VERY overweight nephew - help

[shakeubooty]

>Kids need to get outside more. Everything is video games,
>DVD's, and computers. I hope this changes someday!
>

I agree with this 100%! And it's not just the overweight kids that have an issue with this. I'm constantly telling my kids who are not overweight at all to go outside and play catch, shoot hoops, ride their bike, do ANYTHING! Other parents with kids my age complain about the same thing. We didn't have all these temptations growing up although I do admit to being a bookworm as a kid and that kept me inside quite a bit. (My parents threw me out of the house, too.)

Would it be possible for you or someone else to take your nephew under your wing a bit and spend time with him outdoors shooting hoops or playing catch? If he starts to lose a little weight, he might be encouraged by this. IMO no overweight teen wants to be overweight. Maybe he just needs a little help getting started.

Sue

 

[cakebaker]

Nancy -

My experience was similar to yours. No junk in the house, so I snuck it whenever I could. I developed a binge approach to junk, I'm sure, because of this - all or nothing because it won't be there tomorrow. Of course, I KNOW it will be there tomorrow because I'm in charge of buying food now, but it took me a long time to get over it.

 

[nancy324]

It took me a long time too, cakebaker. I think you and I are in a small minority, though, coming from health-food families. To this day, I still don't eat as healthily as my Mom does, but I do admit that the training certainly did influence me, and these days I probably eat more veggies and fruits than most people do.

 

[EricaH]

Nancy - I had the same experience as you also with the health food. Before I was old enough to drive, I would beg my friends to share their lunches with me and even their Easter baskets (how humiliating!) because my stuff was always healthy and so boring compared to what everyone else had. When I was old enough to drive, I did the same as you with the junk food and ended up having eating disorders for most of my life - alternating between binge eating, bulimia and anorexia.

I feel like it's a losing battle trying to get my kids to eat healthy. Starting in preschool, they are exposed to junk food and get a taste for it. They see their friends' lunches at school and complain about their "healthy" lunches and always push for more and more junk because of what they see other kids eating. The teachers constantly use candy for rewards, so the kids are getting junk on top of what is already sent with them for school. It's so frustrating. As it is, I think my kids are eating too much junk and they still aren't satisfied and feel deprived.

By the way, my kids are all slim (in fact, two are a little underweight) and I try to keep them active.

Erica

 

[nancy324]

That's interesting, Erica. You and me and cakebaker are kind of like the opposite of everyone else. You know, I remember a couple of kids at school being fascinated by the whole wheat bread on my sandwiches when I was a kid in the 60s. There wasn't much whole wheat bread around in those days. Of course, the stuff they called "whole wheat" then wouldn't even be allowed into my mother's house now. LOL.

I imagine it must be very tough controlling what your kids eat. I must admit, in the long run, I'm grateful to my Mom. I'm sure your kids will thank you some day too.

 

[dorothyrd]

We were not deprived of junk when we were small. We had lots of fruits and veggies because we had fruit trees, and a huge garden and I loved fresh fruit and veggies, tomatoes were like candy to me. However, my Mom comes from a Slavic background, and knew how to bake lots of great pastries, yum. Plus she would buy junk, and then nag at me when I wanted to eat some of it. I would ask why she bought it, and she would tell me my brother and father were slim, so could eat it and us girls(there are 3 sisters), should not eat it. That led to sneaking food, and binging when I was my daughters age, 14. Funny, my brother is now obese, and none of us girls are. Dad is still slim, but extremely active at age 76.

With my kids I try to teach moderation. Treats are OK, but binging is not. Treats do not need to be gobbled down like they will disappear. With my daughter, her favorite fast food is subway, which is good. My 19 year old son is getting in the bad habit of eating a lot of fast food(college!), and though he is 6 foot and 145, I talk to him about the possible damage that this type of diet does to his heart. He loves fruits, so at least gets that in. He also drinks my skim milk like it is going out of style, and instead of soda, I have been getting 100% fruit juice. I know the sugar is still there, but perhaps it is better.

Edited to add, August Good Housekeeping has an article on some women who were big losers. Read it, the emotion they had at being big will help people understand what an obese person feels like. They were all motivated to do something, but not before they were extremely obese.