A study
conducted by the University of Sidney found that toddlers under two who were
overweight were more likely to be overweight as teenagers. As teenagers, these
toddlers had higher cholesterol, blood pressure and more centrally located fat.
These characteristics are all risk factors for developing cardiovascular
disease later on in life. The study also found that “rapid weight gain” between
the age three and five also predicted being overweight in their teenage years.
What should our responsibility be
as parents? Should we be held accountable for the weight of our children if we
are the sole providers of what they eat? If we are to be held accountable, what
is the consequence? Should there be a consequence or should it be more about
educating about healthy eating and exercising
habits and offering incentives for those who choose a healthier lifestyle?
Many times
families eat what is convenient and what fits within their financial means. Should the government be held accountable
for ensuring the accessibility of low-income families to healthy foods? What is
a family has access to healthy foods, but continues to provide unhealthy choices
resulting in their children being overweight? Is it their right to feed their
children whatever they deem is right? I would like to think that if a parent
has access to healthy choices for their children, they would use them. However,
sometimes it is tradition that dictates the choices we make and the lives we
live. For instance, I will probably eat Ramen noodles for the rest of my life
even though I know it is high in sodium and as someone told me, “the noodles
are made of plastic”.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190206101126.htm
It's a tricky situation. On one hand, it's a lifestyle choice and though it is unhealthy, it is an individuals choice. Yet as a child, it is up to your parents to guide you and make decisions for you because you are incapable until older. For this reason I think parents should be held somewhat accountable for the diet of their children, and if financial reasons are the cause for poor diet, more supplemental action should be taken to ensure the health of our young
ReplyDeleteI think it is absolutely the responsibility of the parent to dictate what their child is and isn't eating, and to make sure that these foods are nutritionally beneficial as a whole. As someone who was raised by a single parent in a fairly low income house hold, I have had the blessing of learning that eating healthy doesn't necessarily break the bank. Coming into college, the information has been widely useful to me, as I usually eat off of about $30 a week while cooking from home. Kids, however, who do not have the capacity nor the ability to be cooking for themselves, instead rely on the care of their parents and/or caretakers. Therefore, I believe that it is their responsibility to look out for the nutrition of the kids; and I don't think that feeding them healthy foods is a very big difficulty. I don't think that the issue with having access to healthy foods is the price of the foods themselves, but instead the effects of inflation in our economy that make costs of living harder and harder to accommodate. In addition, there is (or was) a lack of education for the current parental generation regarding what is and isn't healthy to be feeding their children. I remember learning all about the different food groups throughout public elementary school, and my school made a huge effort to hammer that point in. Low-income parents, however, most likely did not receive the same kind of education, therefore do not know what to be feeding their children. In addition, in situations where they are receiving government subsidizations, it just perpetuates the issue further without fixing it. Through government subsidized programs such as EBT, moms and dads can go to the grocery store and load their children up with food without any nutritional value. I think that maybe even just a basic nutrition course in the birthing section of the hospital post-birth would be beneficial, or possibly a necessary nutrition course to be implemented for parents applying for food stamps. If children are being grossly mistreated and poorly fed, I don't think it is outside of the reach of CPS to step in.
ReplyDeleteDQ:
At what point should children start being held responsible for their own diet?
Do you guys think that federal subsidization programs help or hinder those who are in need bringing healthy food to the table for their families?
Are the children that are growing up to be fat from an overweight childhood simply predisposed to be overweight, or is it a matter of learned eating habits?
Really wanted to reply to this, children do not grow up to be fat "because" of anything. Metabolism is due to both epigenetics; the expression of genes based on parents and environment, as well as our genetic make up AND our environment. There was a really interesting study done on a species of lab mice using BPA and you can feel free to look at that here to learn more about epigenetics. https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/nutrition/
DeleteAdditionally, scientists are learning about taste and the affects on opinions about food. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180222162132.htm
I had my consciousness raised on this issue, by Michael Pollan ("Eat food, mostly plants, not too much") chiefly, after our girls were past their early chicken nuggets & mac-&-cheese obsessive phase, so I've felt some guilt about contributing to their nutritional miseducation. (Too many trips to Krispy Kreme, for sure... but on the other hand,...)
ReplyDeleteThe good news is, they've both discovered the joys of (relatively) healthy eating. The occasional KK is not so awful, is it?
This is another area for education, not coercion, isn't it?
In my personal opinion I had a family friend who had an obese child, there other two children were older and not necessarily considered obese. They often hid unhealthy food from and tried to help him make healthier eating habits. However, during a conversation with them (the parents) the dad told me he felt guilty because growing up he didn’t teach them about portioning and would allow them to eat whenever and whatever they liked. Now as adult and being educated on the multiple effects of an unhealthy weight, he wishes he can help his some, but talking to their child no longer works. He also finds it hard to tell him no when they go out to eat because he wants to make his child happy...
ReplyDeleteI personally think education is the best way to combat this, as well as promoting physical activity. However, for those with formed habits it becomes much more hard to ween off and learn self control.
Also, I remember being in high school when Michelle Obama’s healthy eating campaign launched and they removed the hot chips from the vending machine (sad times) and added some bland tasting veggie chips, whole wheat pop tarts....these foods werent necessarily healthier but I also understand that the MOST healthiest snacks are not so readily available and would be at a much higher cost than those veggie chips.
ReplyDeleteI wish they wouldn’t have taken away the culinary classes...those could have served for educational purposes.
The government's responsibility to deal with the obesity crisis starts and ends with what is allowed/needed to be produced and who can get their hands on the product when it becomes food. Farmers usually do not get to decide what is produced by their fields, to get enough money to support themselves, the government pays them to plant corn or a similar crop. They do this to prevent large changes in the prices of necessities. This leads to surpluses of food that just becomes sugar in the form of corn syrup.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/314/corn-subsidies-make-me-sick-and-fat
On a more corporate level, those very same shelves are kept looking typical by companies only stocking them with fruits and vegetables that they think people will buy. Some food waist is expected but perfectly healthy tomato's, strawberries and more are thrown away because of their appearance. http://www.endfoodwaste.org/ugly-fruit---veg.html
How does food get into the hands of people? Usually with an exchange of money at a groceries store. And the places where there isn't a groceries store? How do you keep fresh food? The sad answer is you do not. Rural areas suffer from a situation called "food deserts" where people only have access to food that is heavily preserved and lacking in nutrients. This can severely affect individuals that live in these areas. https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-food-deserts
I do not think it is in one person or group's hands, it is societies problem to change.
I’m on the side of incentives and education when it comes to healthy eating. I also agree it is the parents responsibility to provide adequate nutritional support for their children, but the fact is it is very difficult to feed a family healthy food without a good deal of money. As far as priorities go, I could see how eating what is cheap and fast makes sense to a lot of families.
ReplyDelete