Sad observation at kindergarten graduation

(Joe) #1

My son graduated from kindergarten yesterday… During the ceremony they were attended to by their sixth grade buddies who helped them through the year.

~ 70 students of each group
~ noticed one maybe two Overweight kindergarteners
~ I would say about half of the sixth grade were overweight. And I’m not exaggerating.

I would further estimate that more than half of the parents in the bleachers were obese. I never noticed these things before… Thankful for my knowledge and very sad that we have such a force against us.

(Sheri Knauer) #2

My kids are in elementary school and I see a large number of overweight kids at their school. They are also on the swim team and a lot of those kids have weight issues as well. Its no wonder because when they have a swim meet, there is food available for purchase and, non lie, its at least 3 of those long, rectangular shaped tables filled with candy, cookies, donuts, pastries, gatorade, if its crappy carbage, then its available for those kids to purchase. This is what our future swim team athletes are fueled with. I don’t let my kids buy any of it (although they beg) and always pack a cooler of food from home. Its terrible

(Karen Parrott) #3

Yes. Our current food environment is not going to support lean body mass for adults - who are tasked with buying and cooking food for kids and families in the community (school)

I was obese in the early 1970’s, right around kindergarten. I was the fat kid. I was the obese adult. It was terrible. 40 years. Still, as a normal weight person for 6+ years, I get badgered by well meaning folks. They are clueless. We are better off- here.

We have a long road to get there. Fortunately, the real food movement (Paleo, primal, LCHF, Fasting for adults, ) is becoming more popular.

The kids you saw and those I will see at my teens High School graduation are caught in the cross fire.

Lots of barriers down, many more to cross. Onward.

#4

I know some people can really “live and let live”, they don’t notice other people’s weight or peer into grocery carts) but I’m not one of them. This issue, especially the overweight kids, bothers me tremendously. I know I’m turning into a ketoevangelist, but how can you NOT get upset when you see what the SAD diet is doing to the next generation? I find it heartbreaking. Fortunately, my grandchildren are all thin now, but they don’t eat optimally by any means. And I know it will catch up to them eventually.

(Kirk) #5

I’m having an increasingly hard time keeping my mouth shut. I see people younger than me by decades who are very obese and in obvious poor health and discomfort, actively eating crap.

In fact, I’m very blunt with our young firefighters. I tell them if they want to get to my age stop eating shit and start using the gym we have.

(GINA ) #6

I have noticed that past puberty, lots of kids that aren’t big overall have fat middles.

(Danielle) #7

I My two nephews are 4 and 7, and I am so proud of my sister and the way she handles their food. The boys love their snacks, so when we go out, we always take stuff with us. Fruit, cheese, unsalted nuts (depending on where we’re going, or course!), and vegetables are our go to snacks, and the boys love them. Do they have the occasional treat? For sure. But trust me, they know it’s a treat, not an everyday thing.

It depresses the hell out of me when I take the boys to the park, indoor playground, etc. I’m pulling out water bottles and apple slices, others adults are pulling out juice, goldfish crackers, and chocolate chip cookies. Other small kids are walking around with slurpees and bags of chips. It’s just as easy to throw two bananas, apples or oranges into the bag as it is to throw in two high sugar granola bars or cookie packs!

(LeeAnn Brooks) #8

My son’s a big kid, and I’ve often tried to talk to his doctor and other people about his eating habits and how I can promote better ones for him.

And universally the response I get is “oh, he’s a kid. He’ll be fine. Don’t obsess over it.”

He can literally drink a gallon of milk a day. And when I say this, all I hear is “milk’s healthy. Nothing to worry about.”

It’s very difficult to raise a kid in this environment and ensure they have healthy eating habits. Especially when they get to the age where they can purchase food on their own.

Oh, and even though I don’t buy hardly any sweets, all he has to do is walk two houses down to his grandparents where there’s always treats.:woman_facepalming:

(Christian) #9

Very sad indeed. It takes a while for the nasty carbs to kick in, but when they do it’s not pretty.
Ps what is ‘bleachers’?

(karen) #10

Maybe this should be a separate post, but I was wondering if any of you have kids and try to keep them on a low carb / higher fat lifestyle. Given the political climate around child raising, I imagine it could be terrifying. No Bread?! No fruit Smoothies? No Raisin Bran? Butter??? Call child services!!

(karen) #11

The metal stands people sit in to watch an event.

(Jennifer ) #12

and especially since the longer one spends with raised insulin levels, the harder it is to fix. All those obese kids are going to be very sick adults.

(Annalee Haley) #13

My children are LCHF at home. They do get full fat Greek yogurt, berries and some other non keto whole fruits. We are blessed with a doctor who is supportive.

(karen) #14

It would be nice to think that if kids start out with natural full fat foods, enough protein and a reasonable (reduced from SAD) amount of natural carbs, they wouldn’t develop insulin resistance. I feel like it’s the crazy carb excesses, the soy, the industrial oils that set up little kids up for a lifetime of health struggle. Good for you, and congratulations on bucking the trend.