Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Obesity Ads (Read 1741 times)


A Saucy Wench

    A trend I've seen with the daycare parents just the past few years is always having a snack in the car for the kids. I swear almost every day at pickup time, I hear a mom say, " Come on, I have a snack for you in the car." Evidently they can't ride across town (our town isn't that big) without sustenance.

     

    This drives me nuts.  Most of the families at our school live no more than 10 minutes from school, but instantly the second they get in the car there are snacks even if they are heading straight home.  Whenever I drive one of these kids home they are SHOCKED they dont get fed in my car.   And it is almost always "fruit snacks"  (i.e.  gummi bears) or something equally void of anything. 

     

    Even if it is occasionally nutritious, it's not being used because the kids NEED a snack it's being used because they have conditioned the kids to eat while riding as a form of distraction/entertainment. I took a couple of them on a 20 minute drive last summer home from camp and the parents had packed "car snacks" for the way home which lasted 3 minutes and then I listened to 17 minutes of "I'm hungry, do you have anything else to eat? Why not? Where are the car snacks?"

    I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

     

    "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

    Jill_B


    I fly.

      This drives me nuts.  Most of the families at our school live no more than 10 minutes from school, but instantly the second they get in the car there are snacks even if they are heading straight home.  Whenever I drive one of these kids home they are SHOCKED they dont get fed in my car.   And it is almost always "fruit snacks"  (i.e.  gummi bears) or something equally void of anything. 

       

      Even if it is occasionally nutritious, it's not being used because the kids NEED a snack it's being used because they have conditioned the kids to eat while riding as a form of distraction/entertainment. I took a couple of them on a 20 minute drive last summer home from camp and the parents had packed "car snacks" for the way home which lasted 3 minutes and then I listened to 17 minutes of "I'm hungry, do you have anything else to eat? Why not? Where are the car snacks?"

       

      I am another mom who doesn't serve snacks in my car.  And I don't give my kids after school snacks.  If they are hungry they can have a yogurt or an apple.  Otherwise, they can wait (seriously, we eat dinner at 5 because of their activities... I think they can survive).

       

      MTA:  Last night while at my older son's T-Ball game, one of the other moms asked me how I kept the kids occupied during my brother's graduation this past weekend.  I said that I brought markers and paper.  She started telling me how she always packs snacks when they are going to be at "boring" events so the kids have something to do... *sigh*  Such a shame that she is teaching them young to eat when they're bored...

      Bring it on.

      Trent


      Good Bad & The Monkey

        Yeah, well. My two youngest kids are typically starving starving, for real, when they get out of school. They are both thin, with limited body fat stores, play and work hard during the day, and often cannot go even another minute without something to eat. So they get something healthy in the car.

          Yeah, well. My two youngest kids are typically starving starving, for real, when they get out of school. They are both thin, with limited body fat stores, play and work hard during the day, and often cannot go even another minute without something to eat. So they get something healthy in the car.

           

          I think an after-school snack is a normal thing. The thing with my little preschoolers is that they've *just* had a snack here, usually no more than an hour before they are picked up. That's when they get a sugary snack in the car, with a sugary drink to wash it down.


          A Saucy Wench

            We do afterschool snacks, but we dont eat in the car UNLESS we arent going home.  Like today we go school to dance to soccer, dinner wont be until 7 pm.  They'll have something healthy.  I guess its more about what Jill and waytogo are seeing. These kids arent eating because they are hungry, they are eating for entertainment.  And it becomes a habit, just like snacking while watching TV or popcorn at the movies. 

            I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

             

            "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                And it becomes a habit, just like snacking while watching TV or popcorn at the movies. 

               

              And like snacking while staring at the computer screen, just like I'm doing now. Mmm....cereal.

              Trent


              Good Bad & The Monkey

                And it becomes a habit, just like snacking while watching TV or popcorn at the movies. 

                 

                Or a habit like lunch and dinner?


                Best Present Ever

                  Yeah, well. My two youngest kids are typically starving starving, for real, when they get out of school. They are both thin, with limited body fat stores, play and work hard during the day, and often cannot go even another minute without something to eat. So they get something healthy in the car.

                   

                  those are my kids.  I don't pick them up, so it's not about car snacks, but they get snacks after school.  Yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, grilled cheese, fruit.  Real food.  I think I've posted about this before - my mother in law watches them after school fairly often.  She is always shocked that I let them eat a 'meal' after school but we've had to threaten her with no kid contact to get her to stop buying them giant bakery cookies or huge slabs of brownie, or, my favorite, a double scoop of Ben and Jerry's ice cream after school.  Because cookies are a 'snack' but a tuna fish sandwich is a 'meal' that will keep them from eating dinner later on.  (She also professed surprise that I was mad when she met my daughter with a ginormous fast food lemonade.  "but it's not soda!"  What, pray tell, is the difference?) In any case, my kids are s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g when they walk in the door.   And I'm not that upset on the occasions that they don't eat a huge dinner because they had a big after school snack.  They eat when they are hungry, real food.  

                  zoom-zoom


                  rectumdamnnearkilledem

                    And I'm not that upset on the occasions that they don't eat a huge dinner because they had a big after school snack.  They eat when they are hungry, real food.  

                     

                    Yeah, kids' stomachs don't give a shit about social constructions like meal times.  Neither do most adults' stomachs, for that matter.  I generally make better food choices when I don't wait until I am rabidly famished to eat something.

                    Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                    remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                         ~ Sarah Kay

                    Slice


                       we've had to threaten her with no kid contact to get her to stop buying them giant bakery cookies or huge slabs of brownie, or, my favorite, a double scoop of Ben and Jerry's ice cream after school.  Because cookies are a 'snack' but a tuna fish sandwich is a 'meal' that will keep them from eating dinner later on.  (She also professed surprise that I was mad when she met my daughter with a ginormous fast food lemonade.  "but it's not soda!"  What, pray tell, is the difference?)

                       What is it with family and junk food for kids? I fed my right before my uncle picked her up to take her to my mom's. He saw her eat and I told him to go straight to my mom's. He stopped and got her popcorn chicken and an ice cream cone. My aunt gave her sweet tea and told her that her tea was healthy. (I'm assuming my kid told her that it wasn't a healthy food when she served it up). And my mom does this crap all the time too. She just came back from my mom's with ice cream on her dress. WTF?!

                      I don't half-ass anything

                       

                      "I have several close friends who have run marathons, a word that is actually derived from two Swahili words: mara, which means 'to die a horrible death' and thon, which means 'for a stupid T-shirt.' Look it up." - Celia Rivenbark, You Can't Drink All Day if You Don't Start in the Morning

                       


                      A Saucy Wench

                        Or a habit like lunch and dinner?

                         

                         OK, now I know you are just being Trent here and being argumentative but no.  Because I have HAD these kids in my car.  You can argue the habitualness of lunch/dinner/snack whatever but these kids now associate "ride in a car" means "eat continuously until we are no longer riding in car".    Home to school.  School to home.  40 minute drive to the zoo?  Better pack at least three snacks.  Running errands on the weekend?  Every time you get back in the car you better hand a snack back.   Doesnt matter if it was only a 10 minute stop since the last snack.  And usually when snacks are being handed out as "please leave mommy and daddy alone for a few minutes" , any kind of momentary boredom in their life is met with snack.   I've seen it on playdates.  The moment they are at a loss for what to play next they ask for food.  OK once, but for some of them it is the FIRST though the minute they dont know what else to do. 

                        I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                         

                        "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                        xor


                          Yeah, kids' stomachs don't give a shit about social constructions like meal times. 

                           

                          I know that this is true usually.  But it reminds me...

                           

                          ...when I was younger, every summer I used to volunteer a couple weeks at a camp for sick and formerly sick kids (Camp Esperanza in Texas for those who care).  One day was "backwards day" where we'd have dinner food for breakfast... generally pizza... and breakfast food for dinner.

                           

                          And let me tell you, sick call throughout that day for tummy aches was always substantially bigger than any other day.

                           

                          Go figure.

                           

                          Anyway, back to the thread.  I have my share of very large nieces and nephews in my family. My mom (aka 'granny shirley') has tried to help them make better food choices.  Alas, she is not well informed.  My favorite was finding out this edict: "no you may not have soda, diet or otherwise, but you can have as much fruit juice as you like."  EEEK.  (not to mention the fruit juice in question was the typical sunny delight it-ain't-really-fruit-juice stuff)

                           


                          Best Present Ever

                             What is it with family and junk food for kids? I fed my right before my uncle picked her up to take her to my mom's. He saw her eat and I told him to go straight to my mom's. He stopped and got her popcorn chicken and an ice cream cone. My aunt gave her sweet tea and told her that her tea was healthy. (I'm assuming my kid told her that it wasn't a healthy food when she served it up). And my mom does this crap all the time too. She just came back from my mom's with ice cream on her dress. WTF?!

                              In my MIL's case, I think she's trying to do something nice for the kids and doesn't have a lot of options because she's seriously overweight and incredibly inactive.  She won't walk more than a 100 feet (gotta park the car by the front door of everything).  So handing out junk food is a quick way to get the kids to smile.  She used to bring the the toy from the happy meal (you can buy the toy without the meal) but they've gotten too old to think those are cool).  

                             

                            She also has pretty distorted ideas of portions and the power of activity.  She thinks I'm kind of mean for getting the kids the smallest kid-size ice cream scoop when we go out, rather that something giant.  She is convinced that because the kids are actiive, they'll 'run off' the 32 ounce cup of sugar water.  

                            zoom-zoom


                            rectumdamnnearkilledem

                               OK, now I know you are just being Trent here and being argumentative but no.  Because I have HAD these kids in my car.  You can argue the habitualness of lunch/dinner/snack whatever but these kids now associate "ride in a car" means "eat continuously until we are no longer riding in car". 

                               

                              We've never gotten into much of a food-in-car habit, which I party attribute to my folks' general view that food is verboten in the car, because they didn't want the interior getting dirty...which is funny, since EVERY car we had growing up had vinyl seats (dammit, did that ever suck in the Summer, since our cars also never had A/C).  I've still held on to that view, to some degree.  I'll let DS have crackers and water in the car, but not anything messier than that.

                              Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                              remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                                   ~ Sarah Kay

                              zoom-zoom


                              rectumdamnnearkilledem

                                I know that this is true usually.  But it reminds me...

                                 

                                ...when I was younger, every summer I used to volunteer a couple weeks at a camp for sick and formerly sick kids (Camp Esperanza in Texas for those who care).  One day was "backwards day" where we'd have dinner food for breakfast... generally pizza... and breakfast food for dinner.

                                 

                                And let me tell you, sick call throughout that day for tummy aches was always substantially bigger than any other day.

                                 

                                Go figure.

                                 

                                That's interesting...I've long loved things like cold pizza for breakfast and french toast or omlettes for supper.  But we ate like that a lot, growing up, so it's gotta be a big mental thing.

                                 

                                As for the ILs feeding kids crap, my MIL likes to think herself a health nut.  Mostly she's one of those very fortunate people who can eat whatever the hell she wants and not ever gain weight.  She still sees low-fat or "healthy" on a label and believes the marketing.  She tried to convince us that giving our son all the Quaker breakfast cookies he could eat was just as good as a balanced meal with protein, fruits, and veggies, simply because they are calcium fortified and have raisins. Confused There is nothing even remotely healthy about that crap.

                                Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                                remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                                     ~ Sarah Kay