# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/141 "2006-08-04T15:42:59Z")
> [@Lama Pacos](#): > > It’s much “easier” (scare quotes because I know it’s not easy) to not eat that donut than to spend 30 minutes negating it by jogging. Exercise is great, but overall I don’t think it’s feasible for most people as a weight loss plan. IANAD, YMMV, LOL, WYSIWYG, BYOB. I agree with this completely. But, having spent some time in the gym lately on the treadmill, I’m amazed at how many calories one can burn just walking for extended periods of time. The difference in calories burned between a sedentary job and a job that requires one to be on one’s feet is not insignificant. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/142 "2006-08-04T15:44:26Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I asked several dieticians if there weren’t some fats that were better than others. Nope, they said. Fat is fat, and fat is bad. \*\*. Just when was this, exactly?? My mother, the nurse, outlined the different types of fat for me at least 20 or 25 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/143 "2006-08-04T15:44:28Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > \*And if you don’t have an Internet connection? Don’t have a local library with all the latest health books?\*Then turn on CNN; they have frequent programs on personal healthcare. No cable? Check local PBS stations for the same. High-LAR-ious!!! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/144 "2006-08-04T15:49:40Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > High-LAR-ious!!! Why? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/145 "2006-08-04T15:56:23Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The sweeteners in diet drinks produce diarrhea, if drunk in the amounts the soda-only people drink. They also make the liver work harder than regular sugar does (which is probably not a very good thing, you’re taking your body’s main chemical factory out of balance). Would you be so kind as to provide a cite for this? Unfortunately, people, for some unknowable reason, love to spread misinformation and outright lies about artificial sweeteners. Most of the time, claims like yours turn out to be bullshit. Please show me that these claims are not complete bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/146 "2006-08-04T15:57:26Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > > [@VCO3](#): > > > > Something that I think is a major contributor to obesity but seldom comes up in these conversations is the government’s out of control subsidation of high fructose corn syrup, causing it to be in almost everything. > > I’m reading a really good (but frightening) book that talks about this in detail. It’s called The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. Highly recommended. [Cecil on high fructose corn syrup and obesity](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040910.html). Interestingly, high fructose corn syrup isn’t really very high in fructose. It’s just higher than regular corn syrup. > [@](#): > > Whatever chemical differences there may be between fructose and glucose, the difference between HFCS and traditional sugar is slight. Both sweeteners contain both compounds, and in roughly similar amounts–table sugar is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose, whereas the most common form of HFCS is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. For what it’s worth, Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and a frequent critic of the food industry, dismisses contentions that HFCS is uniquely to blame for the fact that we’re fat. > [@](#): > > I won’t say HFCS has nothing to do with obesity. But to focus on the stuff when there are so many other plausible explanations for American rotundity seems perverse. For one thing, we’re eating more in general. One study says our average daily food intake increased from about 1,800 calories in 1989-91 to 2,000 in 1994-96. Much of that is surely due to fizzy beverages. Per capita soft drink consumption has doubled since 1970; the typical American currently consumes 56 gallons per year. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/147 "2006-08-04T15:57:27Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > Also, it is far cheaper to eat shittily than to eat well. This is so fucking far from the trusth I don’t even know where to begin. Ever looked at the price of a bag of rice and a pound of dried black beans? Frozen or canned vegetables? I could stretch the two chicken breasts you spoke of to easily feed 4 people, which would be closer in portion to the KFC example you gave. Spices aren’t necessary for healthy eating, and to suggest they are is patently stupid. Maybe they are an ingredient when YOU cook, but they aren’t necessary. Talk about fucking elitist. ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/148 "2006-08-04T16:04:37Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > I never said it was impossible, nor did I say it was an excuse to be fat. I’m simply pointing out that people are often really quick to dismiss that people sometimes _do_ have medical conditions that make it difficult to lose weight. I’m well aware of how hypothyroidism works, being one of the people in my family who has it. Mine is Hashimoto’s, and every once in a while my thyroid decides to kick in again and there’s a huge difference. I can lose 10 pounds like nothing. Any other time, it takes me forever to lose that amount. I can’t seem to find a doctor who’s willing to let me go on the Armour, even though I’ve heard great things about it. They all tell me it’s too difficult to get the dosage right. Right now I’m on levothyroxine. I used to be on Synthroid. I can’t believe it made you gain that much weight that fast. :eek: Not only that, before taking Synthroid I was completely asymptomatic, after I started taking it I got tired all the time, my hair started falling out, my nails got really brittle, etc. The stupid GP I was dealing with because my primary was on vacation kept telling me “No, that’s not right, you’re feeling better. That’s what I’m treating you for.” and variations of such when I tried to tell her the medicine was making me worse. That’s why I went to see an Endocrinologist. He took me off Synthroid and retested me after 6 weeks of nothing. Oddly, my first bloodwork was negative for Hashimoto’s … but after 8-10 weeks of Synthroid and then 6 weeks off, I tested positive. coincidence ? :dubious: I started feeling better when I was taking nothing, tried a different synthetic (I’ve forgotten which one) and felt worse, then with Armour it’s evened out. My Endo had no trouble getting my dose right with Armour. Nailed it the first time. The only hesitation he had about prescribing it was that I am a semi-vegitarian and he didn’t want to offend me. I don’t eat meat because I think it’s a healthier choice, so taking cow thyroid was not really an issue for me. I haven’t heard that Armour is hard to dose, and I know a few people who are hypothyroid. Are you seeing an Endocrinologist or a GP ?? ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/149 "2006-08-04T16:08:46Z")
> [@The Swan](#): > > Why? Because I just assumed that when I said they didn’t have Internet or libraries, that that means that they probably don’t have a television either, let alone cable TV. I forgot how literal people here can be. Also, how suburban. And there are many people without a working kitchen, hence the beans and rice won’t work for all. Also beans and rice are not available at the 7/11. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/150 "2006-08-04T16:09:21Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > \*And if you don’t have an Internet connection? Don’t have a local library with all the latest health books?\*Then turn on CNN; they have frequent programs on personal healthcare. No cable? Check local PBS stations for the same. > > It comes down to personal priorities. Thing is that getting CNN costs at least $30 a month. PBS may have a show on nutrition, or a show on Michael Flatuley. It’s pretty hit or miss. **Davenportavenger** is exaggerating a little, but it is extremely hard for poor people with no car to eat well. That’s the answer to Phil Gramm’s question, from his 1996 Presidential bid. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/151 "2006-08-04T16:13:14Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > And there are many people without a working kitchen, hence the beans and rice won’t work for all. Also beans and rice are not available at the 7/11. Neither of which have anything to do with the idiotic example you gave about chicken breasts. You are now speaking for a number of people that is far, far, FAR less than the number of people who have obesity problems. In other words, you’re way off topic at this point. Finally, why would you assume that households without internet would also be likely to contain no television? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/152 "2006-08-04T16:14:00Z")
> [@The Swan](#): > > Just when was this, exactly?? My mother, the nurse, outlined the different types of fat for me at least 20 or 25 years ago. My sister told me this a good 20 years ago and has never corrected herself. The dietician I saw professionally told me this back in 1998ish. Her study was something like a good 10 years prior. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/153 "2006-08-04T16:14:28Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > Also beans and rice are not available at the 7/11. Wanna fucking bet? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/154 "2006-08-04T16:14:38Z")
Well, yes, good for you food can be very cheap. But it’s certainly true that you can spend money, or you can spend time. Whole chickens are often cheaper than just the breasts. Dry beans are cheaper than canned are cheaper than seasoned canned are cheaper than frozen dinner. One zucchini seed will keep you in veggies for the rest of your natural life, but you do have to plant it and water it and harvest it and come up with another way to cook zucchini. It does also take a certain amount of knowhow to turn a whole chicken and a bag of dried beans into dinner. However, yes, if you shop wisely you can definately eat a lot cheaper when you cook healthily for yourself. Also, things like dried beans and rice have an almost indefinite storage life. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/155 "2006-08-04T16:16:43Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > My sister told me this a good 20 years ago and has never corrected herself. The dietician I saw professionally told me this back in 1998ish. Her study was something like a good 10 years prior. Ifa dietician said "fat is fat"in 1998, s/he should be out of a job. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/156 "2006-08-04T16:18:42Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, yes, good for you food can be very cheap. But it’s certainly true that you can spend money, or you can spend time. Whole chickens are often cheaper than just the breasts. Dry beans are cheaper than canned are cheaper than seasoned canned are cheaper than frozen dinner. One zucchini seed will keep you in veggies for the rest of your natural life, but you do have to plant it and water it and harvest it and come up with another way to cook zucchini. It does also take a certain amount of knowhow to turn a whole chicken and a bag of dried beans into dinner. However, yes, if you shop wisely you can definately eat a lot cheaper when you cook healthily for yourself. Also, things like dried beans and rice have an almost indefinite storage life. Good point. Though it should be pointed out that dried beans, rice, fozen vegetables, and sometimes 5lb bags of potatoes, all come with the knowledge printed on the outside of the bag. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/157 "2006-08-04T16:30:30Z")
> [@The Swan](#): > > Wanna fucking bet? Mine doesn’t. Well technically it’s a Giant Eagle Get-Go, but I’ve gone there looking for dinner, and believe me, there is no real food there. Also keep in mind that not everyone drives and some people do not live on a bus line so not everyone can stock up on healthy foods. Maybe feeding their kids TV dinners is the only way they can get in all those food groups (albeit in a high-salt, high-fat form) without having to spend an hour at the stove (if they have one) or jump through an endless series of hoops to get to a good grocery store. I don’t think that you people with cars fathom just how hard it is for non-drivers. I have to go to the grocery store 2-3 times a week because I can’t ever “stock up.” Sometimes you go with the convenience foods. That’s just the way it is. In most places, Internet comes packaged with cable. It’s way more likely that someone would have the Internet and no cable than the other way around. Then again I don’t know what that has to do with this thread anyway. I just want to know why the non-fat people here think they’ve won some kind of moral victory. Jesus Christ, from the way some of you talk, it’s like you’ve split the atom. ---
**Author:** ![samm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@samm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/158 "2006-08-04T16:40:13Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > Because I just assumed that when I said they didn’t have Internet or libraries, that that means that they probably don’t have a television either, let alone cable TV. I forgot how literal people here can be. Also, how suburban. > > And there are many people without a working kitchen, hence the beans and rice won’t work for all. Also beans and rice are not available at the 7/11. If you are down to not even having a television and not having an oven, then you are probably getting your food from a food bank, NOT a 7/11. And they have healthy foods available at food banks. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/159 "2006-08-04T16:42:46Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > Mine doesn’t. Well technically it’s a Giant Eagle Get-Go, but I’ve gone there looking for dinner, and believe me, there is no real food there. Also keep in mind that not everyone drives and some people do not live on a bus line so not everyone can stock up on healthy foods. Maybe feeding their kids TV dinners is the only way they can get in all those food groups (albeit in a high-salt, high-fat form) without having to spend an hour at the stove (if they have one) or jump through an endless series of hoops to get to a good grocery store. I don’t think that you people with cars fathom just how hard it is for non-drivers. I have to go to the grocery store 2-3 times a week because I can’t ever “stock up.” Sometimes you go with the convenience foods. That’s just the way it is. 1. Is any of this really on point with the OP? Really? 2. I have never been into a convenience store that did not carry food items. I livedoff stuff like that for a good while. I understand that it can be a hassle for someone to get to a grocery store, but it is not impossible. Especially since one could purchase a great deal in one trip time to save time. Plenty of people without cars do this. Even if you factor in the price of a taxi or bus ride, it’sstill cheaper than eating crap from a 7-11 or fast food every day. > [@](#): > > In most places, Internet comes packaged with cable. It’s way more likely that someone would have the Internet and no cable than the other way around. Then again I don’t know what that has to do with this thread anyway. This is so mind-numbingly dumb I’m amazed at how you arrived at it. Besides, you said TV - something that over 99% of all households have at least one of. That includes PBS. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157/160 "2006-08-04T16:45:07Z")
Stupid SDMB ate my previous post. It isn’t cheaper to eat poorly, it’s easier. We were asked to believe that someone is working, presumably outside the home, all day, taking public transportation to and from work, yet is in such an information drought that they don’t know (I can use underlines too) the difference between good and bad food choices at the most basic levels. I’ll only accept this as willful (underlines again, whee) ignorance. If a poor person, without a car, working full time but living in a place where they can’t purchase proper groceries (but can find an endless stream of junk food) easily, makes it a priority (last underlines, I promise) to have a healthy diet for themselves and for their family, they can do so. Or they can make bullshit (I lied) excuses. For the record, I’m fighting my own battle of the bulge. I’m 10 pounds off my top weight, but I had hoped by now to have lost 15-18 pounds. I know how I got this way, I know what I have to do to fight it, and I make no excuses to anyone, including myself, as to its cause. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeding-your-kid/367157.md?page=9)