Call Me Crazy, But Fat Adults Still Seem Better Than Anorexic Toddlers
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
“Chubby babies and tubby toddlers are at risk for becoming overweight children and obese adults, so parents, doctors, and other caregivers need to help prevent infants and young children from getting fat, the National Academy of Sciences concluded Thursday.”
Really? Do parents, doctors and caregivers need to prevent kids from getting fat? I’d say they could focus on helping kids lead healthy lives. Which is actually the advice hidden deep within the results of this study.
The recommended practices to help avoid “obesity” in kids is what you might generally recommend what all parents do with their kids – encourage them to be active:
“Mothers, fathers, day care workers, preschool employees and others should limit how much time kids spend parked in front of the television, watching videos and using other electronic gadgets and make sure they get enough exercise and sleep and eat the right foods.”
But if parents do all of those things and still find themselves the proud parents of a chubby tot, what are they to do? Freak out and make the child feel bad about him/herself? Because that’s what the study implies. If you’ve got a chubby tot – even one who busies himself in the park all day instead sitting in front of bad TV – you should be WORRIED.
But really, should you? Lots of chubby kids grow into perfectly healthy adults. The risk of obesity is about much more than what you looked like at the age of two. And if a few tubby toddlers continue the trend into adulthood, that still seems far better than instilling fear into your toddler about his/her weight.
Considering how much our society is obsessed with weight and appearance, children will have plenty of time to be guilted and berated about their weight. But getting a jumpstart on that as toddlers just sounds like a terrible idea.
(Photo: outofthebox27)