Surely it's the parents responsibility to teach their children to eat properly?

Question

Everyone's always blaming the government and advertising, but if parents just fed their kids healthy food from when they were little there'd be less of a problem. They don't know what's good for them so they need to be taught it, and yes, before they even go to school because they still understand things. It might be hard when you've got a kid screaming that it wants something but eventually they'll get used to it, and what's more important? giving them what they want right now? or making sure they have what's best for them long term? because when they grow up I'm sure they'll regret being allowed to eat whatever they wanted.

Answer 1

I am strict with my kids. My daughter gets 2 pieces of candy a day, followed by the ritual of brushing her teeth.

Long story, but my kids will eat most foods. they don't care for seafood, but they try it, because i put a positive spin on trying new foods and expanding their horizons.

I have 0 patience for parents that let their kids get fat. It's a form of child abuse when you consider what those poor kids will have to go through later in their teen years, or even sooner.

Answer 2

Parents, always. You just have to look around to see that large organizations are rarely a good primary place to learn morals. We can't leave it to another to teach our children. I don't see how you could possibly leave it to another. A child will learn by what you do first. If you shoplift, they will learn it's ok. If you drink and drive, they will learn it's ok. If you act morally, they will pick up on that as well. They are information sponges, and anyone thinking they can leave it to someone else is fooling themselves. As for teaching about God...that's primarily a parental role, too...but I may not be the best judge of that. In my life, i have attended several churches, and never found one that could leave the internal politics out of the sanctuary. At our last church, we had a situation that strongly indicated child safety took a back seat to big donor leeway. We left and decided to teach our children at home. It has not been that difficult, and again, the primary thing is to behave as you wish our children to behave. This is a new age, though, of personal exemption. I see more and more parents that want to be friends first and parents second, third or somewhere else. I see parents that will not discipline their children, and when an issue arises, they look for what made their child act a certain way, and take responsibility for actions away from the child. It is a real problem...I don't care if you say that the school should have tought your kid better, or the church should have...it's still the same thing. You are giving up your responsibility to your child. That's not good.

Answer 3

Parents have the primary responsibility to make sure their kids eat well but we live in the real world. My kids are 2 & 3 yrs old. I am pretty strict about what they eat at home but face real world challenges often - birthday parties, grandparents, resturants, etc. My kids have a good foundation but are tempted by the items they see elsewhere. I try not to be as strict when we are out because I don't want them to become obsessed with "forbidden" foods. I think parents need to find a happy medium. For example, my oldest has justed started getting chocolate milk but is not allowed soda. I'm not sure when I'll let her drink soda. I don't want to be telling my kids no constantly but they also are coming to understand that ice cream or whatever is a treat we get sometimes but it is not kept at home. My 2 yr old is a parent's dream in terms of eating - she doesn't like chocolate, prefers milk to juice, will eat raw broccoli, etc. She will often pick the good for her item over the treat.

Answer 4

I totally agree with you, though it's both the fault of the parent and the food industry. Junk food and fast food's aggresively marketed today compared to years past. The marketing tie-ins is what's killing the parents' will to say NO. When a new animated movie comes out, chances are you'll see the characters on everything from cereal boxes to fast food containers. They sell Dora the Explorer popsicles for god's sake...of course kids are gonna scream for this crap.

It doesn't stop there, the food industry has branched out to the internet because they know how internet savvy kids are nowadays. Kids log onto junk food sites, or fast food sites and watch cartoons or play videogames featuring dancing french fries and smiling hamburgers...ridiculous. We grew up with McDonald's commercials that ran every once in a while, but watch any kids channel these days, the amount of ads for crap food is overwelming.

On the other hand, parents need to put their foot down and say, "no" once in a while. Parents also need to educate themselves on the very topic of healthy living so they can provide nutritious yet tasty meals for their kids.

Childhood obesity and the onset of childhood diabetes is at an all time high. The generation of kids today are likely to be outlived by their parents for crying out loud. In all of history, nothing like this has ever happened. Children are supposed to outlive their parents not the other way around. And don't ge me started on the re-sizing of car seats...toddlers are growing too large to fit in them. When your kid can't wiggle his enormous body into a car seat, then you know something's wrong.

Answer 5

I totally agree with you. As a parent , I take responsibility for the foods my children eat. We rarely (except for birthdays or trips eat out), we always eat well rounded nutritionally balanced meals. Sure, there are parents that I know that don't cook at home at all and eat from some fast food chain or restaurant everyday (which boggles me not only about the lack of nutrition, but the expense of it all too!) Of Course my kids would love to eat that way too, but there are too many health threats for eating this way. It does get hard with the advertising issue because they see all these commercials, but my husband and I firmly believe in taking care of ourselves as well as our children, so we don't give in.
Great post by the way!

Answer 6

I totally agree with you, my friend. And not just about kids eating habits. Parents these days seem to want to blame anyone but themselves for all the problems their kids have.
I put a hell of a lot of effort into teaching my little ones right and wrong, what to eat, how to stay active, teach them their alphabet, numbers, shapes, colours, manners, morals, everything I can think of.
And it's paying off. My kids aren't overweight, they behave well, they get lots of physical exercise, and the one that goes to preschool is the most advanced in her class.
I want my kids to be the best people they can be, and I'm well aware that it's our responsibility as their parents to help them be their best.

Answer 7

I am very careful about what my daughter eats. I do allow her some sweets because I don't want them to be "forbidden" but we don't do it every day and we don't really keep sweets in the house. My little girl loves broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peas. All we eat for bread is whole wheat (unless we're at a restaurant or something where there is no choice). She calls white bread "duck bread" because someone gave us some once to feed some ducks. She eats all kinds of fruit and fruit smoothies made with milk and no sugar. I mix plain yogurt with pureed fruit for her. For most people, it's their own fault if they don't feed their kids right.

However, there are inner-city neighborhoods where there are no grocery stores, literally. There are fast food restaurants and convenience stores. You try feeding your kid well out of a McDonalds or 7-11, day after day, week after week. That's hard for us to imagine but for these people it is NOT their fault.

We live in what has been called a "toxic food environment". There is so much unhealthy food all around us. When a child goes to school with his lunch money there is hardly any healthy food. I worked in a school cafeteria. There may be one healthy meal option (and hardly anybody buys it) but mostly kids are eating nachos, french fries (you should see how many fries these kids go through), cookies the size of their heads, cheetos, ding dongs, and lots and lots of soda. The schools sell that stuff to make money. I don't necessarily expect a child to make the best choices with those options around. Of course making the child's lunch is an option (and what I would do if I had a child in a school like that) but they still get ahold of the stuff and see their friends eating junk day after day. Nutritional education materials for schools are provided by companies like McDonalds. (Bread group-hamburger bun, meat group-hamburger, vegetable group-french fries, etc.) Schools take the free materials instead of buying good nutrition education materials.

It drives me absolutely crazy, though, when I see parents feed their kids like garbage. There is no reason in the world to feed a one-year-old froot loops when he would be perfectly happy with cheerios. Why use the sugar-laden instant oatmeal when a child is perfectly happy with oatmeal with a little applesauce stirred in for sweetness? Of course eventually they learn not to be happy with the healthier alternatives. Parents introduce sweets early and often and that is a problem. Also giving in to avoid fits is terrible (and not just about food- I see kids ruling over their parents all the time. Who is really in charge here?)

There is a lot that parents can and should be doing, but there is also a fundamental problem with the way food is done in our society. Both need to be fixed, but for now we're just doing the best we can.

My daughter is fed good, healthy food. She knows what good food tastes like and eats it every day. However, she does have quite a sweet tooth and asks for sweet stuff all the time. Usually we say no, but sometimes we say yes. Candy displays, vending machines, etc, are everywhere and tempting her on every hand. It would absolutely be easier to feed her healthy food if she didn't have to look at that all the time. We are still the parents and we are in charge, but there are a lot of things stores and companies could do to make it easier.

I am parenting under some of the best of circumstances. I am happily married, am not ill or under undue stress, and we have no financial worries because we manage our money well. Imagine a stressed-out, frazzled single mom picks up her kids on the way home from a long day at work and goes to the grocery store. She is tired, she is stressed, and she is a lot less likely to have the energy to deal with what happens when she says "no". Of course she still should, but it's hard to parent that way and easy to give in. If the stores didn't have candy in the checkouts, that would make it easier. The only stores that have a candy-free checkout around here have cigarettes. (and I live in Utah, the state with the lowest smoking rate in the country) I'd rather have my kids looking at candy than at cigarettes.

Kids who watch TV are advertised to on every hand, and most of the ads are for junk foods.

Anyway, it's a dual responsibility, or it should be. Parents shouldn't abdicate their responsibility but I think corporations could do a lot better.

Answer 8

i dont like anyone getting fat especially my kids i agree with SUPER COOL because he will not tolerate an unhealthy kid..personally i say that its the parents responsibility to teach their kids i allow my kids 4 pieces of candy a day and 3 times brushing in a day

Answer 9

Are you talking about obesity problems?