Another reason to watch what your kids eat

How timely. My 15 yr old, very overweight, very hot dog/pizza/burgers, no veggie eating, non exercising nephew recently ended up with kidney stones. He passed one or two (ow!) and they found others on ultrasound and are trying to treat them with the wave treatment so they will pass (lithography? - can't recall what its called) Sad, I think.

Nan
 
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy....I only know this because I had a kidney stone in 2000. Not fun...but the treatment went very smoothly. Mine was caused by not drinking enough fluids.
 
Jodijodi, they were saying in an extended version of the article that not drinking enough water could also very well be a cause. It said that children need about 4 cups of water a day to help prevent kidney stones, but that most don't get near that much. Couple that with poor food choices and it's easy to see why it's on the rise in children.
 
Klaudia,

I know this is a touchy subject with some people but I so appreciate your posting the article. I am VERY aware of what my children eat and I know some disagree with me but let me give a little background.

My first son was born with severe food allergies, MILK, WHEAT SOY, EGGS NUTS, RED DYE etc etc. I spent months at Children's Hospital in Phila learning how to feed him and MYSELF since I was breast feeding. I was so fortunate to live near one of the best Children's Hospitals in the country.

My son never had junk food, ice cream, popsicles etc, because he COULDN'T. So he never wanted them. He would look at something colored BLUE and just couldn't stomach the thought of EATING it. He ate the apples and oranges and green veggies and carrots. He had his first taste of ice cream at age 6. he is 8 yrs now and likes it for a special occassion but doesn't seek it out.

The red dye- I gave him tylenol for a fever at age 2 and he was nothing but hives!!!! NOT allergic to tylenol, he has had it via suppositories. It was the red dye. If you notice, Benadryl, Motrin etc are all made now with a dye free alternative. There was a huge need for that!!!

When pregnant with my second son i was placed on an allergy free diet. No eggs, milk, peanuts etc. I ate veal , chicken and rice for nine months!!! My second son had NO food allergies except NUTS!!! BUT, he has a heart condition and is treated at duPont and CHOP. HIS diet also had to be monitored to low sodium, increased water etc etc. So agai, I went thru 2 years of food awareness and training.

And because I didn't have BLUE neon food in the house HE never wanted it either. He ate what I served everyone else. So he doesn't crave candy or cake or other junk either.

WOW, this is getting REALLY LONG SORRY!!!!

My point in telling all this is that we as parents CAN and SHOULD help our kids make better eating choices. WE are the adults with the knowledge and it is our RESPONSIBILITY as parents to provide the best food we possibly can. And we should be monitoring the amount they are eating too.

I don't deprive my children of snacks or candy or cake etc for special occassions. We all love our treats. But they are fed dinner with a fruit and a veggie and 3/4 of the time they don't want dessert because they are FULL!!!

I hope more parents can look at the food the kids eat and really ask, does something that is not necessary for our diet, really need to be colored BLUE, GREEN, neon orange etc?????????

ellie
 
Ellie, what a tough parenting road you've had! I agree with you 100%. And yes, it can be a struggle-it's not fun saying no to your kids, but sometimes you just have to, hoping one day they'll understand why and appreciate it.

My dad called me this morning to tell me he was proud of me. When I asked him why, he started reading the same article. He told me he wasn't going to bring the girls any more treats without my approval. I guess when it's in the paper, it's concrete, but when I blab about it, not so much;) I'm just glad he's getting the message. All the girls want anyway is to spend time with him and my mom!

I hope my posting doesn't get people angry again. I just thought the article had valuable information for all of us, kids or no.
 
Klaudia,

I learned sooooooooooo much about healthy eating for kids and their requirements. I never really had to say no to them (other than Peanuts) because they didn't even know that some of those things in the grocery store were FOOD!!!!

Another reason we don't take multivits is because all 50 (exxageration) nutrtionists, dieticians etc said my kids were getting enough in the food they eat. And i do the 20 min of sunshine for extral Vitamin D.

I do think this is an extremly important discussion to have, because being a Peds nurse and ER nurse i SEE the true effects of High blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and Statin drug use in 12 year olds!!!!!!!!! !2 years old and they are over 200 pounds. 12 years old and they are taking drugs that would be totally unneccesary if they lost weight. Drugs we don't know the long term consequnces of. Drugs that My 74 yr old mother doesn't need or take. Isn't that scary enough???? It is for me!!!

THANK YOU for keeping this topic out there. it is truly an eye opener and more parents need to be aware!!!
And while i am not a big believer in statistics (ex. Childproof caps mean that it takes 10min for 80% of kids to open it, ever wonder how long the other 20% can do it???? 1 minute!!!!) I can see with my own eyes that there are children who are considered morbidly obese at age 12!!!!!!!

ellie
 
Ellie I agree with you totally. My kids are grown now and both work in restaurants. They had very little junk food as kids. We had dinner altogether at night with fresh veggies, fruit, rice or pasta, salad and a fish or chicken. When they had cookies they were each given 2 and the box put away. If we had ice cream, they had a small bowl and it went back in the freezer. There were no other choices in the house except for plain yogurt, healthy cereal and dried fruits. We NEVER went to MacDonalds and would occasionally have pizza on Sunday evening. No one ever complained. And I have to mention water to drink. There was never soda in the house and I mean Never. Both my boys were and still are very athletic and they were never overweight or even sick. It is really not that hard. It just depends on what you have in your house and what meals you prepare. No one was ever told to clean their plate or to eat anything they really didn't like. I always made sure at dinner that there were choices so if you didn't like the veggie you could eat the salad etc. It is so important because it establishes life long habits and good health.
 
kgalas said:
I hope my posting doesn't get people angry again. I just thought the article had valuable information for all of us, kids or no.
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I don't think your last posting angered members. Maybe I'm wrong. What I find a little disturbing is when people judge parents for allowing a small amount of junk food. As if that is all they feed. I understand all about dietary displacement. I think it's a problem if the child is getting cheetos in place of veggies.
I have a problem with finger pointing such as this:

http://brangelina.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/another-junk-food-baby-article/

Come on! We can sit and scrutinize any parent at a quick glance.
My sister refused to allow her children any store bought milk. I don't blame her when I read what's in it! I can't tell you how many people thought she was awful. Oh, the kids were not getting their calcium.:rolleyes:
 
klaudia, great post!!!
we need reminders all the time - for our kids & ourselves!

wow on your dad!!! does this mean no more donuts & doritos from him?!:p
 
fit44 said:
I don't think your last posting angered members. Maybe I'm wrong. What I find a little disturbing is when people judge parents for allowing a small amount of junk food. As if that is all they feed. I understand all about dietary displacement. I think it's a problem if the child is getting cheetos in place of veggies.
I have a problem with finger pointing such as this:

http://brangelina.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/another-junk-food-baby-article/

Come on! We can sit and scrutinize any parent at a quick glance.
My sister refused to allow her children any store bought milk. I don't blame her when I read what's in it! I can't tell you how many people thought she was awful. Oh, the kids were not getting their calcium.:rolleyes:
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That whole Brangelina thing is ridiculous and frankly none of use know what really goes on anywhere. I disagree with all the finger pointing also. I don't condemn others for what they choose to feed their children. I just think it is mighty scary that soooo many young children are obese and being treated for diseases that were once found only in the aging population.

And believe me I have had a lot of finger pointing directed at me- my kids only had glass bottles with silicone nipples. GLASS!!!! I was not a big plastic person because it seemed that every kid's bottle i smelled was disgusting and they never came clean. I used silicone nipples (clear) so as not to expose them to Latex (brown nipples) at such young ages. Due to their allergies.

Nothing against a bag of doritos or pretzels, I like them myself- I just don't think that's ALL they should eat.

ellie
 
elliemom said:
I just think it is mighty scary that soooo many young children are obese and being treated for diseases that were once found only in the aging population.
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I agree there are more over weight children today than when you and I were kids. So much has changed, but junk food has been around a long time.
I think activity levels have dropped significantly.
Thousands of children come home to an empty house because both parents need to work. SAHM's are luxury these days.. Most of these children are instructed to stay in, not answer the door or phone, watch tv until the parents get home..
As a kid, I rarely sat in front of the television! We had one tiny black and white in the house. We didn't have video games either.
Our neighborhood was safe to roam. I came home from school and ran until the street lights came on. I biked miles every day. OMG, it was sheer torture if I was grounded!
The neighbors kept an eye out on all of us too. My neighbors would call my mother if I wasn't behaving, and my mother listened! Now, if you tell someone their kid has misbehaved, you're the bad guy.
 
Cynthia, I agree that junk food may have been around back in the day, but it wasn't as readily accessible, nor were the portions as enormous as they are now. And I have to disagree on your comment about SAHM's being a luxury. I am a SAHM whose husband has gotten 2 huge paycuts in the past two months. It's a financial sacrifice to stay home and try to do everything on one income that keeps shrinking. And feeding 3 children and a husband who I swear has a tapeworm a healthy, varied, diet is near impossible, but I manage. My parents both worked when I was a child and I was one of those shut-ins many times, but that didn't give me free rein to eat and do what I pleased. My dad would know exactly what he bought and what we ate and boy would we be in trouble if we didn't follow the rules!

As for video games-they're not a necessity! I grew up in the age of Atari, but we never had it! I think a lot of it-what we feed our kids, what we buy them, etc. boils down to wanting to be friends with our kids. We don't want them to want (cry) for anything which is a bad thing. We need to be parents first. I'm lucky enough that we live in a neighborhood where we all look after each other's kids and can talk to each other about their behavior if necessary.
 
kgalas said:
Cynthia, I agree that junk food may have been around back in the day, but it wasn't as readily accessible, nor were the portions as enormous as they are now. And I have to disagree on your comment about SAHM's being a luxury. I am a SAHM whose husband has gotten 2 huge paycuts in the past two months. It's a financial sacrifice to stay home and try to do everything on one income that keeps shrinking.
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I agree, but I'm glad you said it! :eek:I've always been a SAHM, and in the beginning of my DH's career- we struggled! We had one car for many many years. We lived pretty poor actually, but we both felt me staying at home was best for us. Yes, it required A LOT of sacrifice.


kgalas said:
My parents both worked when I was a child and I was one of those shut-ins many times, but that didn't give me free rein to eat and do what I pleased. My dad would know exactly what he bought and what we ate and boy would we be in trouble if we didn't follow the rules!
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That is more the exception than the rule today. Junk food and TV seems to make for a great babysitter.
FWIW, my mom was SAHM and my father worked for the railroad. My parents raised 5 kids on a very small income. The food was kind of scarce at times in our house. We got by. It just wasn't important. I did scrounge up soda bottles to cash in for candy at the penny candy store. But like you mentioned, portion sizes were very small back then. (Gosh, I'm sounding old:pDid I mention I walked to school up hill- both ways?:D)

kgalas said:
We need to be parents first. I'm lucky enough that we live in a neighborhood where we all look after each other's kids and can talk to each other about their behavior if necessary.
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Boy, we may be related;) I couldn't agree more!
Children have one set of parents. They have many friends, but they need someone to set rules and guide them.
I have two grown boys(men now). Both are in college, both have never have been in trouble with drugs/alcohol, and both are required to remain respectful to me and my husband at ALL times. Teen years were a breeze because we were parents from day one.
Now that they are older, we have developed a more friend type relationship. I have to admit, it's great!
 
From the looks of your avatar, I wish we were related:) I tell my daughter everyday, I'm your mom, not your friend. And I hope one day all three of my dds will be my best friends! Kudos to you on a job well done!
 
kgalas said:
And I hope one day all three of my dds will be my best friends!
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My mother was tough on me growing up. She had some tough rules, but was my best friend in my adult life. She passed away 5 years ago and I miss her more than anyone can imagine.:( There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her, or talk to her. I don't think you could ever have a better friend in your adult life than your mother.:)
 
fit44 said:
I don't think your last posting angered members. Maybe I'm wrong. What I find a little disturbing is when people judge parents for allowing a small amount of junk food. As if that is all they feed. I understand all about dietary displacement. I think it's a problem if the child is getting cheetos in place of veggies.
I have a problem with finger pointing such as this:

http://brangelina.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/another-junk-food-baby-article/

Come on! We can sit and scrutinize any parent at a quick glance.
My sister refused to allow her children any store bought milk. I don't blame her when I read what's in it! I can't tell you how many people thought she was awful. Oh, the kids were not getting their calcium.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

What Cynthia said! Heck, I'm amazed how many parents let their kids sit in front of the boob tube all day and how their homes are devoid of books. At the end of the day parenting styles and values differ and what might fly in my home won't in someone elses.
 
Beavs said:
What Cynthia said! At the end of the day parenting styles and values differ and what might fly in my home won't in someone elses.
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Yeup, . . I totally agree. With Cynthia and Beaves. Everyone parents differently and both my kids know I'm NOT their best friend I'm their mom. My kids eat a veggie and or fruit with every meal but on the small occassions after our family bike rides I'll treat them to an ice cream cone at the local mom and pop ice cream shop. I would hate to think that because I allow my kids a treat I'm some sort of evil mom who is feeding my kids a bunch a crud and contributing to the obesity epidemic. By the way my kids are not overweight. It was not about being angry about was said when this topic was posted before but more so about some of the comments made coming off a tad bit judgemental.
 
My husband, who works construction, use to only drink pop at work, then he switched to water but had to have it flavored with that nestea low calorie stuff. Shortly after a few months of drinking those "waters" he had passed two stones. He was in so much pain I couldn't imagine a child going through that. We were very close to going to the hospital but I was such a good nurse we didn't ;) Besides I think the only treatment they would have given is pain killers and for us to wait it out.

They say they are not sure how kidney stones are caused but I definatley think not drink enough old fashion water has something to do with it.
 
I do not have children, so I can't comment much on this article. I just wanted to add that Dr. Joel Fuhrman has a book called "Disease Proof your Child, Feeding Kids Right". Here is a synopsis of the book I am pasting from his site:

Dr. Fuhrman presents the fascinating science that demonstrates how the current epidemic of adult cancers and other diseases is most closely linked to what we eat in the first quarter of life. He explains how a nutrient–rich diet increases a child’s resistance to common childhood illnesses like asthma, ear infections, and allergies. Additionally, Dr. Fuhrman illustrates how eating his nutrient–rich diet during childhood is the most powerful weapon against developing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune disorders in the future. Disease–Proof Your Child, provides nutrient–rich dietary recommendations for children, and even offers guidelines and recipes that get even the pickiest eaters to enjoy healthy food.


Monica
 
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