AW: Re: Needing to comment.

[Guest guest]

I have a somewhat

overweight son, even though we eat really healthily. It’s got a lot

to do with my getting pregnant with my second child and his jealousy over that.

Before that he was quite slim. Still, it’s a vicious cycle

because he has a hard time exercising because of his weight. We are

working on it gradually and he has just taken up soccer, so I am optimistic

that he will grow into his weight as he is growing fast and not gaining weight

at the moment.

I have recently become more

aware of the effect of the many additives in food on kids behaviour. My

son also displays some of the ADHD symptoms and after reading about it I started

being really aware of his reaction to chemicals, both in food and also in the environment,

in clothing etc. You just can’t be too careful. I now buy

mostly organic vegetables and meat (we don’t eat too much because my

husband has gout). I cook just about everything from scratch and am very

careful about reading labels. Luckily, German food contains far fewer

additives and preservatives than in the UK or in the US.

Having said that, most

families, particularly those who don’t have a high income just buy

whatever they can afford to fill up their kids stomachs.

A while ago in the uk a star cook called Oliver tackled the British school system and showed the kind of

crap the kids were being fed for school lunches. I was honestly

absolutely horrified. Chicken nuggets and fries with not a vegetable in

sight. For only slightly more money he managed to improve the food served

and created a huge movement and awareness in the uk to improve kids food. It

was most amazing to me to see how the kids and many of the parents refused to

go with the changes, insisting that their kids should eat the junk food. He

won the kids and parents over gradually, making some mistakes along the way.

He showed the kids how chicken nuggets are made with all the fat and grizzle

going in to a blender. My son has not touched a mcdonalds nugget since!

Overweight in kids is

often related to other issues than just the food they are getting. There

is a pretty good book called “child of mine, feeding with good sense”

which I read a while ago. The author says the main difference between slim

and overweight families is that the slim ones have more structure around meals

and mealtimes. The actual type of food that is eaten is not always that

different between the two. So that is something I am trying to improve in

my family. Cutting up some fruit for the kids in between meals instead of

expecting them to go for 5 hours without any food. Making sure they get a

little lunch, even if we had a late breakfast and I am still full, because kids

eat smaller portions and get hungry quicker.

Ah well, that turned into

a big novel! Just some thoughts on kids and food.

Von:

thefatmanwalking_group [mailto:thefatmanwalking_group ] Im

Auftrag von della moore

Gesendet: Dienstag, 6. Juni 2006

18:37

An: thefatmanwalking_group

Betreff: Re:

Re: Needing to comment.

steve and

maragret, i agree with both of you. i am a little over weight, but not much. (i

do have belly flab) i try to keep junk food out of my house. we eat our fair

share of junk, but not a lot. i try to keep my family eating healthy. and i

agree with the welfare thing, the foodstamps should be used to buy better food.

not everytthing the kids want, just because the box has some new cartoon on it.

Vaught

wrote:

Great observation, except

that it is not limited to welfare. This is

something that is fast becoming a way of life. Look at the grocery

stores and you will see that the selection of whole foods has

diminished while " Boxed " prepared food takes up more and more space.

And people just buy, buy, buy because " They wouldn't sell it if it

were bad for you " . In a lot of respects, the food in grocery stores

is the same or even lower quality that fast food. That can't be good.

Most don't know this but I grew up in a welfare home. I can tell you

that nutritional value is usually one of the last considerations.

Bang for the buck or all out spending frenzy on colorful products is

usually the main consideration. Unfortunately, as in most things, we

don't see the wrong decision until we are living its results. Or in

this case, until they are living the results. After a while, it all

becomes lifestyle.

Just my opinion,

Steve

>

> Yesterday my husband and myself had to go to Walmart for cleaning

> supplies. As we were checking out, I could not help but notice the

> woman in front of me. She was a young woman, not overweight at

all,

> but nice and slim, with 2 obviously not overweight young children

> with her. She ran up a bill of $271 worth of children's junk

food,

> except for 2 gallons of milk and 1 gallon of orange juice. The

rest

> of it was - and I am not exaggerating - children's junk food with

> cartoon characters on the boxes, and it was chips, candy, high

sugar

> granola bars and fruit chewy things, soda, huge bags of all kinds

> of chips.

>

> She said she was paying with food stamps. I know the government

> does not give too much money in its foodstamps program, and some

> people run out before the end of the month, so the more reason to

> make informed choices. I wonder what those children will look

like

> in their 30s if they keep eating this way.

>

> I am commenting on this because I really think there is a great

need

> for more nutritional education in this country, especially for

folks

> that need to follow a budget or have limited resources, food

stamps,

> etc., so they will know what is the best buy for their money and

> food stamps.

>

> I think it would be great if food stamp recipients got nutritional

> education and even all people, maybe more in the school system, as

I

> don't remember there ever being much taught in the way of

nutrition

> when my children were in school.

>

> I wish my mother would have had more nutritional knowledge when I

> was a child and would not have filled out house with junk food,

ice

> cream, Kool Aid with sugar, cookies, anything that put on pounds.

> Maybe I would not be battling what I am today.

>

> Just my observation, Margaret

>

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