Aimzster
Dianna GWhy do parents feed their children junk food?
October 7th 2008 02:20
Maybe it’s because I have my first bub on the way and I’ve been reading a plethora of self-help books on how to be a good parent, and because everytime I turn on the news, I’m being reminded that one in four Australian children are overweight or obese, but I’ve noticed an alarming number of children, as small as two years, sitting in their high chairs, being fed burgers and fries in cafes, restaurants and food courts.
Just recently, I was at the doctor’s, teeming with crying, screaming sick children. There was a three-year old girl who otherwise would have been really cute if she wasn’t creating such a ruckus trying to topple the table of magazines over while her mother plaintively pleaded for her to stop and behave from across the room. The only time the little girl succumbed to her mother’s wishes was when a packet of potato chips or a Picnic bar was dangled in front of her, both of which she devoured greedily before resuming her table-avalanche. Then later, I saw an obese man, pushing a stroller carrying an obese little girl who looked to be about six, slurping a slurpee, trailed by an obese woman clutching the hand of an obese ten-year old, in turn clutching a large bag of cheetos and cramming them into his already chocolate-smeared mouth.
Now, I don’t have any kids yet but surely, surely, anyone in their right mind would realise that introducing your children to greasy, junk, sugar-filled, high-kilojoule foods and not disciplining them to eat something more substantial and healthy is a dumb idea. Feeding their bodies junk food is, to me, like filling their heads with swear words, violent images or anything else that requires a PG rating. Or is it just me?
I remember an aunt of mine who fed her daughter nothing but junk food from the time she was four years old and then wailing because her daughter still hadn’t lost all the ‘baby fat’, blaming it on her absent husband for daring to pass on his ‘fat’ genes.
So the question is : Is there a reason why parents introduce junk food to their children? Is it for convenience, lack of knowledge or do they think these ‘studies’ on obesity and children simply an exaggeration?
Now, I don’t have any kids yet but surely, surely, anyone in their right mind would realise that introducing your children to greasy, junk, sugar-filled, high-kilojoule foods and not disciplining them to eat something more substantial and healthy is a dumb idea. Feeding their bodies junk food is, to me, like filling their heads with swear words, violent images or anything else that requires a PG rating. Or is it just me?
I remember an aunt of mine who fed her daughter nothing but junk food from the time she was four years old and then wailing because her daughter still hadn’t lost all the ‘baby fat’, blaming it on her absent husband for daring to pass on his ‘fat’ genes.
So the question is : Is there a reason why parents introduce junk food to their children? Is it for convenience, lack of knowledge or do they think these ‘studies’ on obesity and children simply an exaggeration?
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Comment by Lady Henrietta Muddling
Potter in a Harry
You just answered your own question.
Comment by katyzzz
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Parents are worn out and really cannot cope, no time for a good family relationship, and it is all very very sad, there is little or no supervision of children and no time to teach them restraint and to have a balanced life.
Look forward to your own bub, Aimz, and nurture it, money is not everything and people can learn to cope with less of it by not working at inappropriate times in a child's life and for too many hours.
We really do need to offer assistance from caring people to receptive families.
And families need to show a willingness to learn. Mums and Dads. And add Governments and employers who work hand in hand to feather their own nests not the nests of society.
Comment by Cibbuano
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That's such beautiful language. There's not enough poetry written about Cheetos, in my opinion.
Comment by Michaelie
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Aimz, first of all - congratulations! For some reason I thought you already had two daughters? When is babycakes due, or would you rather not say?
As to parents, I think you're right, junk food is too easy, and a lot of worn out parents, even if they know better, seem to take that route as a quick fix. Unfortunately, it causes more problems in the end.
Especially with children like the one you describe in the doctor's room - she is probably used to being diverted from bad behaviour with junk food, ends up being classically conditioned in a very negative way, with the extra problem that all the sugar and additives probably would give her more behavioual problems anyway... Tough cycle of modernity.
Congrats again!
Mich
Comment by Johnny Come Lately
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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we all had authority figures for parents so junk food was a great treat because we were rarely allowed it
todays parents try to bribe their kids by giving them absolutely anything they want . . . so many parents ask their kids what they WANT to eat for dinner and make them each seperate meals so every day is like a party
i know my mum would have never pandered to me wanting to eat cheetos for dinner . . . you eat what you are given or you dont eat . . . and theres never any junk food in the cupboards as an alternative
Comment by Aimzster
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Kat, great comment. I can understand parents these days have very little time and energy but they have to realise that in the long term, it's doing their children more damage than good. Isn't that enough of a kick for them to at least make an effort? I don't know, as I said, I'll be a 1st time mum so I can't really say how I'll be but I also know that it's lack of knowledge about the consequences of feeding your children junk food that result in parents not thinking twice. And you are right. When I first found out I was pregnant, all I thought about were the financial constraints but I realised that chidren (and family in all) are a blessing and they're the ones that need to be prioritised.
Cibb, hehehe...I look forward to a blog on cheetos from you then.
Mich, thanks! This is my first one. I remember posting a pic of 2 little girls but I took them from wikipedia - I think that's where you got the impression from. Bub is due in 7 weeks - yikes! I'm cramming as much info as I can and reading so many books, I'm getting information overload!
JCL, my advice to these lazy buggers are : Don't have any freaking kids then.
Morgan, good point. I think it all comes down to discipline. If you pander to your child's wishes from an early age, it's just bad news and do damage in the long run. I remember hating my parents' cooking and if I didn't eat anything, I'd be sent to my room with no food. Eventually, I had to force myself to eat it. And you're right, parents are giving in to their kids too much for the sake of being their friend and/or avoiding any tension and it's ridiculous.
Comment by Lilla
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CONGRATULATIONS!
..and to answer your question :
...um... because they are (a) morons (b) fed junk themselves as kids, or (c) too busy or too lazy to have children in the first place (financially, morally and/or ethically unprepared)?
Personally I think it should be rated right up there under (most henious) CHILD ABUSE.
I still choke everytime I pass thriough the checkout at the food market, where quite often the teenagers ask me what all the vegetables are (things like Fennel, Suedes and leeks are okay but even Pumpkin? (I still can not believe it?).
I have to agree with you (and my own practices) don't introduce it in the first place ... and what a great role model to see Mum and/or Dad having a single glass of wine (or something) whilst listening to music and preparing a wholesome evening (or lunch) meal?
When is the bub due?
Lilla ...
Comment by Aimzster
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That's exactly what I was asking my husband - isn't feeding your children junk food and corrupting their otherwise healthy bodies a form of child abuse? I don't understand why you have to go through all the rigorous training just to get a driver's license and they don't have the same thing for would-be parents.
Comment by Carmen
Parent Slate
I think the trouble starts when they start socialising and going to other kids' birthday parties! Even if you do your best to provide healthy food at home, they're always going to be in danger of picking up bad habits elsewhere.
I think the difference between today and how things were when we were kids is that even though we have more knowledge about what to feed our kids now, we're raising them in an instant-gratification society and we're all just too damn busy to bother cooking healthy meals. And so much of our food is pumped full of additives and artificial crap it takes a lot of time and effort to ensure that the food you prepare really is healthy. E.g. I was reading the label on some fresh pasta yesterday (I think it was spinach and ricotta ravioli) - it had MSG in it, amongst a string of other preservatives. Most busy parents aren't going to have time to scrutinise labels. I think the food industry itself needs a good kick.
Still, in the meantime, you're absolutely right, we are completely responsible for looking after our children and providing them with the best start in life that we can, and that means finding alternatives to Picnic bars!
Good luck for the big day btw
Comment by Carolyn Cordon
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Fat parent have fat kids, and lazy parents have fat lazy kids. It's a crazy combination of nature and nurture perhaps.
There may be a genetic predisposition toward being fat, but you don't have to be that fat person, if you're clever and eat and exercise, you can beat that predisposition, in spite of your genes.
I think part of the whole problem these days may be unresolved guilt feelings. A lot of parents are doing to many things, and not giving their children enough tie, so they pander to their child's every want, so the child is 'happy'.
If you begin as you hope to continue, you should be OK, but I found it difficult when my son was small, and underweight, I fed him whatever I could get into him because I was terrified he was starving. I was breastfeeding him, visiting the baby nurse, and slowly going mad from post natal depression (without realising it).
Now, fifteen years later, my son is short for his age. I'm short, my husband is not tall, my parents and his are/were all short. I feel back when he was a baby, if the nurse had really thought about genetics, we could have all realised this baby was never going to be big, and we could have relaxed and enjoyed it all so much more.