Bullying is the top "health" concern among parents...
By redkathy
@redkathy (3374)
United States
September 11, 2008 1:26pm CST
I receive today's heath news email from Healthier.com and being an advocate of children, I went to this article first.
"THURSDAY, Sept. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Bullying is the top "health" concern among parents with overweight and obese children, according to a new report.
Parents of these children, aged 6 to 13, also are much more likely than parents of children at a healthy weight to call bullying a top health issue for kids, according to a report released Monday by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health."We found that parents with overweight or obese children actually view bullying as a greater problem than childhood obesity," Dr. Matthew M. Davis, director of the National Poll on Children's Health, said in a university news release. "Since bullying is known to be a problem for children with increased weight, bullying prevention programs will need to be mindful of obesity as a potential trigger for bullying behavior and of parents concerns surrounding this issue."Overall, parents don't take childhood obesity lightly, ranking it No. 1 is among health concern for kids in the National Poll on Children's Health. Still, only two-thirds of parents actually enforce such limits with their children on junk food and time spent in front of a TV or computer screen, the poll found. Still, many parents are talking with their children about having healthier diets and increasing their physical activity, which Davis said is an important first step in setting the stage for a healthier lifestyle."Read more here http://www.healthier.com/Article.jsp?aid=9183
Kids are mean, or at least they were when I was a kid. Nowadays I think they can be even meaner so it stands to reason that parents would say bullying is a top health concern. The news has shown us many cases of what I call "brutality" among kids. Bullying is real and more dangerous than than ever. The article also states that only 2/3 of the parents enforce limits on junk food or watching TV. Fortunately I don't have to deal with obesity nor do my children. I know that I would have set limits and worked hard to control weight and diet if my children were in this situation.
[b]How about you...
Do you have to deal with obesity? If so please share.
If not, would you be one of the parents to set limits?[/b]
2 people like this
8 responses
@savypat (20216)
• United States
11 Sep 08
I love your discussions, they make me think. I remember bulling in school, I was a minority child and it made my childhood hell. However I never told my parents
but grew up to be one though kid. My children were not obesie but now they are, in their fifties. I think lack of exercise as well as bad diet is to blame and
as a parent I know how hard it is to get children to do anything they don't want to do. I think that parents who are active during their off time and include their
children from the time they are very small have a much better chance of continuing this activity later on. Also if the parents are health conscious of diet this will set the children on the right path. If you start while they are very young and make it just matter of fact you have a better chance then if you try to start after they are exposed to other children and can pick up their bad habits.
@redkathy (3374)
• United States
11 Sep 08
Hey there savypat, you and I agree on this! I'm a redhead so you can imagine the teasing I got. I turned out to be one of the toughest girls in school... And I tried to be nice to everyone too!
As for the kids, I always fed my kids everything. "I don't like" didn't exist in my house. I woke up one Saturday morning, opened the fridge and found a whole green pepper with little bitty bites on each side. The shape of a mouth was so perfectly outlined I laughed out loud. My youngest son, who was 3 at the time, says mom I wanted a snack so I ate some peppers but I saved the rest for you and Luis(his big brother). Of all the things in the fridge, he ate the veges. This happened on more than one occasion too. To this day there are very few things they won't eat.
@redkathy (3374)
• United States
13 Sep 08
Always the case. That why the old saying about youth being wasted stuck around for so long. I used to tell my oldest son that he was my first so he was my first live parenting experiment! That would always satisfy the "you didn't let me do that when I was his age" statement. LOL Now he is 26 and laughs when I remind him of that. We do the best we can and hope to improve with experience.
@savypat (20216)
• United States
12 Sep 08
I was always pretty strict with my kids about eating everything, but I had a granddaughter that I just couldn't get to eat, mac and chees was all she wanted.
I now know that many children have such a sensitive sense of taste that only the mildest foods are good to them. I wish I had know then what I know now, I would have been more able to handle the situation. Is'n that always the case, we just don't know enough as young parents, in this case i didn't even as an older parent.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
11 Sep 08
No obesity so far, but I am trying to get my kids, especially the two younger ones to make healthier choices. Veggies sure are a hard sell though.
Bullying, now that's a problem too. My son has autism and I was worried about him being a target, but I find I have more problems with him bothering other kids because he doesn't quite understand limits sometimes.
1 person likes this
@redkathy (3374)
• United States
11 Sep 08
Dawn, you are obviously an in tune and loving parent. I had an autistic little girl in my youth group. Her mom almost didn't let her come because of it. I told mom to fill me in and not worry. She educated me and it worked out just fine. Like you said, she didn't always understand the limits and required a bit more attention but that's it! She is grown now, probably about 20, and is a fine young lady. Blessings to you!
1 person likes this
@underdogtoo (9579)
• Philippines
12 Sep 08
I do not know about obesity and being overweight but I do know about bullying. I had my share of fights when I was young and most of them were about other kids being bullied and me stepping in for them. I never run from a fight because that would mean being bullied forever. When my kids were in school there was always the problem of being bullied. I asked my son to hit the bully once to make him stop but he wouldn't and when I asked him why he said it would make him a bad boy. Wisdom from the mouth of babes!!
@redkathy (3374)
• United States
12 Sep 08
I defended a few girls in my day too. In fact I punched a kid one time for putting his hands where they didn't belong. He did that to lots of girls much meeker than I. It was time to teach him a lesson. I almost got kicked out of school except for that fact that I was defending myself and my dad would have defended that. I invited the dean to call my dad and then proceeded to tell him what I thought my father's response would be so he changed his mind. I don't believe in fighting and there are times when a child should just walk away, as I taught my sons, but this was too much.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
14 Sep 08
I don't deal with obesity in my kids. They're all very healthy weights. My husband and I on the other hand... lol. Well we're chubby, although my BMI would say I'm obese, but I don't look it, I just look chubby.
But anyways, I already set limits on junk food and TV, even though I don't think my kids are capable of being overweight. They have great metabolisms, and are usually quite active. They eat very healthy foods, actually they all LOVE onions. If you ask them their favorite food they would say onions. Talk about healthy kids!
But I don't believe junk food should take the place of a good meal, junk food is a dessert, and that's it. And my kids aren't allowed to watch too much TV or play too many video games. My oldest has a game cube and a game boy, but they are usually being taken away for bad behavior, lol.
1 person likes this
@redkathy (3374)
• United States
14 Sep 08
We see parenting the same way. And both my boys had high metabolisms too. I encouraged organized sports. One ended up playing football and skating while the other did cross country, weight lifting, and basketball. I took away their game stuff too when necessary. We had all the latest stuff when they were growing up. I bought educational fun games too. They kept busy inside and out!
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
11 Sep 08
as always i have believed that childrens problems begin at home no matter what they are.parents do not take the time to be w/their children as they should. i know many of them work, maybe 2 jobs, i did but i always felt responsible when my children did something wrong. they would not be obese if they had the right foods to eat. why bring junk food in the house when they are already having problems & that is a temptation to them to all of us who don't need to eat it.kids have a hard time & they need all the support from their parents that they can get no matter what it's about. they really don't want to ne obese because the other kids make fun of them but eating is a habit & not a good habit sometime. open your eyes parents & give your children the help they need from you.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
11 Sep 08
i always heard that. lol. thanks, u have a good one to.
1 person likes this
@medney1988 (560)
• United States
11 Sep 08
people seem to think that all weight issues stem from children not eating properly. i have met lots of kids who are overweight that don't eat junk food. you can gain weight from eating fruits and vegetables and all that other good stuff. the problem is that our society has lost the art of portion control. we eat too much of everything. bullying has been going on for a long time in school. part of the reason is because some people think it helps to build tougher skin and sometimes it's because we have so many children with limited teachers and there isn't enough people to supervise. what are we suppose to do?
@redkathy (3374)
• United States
11 Sep 08
I agree portion control is most important. I believe that children are a product of their environment, I know that I am. If a healthy lifestyle is taught and displayed at home children will develop that type of lifestyle. I am not a big exercise fan but I don't sit around and watch TV or stay on the computer and not do anything. I surely encouraged my kids to be active, join sports, ride bikes, and play outside. I did limit what and how much TV, video game, and computer time they had.
As for the bullying you are correct, it's been going on for a long time and always will to a certain degree. Again, parents need to raise children to be kind, consider others feelings, and to think before they speak will tend NOT to be bullies. I also believe they should be taught when to defend themselves and when to walk away. My oldest son had a big problem with running his mouth. He got punched a few ties in high school over it too. Although I felt really bad for him, I tried to explain how he arrived at the situation. I reminded him of what we expected at home. I let him know that what wasn't acceptable at home, wasn't acceptable outside the home either and therefore the punch was a result of his unacceptable action. After two times, he learned to tone it down.
Teachers should not be responsible to raise children. Everyone should volunteer when they can to try and help with any staffing shortages. After all the world belongs to all of us, so we should all pitch in and do what we can!
@medney1988 (560)
• United States
11 Sep 08
you're right. it's not teachers responsbility but because parents just don't care anymore the teachers have to pick up the slack
1 person likes this
@belk89 (1103)
• Philippines
12 Sep 08
I never have to deal with obesity but as a mom i know that i must be responsible in providing a healthy meal for my child. I agree with providing them a healthy meal and not letting them eat junkfood nor stock junk food inside the house. To avoid kids from getting tempted of eating it. A treat every now and then would be fine. But as much as i can i wont provide or let them try eating fastfood meal.
I know that soon ill be working and time is very important. But i know i must also take into consideration my kids health everytime i prepare there meal. A healthy lifestyle while they are young would prevent them from getting obese. In that way they wont have to experience being bullied by other kids. At the same time it will boost there confidence to be active in sport or any activities that they feel like joining. I know it is not a 100% assurance that they wont be bullied but at least they will not be too vulnerable about it and would know how to defend themselves from other kids when they need to.
1 person likes this
@redkathy (3374)
• United States
13 Sep 08
I believe you have the right attitude. We do our best to teach good eating which includes occasional junk and fast food. My mom always suggested fruit, cheese and cereals for snacks. We had to eat everything she served at each meal even if it was only a spoonful. She had candy around at times too. I think if you never give this stuff to your kids they will go overboard later.
