Dr. J says it’s all about the children
Contributor: “Dr. J”Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.
When Mike Tyson tried to explain his appetite in the ring during his fight with Evander Holyfield, by saying it was all about his children — “I’ve got children to raise!” he said — I had a hard time making the connection!
Mike’s questionable reasoning notwithstanding, I have to support his view of it being all about our children. After all, our children are our future, our best hope, our greatest vision!
What we are doing with our children’s health
Children copy their parents’ food choices, University of South Australia scientists have found.
The result of this is that childhood obesity is dramatically increasing and, the scientists go on to conclude, it’s the parent’s fault!
Head researcher Dorota Zarnowiecki has studied the health and not-so-healthy habits of more than 200 families. The children tended to follow the eating patterns of their parents, which were far from healthy, judging by their obesity rates. Zarnowiecki says it is much easier to teach children healthy habits than to try to change them when they get older.
Children are eating their way to cancer
At this time, some 17 percent of British children are so obese that their health is in danger.
Children are facing an “explosion” in obesity-related cancers thanks to junk food and a lack of exercise, according to professor Kathy Pritchard-Jones. She says thousands will die if we do not start taking the childhood obesity epidemic more seriously.
Obesity is linked to cancers including those of the kidney, breast, colon, liver and prostate. It can also lead to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, with more connections being established with ongoing research.
Pritchard-Jones says “it’s crucial that children learn healthy eating habits so they don’t develop cancers and other obesity-related problems later in life.” She went on to say that “eating more healthily and getting more exercise would encourage children to lead a better lifestyle as adults, cutting the risk of having life-threatening diseases.”
It’s not only in the home where parents need to pay attention.
Children’s menus at restaurants
Have you looked at the children’s menu at restaurants? What are they thinking? That kids are bulletproof, invulnerable and trash machines?
Chain restaurants load children’s meals with calories and fat, according to a report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
“One such example: the ‘Big Kids Meal’ offers kids 910 calories worth of cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milk,” says Jarreau Gardner, a dietician in private practice.
She has some recommendations for you to follow when you are in a restaurant with your children.
When ordering:
- Cut the portion size.
- Request healthier sides.
- Ask for an alternative preparation.
- Order the appetizer instead.
In addition, I want to suggest:
- Ask specifically for what you want them to have.
- Bottom line: Rarely, if ever, order off the Kids Menu.
What we need to do
It’s up to all of us! We can’t start early enough to help our children have healthy lives.
The answers lie in our being educated in what our children need, setting a good example and applying this in their lives, at home, in schools, in daycare, at restaurants, at sporting events and so forth. When they are very young, and we have more control, we must exercise that control by providing our children with a healthy lifestyle.
This early education and examples will be like a ripple, extending throughout their lives, reminding them of the wonderful things you did for them, and enabling them to do the same for their children!
It’s all about our children!
(Send your questions for Dr. J to calorielab@gmail.com or leave a comment. If your question is used by Dr. J, CalorieLab will send you a $25 Dining Dough restaurant certificate — limited to U.S. residents. More Dr. J posts can be read in our archives.)
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I can’t agree more Dr J! It IS all about the children!! great tips here. I don’t frequently look at the childrens menu anywhere I go (has something to do with the fact that I don’t have any kiddos of my own) but I’ll def pay more attention next time I’m out to eat. And Ill have to ask friends what they think of this topic! Thanks!
Another spot on post. Dr. J the childhood epidemic of obesity has no other finger to point at than the parents. We look back at our own childhood and notice that our parents used to kick us out of the house in the morning to “get some fresh air” and the exercise and food intake took care of itself. The inventions of the electronic age gave us labor saving and human killing.
Right on my friend! It is definitely all about the children!
Posted on my fridge—-> “The answers lie in our being educated in what our children need, setting a good example and applying this in their lives, at home, in schools, in daycare, at restaurants, at sporting events and so forth. When they are very young, and we have more control, we must exercise that control by providing our children with a healthy lifestyle.”
Thank you!
Rupal!
I would be curious to know what your friends think and if the children’s menus are similar in England.
Tom!
With me, I ran out of the house as soon as I could to play outside!! Good point about labor saving devices!
Mark!
Thanks! Your fridge must be formidable :-)
I have a friend who had that gastric-bypass surgery. She made a point of ordering from the children’s menu afterwards, because of the smaller portions — but some places wouldn’t let her because she was not a child. What kind of sense does that make?
Now I’m thinking maybe she was lucky they refused her.
Parents have to take on responsibility for the problem. They would not let their kids eat poisoned or spoiled food. They have to be vigilant and creative.
Thanks for the tip on children’s menus
Early intervention would save a lot of lives as long as our children are not victims of salmonella-tainted peanut butter and melamine’d milk.
Too bad the food industry keeps pushing garbage as food.
Too bad parents don’t appear to have the time or interest to educate themselves in order to keep their kids safer over time. Too bad people accept so much of the product on the grocery shelves as real food.
Merry!
The world works in mysterious ways :-)
Dr. Hubbard!
Thank you for your supportive comment, doctor!
POD!
It’s funny, I was never a fan of the ole P&J sandwich, didn’t like milk either :-)
You are absolutely correct on the corruption of our food supply!
I really, really blame television, too. Trying to diet if you’re a TV watcher is like trying to quit smoking back in the days when cigarette ads were still on. Which I managed to do, but it was hard.
I grew up with no TV, and my kids grew up with no TV. We got to see plenty of it nonetheless.
I couldn’t agree more about restaurant kids’ menus. Very rarely do I see fruit or veggies offered, the portions are huge even for adults, and the items are always low in fiber and high is sodium and fat. It’s sad, really. We do encourage our kids to share dishes from the regular menu, because we also find that kids’ menu items are somehow – despite the high sodium content – very bland. We want them to learn to appreciate flavors and spices.
Melissa!
For the most part, I agree that we would be better off without TV. As it’s here, I try to be very selective in what I watch. Like in most things, there are some good people in television that are producing a worthwhile product. Good for you with cigarettes! Thank you for commenting on my column!
Vered!
I’m not saying this for you, as I suspect you already do this, but I’d suggest exposing children to a variety of non-American cuisines. Pan-Asian, Indian, Mediterranean, Caribbean, etc, and I think they will learn that appreciation.
I am always disgusted by those kids’ menus at restaurants. Seriously, who’s idea was it to offer them the unhealthiest foods???
It’s horrifying the kinds of food that our children are eating and the total lack of activity they’re doing… I’m really looking forward to teaching my little baby cousins healthy habits as they grow up :)
Sahar!
Yes, I was surprised that almost every choice was battered and fried!
Sagan!
I bet you’ll will have a lot of fun together!!
Great stuff! I think we do pretty good at home for setting an example for our three children. However, your point about kids meals at restaurants is making me think about what we’re feeding them when we go out to eat. Very thought-provoking! What am I feeding my kids?
See – here’s the thing. My husband and I are crazy cheap. We eat out maybe once a month. And so when we do, we let the kids order what they want. Normally they eat a few bites and then polish off the little jars of Play-Doh (what? it’s non-toxic!) that I bring to keep them entertained and out of the servers’ hair.
Lance!
“What am I feeding my kids?” Lance, you just wrote my column in six words!
:-)
Charlotte!
I was just reading yesterday about “mud cookies.” They are a Haitian “cookie,” made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening :-(
This is such a CHALLENGE THESE DAYS and not at all.
yep :) I said it.
all we have to do is choose to be healthy so we will be around for our children and loved ones and THEY WILL FOLLOW US.
it’s that SIMPLE and that **HARD**
Miz!
Although I think I am a bit of an exception, research seems to show that children do follow their parent’s examples :-)
Great post, Dr. J!
Charlotte – you do with your kids exactly what we do with ours. (I even bring play-doh. It’s supposedly for the youngest two, but we all end up playing.) Since eating at restaurants is the indulgent exception, and we’re probably refueling after a family hike or ride, I let them order what they want. I know they eat plenty of fruit & veggies the other days.
Another way around the unhealthy kid menus is to stay away from chains. When we go to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, there’s no such thing as french fries, and every dish comes with a side of fresh leafy greens.
Thanks so much, Joy!!
I recently went to a Vietnamese New Years party! The food and the people were fabulous!
So well said Dr. J! It’s such a sad and needless epidemic. As a parent of teenagers, I can tell you that kids do not have a choice in what they eat. If you put healthy food on the table and in the pantry and fridge; at least while they’re at home, that’s what they’ll eat or they won’t eat! The trick is educating parents on what healthy food is and encouraging them to be in control of their own households and learn to say NO. My kids get a vote on their birthdays and that’s about it! It’s of no concern to me if they like what I serve or stock our home with or not. Real nice Mom huh?
Kami!
I agree it’s important to provide your kids with as healthy an environment at home as you can. When you talk to people whose parents showed a little tough love on occasion when it was needed, you find that they end up feeling really glad that their parents cared enough about them to do it.