obese at 18 months old - 'britain's biggest babies'

Carmina_Piranha_3

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1025023/Obese-just-18-months-little-girl-raised-diet-chips.html


scary! my boy weighed more than that at 18 months old. i'm never going to the health visitor again while her diet seems awful she doesn't actually look obese

katiekittykat

Surely an 18 month old shouldn't be drinking coke????

Carmina_Piranha_3

you'd be surprised! i used to work in mcdonalds and plenty of mums would bring their toddlers in for breakfast (at half ten!) of burger, chips and coke. mcdonalds serves free range eggs etc. before half ten but these mothers and kids wanted the happy meal food. my toddler likes mcdonalds sometimes but you don't have to choose chips and coke, not when there's a fruit or carrot bag and a bottle of water or tropicana available for the same price.

but yes, lots of babies and toddlers drink coke. when my 2 year old had an operation the staff said lots of toddlers wouldn't drink water :eek: their standard procedure after coming around from the anaesthetic was to give water, and then squash if water was okay, and then toast if the squash stayed down. the staff were surprised that my 2 year old was 'willing' to drink water

katiekittykat

Really? That is shocking.

xxx

galvanizersbaby

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

you'd be surprised! i used to work in mcdonalds and plenty of mums would bring their toddlers in for breakfast (at half ten!) of burger, chips and coke. mcdonalds serves free range eggs etc. before half ten but these mothers and kids wanted the happy meal food. my toddler likes mcdonalds sometimes but you don't have to choose chips and coke, not when there's a fruit or carrot bag and a bottle of water or tropicana available for the same price.

but yes, lots of babies and toddlers drink coke. when my 2 year old had an operation the staff said lots of toddlers wouldn't drink water :eek: their standard procedure after coming around from the anaesthetic was to give water, and then squash if water was okay, and then toast if the squash stayed down. the staff were surprised that my 2 year old was 'willing' to drink water

I'm not surprised that babies and toddlers are given Coke! Perhaps I'm being judgemental but this mum doesn't look like the sort to set a healthy eating example to me! You may not be able to force children to eat veg but you don't have to offer them chips and chocolate as an alternative!

RadoJo

Whether or not the child looks fat is besides the point - body shape is of mimimal importance compared to health, and if she is mostly eating chips and chocolate, then all the vitamins and nutrients she needs to grow and develop properly will be lacking. I cannot understand parents who say 'My child refuses to...' about an 18 month old - they don't get to choose what they eat for heaven's sake! They should be given a range of foods in different ways and encouraged to eat as many as possible, not allowed to refuse food in favour of chips! No wonder so many kids grow up with this bizarre sense of entitlement and an inability to be told 'no' or accept responsibility for their behaviour when there are parents like this making excuses for treating an 18 month old as though their opinion on their diet is rational and valid. At that age your parents are supposed to look after you and provide you with the things you need to get to an age where you do that for yourself. If the mother cannot or will not do that then she is guilty of willful neglect.

Carmina_Piranha_3

i wonder what the TV programme will focus on, and whether it will give advice on food rather than just criticising the mother's poor choices.

i've been reading recently about fussy 2 year olds refusing to eat new foods as a sort of survival instinct (although it didn't stop my 2 year old eating laurel berries in my sister's garden last week!).

if the children eat a wide variety of foods before they reach the fussy stage they are more likely to 'agree' to eat a healthy range - if they only get chips and chocolate before then then they are not likely to want to try veg if they've never seen it before.

this mother in the article would probably benefit from some advice before her child reaches the really fussy and strong-willed stage. i saw a dietician when my eldest was 2 not eating. and it really helped - she gave advice and information in a helpful way.

alwaysonthego_2

I have two young girls 4 and 2 years and never given them coke to drink. I have only ever taken dd1 to mcd's once and she didn't eat it. If my dd's do not eat what they are offered then they do not get anything else until snack time (fruit and water/juice) or the next meal.

*Louise*

My kids never get fizzy juice. Even my 3 year old only asks for water or milk.

Eldest had coke a couple of times when he was younger when MIL gave him it :mad: I soon put a stop to it....although she thinks I'm being too strict.:rolleyes:

It's not because I'm worried about them becoming obese (DS1 is a skinny thing anyway) but because I don't want their teeth rotting.

Mind you, I have my problems- 2 of my kids don't eat vegetables either (DD is the only one) but I try and hide it, or offer them fruit instead.

Janepig

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

you'd be surprised! i used to work in mcdonalds and plenty of mums would bring their toddlers in for breakfast (at half ten!) of burger, chips and coke. mcdonalds serves free range eggs etc. before half ten but these mothers and kids wanted the happy meal food. my toddler likes mcdonalds sometimes but you don't have to choose chips and coke, not when there's a fruit or carrot bag and a bottle of water or tropicana available for the same price.

but yes, lots of babies and toddlers drink coke. when my 2 year old had an operation the staff said lots of toddlers wouldn't drink water :eek: their standard procedure after coming around from the anaesthetic was to give water, and then squash if water was okay, and then toast if the squash stayed down. the staff were surprised that my 2 year old was 'willing' to drink water

I occasionally go to Maccy D's for breakfast and it always amazes me the people bringing kids in at about 10am asking for happy meals then going away again until 10.30am!!! My two will have the occasional happy meal, but they always have water with it. DS has never had coke, but DD's been to two parties at a local restaurant and bottles of coke were given with the meal so I let her have that, although she didn't drink much of it.

Just before she was 1, DD had an overnight stay in hospital with a stomach bug, and the nurses were giving her dioralyte in a bottle and like you CP were amazed that she was willing to drink it just with water. They were also amazed when I declined their offer of putting a teletubbies video on for her because she had never watched it.
Jxx

vixarooni

As a child i was offered anything in moderation. I am a fussy eater and i dont eat certain things which alot of people complain about when trying to feed me but i cant change it really. Many of the foods i dont like are the cakes, biscuits, ect. Never liked mcdonalds as a child.

In my opinion i think everyone should be able to have a little bit of everything. I can just see some of these kids rebelling against their parents because they have lived a life dedicated to fruit and veg and little else. Children burn sooo much energy, they need fat in their diet to be children. Yes its good to get your vitimins, but all these children born in the war time with rations havent come out bad have they! I think sometimes perspective can be lost and some parents listen to the media a little too much.