Noticing very chunky young kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

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

I don’t think you got my post. But studies are showing even our fruits and veggies are less nutritious than they were in decades past due to monoculture farming practices. The societal problem with our food is pervasive and individuals can only do so much against larger societal forces without political solutions. You guessed correctly we don’t eat processed foods at home but I can’t control the school which seems determined my kid should eat the worst food possible. A few years ago we had a teacher ban birthday treats brought by parents and I thought that teacher was heroic. If I taught, I wouldn’t want to teach a bunch is kids that just had crackers and juice boxes for lunch and maybe a fish stick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

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

I don’t think you got my post. But studies are showing even our fruits and veggies are less nutritious than they were in decades past due to monoculture farming practices. The societal problem with our food is pervasive and individuals can only do so much against larger societal forces without political solutions. You guessed correctly we don’t eat processed foods at home but I can’t control the school which seems determined my kid should eat the worst food possible. A few years ago we had a teacher ban birthday treats brought by parents and I thought that teacher was heroic. If I taught, I wouldn’t want to teach a bunch is kids that just had crackers and juice boxes for lunch and maybe a fish stick.

Why cause they would fart on you?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This thread is off the rails. It was answered early on that we have many environmental factors disrupting our endocrine systems nowadays. People are more interested in touting their virtue and ability to cook wholesome meals at any budget.

+1

Wholesome meals are nice but they, or their lack, aren't the reason that some kids are skinny and some kids are thick. It's partly genetics and food abundance (or a coping mechanism for abuse) but it's mostly an endocrine/metabolism issue caused by environmental factors, particularly pervasive antibiotics but also microplastics and probably others.

Agree and also, trauma and stress are huge determinants.

Holy cow you people are insane, no wonder we have the obesity epidemic we do. No, the average overweight elementary-aged kid has not been exposed to enough trauma, abuse, or “endocrine disrupters” in their 8 short years to cause their obesity. It’s the parents. Clearly! As evidenced by this thread.

Endocrine disrupters are everywhere. But the solution is the same (clean diet, minimize exposure generally).

Find me a study that endocrine disrupters are the cause of an entire very recent and new generation of childhood obesity. No one is denying they’re real, you are however vastly vastly overstating their impacts on children in an attempt to…what? Reduce your culpability as a parent? Shameful

It is well known, and considered a feature rather than a big, that antibiotics in agricultural use increases the size of animals. Antibiotics are routinely used prophylactically as a precaution and to make up for poor living conditions, and as a bonus, the animals are larger, making them more profitable. Win win. After the animals are slaughtered, those antibiotics remain and are then consumed by people, including children.

The antibiotics probably work to increase size by altering the gut biome but it isn't well studied because no one cares that much.

Children are given antibiotics from birth and throughout childhood for a variety of reasons. But even those who never take antibiotics are still consuming them every day.

Even if this were true, it doesn't explain why all of the thin kids and adults who still eat all of this stuff are thin. So, it's not this.

This is really really basic: different environmental factors impact people differently based on their genes and the combination of exposures and experiences they have had. This is stuff you could learn with less than an hour of research required.

Yes - it has nothing to do with diet or exercise.

I don't think anyone has said it has nothing to do with diet or exercise. They're pointing out that those aren't the ONLY issues. People are trying to reduce this to a single thing they can cast blame (and pat themselves on the back) for.

So, congrats, I guess?

In the example above, don't you think it's wrong to give a toddler a big can of Pringle's to carry around the park?

Why is it so weirdly important to you to get a head pat for making better choices than some imaginary mom at a playground?

I don't think anyone was looking for a pat on the back.

I actually think that's exactly what some posters want. My kids are thin because I parent the best. Not like those fatties.

I'm not getting that vibe. But I do think that parents are ultimately responsible for the health of their kids. Nobody is saying you need to put an original home cooked meal on the table every night, but there are certain things that just have to stop. Snack culture and sugary drinks are 2 of those things.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is off the rails. It was answered early on that we have many environmental factors disrupting our endocrine systems nowadays. People are more interested in touting their virtue and ability to cook wholesome meals at any budget.

+1

Wholesome meals are nice but they, or their lack, aren't the reason that some kids are skinny and some kids are thick. It's partly genetics and food abundance (or a coping mechanism for abuse) but it's mostly an endocrine/metabolism issue caused by environmental factors, particularly pervasive antibiotics but also microplastics and probably others.

Agree and also, trauma and stress are huge determinants.

Holy cow you people are insane, no wonder we have the obesity epidemic we do. No, the average overweight elementary-aged kid has not been exposed to enough trauma, abuse, or “endocrine disrupters” in their 8 short years to cause their obesity. It’s the parents. Clearly! As evidenced by this thread.

Endocrine disrupters are everywhere. But the solution is the same (clean diet, minimize exposure generally).

Find me a study that endocrine disrupters are the cause of an entire very recent and new generation of childhood obesity. No one is denying they’re real, you are however vastly vastly overstating their impacts on children in an attempt to…what? Reduce your culpability as a parent? Shameful

I'm not sure why, except that you're so convinced of your own parental superiority, that you think every poster suggesting factors that may contribute to the obesity epidemic has overweight kids?

Pretty sure I'm not the only one who doesn't. But I hope your rants about "culpability" are making you feel better?

Any posters without overweight kids who are nevertheless coming up with these absurd excuses are most likely your typical disingenuous virtue-signalers.

As opposed to, you know, scientists.

I am a scientist. With an understanding of statistics and uncertainty analysis. Many of you are concentrating on the variables that are essentially in the noise and ignoring the glaringly obvious variable (which is clearly the overall number of calories consumed).

I agree with PP. Plenty of reputable health sites say hormones and genetics can be causes of childhood obesity. But many experts do agree that the main cause is overeating and leading a sedentary lifestyle. Think about how much screen time kids get these days, as one example.

This is an anecdote, but we can eat mostly anything that we prepare at home, as long as we stick to 3 meals a day with 1 or no snacks. I def notice when I skip meals and start snacking, or start ordering out more, my weight creeps up. If I cook it at home, anything seems to be fine to eat.

I do know a few overweight kids and they overeat quite a bit. I have seen an obese 5 year old be portioned 4 pieces of pizza for dinner by a grandparent. I see kids at the park walking around with containers of Pringles and big bags of candy. I feel like all of the excuses on this thread make it feel so hopeless for the next generation to maintain their health, when the answers are actually much simpler for the vast majority of people (not everyone, but most people).

I don't think looking for crazy answers is what's going to help most people.

This is where I disagree. It is like anything where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Very worthy of attention. And no one is asking for a pass from accountability. they are pointing out the ineffectiveness of shaming and blaming. When people are shamed for their weight, it leads to increased weight, not the opposite. Shaming parents does not achieve anything either.

Additionally, it is not “simple” to remove processed foods and lack of activity from our culture. So it is not like everyone is missing some easy fix on a population level.

lol yes we know you disagree. You have posted 7200 times that obesity is not due to nutrition or exercise choices but rather factors outside of your control. You should talk to your doctor about that.

You also have a psychological problem if restricting calories to a healthy level is viewed in your mind as “shaming.” More than one unhealthy thing is going on in your life lady!!

Ugh, stop insulting people in mulitple posts. You are dragging the discussion down a lot.

[Anonymous]

There are so many population-level annd environmental factors at play and it’s a vicious cycle.

While the government needs to do more, there is an element of personal responsibility too. Parents used to spend more of their free time cooking but now they spend it on Insta or TikTok because the take out / packaged food is “good enough”. Only those who prioritize nutrition make the effort. Cooking and eating at home 5-6 days a week needs to be more normalized.

[Anonymous]

Nobody cares about your rant op. Kids and parents are aware of these issues and do not need a horrible person posting about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I offer my kids the same meals. One is very hungry and wants a lot. One is not very hungry and does not want very much. They have similar activity levels. I’m serious — you guys thinks I should say “no you can’t have another bowl of soup, Larlo”?

Yes! And follow it up with "we feed our bodies enough that they take care of us, then we stop."

And then all of us here at DCUM can look for mom’s post when kid starts sneaking out of bed at night to raid the fridge.

Awesome that you have all the answers, though.

Well, it would work for my kid- although my kids are slim because they were raised with “give your body what it needs and stop”. Maybe parent your better and these answers might work for you. When we got our cat she was pre-diabetic (elderly). We calculated how much the cat needed to eat based on her age, current weight, and target healthy weight. Then we weighed her food to understand the necessary portion size she needed - it was tiny. We fed her that. She was starving and would try to eat out the compost for about a month. After she lost all the weight and was healthy weight, we kept feeding her the same. Her activity level increased and eventually she started leaving food in her bowl and finishing it slowly - we feed her twice a day.

Point being - once a body adjusts to being “normal” then the responses and habits become “normal.

Sneaking food from the fridge indicates more of a mental health issue, i.e., feelings of food insecurity, similar to what the cat felt when she was eating from the compost. Those feelings pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I offer my kids the same meals. One is very hungry and wants a lot. One is not very hungry and does not want very much. They have similar activity levels. I’m serious — you guys thinks I should say “no you can’t have another bowl of soup, Larlo”?

Yes! And follow it up with "we feed our bodies enough that they take care of us, then we stop."

And then all of us here at DCUM can look for mom’s post when kid starts sneaking out of bed at night to raid the fridge.

Awesome that you have all the answers, though.

Well, it would work for my kid- although my kids are slim because they were raised with “give your body what it needs and stop”. Maybe parent your better and these answers might work for you. When we got our cat she was pre-diabetic (elderly). We calculated how much the cat needed to eat based on her age, current weight, and target healthy weight. Then we weighed her food to understand the necessary portion size she needed - it was tiny. We fed her that. She was starving and would try to eat out the compost for about a month. After she lost all the weight and was healthy weight, we kept feeding her the same. Her activity level increased and eventually she started leaving food in her bowl and finishing it slowly - we feed her twice a day.

Point being - once a body adjusts to being “normal” then the responses and habits become “normal.

Sneaking food from the fridge indicates more of a mental health issue, i.e., feelings of food insecurity, similar to what the cat felt when she was eating from the compost. Those feelings pass.

Lol, speaking of mental health issues... plenty to unpack here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are so many population-level annd environmental factors at play and it’s a vicious cycle.

While the government needs to do more, there is an element of personal responsibility too. Parents used to spend more of their free time cooking but now they spend it on Insta or TikTok because the take out / packaged food is “good enough”. Only those who prioritize nutrition make the effort. Cooking and eating at home 5-6 days a week needs to be more normalized.

+1. People need to cook at home, mostly from scratch. It almost doesn’t even matter what you cook, as long as it isn’t super processed. It doesn’t need to be organic or vegetarian or dairy free. My rule of thumb is that if my mom or grandma wouldn’t make it or eat it, then I won’t either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are so many population-level annd environmental factors at play and it’s a vicious cycle.

While the government needs to do more, there is an element of personal responsibility too. Parents used to spend more of their free time cooking but now they spend it on Insta or TikTok because the take out / packaged food is “good enough”. Only those who prioritize nutrition make the effort. Cooking and eating at home 5-6 days a week needs to be more normalized.

+1. People need to cook at home, mostly from scratch. It almost doesn’t even matter what you cook, as long as it isn’t super processed. It doesn’t need to be organic or vegetarian or dairy free. My rule of thumb is that if my mom or grandma wouldn’t make it or eat it, then I won’t either.

+2. These 2 posts and other ones like it are most of the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody cares about your rant op. Kids and parents are aware of these issues and do not need a horrible person posting about it.

That clearly isn’t true based on the number of posters making so many excuses about why their kids are big, but it couldn’t possibly be their fault and there is just nothing they could do about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody cares about your rant op. Kids and parents are aware of these issues and do not need a horrible person posting about it.

That clearly isn’t true based on the number of posters making so many excuses about why their kids are big, but it couldn’t possibly be their fault and there is just nothing they could do about it.

Pssst--some of us arguing that there are multiple causes of the obesity epidemic don't have overweight kids.

You might want to examine why you're so eager to cast blame on your fellow parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody cares about your rant op. Kids and parents are aware of these issues and do not need a horrible person posting about it.

That clearly isn’t true based on the number of posters making so many excuses about why their kids are big, but it couldn’t possibly be their fault and there is just nothing they could do about it.

Pssst--some of us arguing that there are multiple causes of the obesity epidemic don't have overweight kids.

You might want to examine why you're so eager to cast blame on your fellow parents.

Can you please examine why you’re so eager to make excuses for people who have a problem that you apparently don’t have? Is it virtue signaling? Does it make you feel like a superior human being to treat other able-bodied adults as though they are just naturally incompetent, therefore the question of personal responsibility is off the table?

Because while you may feel that you are being extremely nice and supportive, what you are actually doing is condescendingly infantilizing others. Low expectations, indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But feeling bad about it doesn’t stop you from blabbing about it on this board!

+1. It's living rent free in your head!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody cares about your rant op. Kids and parents are aware of these issues and do not need a horrible person posting about it.

That clearly isn’t true based on the number of posters making so many excuses about why their kids are big, but it couldn’t possibly be their fault and there is just nothing they could do about it.

Pssst--some of us arguing that there are multiple causes of the obesity epidemic don't have overweight kids.

You might want to examine why you're so eager to cast blame on your fellow parents.

Can you please examine why you’re so eager to make excuses for people who have a problem that you apparently don’t have? Is it virtue signaling? Does it make you feel like a superior human being to treat other able-bodied adults as though they are just naturally incompetent, therefore the question of personal responsibility is off the table?

Because while you may feel that you are being extremely nice and supportive, what you are actually doing is condescendingly infantilizing others. Low expectations, indeed.

It is not making excuses to point out that multiple things can be true at the same time. Are poor nutrition and lack of exercise part of it? OF COURSE! Is the government also responsible for subsidizing certain crops so that manufacturers engineer crap foods that aren't good for us so they can increase profits? Also true! Do manufacturers spend millions of dollars in lobbying fees to avoid having to be straightforward about what's in the products they sell? Yes!

I could go on, but you seem to be concerned with only one of these factors when they're all part of the problem.