Your Kid is Fat and I Blame You

photo from Snippets of Life

If you knew that a child was being starved by their parents would you report it to the authorities? If you knew that a child was in danger, would you attempt to help? I am confident that you would. What if the tables were turned and you witnessed a parent abusing their child by over feeding them or feeding them processed garbage? Would you take a stand?

If you have an opinion, this commentary may offend you. Most of you already know where I stand and if you don't, this may change your opinion of me but I am prepared to deal with that because this is that important to me. I have a strong opinion about the health and wealth of our children and recently read an article that made me rage. When I saw this post, I jumped all over it. Still reading? Ok, consider yourself warned. If you continue to read and then complain that I offended you, well, some are quicker than others. Take note.

My good friend, Andria, recently began documenting her journey on the Paleo Diet. on her blog, Snippets of Life. After being diagnosed with Celiac Disease, she had to make serious changes to her diet and felt that this diet worked best for her. In my opinion, this diet is not really a diet, it is a way of life that is not difficult to tackle. There are a couple of alterations that I would make to it but very, very few. It is really clean and really easy to implement and more so, easy to maintain. But that is not the point, the point is she witnessed child abuse at a local Starbucks. Here is an excerpt from today's entry:

"Yesterday, Noreen (Kevin’s Mom) and I were at Safeway and begrudgingly, the inside Starbucks called our names.  While we were waiting in line to order our teas, a young family of 4 was picking up their drinks.  The young , overweight boy, around the age of 6 or 7, had a VENTI Double Chocolate Chip Frappaccino (and I’m sure extra whip).  And of course, his sister and parents had similar orders.  Noreen and I fell silent as we watched them pass.  How was this ok?  How could we as a society allow children to fall victim to this type of abuse.  Yes, I am going to use that word because that’s what I, personally, think it is.  Children do not know any better or under the law they would be categorized as adults.  For those of you that don’t know, the legal definition of an adult is: “ a person who by virtue of attaining a certain age, generally eighteen, is regarded in the eyes of the law as being able to manage his or her own affairs”.  Clearly a child cannot manage his own affairs and therefor is under the watchful eye of his parents." 

***Read more here- Link: Sadest Thing I Saw This Weekend

Is a child suddenly capable of handling their own affairs? NO. They aren't. It is the parent's responsibility to provide, guide and nurture. Introducing them to the Starbucks phenomenon is excatly what I am talking about. You wouldn't take them to an R or X rated movie would you? No, because it's not age appropriate. They can't tell the difference between real and fake in a flick so why would you give them crack in a slurpie cup and assume that they know that it is bad for them? C'mon now!

I understand that people may have fallen on hard times and can hardly afford to feed their children. I also understand that buying healthy food is far more costly than processed crap. I understand that some have to choose between eating once or eating twice. I get it. I have been there, struggled and persevered. I expect that you and those around you will do the same. There are programs and help available for such times. I am speaking to the people who just don't know any better. I am speaking to the parents of the the kids on Too Fat For 15. I am speaking to the parents who choose McDonalds over Home cooking. Wake up folks, parenthood is hard and this is part of it. 

Too busy? Slow down.

Too lazy? Wise up. You may just have a rude awakening.

You don't know any better? Wrong answer. 

If this article pertains to you, in anyway here are some resources to get you on track or to help you get involved to make change.  

• Drink more water
• Reduce your sugar intake by half everyday until you hardly eat any 
• Monitor your white flour and white rice intake
• Stop drinking soda and other sugary drinks 
• Really take a closer look at dairy products. Do you need them and are they good for you? 
• Eat balanced meals that include fresh fruit not canned or syrup ladden
• Eat more vegetables
• Stop eating fast food
• Stop buying and eating processed food
• Sweat! Be active 30 minutes or more per day 

Resources

Slow Food USA

Food Inc. 

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