Discussion Board

Since we don't have kids, I really struggle to keep my lip zipped when I see what the kids of friends and families are eating.

It seems that parents are terrified of their children these days. My brother and I would never have dreamed of demanding that our mom feed us fried chicken or pizza instead of what she served at dinner! Granted, it was SAD 1960's style and none too healthy, but we never felt entitled to boss our parents around the way my friends' children command them to purchase pop tarts and fast food.

When we informed my mom that we wouldn't eat what was for dinner, no one leapt up and made mac and cheese for us - we missed dinner, and learned about eating because of hunger. Only the most hated foods were negotiable - and we had to be courteous about it. It wasn't cruel, it was parenting!

For one thing, we knew that it was selfish to demand expensive prepared foods - and my dad had a good job. Surely kids who grow up not caring about the welfare of their families as well as the welfare of the family health are not going to be people we want running the country - if they live that long...

I can't tell you how many relatives and friends I have who say that they want to feed their families healthier food, then laugh and say, "but kids won't eat that stuff," as though they have no control over what their kids eat at all! When did kids become the terrorist commanders of the household, anyway? It's killing them!

My old-fashioned upbringing, if an upbringing in the 1960's now qualifies as such, dictated that you ate three meals a day with only one small snack after school. You were expected to be hungry before the meal was ready. I have to admit, SAD though that diet was, it was only when I slipped into fast food and snacking habits in my late thirties that I became overweight for the first time.

My heart health was probably lousy, but still, that's interesting. Especially since this hungry kid ate her green beans and potatoes, something my niece and nephew, stuffed with snacks like cheese, cookies, and juice, would never do!

All we can do is raise our own kids the way we see fit, if we have kids, and be an example to the kids we are close to. I have learned that the one other thing that is really an untouchable subject besides religion, politics, and child rearing and discipline is DIET. Everyone I know has their own opinion and will not listen to me, no matter what I say. It is so frustrating.

Over a year ago, I had a young lady visit for a week. It was a difficult week for me. She was 10 years old and used to SAD food and most of it comes from a box in the freezer or a packet that you mix with hot water and microwave. She hated everything I made and whined before every meal about not seeing any meat on the menu. I taught her about reading labels and calculating fat percentages, but she really didn't want to deal with it. It is just not going to work unless the parents are on board with it, and the parents of this girl are very resistant to McDougalling.

I think it's a real bad idea to start giving kids statin drugs. We still don't know what long term effects there are with these things. A few years ago, one doctor wanted to put me on one of them. At the time there was a strong possibility I was pregnant, but the doctor insisted I needed to get my high cholesterol down (it was 216 at the time) in spite of the fact that these drugs are toxic to a fetus! I was appalled and never went back to that doctor. I found Dr. McDougall soon after that.

I came on much stronger than I meant to!

I had just returned from one of those luncheons where we try to teach students not to eat like orcs during lunch interviews with potential employers and was just a wee bit stressed out at the state of child-rearing. Obviously, if you spend a couple hours with the worst examples possible, you get a jaundiced view of things...

Most parents are doing as well as they can, and passing on their own bad habits without bad intentions.

I'll throw in my two cents worth.

I too, was a 60's kid. We ate a fairly decent SAD diet. What I mean by that is my mom was a real stickler about always having a fruit with our eggs at breakfast, a fruit again at lunch, and a good, not canned, vegetable along with the meat dish at dinner. She made just about everything from scratch. We were not allowed to snack in between because it "would spoil our meal."

Fast forward to now. My nephews and niece on my husbands side eat nothing but garbage. One thanksgiving, they all had a plate full of cool whip because they don't like pumpkin pie. They ate no main meal, just cookies, candy and crackers and dip. My boys just couldn't believe it.

My brother allows his two boys to pretty much eat the same way. They are whiney if anyone suggests they eat something that's served. Usually they're running around the table during the meal because they've been feasting on junk before we arrive, and are hyper beyond belief.

Parents need to stand back and take a look at the whole picture. Drugs are not the answer, good food choices are.

I guess I'm done now.

Hehe. I feel like the baby of the group suddenly - I'm only 19!

I'm really shocked reading that about the drugs though. It's awful what people eat these days and what it's doing to them. Everyone my age thinks diet doesn't matter but they all have head aches, sinus problems, asthma, loads of depression, on medication... it's really sad.
Something has to change though, and either that will be something really positive and the people and medicine will turn to McDougalling and the link and not look back or... well. The flipside doesn't bare thinking about

About kids being scary to the parents though: It makes me think that it's like a circle and I'm pretty sure part of that circle is that when people have or are taught no respect for what they eat, they turn to junk and it makes them depressed and unruley to others and feel "not bothered." (I was talking about the kids here, but now I'm thinking it could be either!)

People seem to be scared of young people now days though. We're "youths" like you hear on TV police radio reports!

Eating like orcs!!! That certainly is a good word picture! Are you a school teacher?

I was married late in life (35) and our babies were born when I was 37 and almost 39 - my husband and I are the same age - so we for years watched our younger siblings raise children, watched our cousins and other relatives too, and took mental notes. We knew just what we wanted to do if we ever had our own kids. I totally know where you're coming from when you say you see kids behave and wonder how they are being raised because I used to do the same thing.

It is amazing how many people think that we are doing it all WRONG - when we know that what we are doing is the RIGHT things!!! One of my relatives who weaned her baby from formula at a very young age and put her on skim milk because she was getting "too fat" is of the opinion that our children are malnourished because we allow them to have no butter fat in their diet. My brother and his wife, whose children don't know what food looks like before it's made into nuggets and frozen, think we are total loons.

I can't sit here and say that my kids eat perfectly, they don't. One thing is for certain though, if it isn't in my house, they can't eat it. I keep 2 huge bowls of fruit on the counter and there is always cut up carrots and green peppers in the fridge. They also love hummus so I usually keep a batch in the fridge at all times. Rule in my house is 'if its a fruit or veggie or water...you can have all you want.....anything else, they have to ask'. Works like a charm. The other rule is....they have to try new things all the time, if they don't like it, thats fine..but they have to try it. I have a nephew who is 18, I'm not joking, this boy has grown up on peanut butter crackers, hamburgers, hot dogs and cantaloupe. I seriously can't think of anything else that he'll eat. At family dinners, there he sits with his crackers. I've always been floored by this. So, a couple of months ago, as I was standing next to him over the food counter, I made him try a green pepper. HE HAD NEVER TRIED ONE!! omagosh....he liked it!! He told me that he always thought they were hot. He also found out that day that he liked cauliflower and cucumbers. I never said anything negative to my sister, just told her that he tried a few things, her jaw dropped. WHAT?!?!? He should've been trying this stuff when he was 2!! She's always wondering why my kids are so weird...they like salads and veggies. I don't know how my nephew appears to be so healthy...I really don't. He was a record setting quarterback at his high school this year, big and strong....I just wonder what his health will be like in 10, 20 years. I worry about him. I worry about what his arteries look like now....outward appearances can be deceiving. Just had a friend, who is 32, go thru angioplasty and is also now on meds for diabetes. He had a heart attack....at 32!!! Not surprising, I've seen that boy eat since he was in high school. There really is no mystery to it at all, is there??? WHY CAN'T PEOPLE SEE THIS?!?!?!?!? ok, I'll stop, I'm starting to ramble.

I think a lot of kids could become healthy in their twenties if they were at least encouraged to try different foods when little. My diet as a child had far too much meat and dairy, but we happily tried all sorts of vegetables and fruits.

Ha, no, I'm not a school teacher, I work at a university, and those are COLLEGE students. It's amazing how much money parents spend on tuition and interview suits - little realizing how important table manners can be in the business world.