fresh fruit. My son? He ate the same this morning.
My goal is that he eats what I eat and I eat healthy so he should develop the same healthy relationship I have with food.
Ya know,
SETTING
A
GOOD
EXAMPLE.

Okay, I am done with the rant. Now I wanna know...
A. How do you teach your kids to enjoy healthy food?
B. Whats the one thing you let them splurge on?
and
C. Whats the one big parenting issue you just can't help but judge others on?

11 comments:

  1. I completely agree with this post! You can't change things so many things in a child's life, but one thing you can control is helping them develop a healthy eating habit and a good self image. This is one of my biggest goals with my son.

    I teach my son to enjoy healthy food by only offering him healthy food. He eats whole grains, lean meat, fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, natural peanut butter and drinks mostly water.

    I let him splurge when I splurge, which isn't very often as I work hard to keep my weight under control He loves chocolate, just like I do so when I get a cupcake or ice cream, I give him little bites. And of course on his first birthday we let him smash a cake!

    One parenting issue that I can't help but judge others on is homemade baby food. I was working full time and my son was in day care while I made his baby food. I only did it for about an hour every other week and kept a supply of freshly cooked, steamed and pureed fruits and vegetables stocked in the freezer that stayed good for up to 3 months. It takes so little effort and actually SAVES money and no one can convince me that something okay to sit on a shelf for months on end is as good for kids as fresh, organic fruits and vegetables.

    See, you got me going on my one issue! haha

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  2. Amen sistah! I compltely relate on this subject. I was actually just thinking today that there are a very few subjects that I get so called "judgy wudgy" on. For me, it's your child's health and breastfeeding.

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  3. YES! I have been doing some posts about food because we are very strict as well. I did a post a while back about not letting my kids eat traditional graham crackers (someone fed them to my kids without my permission which I got a little upset about) and I got some hugely negative feedback about it. I said that I rather give them things I make from scratch because I don't like all the chemical ingredients and high fructose corn syrup in regular snack foods. I was getting badgered about being too manipulative with my children's eating habits and how when they are old enough they will go behind my back and eat oreos and doritos. I was SHOCKED. My children are 17 months old. I can certainly tell them when they can and can not eat. My kids eat all kinds of healthy foods and have one of the largest variety appetites of any of their playmates. Wheb my kids are eating okra and "squash cookies" the other kids at the playdate are eating high fructose corn syrup and other unpronounceable ingredients. And people are calling me a bad mom?

    Food is a HUGE deal at my house. I work my rear end off making healthy food for my family. Beet cookies from weelicious.com are our new favorite treat. As well as banana avocado ice cream that I make in the ice cream maker (literally its yogurt (which I make from scratch), an avocado, and 2 bananas blended in the food processor and put through the ice cream maker).

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  4. I totally agree with you; parents need to fix their eating habits in order to teach their children a healthy diet! I do not have any children but I am definitely judgmental when it comes to the issue of obesity (my heart aches to see such child obesity in this country!).

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  5. I COMPLETELY agree. I will be doing a post about this on my own blog soon as it's one of my biggest issues. It makes me sick to my stomach seeing SO many overweight children. I was at the park the other day and Sebastian was LITERALLY the only thin child. When we were little, there always seemed to be the "token fat kid" (sorry if that sounds mean) but now it seems to be the complete opposite. My son is the smallest kid in his class and even though I know he is small for his age I don't understand people who have overweight children that are so young. I too was in a Dunkin and a Father ordered an Egg Patty (ew?) and 20, I repeat T-W-E-N-T-Y munchkins. How old was his daughter you ask? NO more than THREEEEE! Sebastian has always eaten well and right now we are having MAJOR problems with him being underweight and not eating anything at all. But I will admit this is the ONE thing I DO judge other parents on because it's the most important. I DO however let Sebastian have the occasional Happy meal or candy if he's a "good boy" when we're in a store or something. But those who buy their children fast food or just junk on a daily or weekly basis I find gross.

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  6. When I was a kid my parents didn't allow sweets much and were very strict with what types of food we were allowed. We ate healthy 99% of the time. When I was old enough to buy my own groceries I went wild because I could finally have soda everyday or ice cream in the fridge etc and promptly gained like 70 pounds over my high school weight. SEVENTY!

    Anyhow, I had lost most of that through dieting hardcore, but my relationship with food still isn't what I would call healthy. I eat like a 5 year old who's parents don't enforce good eating. I eat like I wanted to eat as a kid but wasn't allowed.

    Hudson only ate homemade baby food unless we were out & about. He eats fish, meat, chicken, veggies & fruits. He likes whole grains and milk & basically everything wholesome. Some of it I won't even eat- but I continue to make sure to offer him only healthy foods at home.

    The other side to that is I don't NOT allow sweets. He had a cupcake for his 1st birthday (barely touched it) and when I have made cupcakes for others he will eat one. I let the kid have a cookie once in a while. About once a month we get gelato and he shares with me.

    I think allowing them to learn to eat the junk in moderation is key in a healthy relationship with food. I don't buy junk my kids can eat other than cookies occasionally. Husband & I keep m&ms in the freezer for AFTER bedtime etc. The kid loves french fries & I HAVE given him mcdonalds fries but the most he will eat is like 5 because then he is just done.

    Anyhow- I think exercise & learning to eat properly are something that OUR generation for the most part didn't get. I want to teach my children to do better than me when it comes to food.

    I think I am winning because my son just ran in with a tomato from our garden, sat down with me & started to eat it. Given the choice between cookies & blueberries he chooses blueberries.

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  7. Totally agree

    I won't even get into it because I'll get real angry.

    An 8 year old girl tried to give Finn soda and I nicely asked her not to and her mom said, "WHY? there is just as much sugar in soda as there is in juice"

    WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

    OKAY THEN. I WILL JUST GIVE MY 1 YEAR OLD SODA EVERY DAY DUH

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  8. Emmie- I think you hit the nail on the head about the blueberry/cookie thing. That is what I'm trying to accomplish.

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  9. I am still overweight, but yes I agree! I saw an obese couple chowing down at Chickfil-A and there OBESE 8 year old chowing down with them...

    This is why it's an epidemic, it is starting younger and younger!

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  10. I can't agree with this post more! Everywhere I go I am seeing kids, little kids, as wide as they are tall! I can't help but think, 'What the heck are their parents feeding them!'
    My cousin in law and I were discussing this a couple weeks back. At a lot of family get togethers her mother in law likes to try and give her just-turned-one year old son junk food, and she has asked her numerous times not to.
    I for one am going to try my hardest to set a good example with my eating habits and I'm going to make sure that I am only giving him what is good for him. Sure, an occasional treat now and then won't hurt, but I am all for fruits and veggies! Haha.

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  11. I rant about this one all the time!! I try to stay out of other's parenting styles, but am mostly unsuccessful and at least vent at home to hubs!
    I make my kids eat better than I do. Not wise, I know. But I ensure they get their food groups all in and in reasonable quantities daily. I probably allow too much chocolate milk for the 2 yr old, and too little milk for the twins who prefer water!
    I really need to work on my diet though. FOr instance, right now....I'm having chips and a diet coke for lunch..hmmmmmmm

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