Childhood obesity in America

[robinator]

I'm sitting here watching the Biggest Loser and was stunned by some of the facts (they were doing a pop quiz with contestants):

*17% of kids ages 2-19 are obese
*average American kid watches 4.5 hours of tv a day
*60% of kids ages 5-10 have at least one risk factor for heart disease
*sugar-sweetened drinks are the #1 source of added sugar in a kid's diet
*kids aged 11-18 eat fast food an average of twice a week
*over the last 3 decades, the childhood obesity rate in America has tripled
*75% of parents of obese children think their children are normal, or even underweight
*40% of daily calories of kids come from wasted calories, such as sugar and fat

I don't even know where I'm going with this, I am currently too stunned to think straight. Some of these numbers!!

(I looked up their sources online, but there are too many to list)

 

[TriChick]

I'm sitting here watching the Biggest Loser and was stunned by some of the facts (they were doing a pop quiz with contestants):

*17% of kids ages 2-19 are obese
*average American kid watches 4.5 hours of tv a day
*60% of kids ages 5-10 have at least one risk factor for heart disease
*sugar-sweetened drinks are the #1 source of added sugar in a kid's diet
*kids aged 11-18 eat fast food an average of twice a week
*over the last 3 decades, the childhood obesity rate in America has tripled
*75% of parents of obese children think their children are normal, or even underweight
*40% of daily calories of kids come from wasted calories, such as sugar and fat

I don't even know where I'm going with this, I am currently too stunned to think straight. Some of these numbers!!

(I looked up their sources online, but there are too many to list)

It's saddening, isn't it? The content of our food in general is shocking. The further you go down the rabbit hole regarding research, the more the local grocery store resembles a death factory!

 

[holly2234]

To be honest, from just going about my business in both the UK and the US, children dont seem to be much different. But i am actually pretty shocked at the soft drinks over in the US. Everything is full of sugar, Hawaiian Punch, Kool Aid etc. Kids seem to drink that but its just literally neon coloured sugar water.

UK kids seem to drink sugar free squash etc.

My niece asked me for a drink the other day so i put water in her sippy cup the same as i do for my daughter and she was so confused at what id given her that she went to her dad and told him the juice wasn't right! Not sure if thats a cultural thing or just what they do for their kids.

 

[Jaylynne]

The tv time is shocking isn't it! That's over an entire day a week devoted to just simply watching the tv! No wonder so many are overweight! I used to play outside all the time as a kid or play sports. I was never overweight until sports stopped and tv started after college. In fact, I was underweight senior year.

My kids will not drink soda and tv/game consoles are limited to rewards for sticker chart completions (usually an hour). SS is still skinny but his mother let's him eat a horrible diet- pop tarts for breakfast, chicken nuggets and French fries and then dinner of grilled cheese. All carbs and refined sugars. He eats what we eat when he's at our house. You can still be skinny but have horrible cholesterol.

Sorry tangent. I'm just shocked about 40% of calories being sugar and fat!

 

[Natsku]

Thats really sad Kids just don't play outside enough these days and I can't even blame computers and consoles because we (personally) had a lot of computers and consoles at home when I was a kid but we still spent most of our time playing outside. Its probably the fear culture to blame, at least partly, fear of abductions and paedophiles stopping people letting their kids play out And of course all the junk food and fizzy drinks and juice all the time.
But I rarely see even overweight children here, let alone obese children.

 

[TriChick]

The south has a shocking rate of obesity. I relocated here from a "hippy" town in Central California and noticed that, at least in this part of Georgia, there doesn't seem to be nearly as much of an emphasis on healthy living as there was back home. I was shocked to see carnival-style food carts in the Walmart parking lots here serving cotton candy, corn dogs, and fried Oreos on a daily basis.

What's really sad is the sheer cost of healthy, additive-free food. Families of limited income face an overwhelming pressure to buy crap food due to the low cost associated with junk food.

 

[Bevziibubble]

It's shocking and saddening Food is so far away from food these days with the amount of additives. Even when the labels state the product is free from artificial colours, flavourings and preservatives they still get away with loopholes. They add yeast extract to products which is a form of monosodium
Glutamate but doesn't have to be labelled as artificial flavouring.

I was given lots of unhealthy food as a child. And even punished if I didn't finish my plate of ridiculous adult size meals. I was lucky to be skinny as a child, but it has contributed to my unhealthy relationship with food and now I am obese. It's so important not to override the child's natural connection between hunger, appetite and portion control, as this can lead to problems with over-eating.

In the supermarket the natural and whole foods section has a few shelves dedicated to it and the price is sky high. There are aisles and aisles of junk foods that are cheap and always some kind of 2 for1 offer on.

There's so much wrong with our foods today but I doubt it'll change soon as it's all about money-making for the big companies

 

[robinator]

The tv time is shocking isn't it! That's over an entire day a week devoted to just simply watching the tv! No wonder so many are overweight! I used to play outside all the time as a kid or play sports. I was never overweight until sports stopped and tv started after college. In fact, I was underweight senior year.

Looking back, I was the same. (Never thought about it until now). I did sports all through junior high and high school, hardly any tv and was normal weight. Not so much in college! No sports, I'd skip school sometimes to watch tv and chow down on junk food. I got up to a pretty hefty weight by junior year

The punishment for the losing team on this episode was that they had to sit in a room, surrounded by tv, video games and junk food for 4.5 hours a day for a whole week (instead of their gym time). After they did their time each day they had to go work out and one of the contestants observed that it was hard to work out now because sitting for so long and watching tv had made her feel sluggish. No energy (physically or mentally) to work out.

Hadn't thought about that aspect before.

What really got me is 3/4 of the parents thinking their obese kid is not obese. Blows my mind....

 

[robinator]

To be honest, from just going about my business in both the UK and the US, children dont seem to be much different. But i am actually pretty shocked at the soft drinks over in the US. Everything is full of sugar, Hawaiian Punch, Kool Aid etc. Kids seem to drink that but its just literally neon coloured sugar water.

DH asked a couple months ago if we should be giving dd juice. Goodness, no! Right now she's on milk and water. Why mess up a good thing? She does get some sugar during the day, but with things like juice she can have it when she has the words to ask.

 

[robinator]

Starving your child is considered child abuse, but what about the opposite? If they are obese, is that abusive? I'm talking obesity caused by lifestyle, not by medical conditions.

Obesity causes a lot of physical problems (heart disease, diabetes, lower lung efficiency, etc) and emotional suffering (teasing, humiliation from not being able to keep up in sports, etc., which can lead to lower self esteem). Is recognizing your kid is obese and not doing anything to help them change their lifestyle a bad situation?

According to the stats, many 2 year olds are obese. Two year olds!!! They're certainly not making their own food choices; someone is doing it for them.

 

[Piper84]

People have forgotten how to cook. It's so much cheaper to buy ingredients and cook your own meals than to get ready meals, but for some reason a whole load of generations of parents can't or won't cook healthy meals for their kids, in the UK at least.

A lot of kids get sent to school with packed lunches with crisps, chocolate, processed pies and fizzy drinks and all that crap. I used to be embarrassed when I was at school and my parents had packed raw carrots and tomatoes along with my wholemeal sandwiches and squash but I see now they knew exactly what they were doing.

It's not even the type of food in the UK that's the problem. The staple is meat, vegetables and potatoes. I know in the southern states of the US the traditional food is more calorific, not sure about the rest of the country, but in the UK there's no excuse.

Outdoor play is also a massive factor

 

[Natsku]

Longer working hours and less SAHM/Ds probably affects people not cooking properly. There isn't much time after work before a child's bedtime and parents probably prefer to spend that time playing with their children rather than cooking from scratch, or are maybe too tired after work to cook from scratch. Its a problem coming from culture as a whole.
Packed lunches is a good point, I remember loads of people brought in junk for lunch or just took lunch money and bought sweets and crisps from the vending machines. I think a step in the right direction would be a (free or discounted) hot nutritious meal for every child in school - that would ensure that at least one meal a day that a child eats is healthy and balanced.

 

[TriChick]

It's ironic this topic came up today, as I was just reading this article:

https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/16/health/xtreme-eating/index.html?hpt=hp_c1


Yikes! I feel like restaurant food is getting worse each year.

 

[Natsku]

Wow! How could anyone eat food like that?! I'd never be able to finish the whole serving

When I read that so many parents didn't realise their kids were overweight or obese I was shocked but then, out of interest, I checked Maria's BMI and apparently she is overweight! I would never have thought it looking at her, or even by knowing her weight as its less than average by age, but way over average when you consider her height.

 

[TriChick]

Wow! How could anyone eat food like that?! I'd never be able to finish the whole serving

When I read that so many parents didn't realise their kids were overweight or obese I was shocked but then, out of interest, I checked Maria's BMI and apparently she is overweight! I would never have thought it looking at her, or even by knowing her weight as its less than average by age, but way over average when you consider her height.

In the US, portion size in restaurants is out of control! That's part of the problem, unfortunately What appears to be "one meal" is actually 2 or 3 servings. Since it takes time for your brain to realize you are sated, many people will continue to eat to the point of complete fullness, if not overeat.

The standard and simplified height/weight BMI calculation leaves a lot of wiggle room regarding what is truly "obese". Often, doctors will use a more complex measurement strategy to find accurate body fat percentage I wouldn't worry hun

 

[Natsku]

I can never finish a whole portion even of reasonable sized portions. I eat too slow so I get the "full" signal before I'm half way done

Thanks, I'm not gonna worry, just gonna ask her doctor about it when she has her 2 year check up

 

[TriChick]

Lol the sad part is, I would probably have ordered the shrimp pasta at Cheesecake Factory before reading this. Looks tasty...well it used to at least

 

[Natsku]

 

[Dragonfly]

I seen a show called Maury where the parents fed the children so much food they where actually dying. One was on an oxygen tank, more food than even I would eat in a week went in to one toddler. That was the girl who has damaged legs and was eventually taken off her mum. She lost the weight but suffers forever from it. This really disturbes me.

 

[Tasha]

Shocking statistics. I guess it makes sense that they dont realise and think that the childs weight is normal because it is quite unlikely that they would knowingly make their child obese.

When I went to the US I mostly ate children's meals.