Noticing very chunky young kids

[Anonymous]

The lack of knowledge on “elite dcumd” is crazy and also full of the misogyny of women obsessed with thinness who don’t care about health.

Being overweight is problematic mostly bc it’s a symptom of metabolic disease which is horrible for all humans esp children. Skinny kids and adults can have metabolic disease too and OPs kids are definitely on that track bc she says they eat junk. Yes the lack of nutrients in food is highly problematic bc eating low quality foods drives one to overeat (learn about the hormones involved in feeling full please, such as leptin and ghrelin). My kids private school is awful with donuts at sports practice and at fundraising events and bday parties. It’s gross. One donut. One cupcake. One soda. It’s not ok. None of it. Of course our society and its actors are to blame. Parents can be too but just try to stop you kid from taking the cupcake at sweet Maggie’s bday party at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The lack of knowledge on “elite dcumd” is crazy and also full of the misogyny of women obsessed with thinness who don’t care about health.

Being overweight is problematic mostly bc it’s a symptom of metabolic disease which is horrible for all humans esp children. Skinny kids and adults can have metabolic disease too and OPs kids are definitely on that track bc she says they eat junk. Yes the lack of nutrients in food is highly problematic bc eating low quality foods drives one to overeat (learn about the hormones involved in feeling full please, such as leptin and ghrelin). My kids private school is awful with donuts at sports practice and at fundraising events and bday parties. It’s gross. One donut. One cupcake. One soda. It’s not ok. None of it. Of course our society and its actors are to blame. Parents can be too but just try to stop you kid from taking the cupcake at sweet Maggie’s bday party at school.

So your kids only eat fruits, veggies and homemade foods? Never processed foods?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

OP - I concur on this point. My kids have sports 5 days a week and instead of getting take out 5 days a week (because that is absolutely disgusting) I have bento boxes that I pack ahead of time and bring healthy dinners with us on the road. Kid who has practice eats before practice and kids who are just there to watch/play can eat while their sibling is practicing. Then when they are home and showered they can have a snack later (usually cut up applies, cheese sticks, mozarella sticks, etc) before bed.

I love this! I do similar, I call it “car dinner” but I usually do something hot, like homemade chili and rice, homemade pasta sauce and pasta etc.

That’s a great solution for your family, and it’s also a perfect example of why poor families often eat less well than wealthier families. A single mom who works long hours and barely gets home in time to take her child to practice doesn’t have time to make and pack bentos for dinner. Wealthier people have A LOT more time than the working poor do. Healthy food takes time to shop and plan and cook and pack and clean up.

So she can pack a peanut butter sandwich and an apple. The excuses are plentiful here.

[Anonymous]

I cook at home most day# despite having a busy job. I do not fry foods and for protein we stick to fish and chicken. Pasta is whole grain when we eat it, and my kid has a vegetable and fresh fruit with dinner in addition to the protein. No juice or sweetened punch or soda. We do eat small desserts regularly often homemade.

But my 11 year old is overweight . Could just be puberty or it may last. She doesn’t eat lower quality food than her skinny friends. Just different metabolism or hormones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cook at home most day# despite having a busy job. I do not fry foods and for protein we stick to fish and chicken. Pasta is whole grain when we eat it, and my kid has a vegetable and fresh fruit with dinner in addition to the protein. No juice or sweetened punch or soda. We do eat small desserts regularly often homemade.

But my 11 year old is overweight . Could just be puberty or it may last. She doesn’t eat lower quality food than her skinny friends. Just different metabolism or hormones.

Adding-And my husband who eats the same food as us just larger quantities is super skinny. I used to be skinny but my metabolism died at age 45 and now I’m overweight too. It’s not as simplistic as you imagine. Pains me that people are probably judging us and assuming we feed my daughter snickers and big Mac’s every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

What a clueless and judgmental comment. Do you work multiple jobs? Cooking from scratch requires meal planning and shopping ahead, and then cooking and dishes. It’s not simple laziness.

News flash, most people aren’t working multiple jobs, regardless of how low their income is. If you think every poor person is out there huslting three jobs..well…

But anyhow, yes, no matter what your work schedule is, you can make a simple meal. Maybe that means scrambled eggs and toast with an orange. Or a bowl of cherrios with a banana and fried egg, or a tuna sandwich, or rice and beans. There are so many cheap foods, people just don’t care though. It is pure laziness, from all income levels, why people have become so overweight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

What a clueless and judgmental comment. Do you work multiple jobs? Cooking from scratch requires meal planning and shopping ahead, and then cooking and dishes. It’s not simple laziness.

News flash, most people aren’t working multiple jobs, regardless of how low their income is. If you think every poor person is out there huslting three jobs..well…

But anyhow, yes, no matter what your work schedule is, you can make a simple meal. Maybe that means scrambled eggs and toast with an orange. Or a bowl of cherrios with a banana and fried egg, or a tuna sandwich, or rice and beans. There are so many cheap foods, people just don’t care though. It is pure laziness, from all income levels, why people have become so overweight.

I don’t think it’s laziness in the sense you mean. I think people are physically and mentally exhausted and it seems easier to do the fast food or processed food thing. If you grow up on it you think it tastes better or if you watch advertising you think it’s a treat. So you think “I’m out of the house all day and don’t have enough time with my kids but at least I can make them a dinner they enjoy.” Without really appreciating how terrible it is for them.

And eggs are expensive these days by the way.

You’ll say “everyone knows how bad this food is for you” but they don’t. I know college-educated professional people who think a taco from a box or canned soup or boxed Mac and cheese are just as nutritious as homemade versions. They aren’t bothered by the million fake ingredients because in this country it is normal to buy such foods. Totally normal. It’s a failure of policy and messaging first. Individuals operate within that context. You’re expecting people to make food choices that countermand what advertising tells them and what their wallet tells them - there are always sales and bargains on crap food but when’s the last time you saw a 2 for 1 deal on romaine?

I’m sure there are some people who just don’t care or are lazy but most are just trying to do the best they can, and don’t know or can’t swim against the tide that says highly processed food is fine, or better, or a treat and we all deserve a treat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

OP - I concur on this point. My kids have sports 5 days a week and instead of getting take out 5 days a week (because that is absolutely disgusting) I have bento boxes that I pack ahead of time and bring healthy dinners with us on the road. Kid who has practice eats before practice and kids who are just there to watch/play can eat while their sibling is practicing. Then when they are home and showered they can have a snack later (usually cut up applies, cheese sticks, mozarella sticks, etc) before bed.

I love this! I do similar, I call it “car dinner” but I usually do something hot, like homemade chili and rice, homemade pasta sauce and pasta etc.

That’s a great solution for your family, and it’s also a perfect example of why poor families often eat less well than wealthier families. A single mom who works long hours and barely gets home in time to take her child to practice doesn’t have time to make and pack bentos for dinner. Wealthier people have A LOT more time than the working poor do. Healthy food takes time to shop and plan and cook and pack and clean up.

Once again, fully two thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. They’re not all poor single mothers working three jobs, nor were the majority of them raised by poor single mothers working three jobs.

What’s the explanation?

DP here. I want to highlight this again because this poster is right. This is way more pervasive than just poor uneducated or people working busy jobs.

[Anonymous]

If most of the people, including children, in your peer group are overweight, then you are not going to notice it. The fast food dinner seems like no big deal because you look like everyone else. If you and your children are the fattest people in your peer group, you might feel more of a push to try and curb the junk food.
If you've traveled to Asia you know what I'm talking about. At 118 lbs I felt like a fat monster walking among all the slender women and I started subconsciously eating less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

OP - I concur on this point. My kids have sports 5 days a week and instead of getting take out 5 days a week (because that is absolutely disgusting) I have bento boxes that I pack ahead of time and bring healthy dinners with us on the road. Kid who has practice eats before practice and kids who are just there to watch/play can eat while their sibling is practicing. Then when they are home and showered they can have a snack later (usually cut up applies, cheese sticks, mozarella sticks, etc) before bed.

I love this! I do similar, I call it “car dinner” but I usually do something hot, like homemade chili and rice, homemade pasta sauce and pasta etc.

That’s a great solution for your family, and it’s also a perfect example of why poor families often eat less well than wealthier families. A single mom who works long hours and barely gets home in time to take her child to practice doesn’t have time to make and pack bentos for dinner. Wealthier people have A LOT more time than the working poor do. Healthy food takes time to shop and plan and cook and pack and clean up.

So she can pack a peanut butter sandwich and an apple. The excuses are plentiful here.

So many excuses! There are several of us in the thread that have said, “hey here is how we eat healthfully without spending a lot of time” and of course all those posts are ignored or met with excuses. The people whose kids are chubby and unhealthy are very invested in the idea that it’s just totally out of their control and there is nothing they can do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cook at home most day# despite having a busy job. I do not fry foods and for protein we stick to fish and chicken. Pasta is whole grain when we eat it, and my kid has a vegetable and fresh fruit with dinner in addition to the protein. No juice or sweetened punch or soda. We do eat small desserts regularly often homemade.

But my 11 year old is overweight . Could just be puberty or it may last. She doesn’t eat lower quality food than her skinny friends. Just different metabolism or hormones.

Adding-And my husband who eats the same food as us just larger quantities is super skinny. I used to be skinny but my metabolism died at age 45 and now I’m overweight too. It’s not as simplistic as you imagine. Pains me that people are probably judging us and assuming we feed my daughter snickers and big Mac’s every day.

No one thinks that. They think that you’re feeding your daughter (and yourself) TOO MANY CALORIES.

Quality of food affects your health. Quantity of food affects your weight. This is not a difficult concept to understand.

[Anonymous]

Oink oink says the pig

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two aspects to consider.

-Pregnant women in their 30s are now usually insulin resistant (but pass their diabetes screenings), their breast milk is full of hormone disrupters, and both mother and child are pumped with antibiotics at birth, further disrupting gut flora. All this sets the stage for weight gain. Then comes all the circadian disruption.

-This region is woefully behind when it comes to child nutrition norms. Elite travel teams eat cvs ice cream sandwiches as team snack. Artsy preschools have no plastic toys but serve generic goldfish.

I think the obsession with food allergies has led to more unhealthy ultra processed food in preschools. My kid loves nuts, but can't bring them to school, so he brings goldfish instead. God forbid you bring a peanut butter sandwich, instead it's processed chicken nuggets or fish sticks. He can't even bring hummus because of sesame allergies. If people would food their kids these things in infancy it would greatly eliminate these allergies later and allow for more nutritious foods for everyone in schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two aspects to consider.

-Pregnant women in their 30s are now usually insulin resistant (but pass their diabetes screenings), their breast milk is full of hormone disrupters, and both mother and child are pumped with antibiotics at birth, further disrupting gut flora. All this sets the stage for weight gain. Then comes all the circadian disruption.

-This region is woefully behind when it comes to child nutrition norms. Elite travel teams eat cvs ice cream sandwiches as team snack. Artsy preschools have no plastic toys but serve generic goldfish.

I think the obsession with food allergies has led to more unhealthy ultra processed food in preschools. My kid loves nuts, but can't bring them to school, so he brings goldfish instead. God forbid you bring a peanut butter sandwich, instead it's processed chicken nuggets or fish sticks. He can't even bring hummus because of sesame allergies. If people would food their kids these things in infancy it would greatly eliminate these allergies later and allow for more nutritious foods for everyone in schools.

Food allergies are not caused by parents. But thanks for your sympathy and understanding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swimming at the pool this year and have really noticed a lot of chunky kids. I know a lot of kids are overweight and obese now but it still surprises me every time I see kids who are clearly overweight at a young age.

DH and I had the opposite problem growing up and our kids are sharing our genetics. No matter how much they eat they can’t really gain weight. Our 9.5 year old only weighs 66 pounds and eats like a horse!

A friend of mine said her 8 year old weighed 100 pounds!

My kids don’t eat perfectly healthy all the time and do eat junk food so it’s not like they aren’t also consuming the highly processed food. I just feel bad for kids having to go through this at such a young age.

It really is absolutely none of your business, is it?

NP. Of course it’s all of our business. Who do you think is going to be paying for all the medical care for an entire country of fast kids turned fat adults? Insulin, eye care, foot amputations from diabetes. And then we’re squeezed between these people on planes. And need to deal with worse food choices in supermarkets because the markets stock the preferences of the most people.

A country full of fat kids is terrible for everyone and it absolutely is all of our business.