It's war! An all-out "war on obesity,"
that is, and our kids have become
the main target.
What is being hurled in this attack against these
children? New weapons? Up-to-date, fascinating, safe, effective
treatments? No . . . it's the same artillery being chucked at them as was
fired at kids 50 years ago.
Dieting,
drugs, cajoling, rewarding, punishing, and humiliating didn't work at
creating substantial, long-term, safe results then
and they don't work any better now.
Fat
camps? Give me a break. Short term results at best. Weight loss surgery? Good
Lord! What are they thinking? Can surgical alteration of the
digestive tracts provide our children with long term
good health and happiness? Highly unlikely. Read this
commentary on our parent site.
Before you put your child on a diet or take them to have
their digestive system permanently altered, consider the safer, more
effective alternatives first. We all love our kids and
want what is best for them. But what is best isn't always what seems
obvious at first look.
We, as
parents, are responsible for decisions that will have long-term impact
on our kids' lives. Let's take a huge step back and rethink the
possibilities.
As
parents we have to be make decisions based on more than one source of
information. Even your favorite, beloved physician can be
ill-informed. Some research comes directly from a very biased weight
loss industry. We have to learn how to evaluate sources and apply some serious logic and common sense to
our decisions.
Improving our children's health has to be about
healthy lifestyles. We need to encourage our children to
be involved in fun activities, to eat food that is both
nutritious and enjoyable, and we absolutely have to let them know they
are wonderful and loved at any size.
We at
SizeWiseKids can't make the decisions for you - you have to do what
you feel is right for your child. But we can certainly supply you with
some alternative thinking and engage in some honest, thoughtful
conversations.
