# Stop feeding your kid!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 3, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157 "2006-08-03T05:42:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/21 "2006-08-03T14:04:54Z")
> [@Silver Fire](#): > > Breakfasts are usually heaping bowls of sweetened, fake-marshmallow laden cereal, plus toast, plus pancakes, plus candy (CANDY FOR BREAKFAST), plusplusplus. Lunch is a bucket of fried chicken, a whole medium pizza, some ribs (and then they show this fat kid with barbeque sauce all over him and the mom is like “OMFG, y’all, look at my baby! So cute!”), soda, mac ‘n’ cheese… Dinners are the same, but they also eat snacks and cakes and candy throughout the day, and bottles ( **bottles** , as in “baby”, and these kids are, like, two) full of soda and milk all day. This makes me want to cry. ---
**Author:** ![abbeytxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@abbeytxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbeytxs)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/22 "2006-08-03T14:16:32Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Strange. So the female hormones are making kids fat? > > I’m just not sure how it relates! Well the only time I ever tried taking the pill I gained 20#. Then again that was when I was a freshman in college and maybe it was just the usual freshman 20. Hmmm. I have no idea what the connection is. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/23 "2006-08-03T14:17:00Z")
Just the other weekend my wife and I were trying to beat the heat and made a rare stop at a **Cold Stone Creamery**. We each got a flavor of their ice cream in the smallest “like it” size with no mix-ins (candy, topping, etc.). We both commented on “geez, this is the small size. Who could eat more than this. There’s at least a half pint of ice cream here.” Then the “XXXL family” came in. “Okay”, I thought “They’re allowed to have ice cream too.” Even though the Mom, Dad, Son team really should have been dieting I tried not to be judgemental on their food choices. But DAMN!! They each got their own “gotta have it” size (the largest) with the multiple mix-ins. Looking up the nutrition figures on Coldstone’s website it looks like they each consumed 1470 calories and 90 grams of fat (43 grams saturated) in one sitting. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/24 "2006-08-03T14:23:36Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > I know a couple who have a 4 year old daughter who wears a (kids) size 10. The child is enormous. I don’t see much of them, but every time I do, I want to slap them. The kid makes any sort of whiny sound, and they say “Want a cookie?” What the fuck? After the 10th “Want a cookie?”, I really can’t help but to start interjecting “Want a _carrot_? Or even better, want to find some way to amuse yourself that doesn’t involve chewing?” Sometimes, when I’m tired, my cat wants attention and I will giver her a treat to keep her quiet. I will say to her as I do this. “Please substitute food for love.” ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/25 "2006-08-03T15:41:10Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Just the other weekend my wife and I were trying to beat the heat and made a rare stop at a **Cold Stone Creamery**. > We each got a flavor of their ice cream in the smallest “like it” size with no mix-ins (candy, topping, etc.). > We both commented on “geez, this is the small size. Who could eat more than this. There’s at least a half pint of ice cream here.” > Then the “XXXL family” came in. “Okay”, I thought “They’re allowed to have ice cream too.” Even though the Mom, Dad, Son team really should have been dieting I tried not to be judgemental on their food choices. > But DAMN!! They each got their own “gotta have it” size (the largest) with the multiple mix-ins. > Looking up the nutrition figures on Coldstone’s website it looks like they each consumed 1470 calories and 90 grams of fat (43 grams saturated) in one sitting. Yeah, but they made up for it because at dinner they had “Lean Pockets” instead of “Hot Pockets” and when the telephone survey guy called they said, “yeah, today we ate healthy and had one snack.” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/26 "2006-08-03T15:44:44Z")
Please excuse my delay in getting back here. I have had a minor parrot situation. We know that all hormones effect weight gain and a hundred different body functions. Is it a coincidence that the environment being flooded with this stuff coincided with a huge epidemic of obesity? Maybe. Could be. But can we really say that all these fat people are suffering from nothing more than a moral failing? All at once? This seems to appeal to the Mrs Grundy in us all. But perhaps we are scolding people to avoid facing other more complex possibilities. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/27 "2006-08-03T15:45:28Z")
We have lots of kids in our neighborhood. When the weather is nice, they are outside for hours. Usually, they’re on their bikes or running up and down the street. (We live on a long court). They used to have a basketball goal, but it blew over and got broken in a storm. Our basketball goal is permanently in place (in concrete), so we let them use it pretty much any time they ask. I’ll gladly take two minutes to move my car so they can get some exercise. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/28 "2006-08-03T15:50:28Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > I have had a minor parrot situation. Um…explain? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/29 "2006-08-03T15:51:04Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Yeah, but they made up for it because at dinner they had “Lean Pockets” instead of “Hot Pockets” Of course, they’re really only “lean” if you don’t eat **FOUR OF THEM AT ONE SITTING**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/30 "2006-08-03T15:52:28Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > OK… so… if kids start getting fatter, then the “50%” starts going up too, no? But so would it if kids started getting bigger as in more muscle, no? I mean, just because someone is in the whatever percentile that doesn’t mean it’s healthy or unhealthy. > > Maybe I just paid too much attention in Applied Statistics. I’m not sure about this. My understanding, which could be wrong, is that the percentiles are static and don’t get updated with fresh data on a regular basis, so that for example in a given year it would be possible for more than 50% of children to be above the 50th percentile in height and weight. Perhaps some medical professional or anyone else who knows what they’re talking about could confirm/refute this. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/31 "2006-08-03T15:55:11Z")
I wanna hear about the parrot situation, too! I love Onan! And I dunno so much about a moral failing. Just maybe that times have changed. Food is easily available, and fatty food. Everyone’s got a car. Parents are frightened to let their kids go out alone, fairly or unfairly. Lots of work is at desks. I think it is a societal issue; I’m not sure if I’m prepared to attritube it all to hormones in the water or anything. I’m sure it could be part of the reason… but not all. Averie, I’m glad to hear that at least somewhere kids are playing. Although I’m turning into a geezer…I don’t particularly want them playing right in front of my apartment. Out back would be OK (in the current place. The new place is different.) Hey, you kids! Get off the lawn! ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/32 "2006-08-03T15:56:47Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > There was a [story](http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/15187416.htm?source=rss&channel=cctimes_nation) yesterday that said that most obese people claim to have healthy eating habits. About 40% claimed to exercise vigorously at least 3 times per week. > > I really question whether people understand what it means to “eat healthy” and “exercise vigorously”. Take it easy on her, she’s only 10. She’s very active, and she’s not obese. Not everyone who’s overweight is obese, you know. I probably should have also specified that she, like most people in my family, has hypothyroidism. Try losing a pound when you’ve got that, no matter how much you exercise or how little you eat. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/33 "2006-08-03T16:07:17Z")
Dunno about hormones, but a few years ago I sat down to dinner with my niece aged 8, and she and I were served the same portion size by my mother-in-law: 2 big lumps of steak and a whole plate of fries. And peas. I couldn’t finish mine, but niece did. This is how her mother feeds her too. She’s now 11 and obese and suffering badly from bullying at school. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/34 "2006-08-03T16:07:34Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I think it is a combination of Fast Food, zero cooking skills nowadays ( who here is not guilty of a pizza roll/ramen noodle/pop tart breakfast?) and the fact that kids just don’t play outside anymore. Not to mention that healthful TV dinners are much more expensive than a burger & fries. [Here’s a good article on the subect ($2.95 fee).](https://secure.washingtoncitypaper.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=q:%5CDocRoot/2000/000616/OBESITY&search=diabetes&SearchString=diabetes&AuthorLastName=&IssueDate=mm%2Fdd%2Fyyyy&SelectYear=All&next.x=91&next.y=11) ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/35 "2006-08-03T16:08:38Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > But can we really say that all these fat people are suffering from nothing more than a moral failing? All at once? No, but I don’t think we can assign any definitive cause for widespread obesity- natural, chemical, or moral. Sure the added hormones and chemicals hurt our natural metabolism, but years of economic plenty have skewed our internal sense of what is “enough”. Portion sizes have doubled, and a great many foods have added sugar, fat, and chemicals. Cooking and eating healthy, and exercising take time, planning, and (in the case of buying whole foods) money. America has devolved into a cheap, fast, and easy society. Some by choice in the beginning, but the parents who made those choices raised children who knew no better. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/36 "2006-08-03T16:09:22Z")
The parrot just fell off his perch and needed some loving. It hurts his pride more than anything else. Now he is back to ripping the shells off peanuts, disposing of the nut and eating the shells. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/37 "2006-08-03T16:12:38Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > The parrot just fell off his perch and needed some loving. It hurts his pride more than anything else. > > Now he is back to ripping the shells off peanuts, disposing of the nut and eating the shells. He fell off his perch? Heh, sounds like my bird. She once looked up at us while we were eating\*, met eyes with us, and raced toward us - smack into the bars of the cage. She was a bit stunned. \*She had to be locked in her cage during food time, or she’d jump in the food. Not good if, say, the food was hot. Once she jumped into a bowl of rice and splattered it everywhere. Then she looked at me all innocent-like. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/38 "2006-08-03T16:28:00Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > We know that all hormones effect weight gain and a hundred different body functions. Is it a coincidence that the environment being flooded with this stuff coincided with a huge epidemic of obesity? I’m completely not buying this. There’s a much simpler, more direct explanation – people are eating too much, and the wrong things. These fat kids aren’t drinking water, they’re drinking juice and soda. They’re not eating salads, they’re eating microwaveable Pizza Pockets. The culprits are easy to identify here – prepared foods, loaded with fats, particularly transfats, fast food ditto, and sweetened drinks. It’s an entire eating culture that’s out of whack. I have to admit that fat kids trigger one of my baseline prejudices. Kids aren’t fat by accident, they’re fat because their parents aren’t making them eat right. And these kids are being dealt a condition of suboptimal health that may limit them all their lives. I was at the playground the other day, and there was this chubby kid who wanted to swing from the bar. Unfortunately, because of her weight, she had a vertical leap of about an inch. It was heartbreaking to see this kid losing out – even if in a trivial way – because of a totally unnecessary limitation. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/39 "2006-08-03T16:30:36Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > The parrot just fell off his perch and needed some loving. So now he’s nailed there? The problem with your theory, **Paul** , is that it’s a wild-ass guess. (“it seems _likely_?”) Could there be another explanation? Maybe, but the fact that obesity is common doesn’t suggest that the problem is environmental rather than a combination of people’s eating, exercising and working habits. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/40 "2006-08-03T16:32:05Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > Take it easy on her, she’s only 10. She’s very active, and she’s not obese. Not everyone who’s overweight is obese, you know. I probably should have also specified that she, like most people in my family, has hypothyroidism. Try losing a pound when you’ve got that, no matter how much you exercise or how little you eat. It was yours, not hers, whose judgment I was questioning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157.md?page=3)