"Health panel urges interventions for children and teens with high BMI"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't understand how this thread is going.

Don't fill your house with junk food—fill it with healthy stuff.

My kids can go into the fridge at any time and get a bowl of cherries, cucumbers, a glass of milk, a slice of cheese, etc.

Always a big bowl of apples, bananas and oranges. Summertime there's endless watermelon.

No juice, no candy, no cookies, and they're welcome to look in the cabinets, but there's no junk food. Peanut butter crackers is the worse they can do, and I've taught them to follow the serving size.

It's not hard to provide your kids with a kind open-door policy that allows them to make food choices and consume as much as their growing bodies need but also not be a psycho.

I am finding this is the way. I have to continue my b-----h campaign on my chubby hubby. If the kids know there are oreos in the house they will pester me until they are gone. If they're not there, they don't ask!

Thank you. You do the shopping, it's not hard to make sure there's plenty of good food that doesn't need to be policed.

My husband insists on doing walmart pickup. :/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't understand how this thread is going.

Don't fill your house with junk food—fill it with healthy stuff.

My kids can go into the fridge at any time and get a bowl of cherries, cucumbers, a glass of milk, a slice of cheese, etc.

Always a big bowl of apples, bananas and oranges. Summertime there's endless watermelon.

No juice, no candy, no cookies, and they're welcome to look in the cabinets, but there's no junk food. Peanut butter crackers is the worse they can do, and I've taught them to follow the serving size.

It's not hard to provide your kids with a kind open-door policy that allows them to make food choices and consume as much as their growing bodies need but also not be a psycho.

I am finding this is the way. I have to continue my b-----h campaign on my chubby hubby. If the kids know there are oreos in the house they will pester me until they are gone. If they're not there, they don't ask!

Thank you. You do the shopping, it's not hard to make sure there's plenty of good food that doesn't need to be policed.

My husband insists on doing walmart pickup. :/

There's your problem.

Can we end this thread now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

Bulls--t. I know somebody who did the Appalachian trail. Said he'd come into town and eat an entire pizza, then still be hungry, then he would eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream

My dad said end of basic training the drill sergeant had everyone line up then he put his hand in everyone's front of their pants to see who lost so much weight they needed a new uniform. This was the 1960s so there were hardly any fatties then, so normal weight kids lost that much weight!

10,000 steps is 300 or 400 calories

Excercise requires calories, but over-exertion does not automatically lead to burning of fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

Bulls--t. I know somebody who did the Appalachian trail. Said he'd come into town and eat an entire pizza, then still be hungry, then he would eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream

My dad said end of basic training the drill sergeant had everyone line up then he put his hand in everyone's front of their pants to see who lost so much weight they needed a new uniform. This was the 1960s so there were hardly any fatties then, so normal weight kids lost that much weight!

10,000 steps is 300 or 400 calories

Excercise requires calories, but over-exertion does not automatically lead to burning of fat.

Submit your findings to a scientific paper please, please disprove conservation of energy and mass. Absolutely fascinating topic!

[Anonymous]

People who have obesity that runs in their family are told to follow Ellen Satter advice-

“You do the what, when, and where of feeding, let your child do the how much and whether of eating, and let her grow in the way that is right for her.”

This is really, really bad advice for many kids in the US. If your family is thin with no eating issues then it’s fine. The problem is too many dietitians follow this mantra. When in actuality you absolutely must limit food from the get go. I am not talking about putting toddlers or preschoolers on diets but not allowing seconds and unlimited quantities of food.

My sister and I both have obesity on our families and we have both struggled with being overweight. From the get go I limited what my oldest ate. He could have pizza, ice cream, etc. But in limited amounts. We bought kids sized plates for him because a preschool shouldn’t be eating the same amount as an adult. When he was three and wanted another slice of pizza we said no. We distracted him and if he was hungry an hour later we cut up fruit or vegetables. But usually he wasn’t. There were no seconds at dinner available. We plated his food then it was put away. It was apparent from an early age that if offered food he would always eat it and if seconds were around he would eat that too. As he got older we obviously increased food or if he played in a soccer tournament and was hungry he ate more. But a lazy rainy day where he didn’t do much, no you don’t get three servings of even healthy food like salad with dressing or whole wheat bread. His younger brother luckily has a faster metabolism and just has a thinner build. From the get go there were days he didn’t feel like eating much so he didn’t then he would eat more the next couple of days. His internal mechanism for realizing how much food was and still is intact.

My sister followed the Satter Method and she let her kids eat how much ever they wanted. They ate a lot of healthy food and got heavier and heavier. It becomes a cycle where they eat more, they get used to eating more so always want more, they gain weight, activity levels start dropping with the added weight gain, their bodies get used to eating a lot, they gain more weight, etc.

Our kids are older terns now in high school. Her kids are obese although she doesn’t see them like that. I realize my oldest will always have a tendency to gain weight and now at 17 on the past year has become overweight but for every year he was prevented from being overweight/obese is a win.

It us only in the last 40 years or so that unlimited quantities of food are always available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

Bulls--t. I know somebody who did the Appalachian trail. Said he'd come into town and eat an entire pizza, then still be hungry, then he would eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream

My dad said end of basic training the drill sergeant had everyone line up then he put his hand in everyone's front of their pants to see who lost so much weight they needed a new uniform. This was the 1960s so there were hardly any fatties then, so normal weight kids lost that much weight!

10,000 steps is 300 or 400 calories

Excercise requires calories, but over-exertion does not automatically lead to burning of fat.

Submit your findings to a scientific paper please, please disprove conservation of energy and mass. Absolutely fascinating topic!

Your body is not a rolling ball on an incline.

How the body stores energy and taps energy and the types of macros it taps to create energy in different situations is very complex. But please read some scientific journal articles on nutrition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

Bulls--t. I know somebody who did the Appalachian trail. Said he'd come into town and eat an entire pizza, then still be hungry, then he would eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream

My dad said end of basic training the drill sergeant had everyone line up then he put his hand in everyone's front of their pants to see who lost so much weight they needed a new uniform. This was the 1960s so there were hardly any fatties then, so normal weight kids lost that much weight!

10,000 steps is 300 or 400 calories

Excercise requires calories, but over-exertion does not automatically lead to burning of fat.

Submit your findings to a scientific paper please, please disprove conservation of energy and mass. Absolutely fascinating topic!

Your body is not a rolling ball on an incline.

How the body stores energy and taps energy and the types of macros it taps to create energy in different situations is very complex. But please read some scientific journal articles on nutrition.

What would you say if I told you I have an MD and scored 80th percentile in the biochem GRE?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

There were always overweight children-- kids who drank soda starting when they got it in their baby bottles, latchkey kids who came home right after school and whose parents brought home McDonalds after a long shift at work.

What you're missing is there are also kids -- like mine-- who play two travel sports, have had McDs exactly once, who are fed healthy foods and are still overweight. Maybe she would be a healthier weight back when they weren't offered snacks all the damn time. When I was growing up we had orange slices as a snack at literally every soccer game. At her last tournament they had oreos, gatorade and granola bars. Could I have approached her and said, "Hey don't eat any of that!" Of course. Do I think that will really make things better? No.

So many of you think, I would never let my child be overweight. And I envy you. Because it's not that simple. And your judgment comes across.

You need to be more directive. I told my kids from the get go that you don’t exercise and then stuff your body with crap afterwards, so, even if they took those garbage snacks to be polite, they wouldn’t actually eat them.

But, even though she’s older, same. Tell her to put the Oreos down because they are garbage or tell her to pick one thing. Why let have all three like a greedy glutton? I’m sure you don’t buy her all the toys, clothes, Stanley cups she wants, so why give in on letting her stuff herself with crap? Say, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

Bulls--t. I know somebody who did the Appalachian trail. Said he'd come into town and eat an entire pizza, then still be hungry, then he would eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream

My dad said end of basic training the drill sergeant had everyone line up then he put his hand in everyone's front of their pants to see who lost so much weight they needed a new uniform. This was the 1960s so there were hardly any fatties then, so normal weight kids lost that much weight!

10,000 steps is 300 or 400 calories

Excercise requires calories, but over-exertion does not automatically lead to burning of fat.

Submit your findings to a scientific paper please, please disprove conservation of energy and mass. Absolutely fascinating topic!

Your body is not a rolling ball on an incline.

How the body stores energy and taps energy and the types of macros it taps to create energy in different situations is very complex. But please read some scientific journal articles on nutrition.

What would you say if I told you I have an MD and scored 80th percentile in the biochem GRE?

I would not believe you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

Bulls--t. I know somebody who did the Appalachian trail. Said he'd come into town and eat an entire pizza, then still be hungry, then he would eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream

My dad said end of basic training the drill sergeant had everyone line up then he put his hand in everyone's front of their pants to see who lost so much weight they needed a new uniform. This was the 1960s so there were hardly any fatties then, so normal weight kids lost that much weight!

10,000 steps is 300 or 400 calories

Excercise requires calories, but over-exertion does not automatically lead to burning of fat.

Submit your findings to a scientific paper please, please disprove conservation of energy and mass. Absolutely fascinating topic!

Your body is not a rolling ball on an incline.

How the body stores energy and taps energy and the types of macros it taps to create energy in different situations is very complex. But please read some scientific journal articles on nutrition.

What would you say if I told you I have an MD and scored 80th percentile in the biochem GRE?

I would not believe you.

I would say that is consistent with your belief people can convert air into movement of mass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

There were always overweight children-- kids who drank soda starting when they got it in their baby bottles, latchkey kids who came home right after school and whose parents brought home McDonalds after a long shift at work.

What you're missing is there are also kids -- like mine-- who play two travel sports, have had McDs exactly once, who are fed healthy foods and are still overweight. Maybe she would be a healthier weight back when they weren't offered snacks all the damn time. When I was growing up we had orange slices as a snack at literally every soccer game. At her last tournament they had oreos, gatorade and granola bars. Could I have approached her and said, "Hey don't eat any of that!" Of course. Do I think that will really make things better? No.

So many of you think, I would never let my child be overweight. And I envy you. Because it's not that simple. And your judgment comes across.

You need to be more directive. I told my kids from the get go that you don’t exercise and then stuff your body with crap afterwards, so, even if they took those garbage snacks to be polite, they wouldn’t actually eat them.

But, even though she’s older, same. Tell her to put the Oreos down because they are garbage or tell her to pick one thing. Why let have all three like a greedy glutton? I’m sure you don’t buy her all the toys, clothes, Stanley cups she wants, so why give in on letting her stuff herself with crap? Say, no.

I tell my kids they will look like the Wall-E people. I suppose that is child abuse nowadays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

Bulls--t. I know somebody who did the Appalachian trail. Said he'd come into town and eat an entire pizza, then still be hungry, then he would eat 1/2 gallon of ice cream

My dad said end of basic training the drill sergeant had everyone line up then he put his hand in everyone's front of their pants to see who lost so much weight they needed a new uniform. This was the 1960s so there were hardly any fatties then, so normal weight kids lost that much weight!

10,000 steps is 300 or 400 calories

Excercise requires calories, but over-exertion does not automatically lead to burning of fat.

Submit your findings to a scientific paper please, please disprove conservation of energy and mass. Absolutely fascinating topic!

Your body is not a rolling ball on an incline.

How the body stores energy and taps energy and the types of macros it taps to create energy in different situations is very complex. But please read some scientific journal articles on nutrition.

What would you say if I told you I have an MD and scored 80th percentile in the biochem GRE?

I would say you should consult a nutritionist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

I guess I am a scientific anomaly then, because I only started shedding pounds for food when I stopped restricting calories. (And when I moved away from home and no one was looking over my shoulder, judging everything I ate.) I took up running in my college and then moved to a big city where I walked miles a day just getting around (and ran every day in top of that). I ate anything and everything, drank a lot, and finally got down to my healthy adult weight that I’ve maintained for 25 years now. I still eat whatever I want—wine most nights, dessert most nights, all the carbs—and I’m 30 pounds lighter than I was as a dieting teenager, because I run a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

I guess I am a scientific anomaly then, because I only started shedding pounds for food when I stopped restricting calories. (And when I moved away from home and no one was looking over my shoulder, judging everything I ate.) I took up running in my college and then moved to a big city where I walked miles a day just getting around (and ran every day in top of that). I ate anything and everything, drank a lot, and finally got down to my healthy adult weight that I’ve maintained for 25 years now. I still eat whatever I want—wine most nights, dessert most nights, all the carbs—and I’m 30 pounds lighter than I was as a dieting teenager, because I run a lot.

Your exercise level can affect your metabolism—you're in great shape and your body handles nutrients efficiently.

But the way to getting skinny isn't counting the calories and then exercising at a rate that burns calories to an equivalent amount.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to disrupt the constant hunger is to work. Teens should be busy working or volunteering so that they aren't always eating. Mine works a FT summer job and does power washing on the weekends. He eats regular meals and has no time for snacking.

Mine could not be busier-- after school activities, two sports (one travel). Doesn't get home from school/camp until after 3 or 4, leaves for sports most night at 6. Still finds time to snack and overeat. (See all threads above about how they get fed at so many of these activities).

All these parents with kids who don't have eating issues are so certain it wouldn't happen to their kids. You are not better parents or better at helping your kids be healthy: you are lucky your kid has good genes.

If you know he’s overeating outside the home, feed him less at home. Have absolutely zero junk available at home. You can only control what you can control, but it sounds like you want to just throw up your hands and blame it all on bad luck or bad genes.

You're so smart-- you have all the answers-- no junk food and feed a kid less, why didn't I think about that?

Such smug parenting. I seriously -- truly-- hope you never have a child struggle with their weight. Though, I kind of wish more of you did because then you'd understand how hard it is.

Just do the math. Lower the calories and they will lose weight. You don't even need to do extra activity although it's always good to move more.

It's pretty easy to control a child's food choices up until they earn their own money (or someone gifts them a lot of it). The parents who give their kids huge allowances then complain that they buy junk food and high calorie Starbucks drinks. Stop giving them $25/week.

Ok, no it’s not. Kids that have a tendency to overeat, will overeat just about anything. You can’t have a carb free household. They can make their own food if they want to. Many teens have part time jobs and get money from relatives for birthday. They can offered plenty of Starbucks without your help. Again, a parent cannot control the food intake of a teen. They have to want to eat less overall and say to to the junk. If they don’t want to or can’t, you cannot make them

Go ahead. Let your 7 yr old overeat the cantaloupe. I promise it won't make her gain weight. Teens aren't getting jobs until 15 at the earliest. If you have provided 15 years of healthy foods in your home, the chance that they will become overweight after that is pretty low.

Actually it is sky high. Over 70% of adults are overweight. By the time your teen is adult, chances are they will be too

Maybe in certain demographics but not UMC teens. I work in a Title 1 school and I see those demographics every day. When I pick my kid up at his private HS, not even 1/3 of the kids are overweight.

70% of adults of all ages are fat. 70% of college kids are not fat, but you are probably assuring your kid to be fat their entire life if you let them enter their teens fat

No one is "letting" their kids be fat. We are all parenting in an age where unhealthy food is everywhere. Some kids' bodies know to stop at one slice of pizza at the camp pizza party, some kids crave two. Some kids don't think about food unless it's in front of them, some kids brains are always thinking about food. You are lucky if your kid is the former.

I am the parent of an overweight DD. I am thin, I work out pretty much every day. We don't have chips/soda in out house. We emphasize protein and complete nutrition...and still my kid is overweight. Yes she is overeating. Yes we are trying to help her. But it is not a failure of parenting. It is a failure of willpower, and if it was easy to overcome, 70 percent of Americans would not be overweight.

So, you’re sitting there and watching her overeat? Are you portioning the food out? Are you saying, “you’ve eaten enough?”

So you think PP should do that at the camp pizza party? Yikes.

It’s not the camp pizza party or the teacher handing out starbursts. It’s the daily day in day out of what these kids are eating at home and what they were taught about eating at home.

That particular poster said she did not keep junk in the house and served nutritious food. So is she supposed to smack the kids hand when they go for a Starburst or extra slice of pizza in public?

If she is telling the truth then she needs to stop serving *so much* nutritious food. Kids don’t get fat because of some starbursts here and there or the occasional pizza party. The poster you responded to had it right, it’s the day in, day out habits learned at home. This is not complicated.

DP. Except that it is. My binge eating as a kid began as a direct result of my mom tightly controlling portion sizes. Growing bodies want what they want.

Okay, I stand corrected. American fat kids are and have always been doomed to be fat and there’s not a damn thing their parents can do about it and it’s insane and smug to suggest that these parents even make an effort.

Thin children are thin purely due to the luck of the draw. There are no good/bad, responsible/irresponsible parenting decisions being made along the way. It’s out of our hands!

Nope, there are definitely positive things parents can do, but tightly controlling portions and restricting calories on a growing body isn’t it. I already said many pages back, you can build up their confidence around things that have nothing to do with the appearance of their body, keep them busy and active, and get them moving as much as possible. Move with them if you need to. Go for long walks if they don’t like sports. DCUM doesn’t like to believe that regular, vigorous movement will make you lose weight, but it was the one thing that made a difference for me. Not just because it burned calories, but because it made me feel strong and confident and like my body was actually worth taking good care of. Not a single reproving glance from my parents or awkward conversation about their concern about my weight gain could ever have had the same effect.

I mean... science literally says that its a careful balanced diet and restricted calories that will help you lose weight.

The reasons for exercise are numerous and especially beneficial for children, but they necessitate extra calories. And won't cause anyone to lose weight.

Despite your impression, your weight loss was due to your diet.

I guess I am a scientific anomaly then, because I only started shedding pounds for food when I stopped restricting calories. (And when I moved away from home and no one was looking over my shoulder, judging everything I ate.) I took up running in my college and then moved to a big city where I walked miles a day just getting around (and ran every day in top of that). I ate anything and everything, drank a lot, and finally got down to my healthy adult weight that I’ve maintained for 25 years now. I still eat whatever I want—wine most nights, dessert most nights, all the carbs—and I’m 30 pounds lighter than I was as a dieting teenager, because I run a lot.

Your exercise level can affect your metabolism—you're in great shape and your body handles nutrients efficiently.

But the way to getting skinny isn't counting the calories and then exercising at a rate that burns calories to an equivalent amount.

Internet friend, hi, hello, you are absolutely right, and that means you burn FEWER calories with the same amount of exercise when you are in a more advanced state of conditioning/fitness.