Noticing very chunky young kids

[Anonymous]

I've always provided the same food to my kids and one is on the slimmer side and one is on the stockier side. The slimmer one just has a smaller appetite. They both exercise frequently.

[Anonymous]

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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!

Did you grow up in a really homogeneous (same race/ethnicity, same income level) community? I grew up in a lower income area w a lot of black and Latin kids and a lot of kids were overweight when I was growing up (80s-90s).

[Anonymous]

My one boy is a tiny stick, my other boy is average, and my girl is a bit chunky. They eat the same food. Not junk. Home cooked meals 80%. Generics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've always provided the same food to my kids and one is on the slimmer side and one is on the stockier side. The slimmer one just has a smaller appetite. They both exercise frequently.

I'm guessing your kids have a least one heavier parent or grandparent that the stocky kid takes after.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My one boy is a tiny stick, my other boy is average, and my girl is a bit chunky. They eat the same food. Not junk. Home cooked meals 80%. Generics.

Do they exercise the exact same amount every day in the same way? There are many variables involved not just meals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've always provided the same food to my kids and one is on the slimmer side and one is on the stockier side. The slimmer one just has a smaller appetite. They both exercise frequently.

I'm guessing your kids have a least one heavier parent or grandparent that the stocky kid takes after.

Yup, that's most likely what is happening! Similarly, I was always on the chunkier side as an adolescent whereas my brother was very skinny (took after different sides of the family). People on this thread claiming that if a kid is "chunky" that its due to being fed junk food are missing several major factors contributing to body size and type.

[Anonymous]

**it's (hit submit too quickly)

[Anonymous]

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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.

Assuming all factors mentioned in this thread are equal contributors to the issue (they’re not, of course, but let’s pretend that’s the case) you need to then ask yourself which of these factors (if any) are within an individual’s ability to control (e.g. what and how much food you CHOOSE to give your children at home and how much exercise you make your children do). Those are the ONLY things worth worrying about at individual level. Complaining about food manufacturers and schools and birthday parties and the government doesn’t accomplish anything.

Why do you think FCPS added salad bars? Or we have nutrition panels to consult at the grocery store?

Because people chose to push for it. So you can indeed argue for personal responsibility AND changes on a bigger scale. I'm not sure why you want to dismiss the latter.

[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

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).

Why are you ignoring the people who tell you their kids are not overeating calories, are not eating junk, but are overweight when they hit puberty, even though they weren't overweight before puberty?

Because they’re lying. To the people in this thread, but more importantly, to themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My one boy is a tiny stick, my other boy is average, and my girl is a bit chunky. They eat the same food. Not junk. Home cooked meals 80%. Generics.

LOL. Yes, genetics do indeed dictate that if you feed an average girl/woman the exact same food in the same quantities as the average boy/man, she will be fatter than the average boy/man.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My one boy is a tiny stick, my other boy is average, and my girl is a bit chunky. They eat the same food. Not junk. Home cooked meals 80%. Generics.

Do they exercise the exact same amount every day in the same way? There are many variables involved not just meals.

Exercise is not as relevant as food intake. My four siblings and I were all very thin growing up. No overweight people on either side of my family. We had basic food growing up. We were White bread no “old country” recipes. None of us were all that interested in food, it was just another thing we did.

Don’t always blame the parents and feel superior on the wonderful job you’re doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My one boy is a tiny stick, my other boy is average, and my girl is a bit chunky. They eat the same food. Not junk. Home cooked meals 80%. Generics.

Do they exercise the exact same amount every day in the same way? There are many variables involved not just meals.

Exercise is not as relevant as food intake. My four siblings and I were all very thin growing up. No overweight people on either side of my family. We had basic food growing up. We were White bread no “old country” recipes. None of us were all that interested in food, it was just another thing we did.

Don’t always blame the parents and feel superior on the wonderful job you’re doing.

I simply asked a question, did they exercise the same? Your nonsensical response about your siblings makes no sense in this context.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My one boy is a tiny stick, my other boy is average, and my girl is a bit chunky. They eat the same food. Not junk. Home cooked meals 80%. Generics.

Do they exercise the exact same amount every day in the same way? There are many variables involved not just meals.

Exercise is not as relevant as food intake. My four siblings and I were all very thin growing up. No overweight people on either side of my family. We had basic food growing up. We were White bread no “old country” recipes. None of us were all that interested in food, it was just another thing we did.

Don’t always blame the parents and feel superior on the wonderful job you’re doing.

Wut does this have to do with the price of beans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Assuming all factors mentioned in this thread are equal contributors to the issue (they’re not, of course, but let’s pretend that’s the case) you need to then ask yourself which of these factors (if any) are within an individual’s ability to control (e.g. what and how much food you CHOOSE to give your children at home and how much exercise you make your children do). Those are the ONLY things worth worrying about at individual level. Complaining about food manufacturers and schools and birthday parties and the government doesn’t accomplish anything.

There is way more that can be done at an individual level, but it starts with awareness and so that’s why it’s so important that people understand ALL the contributors. Eg, if you are not aware that certain meds affect insulin, you won’t know if you should test your levels or try other meds.

Also, the words “how much food you choose to give your children” and “how much exercise you make them do” are indicative of another reason behind weight gain. hopefully the goal is to raise well regulated kids who don’t need their food portioned and don’t need to be forced to exercise. That’s not always possible, since conditions like adhd can greatly interfere with a kid’s ability to self regulate. But since research shows that kids will eat MORE and move LESS when their parents force it, it’s once again important to understand the complexities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My one boy is a tiny stick, my other boy is average, and my girl is a bit chunky. They eat the same food. Not junk. Home cooked meals 80%. Generics.

And your daughter will always have to fight her weight more than her brothers. You just have to decide when to let her know, or just see if she figures it out for herself?