Mental Meanderings

Overfeeding our Kids = Child Abuse?

Ok, so I'm actually starting to like watching the news these days. There is generally something interesting to spark my thoughts and ponderings. Tonight had a segment about obese children and the responsibility parents have to ensure they maintain a healthy diet and level of fitness. The question? Should overfeeding your children be considered child abuse?

Apparently in the US and recently introduced in the UK there are laws that involve this aspect and it's treated as seriously as child abuse. Children can be removed from families that provide loving, tender home lifes but do not take care of the nutritional aspect of their childs diet.

Personally I think putting the responsibility of a childs diet firmly on their parents shoulders is exactly what communities need. Educating parents to the dangers of childhood obesity and what healthy weight range should be for children is an important area that currently doesn't recieve enough attention. We live in a world where the majority of humans in western cultures are overweight and our childrens develop habits based on the patterning they get now which ultimately leads them to excaserbating the problem.

Basically, children of obese parents will generally grow up obese. They'll learn dieting habits that are dangerous to their health. They simply don't know any better. Of course the odds are that todays parents are already a result of their own childhood conditioning. With the advent of technology and mankinds desire to have instant pleasures it leads to a lazy culture that survives on junkfoods. Obviously not the ideal for raising healthy well-balanced children.

I think advertising holds some responsibility also. I know as a mother it's frustrating having to explain why my children aren't allowed that great DVD/game/toy/food/clothes/gadgets etc. Just the other day my daughter was telling me all about the special mobile phones they have for children and I'm totally against kids and phones. All phone conversations my kids have are supervised and I told her she can get a mobile phone when she's working and will pay for it herself. Anyway, sidetracked. What I'm saying is that the temptations are pumped into our children as NEEDS via marketed advertising, it's up to parents to draw the line on what they let their kids have but it would be an easier job to do if the consumer driven companies would lay off targetting our kids.

Ok, back to the obesity issue. Frankly, I agree. Parents who cannot provide a healthy diet for their children are being abusive. No arguement. The outcome is my deciding factor. The sheer horror of the health situation an obese child presents is more serious then abuse in other ways. Obesity is a life and death situation, poor diet leads to all manner of illnesses and disease. We know this and still we pump ourselves and our children with what my daughter wrinkles her nose and calls, "fats and sugars".

The answer isn't really to take children away from their loving homes however. The real answer is in educating parents to the dangers short and long term for themselves but more importantly their children. Show them the life they're creating for their child. Actually on that note I'm reminded of a reality TV show, "Honey, we're killing the kids." That show did exactly that, terrified parents by showing them exactly the lives they were creating for their kids and then educated them on how they could completely change that outcome.

Obesity in children is completely the responsibility of the parents. We need to be aware of the education we give our children about food. Schools teach about the healthy food triangle but we override that with pizza and Macdonald's. Schools encourage sports and physical activity and then we let the kids come home and vege in front of the TV or video games with chips, lollies, and soda.

As parents we need to be very conscious of the lessons we teach our children now. Perhaps it would help to focus on our own unhealthy habits and consider where we developed them. Do you reach for chocolate whenever you're upset or to reward yourself? Think about that, did you get rewarded or soothed with sweets as a child? Do you cook a full English breakfast every Sunday? Think about it, did your own family do that when you were a child?

Of course we want our kids to be healthy but there is also the other extreme to avoid. Instead of 'spoiling' our children with the things that are not good for them we don't want to deprive them of the treats and praise involved in growing up. Having a healthy diet is NOT about dieting. I mentioned it a few blogs back, it's about BALANCE. If you cut out sweets completely your children are going to resent being deprived which could rebound. Remember the things you hated not being allowed to have as a child? Don't you make up for that now you're an adult and can give it to yourself?

Anyway, the news report got me thinking and I think it's a really important topic to consider. The responsibility of our childs health falls on our shoulders. We can raise them to make the right choices and give them a full and exciting life. Or we can raise them to make the wrong choices and lead them toward depression, low self-esteem, degenerative health issues, early death, diabetes, cancer, infertility... (the list goes on) It's your choice. Are you abusing your child?