# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/61 "2006-08-03T19:09:12Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > Soda doesn’t have any fat. It does, however, have sugar, unless it is diet soda, so it is full of calories. > > Why, when the issue of kids drinking too much soda comes up, does no one ever mention that there’s a simple and easy solution that doesn’t require much change of lifestyle- drink diet soda instead of regular? That sort of small change is, IMO, much more likely to succeed than recommending a complete overhaul of these people’s diets and lifestyles (beneficial as that might be, it just isn’t going to happen for most of them). Whoops - obviously I meant to say it _makes_ you fat. You know, I’ve gained a little bit of weight lately. (Not a whole lot, just a little tummy fat.) I used to have a huge Coke habit. I thought, hey, this isn’t good for me, I’ll quit, and I’ll lose weight! Haven’t lost a pound. Do feel better, though. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/62 "2006-08-03T19:14:23Z")
I had a revelation today in my quest to lose the last 10 (I’m down to 135 now from 175). This morning in my commuter haste, I didn’t make the coffee. So I figured I’d go to Starbucks, grab a house blend, and hell, some breakfast too. My eyes glaze over “cheese danish” (brain: no, the cheese has too many calories!) “apple fritter” (fried and sugary, no go) and finally land on “zucchini walnut muffin” (brain: A HA! Vegetables, nuts and whole grain!) Then I looked up the nutritional information (of course, this was after I ate it, so the damage was done). Cheese danish: 320 k/cal Apple fritter: 540 k/cal Muffin: 640 k/cal :eek: I feel like a sucker. And the lesson is: always read the nutritional information! ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/63 "2006-08-03T19:19:47Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > When I was a kid, soda was a treat. Now it’s consumed daily by most kids. > And drinking a whole large bottle? That was unheard of. Word. When I was little, we never bought those large bottle unless we were having a party. My mom would only let us have one kind of sugar cereal at a time, and we had to finish the three or four other boxes of unsugared cereal before we could get another. We had dessert only after dinner, and I don’t remember suffering because of it. My mom did make sure we had things like fruit, fruit roll-ups, trail mix, potato salad, crackers, etc. to eat after school, although we did also buy thing like potato chips and oatmeal cookies too. My parents also had the “two bite” rule. We never had to “clean our plates” but we were expected to eat two bites of everything. We weren’t perfect, we did eat junk food, but it was a treat, not a meal. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/64 "2006-08-03T19:22:53Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > 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) Plus the high cost of staying informed on the subject. ---
**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, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/65 "2006-08-03T19:24:17Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > I have about one or two a year. I don’t consider that a lifestyle choice for someone that doesn’t eat right. I eat OK - meaning I don’t pig out and deep fry my oreos, but I don’t always eat my vegetables either. “Not eating the worst possible way” does not equal “eating OK”. I fully agree that people with good eating and exercise habits can indulge in cake and ice from time to time. I don’t agree that anyone with good eating habits EVER would indulge in a single snack that has 1470 calories, 90 grams of fat. That is nothing less than gluttony and reflective of a questionable relationship with food. That’s a quantity of food that I would be willing to wager DID NOT EXIST for purchase in a single serving 20+ years ago. Maybe not even 10 years ago. . .in a “pre Cheesecake Factory” era. In other words, that’s not a food product that was created to meet a consumer demand. It’s a food product that was created in conjunction with a marketing strategy. If you want to be putty in their hands, be my guest. ---
**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, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/66 "2006-08-03T19:28:23Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > Plus the high cost of staying informed on the subject. I read the free version when it was originally published. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/67 "2006-08-03T19:28:55Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > Plus, have you looked at an elementary school lunch? They are full of calories and fat… The problem with this line of reasoning, though, is that school lunches have always been strachy, fatty messes. You want to see a horror show of a dinner menu? You should see what I used to eat every day. I still didn’t crack 150 pounds until I was 20. Kids used to be able to eat this stuff because they were constantly in motion whenever they had free time. When I was young, playing sports was the default setting for any boy under 16. If you had a good reason, you might not be, it was assumed you were. We didn’t have obesity in children then, as far as I could tell. Our neighborhood “fat kid” was 5’0 and about 140 when he was 10. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/68 "2006-08-03T19:31:11Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > “Not eating the worst possible way” does not equal “eating OK”. > > I fully agree that people with good eating and exercise habits can indulge in cake and ice from time to time. > > I don’t agree that anyone with good eating habits EVER would indulge in a single snack that has 1470 calories, 90 grams of fat. That is nothing less than gluttony and reflective of a questionable relationship with food. > > That’s a quantity of food that I would be willing to wager DID NOT EXIST for purchase in a single serving 20+ years ago. Maybe not even 10 years ago. . .in a “pre Cheesecake Factory” era. In other words, that’s not a food product that was created to meet a consumer demand. It’s a food product that was created in conjunction with a marketing strategy. If you want to be putty in their hands, be my guest. I’ve never heard of this snack. :eek: Maybe we don’t have it in Canada? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/69 "2006-08-03T19:39:54Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I was severely overprotected and I was _still_ out every day from dawn till dusk if I could manage it. And thus, as a kid anyway, I was always skinny as a toothpick. Yeah, same here-I was a twig when I was little. I filled out in junior high, but I’ve always been pretty small-it’s only in the last few years that I noticed I was gaining a bit of weight. I was always outside playing on the swings and riding my bike. I was also not over-indulged-sure I got junk food, but they were treats-NOT routine food. Maybe some snacks like popcorn or potato chips in the evening, but even then a small bowl. I also was probably one of the few kids who actually loved eating my vegetables. ---
**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, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/70 "2006-08-03T19:42:47Z")
Out of curiosity (because there aren’t any Cold Stone Creamery places around here), I went to their website and took a look at their nutritional info for ice cream. :eek: In the “Gotta Have It” sizes, every regular\* ice cream listed had at least 47 grams of fat for that size serving, and some had as high as 68 grams of fat. \*I did not count the Sinless San Sugar, Sorbets, or Light Ice creams The peanut butter ice cream, for a “Gotta Have It” size (Gotta Have It size is measured at 397 grams of ice cream) was 68 grams of fat and 1040 calories. Christ on a parfait! That makes me feel a lot better about my treat choices. I usually go to Sonic and get a Vanilla Cone(180 cal and 6 grams of fat) or, if the occasion is really special, a Regular Root Beer Float(300 cal and 8 grams of fat)…according to Sonic’s nutritional info. Still not the healthiest treat around, but I eat one of those maybe once a month. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/71 "2006-08-03T19:43:02Z")
I started changing my dietary habits slowly by first eliminating sugary sodas from my regular diet and switching to diet soda. This year I decided to change it even more by eliminating almost all foods that I can’t make myself in my kitchen and limiting my dining out to once a month. This means that if I wanted a BBQ sandwich I have to make the sauce myself and smoke the meat myself. Since potato chips are no longer on the menu I eat raw fruit for my snack and either have cereal or yogurt and fruit for breakfast. (I don’t make my own yogurt.) Is it really more expensive to eat healthy then it is to eat junk? I only ask because so far my household food budget has gone down and since I never budgeted eating out money with the household food that doesn’t enter into the picture. Beef is on the menue about 2-3 times a week and it’s usually in haburger form. Chicken is relatively cheap if you buy it whole or if you buy the legs or thighs. Maybe the fact that I eat less has something to do with the money I’m saving. We went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch today and I ordered one of my regular meals and was surprised at how bloated it left me feeling. A few months ago this meal wouldn’t have been anything but it’s surprising how easily you get used to a reasonable diet once you make an effort. Marc ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/72 "2006-08-03T19:47:32Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > I eat OK - meaning I don’t pig out and deep fry my oreos, It is a discouraging sign of our times that I read this and thought, “I should try that.” ---
**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, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/73 "2006-08-03T19:50:53Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > The problem with this line of reasoning, though, is that school lunches have always been strachy, fatty messes. I didn’t realize I was using this as a “line of reasoning” for anything. In fact, I believe I stated earlier that there is no one factor that can be blamed for obesity in children. It’s a combination of uninvolved parents, lifestyle changes in our society, and a skewed sense of how much we should eat. That schools don’t seem to set a good example, either, for balanced eating is just one piece of the puzzle, as is lack of exercise, education, or motivation. ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/74 "2006-08-03T19:52:29Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > Is it really more expensive to eat healthy then it is to eat junk? I only ask because so far my household food budget has gone down and since I never budgeted eating out money with the household food that doesn’t enter into the picture. Beef is on the menue about 2-3 times a week and it’s usually in haburger form. Chicken is relatively cheap if you buy it whole or if you buy the legs or thighs. Maybe the fact that I eat less has something to do with the money I’m saving. It is definitely more expensive if you’re traveling for work and **can’t** cook for yourself. And, cooking a good meal takes a lot more time than nuking a pre-packaged fat (and salt) laden entree. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/75 "2006-08-03T19:53:18Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > When I hear “20 pounds in a month”, I don’t think “kicks ass”. > > I think “dehydrated”, “fad diet”, “unsustainable” and ultimately “unmaintainable”. What you should have been thinking is “typo.” It should have said “20 pounds in the last few months”, as in 4.5. Sorry. But I’ll take **Lord Ashtar** ’s congrats anyway. 😃 Oh, and thanks, **Dung Beetle**. I often suspected that corn was a huge issue. But when I tell people about the Great Government Corn Conspiracy, they look at me like I’m nuts. Idiots! ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/76 "2006-08-03T20:12:21Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > I didn’t realize I was using this as a “line of reasoning” for anything. You honestly didn’t think that trying to identify the cause of a social phenomenon requires a line of reasoning? Well, anyway, if anything, school lunches have gotten healthier than they were when I was a kid. My kids have been in three school districts, and each sends home a menu for the month, with information on calories and fat. They don’t do that badly. I’m sure they’re not planning on kids getting more than 2000 calories during the rest of the day, but I think it would be odd if they did. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/77 "2006-08-03T20:14:43Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > When I hear “20 pounds in a month”, I don’t think “kicks ass”. > > I think “dehydrated”, “fad diet”, “unsustainable” and ultimately “unmaintainable”. > > I got heavy after my knee surgery in 2001. When I finally got serious about taking the weight off in 2003, I took off 25 pounds in a YEAR. I haven’t put an ounce back on. And yet other people who have trouble losing weight are just “lazy” to you, like **yellowval** ’s niece? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/78 "2006-08-03T20:15:45Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > 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. Jeeeeeeesus. I’ve always been a candy, chocolate and ice cream fan, but 1470 calories in a sitting? > [@FaerieBeth](#): > > Plus, have you looked at an elementary school lunch? They are full of calories and fat\*. I know schools are trying to reform the “school lunch” but it’s being done too little, too late. > > \ > > (btw- this is what I observe in my own district, and does not reflect what may or may not be happening nationwide) I read an article some time back in a political magazine (not sure which one; possibly _Mother Jones_) about the influence of the meat and dairy industries on high school lunch menu decisions. Basiucally, the author says that every attempt at the local level to improve things is thwarted higher up by people who make big decisions on bulk purchasing for school menus. Here is an [online article](http://www.earthsave.org/news/polsmd.htm) that makes a similar point: > [@](#): > > It’s no secret that our taxpayer dollars are hard at work promoting the meat and dairy industries. In May, USDA Secretary Dan Glickman proudly announced that his agency had purchased 8 million pounds of beef and pork commodities at a cost of approximately $9 million. These purchases are part of the USDA’s $30 million pork and $30 million beef bonus annual buyouts. At the same time, the USDA announced plans to purchase up to $8 million of lamb products to offset that industry’s surplus. “These bonus buys support the livestock industries by bolstering producer prices,” said Glickman in the announcement. The beef, pork and lamb are to be distributed to the National School Lunch Program and other food assistance programs to increase their stocks of “high-quality protein” items. > > Dairy farmers also benefit from the USDA’s generous bailouts. Typically, the USDA purchases 73 million pounds of cheese annually to help boost sagging dairy prices. With dairy prices falling about 30 percent in 1996, a number of U.S. senators and representatives asked Glickman to help the dairy industry by purchasing large amounts of cheese for use in the 1997 “school feeding programs.” The fruit and vegetable industry just doesn’t have the same sort of influence. > [@LionelHutz405](#): > > When I was a kid, soda was a treat. Now it’s consumed daily by most kids. And drinking a whole large bottle? That was unheard of. That was true in our house, too. On the rare occasions we got soda, the largest size was generally a can (375ml, or about 12oz), and i usually had to share that with my sister. But i really think the amount of exercise kids get has changed. In school, we played cricket or rugby or soccer or basketball at every opportunity. Half an hour for lunch? We’d be kicking a ball around. And after school we would all get together and ride our bikes all over the neighborhood. In high school, we not only played pick-up games at lunch or after school, but almost everyone was involved in school sporting teams. I’m sure this still happens in many schools, but it seems to me that many kids get little or no exercise in their everyday lives. Of course, money is an issue too. My high school was a government-run (not pirvate) boarding school that was well funded with good facilities, and we had 4 full-sized football/soccer fields, 6 tennis courts, cricket nets, a new gymnasium, outdoor basketball courts, and a 33 meter swimmming pool. In such surroundings, it’s easy to get interested in healthy activities. > [@tdn](#): > > I would be careful in judging strangers based on seeing them at a single outing. Sure, it’s quite possible that they got fat by eating so much ice cream, but it’s also possible that there’s more to the story. > > And I’ve seen more than one Pit thread go nasty over such an observation. > > When I first got into work this morning, the first thing I did was grab a donut. No doubt some people saw that and said “Wow, no wonder he’s fat.” What they don’t see is my fairly healthy eating the rest of the time, nor do they see the 20 pounds I’ve lost over the past month. I sort of agree with you here (congratulations on the weight loss, BTW), but with some caveats. For most of my life i’ve been fit and healthy. Never really a jock, but i played a lot of sports in school, and after leaving school kept myself fit by running and lifting weights. I only really started to put on weight in grad school, when the sedentary lifestyle that comes with reading books all day combined with my own poor time management to reduce the amount of time spent on exercise to almost zero. While i don’t really look that fat when i have clothes on, i went from my fit and healthy weight of about 168-170 pounds (at 6’ tall) to about 195. Back in April i got sick of squeezing into my pants and started running again, and i now run 5 miles about 5-6 times a week, as well as playing softball a couple of times a week. When i exercise regularly, i also tend to eat better, because i don’t snack between meals so much. I don’t actually weigh myself often because we don’t have a set of scales in the house, but since i started exercising i’ve managed to pull my belt in almost two full notches. But—and here’s where i take some issue with what you said—the fact is that eating donuts or ice cream contributes to making people fat. Sure, the person who sees you eating a donut probably doesn’t know about your recent weight loss, but it’s probably still reasonable to conclude that your original weight gain can be attributed to eatting crap like that. Same with me. Despite my improved fitness and my gradually shrinking waistline, i still eat sweet shit like donuts and ice cream, and i have no trouble admitting that they are unhealthy and contribute to my girth. Even if someone is working on a weight loss and/or exercise program like you and i are, if you’re overweight and eating crap, then you’re contributing to your own problem. I’m not going to make a moral issue out of it; i see it as nothing more than a basic fact. I know that i’d lose weight faster if i stopped eating crap altogether, but i choose not to because i like sweet stuff. I just try to be sensible about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/79 "2006-08-03T20:16:22Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > Plus, have you looked at an elementary school lunch? They are full of calories and fat\*. I know schools are trying to reform the “school lunch” but it’s being done too little, too late. The pre-fab pizza drips with grease, the nachos are covered in canned cheese sauce, sometimes there is a fruit option (swimming in syrup) _plus_ a cookie or cake, too. The only differences I’ve noticed is that all the little milk cartons are now skim or 2% and the cafeteria no longer sells sodas. Guess what, the kids don’t drink the milk, anyway, and mom sends sodas, candy, and chips from home in their backpacks to go with their fatty school lunch. > ☹ > > \*I’ve heard some justifications for this phrased along the lines of “for some of these kids, that may be their only meal of the day, so we need to pack in the calories and fat” I’m not certain I agree with that reasoning, as it sets a bad precedent for what’s considered a meal. > > (btw- this is what I observe in my own district, and does not reflect what may or may not be happening nationwide) Your observations in the one district are indeed the same in most areas. It is a well known fact that corporate influence in the development of school lunches and in how the US government defines healthy foods, has led to a horrible sense of what is healthy and what is not. Obesity can be caused by many factors, but, primarily, it is caused by consuming more calories than you burn in a day. My husband who is overweight, about 80 pounds, he carries it well but it shows and bothers him, admits this freely. Although he shows remarkable self-cpntrol, self-discipline and hard work in other areas, he admits that his devotion to exercise and good eating are sadly lapsed. Funny thing is, he does not overeat too much, rather he has, since 18 put on about 4 lbs a year. In all, that averages to about 20,000 extra calories in a year (or overeating an average of 60 calories a day), but, when he did not stop this advancement early on, it has become the problem that he has now. However, he will never hide behind the incontrovertible fact that IF he could only overcome some negative eating habits, and exercise a bit more, he would be able to lose the weight. There are a lot of psychological reasons why people are obese as well, some have learned to cope with stress this way, other simply enjoy the pleasure of eating. I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I don’t really like food, I eat solely because of hunger and that is why my doctor sometimes has to put me on milkshake diets to keep at my optimal weight when i fall a few under 🙂 ---
**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, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/80 "2006-08-03T20:25:06Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > You honestly didn’t think that trying to identify the cause of a social phenomenon requires a line of reasoning? I said I wasn’t using a fatty school lunch as my line of reasoning for the social phenomenon of childhood obesity. It’s one thing among many. > [@FaerieBeth](#): > > I didn’t realize I was using **this** as a “line of reasoning” for anything \*bolding for emphasis. You referenced my post about school lunches and told me there was something wrong with that line of reasoning. I am trying to clarify that such was not my line of reasoning in the first place. My reasoning suggests that there is _no single cause_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157.md?page=5)