Would You Like Fries With That?

I was sitting at the YMCA the other day -- watching my four year old take swim lessons -- people watching and feeling guilty about the thoughts I was having. Every where I looked (summer camp is in session) I saw kids --mass quantities of kids-- and they were fat. Not just a little baby fat, but roley-poley, holy guacamole fat. I'm not the type of person to make quick judgements, but I wanted to slap the Cheese Puffs right out of their parent's hands.

Let me just start out by saying that we don't discuss dieting at my house. We don't discuss the evils of processed food and drive-thru takeout with our kids. They're age 4 and 19 months. They eat what we expose them too. I don't ever want to be one of "those" parents who rations out pretzels and takes their child to Weight Watcher's meetings on the way to a Build-a-Bear birthday party.

It's a delicate balance to raise a healthy child without them feeling denied. Right now, my kids think Ronald McDonald is just some funny looking clown on the outside of a building. They love any kind of food that comes out of a miniture bag, and are in awe of the sparkly packaging in the candy aisle. At birthday parties, they seek out every kind of orange food they can find, and make a game out of accumulating juice boxes. This is where other people's eating habits trickle into my kids......this is where the feeling of deprivation comes in.

My next challenge will be the elementary school cafeteria with their vending machines and questionable food options. I just looked at their menu and found a Stuffed Crust Pizza with 379 calories and 15 grams of fat. Add a juice and a cookie and you're over 600 calories for a nutrionless lunch. This isn't half as bad as middle and high school where I found a PB & Jelly Jamwich (not sure what that is) with 608 calories and 32 grams of fat. For close to 1000 calories your child can enjoy a "Jamwich" with a cookie and a Pepsi. Mmm....yummy.

Their is a price to be paid for convenience food and overindulgence. I'm sick of hearing mother's complain about how their children will only eat --you fill in the blank-- certain crappy food. Food they've regretfully exposed their kids to, and now must fix on command to avoid a tantrum. Get a backbone, you're not a short order cook and your kitchen does not belong to Denny's. If they're hungry, they will eat. Repeat after me: Fruit and Veggies are not punishment. They will reward your child's body with good health and a sharp mind. Their skin will glow and they'll have more energy. They will not be a child obesity statistic. The site of their body will not make some random suburban mom wonder why so many of our kids are fat.