Today on the "Diet DUH" report:
"Doctor's efforts to fight childhood obesity not working."
YA THINK?
Duh-huh, people. No shit, Sherlock.
"FRIDAY, Sept. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers are recommending that officials in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia rethink their efforts to combat obesity in children because the current strategies -- emphasizing healthy diets and exercise -- aren't working.
In a study released online Sept. 4 in BMJ, Australian researchers followed more than 250 overweight and mildly obese Australian children who visited their general practitioners between 2005 and 2006. A total of 139 were given counseling over three months about changing their eating habits and increasing exercise; the other 119 did not get such counseling.
Parents said the kids who received counseling drank fewer soft drinks, but they didn't eat more fruit or vegetables or less fat, and they didn't lose significant amounts of weight.
The researchers reported that brief, physician-led intervention produced no long-term improvement in body mass index, physical activity or nutrition habits.
The counseling isn't harmful, the study authors noted, but it doesn't seem to work and is expensive.
"Resources may be better divided between primary prevention at the community and population levels, and enhancement of clinical treatment options for children with established obesity," the researchers concluded."
Number one, O great medical / dietary community, and for the thousandth time, DIETARY FAT ISNT THE PROBLEM. So thank goodness they didn't eat less fat.
Number two, (and here's the 'duh' bit) YOU'RE TALKING TO THE WRONG PEOPLE, PEOPLE!
(Sorry to shout, but this is just so stupid.)
Let me go ahead and say this, for the record. It's the cure for childhood obesity. Srsly. What a revelation and I'm sharing it with you, the medical community! I'll even type ... really ... slowly ... so ... you .... can ... get ...it.
Ready?
Blue's Cure For The Childhood Obesity Epidemic:
>> PARENTING <<
Yup. That's it. That's all.
Don't speak to the kids. What kid listens to anything a random grown up has to say anyway? Don't expect the community to do something miraculous and cure obesity. Certainly don't look to the government!
No. Obesity begins at home.
Starting with what Mommy stuffs in her face whilst pregnant (Krispy Kreme anyone?), to what she offers baby the day he's born (breast milk which is naturally packed with nutrients and fats [milkfat] and very low in sugars [lactose]? Or formula which is loaded with soy, grains, and sugar [corn syrup]?
Parents decide whether they will feed their babies vegetables first or just start with the sweet fruits ("because she loves them and eats so well when we feed her peaches 3 times a day!" They decide whether to only put milk or water in the bottle or just say "Forget it! He's crying and the juice always settles him down!"
Parents decide whether to make turkey and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat with carrot sticks or whether to just toss a Lunchable and a sports drink in their kid's book bag, or worse, just let them eat the swill that the school serves (hey
Wake up, world. Snap out of it, medical community. Open your eyes, dieticians.
Parenting can END childhood obesity.
We just have to tell parents the truth. Let them know what sort of crap they're feeding their kids. Educate the public on the dangers of soy and seed oils and HFCS. Help them fight the food industry and the government nutrition standards and demand good food in the stores.
What do you think? Is that all it takes? Just parents stepping up? What are your suggestions for ending / fighting childhood obesity? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
5 Comments:
You can only blame parents if the parents have the right information but don't use it. It wasn't long ago that I would have said whole grains were healthy. If I had children, I would have been feeding them wholemeal pasta, breads, etc. And given that they would have similar digestive systems to my own, this action could have well caused them to gain weight, and sent them spiraling into carb-cravings city.
Personally, I've always carried an extra bit of fat, although things didn't get out of control until University. But throughout my childhood, my Mum only fed us healthy food, kept us active, banned confectionery except for special holidays, and fast food wasn't even present in our town until I was 15. She bought low-fat food for me when I became unhappy with my weight at 14. She did everything right, as far as we knew. I wasn't ever obese, but if we hadn't lived on a farm with a steady supply of fresh meat, our meals could easily have been more carb-heavy and who knows where my weight could have ended up.
We can't blame parents for childhood obesity until the ones who dole out the information finally twig that what they're pushing is absolute rubbish.
Personally, I think you CAN blame parents. Shouldn't parents be making sure that everything they feed their child is healthy, and shouldn't they be willing to read and do a bit of reserach to learn about what is healthiest for their child?
Yes, there is a lot of misinformation out there, but I know way too many parents who feed their kids on stuff that is unhealthy no matter what plan you follow; they do it because it's easy and because they are too "busy" or just too lazy to bother preparing healthy snacks and meals for their kids.
Great post, and spot on!
A lot of parents are probably giving their kids easy-option foods eg crisps in their lunch boxes, fried frozen reconstituted potato shapes for tea.. so many aren't following nutritional guidelines, but even if they were and giving their kids lots of whole grain cereals, pasta and potatoes they'd be no better off.
Nutritionists talk nonsense. And that's the polite word for it.
Spot-on, EG. Unfortunately, this is all part-and-parcel of the vicious cycle established when parents (or any truly concerned adult, for that matter)try to make "informed" decisions from the tripe promoted and promulgated by "dietary experts".
Very few come equipped with the automatic, "question authority" default response that is so very necessary in vetting "expert advice".
I agree with you. We need to tell them the truth about the foods they are eating and don't allow are kids to eat processed foods with too much fructose on it.
Post a Comment
<< Home