Read this article.
A mother of a fat kid is being charge with neglect. When I was eight years old, I probably weighed 150. Not for my mother trying. She had me in TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) when I was 7. And she had me to the doctor and dietitian. I was still fat. And I got fatter.
I see the girl I mentor. She's 13, 5'2" and wears a woman's size 30/32. She tries. But her house is stuffed with junk food. Not for her mother trying. It's what's most affordable on a very low-income budget. And when 16 other people in the house prefer Coke over SF Crystal Light, guess what you buy?
I don't know where the line should be drawn. I think it should be somewhere, though. I'm not a parent, so I don't know what choices go into feeding kids. But as a fat kid, I know that I would find ways to eat what I wanted despite my mom's efforts.
No one's going to win this one.
UPDATED ARTICLE HERE
So the fat kid gets to stay with the mom. And it sounds like some kind of undefined plan is in place. I still think the kid is going to stay fat and the mom is still going to let him eat junk food.
And you know what else I think? I think we need to talk about all the crap food that's produced for kids. Fruit rolls that really aren't fruit. Juice drinks with 10% juice. Cereal with so much sugar a kid would stay wired for a week. Food manufacturers are just doing their job marketing their products. But what if someone decided to start marketing fruits and veggies and other natural foods (or as nautral as foods can be these days) alongside all the other produced stuff? What if there was an effort made to actually educate people about the nutritional value of a cup of Sugar Pops vs. a cup of oatmeal? Just think about it. I am.
I CHOOSE
...to love myself.
...to treat myself gently, with patience and respect.
...to accept responsibility for every aspect of my life.
...to be present, awake, aware.
...to be open to possibility.
...to leap with the intention of landing.
...to do amazing things.
...to treat myself gently, with patience and respect.
...to accept responsibility for every aspect of my life.
...to be present, awake, aware.
...to be open to possibility.
...to leap with the intention of landing.
...to do amazing things.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Fat Kids and Parental Responsibility
Posted by JUST JEN at 9:36 AM
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3 comments:
That. Makes me want to cry.
My daughter has it so so hard, already.
::sigh::
The only difference? We TRY SO freaking hard.
It's ridiculous these days to try to help your own child try to make good choices. On one hand, if you deprive them, as you mentioned, they will find it elsewhere (I did).
If we chose to allow them to eat regardlessly, they won't learn good eating habits. Who am I to try and instill good eating habits on a kid anyway?
*big sigh*
I think about this all the time. I really don't want to inflict my fucked up genetic makeup on my future children (hoping they'll get a big dose of his genes). I'm going to try so hard to learn (and practice) healthy eating habits NOW, so that I can teach my kids how to eat, and hopefully how to counteract the genetic cards being stacked against them.
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