Noticing very chunky young kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two aspects to consider.

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

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

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

BINGO!
At my kid's preschool we had to take turns bringing snacks. It had to be prepackaged and could not contain milk, eggs, wheat, nuts, or something else I can't remember. Everyone ended up bringing fruit snacks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two aspects to consider.

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

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

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

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

Many allergies would never develop if parents fed their infants nuts. The evidence is pretty clear on that. Bad advice from the APA for years was a huge contributor. Not all allergies, but many. See the study on Ashkenazi Jews in Israel and outside Israel. Israeli parents routinely feed their infants a snack with peanut powder. Very low rates of peanut allergies later. The same genetic population outside of Israel feeds their babies like the rest of America. Much higher rates of peanut allergies in childhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two aspects to consider.

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

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

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

You are insanely uneducated about allergies. Yes exposure lessens but allergies happen regardless of early exposure and again, on a population-level- including groups that have historically not had food allergies- they are on the rise.

I also agree with you about X-free spaces. There is no evidence that it limits reactions and/or exposure. X-free schools or camps or whatever are not evidence based and likely came out of liability, especially for camps. And it limits nutrition for other children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two aspects to consider.

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

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

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

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

Many allergies would never develop if parents fed their infants nuts. The evidence is pretty clear on that. Bad advice from the APA for years was a huge contributor. Not all allergies, but many. See the study on Ashkenazi Jews in Israel and outside Israel. Israeli parents routinely feed their infants a snack with peanut powder. Very low rates of peanut allergies later. The same genetic population outside of Israel feeds their babies like the rest of America. Much higher rates of peanut allergies in childhood.

Nuts are not the only allergy. Again, your ignoance is astounding. There are also non-IgE mediated allergies to foods.

[Anonymous]

So many allergies now because of poor immune systems

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two aspects to consider.

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

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

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

BINGO!
At my kid's preschool we had to take turns bringing snacks. It had to be prepackaged and could not contain milk, eggs, wheat, nuts, or something else I can't remember. Everyone ended up bringing fruit snacks.

If you want to bring something allergy-free and healthy, and if has to be prepackaged, may I suggest applesauce? This is what most parents offer at our preschool for a large group of kids where allergens are unknown. We are so lucky to live in a time where there are more allergy-free snack options. I'm not sure you can blame this on food allergies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two aspects to consider.

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

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

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

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

Many allergies would never develop if parents fed their infants nuts. The evidence is pretty clear on that. Bad advice from the APA for years was a huge contributor. Not all allergies, but many. See the study on Ashkenazi Jews in Israel and outside Israel. Israeli parents routinely feed their infants a snack with peanut powder. Very low rates of peanut allergies later. The same genetic population outside of Israel feeds their babies like the rest of America. Much higher rates of peanut allergies in childhood.

Sorry- we fed our kids nuts early on and this still happened. If you were in the allergy community you would know that there is still a lot that is unknown about food allergies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two aspects to consider.

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

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

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

Try Sun nut butter, it's the best sub for peanut butter we have found, and we actually prefer it to peanut butter. You can use it in sandwiches, in sauces, etc. It has a similar nutritional profile to nut butters as well.

[Anonymous]

In the same boat OP. We don’t withhold much of anything, they get a treat after dinner, and they have very low BMI. I don’t understand how children can become so overweight. It’s tragic and the parents should have to attend mandatory child nutrition classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

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

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

This is some weird variation on the humble brag ...

Op - not a brag at all! When I I was growing up all the kids looked the same. Some were taller, some were shorter but they were all pretty much skinny with knobby knees. Now there are tons of overweight and obese kids! It’s shocking!

Not sure what era you grew up in, but there were definitely chunky kids in my school / class in the 80s in NY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the same boat OP. We don’t withhold much of anything, they get a treat after dinner, and they have very low BMI. I don’t understand how children can become so overweight. It’s tragic and the parents should have to attend mandatory child nutrition classes.

🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the same boat OP. We don’t withhold much of anything, they get a treat after dinner, and they have very low BMI. I don’t understand how children can become so overweight. It’s tragic and the parents should have to attend mandatory child nutrition classes.

I cook from scratch, don’t stock junk food but don’t withhold healthy food, have occasional treats, etc etc, and I have one 15th %ile kid who eats like a bird and one 90th %ile kid who will have thirds of chicken and rice and salad. It’s complicated.

[Anonymous]

All the posters who are saying something along the lines of, “I let my kids eat whatever they want and they are still thin, I don’t understand how it’s possible for any kid to be overweight or obese” are in for a rude awakening when your kids head off to college. Armed without any substantive nutritional knowledge, 99% of the time these are the people who end up really struggling with their weight as adults.

[Anonymous]

Oink oink only in America 🇺🇸

[Anonymous]

Bringing a peanut butter sandwich to preschool these days is received like you're bringing a bomb into the school. Instead the schools are full of ultraprocessed, factory made, "edible" products, not real food, which are destroying kids' health.