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Are Parents Killing Their Kids With Kindness?

Britain is attempting to tackle its growing childhood obesity problem. Recently, British officials started a new campaign to warn parents that they may be “killing their children with kindness.”

Parents who indulge too many of their children’s desires, says the campaign, may be unwittingly setting them up for problems with heart disease, diabetes or cancer.

This is not the first time Britain has tried to curb childhood obesity. Critics say the British government’s past initiatives to fight the problem have failed. A quarter of all four- and five-year-olds are currently overweight in England, and about one-third of children age 10 or 11 are also obese.


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Comment on This Article Community Comments (4)
 
 
Posted On Jan 02, 2009
What confounds me is how parents can be unaware that their kid has a problem - or maybe aware, but clueless what to do about it. Likely these parents are role-modeling eating habits for their children. If they are going for shortcuts, fast food, takeout, ready meals, bagged snack foods and sodas - and if these foods are kept in the house - well, there's the problem, innit?

 
Islander
Moderator User Moderator User, Joined On 3/2007
Islander  
 
 
 
Posted On Jan 04, 2009
"Kids Will Always Take The Sugary Way Out"

I have a 2 1/2 year old nice and when it comes time to eat lunch if I give her the option between eating a salad or an ice cream cone, guess what's getting chose every single time.

The other day we were at the grocery store and I made the mistake of not strapping her into a cart.  While cruising around on foot she was grabbing everything within eye sight. 

We cut through the chips/crackers section to get to the soymilk and I cringed at what happened next.

She was lagging behind and I look back and she had a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos in her hand.  She looked at me and said "I like these."

Egh. 

This is sooo telling into what she see's consistently at home. 

And guess what?  I had her put em back and later she saw at eye level "surprise, surprise" those Pepperidge Farm cheese flavored goldfish and I bought them.

Now she probably ate only 20, maybe 30 of those teeny crackers because I did jumped on the grenade. 

I ate the rest of them.  Yeah, I liked em but in the back of my mind was the belief that she needs me to protect her.  That's my number #1 job.  This comes from my desire to express love to her. 

Kids don't deserve for us to pollute their bodies with all the processed junk available.

Our small children can only follow our example.  Why would we sentence them to life of pain because we can't control our own eating habits?

Are we following the same dysfunctional programming passed on by our parents?

If so we are lucky because we have the power of choice.  We don't have to follow the crowd.  We can lead our children to health by making better eating decisions.

Isn't that cool?

Note Taking Nerd #2
http://www.mynotetakingnerd.wordpress

 
Note Taking Nerd
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 11/2008
Note Taking Nerd  
Replied

Islander
Moderator User Moderator User Joined On 3/2007
Islander  
 
Posted On Jan 04, 2009
You ate the rest of the goldfish.
So you're telling your niece, "Do as I say, not as I do"?
You know that never works! Uncle Nerd should be a better role model, right? Right?

 
 
 
Posted On Jan 09, 2009
Parents are killing their kids with ignorance and stupidity.

 
Alaskadood
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 2/2008
Alaskadood  
 
 
 
 
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