The Trouble With Fat Kids...
by Peter Moore, MensHealth

"And the sins of the father shall be visited on his children, and his children's children unto the third and fourth generation. . . . "
As a source of weight-loss inspiration, the Bible is pretty much overlooked.

But there's tons of useful stuff: fasting, high-quality aerobic activities like wandering in the wilderness, and manna from heaven, the ultimate low-fat snack. And God's warning from the book of Exodus is tailor-made for dads: Just conjure it up the next time you're hoisting a greasy load toward your slavering gob while your kids look on. And, oh yes, they're watching. Very closely. The American Dietetic Association says that parents are kids' number-one role models (40 percent cite them as such), far outpacing the next-closest finisher: those bad boys of work-release, professional athletes (8 percent). Seventy percent said they turn to their parents for information on nutrition and healthy eating. So if you can set a good example with your forksmanship, you have a fighting chance at countering the 30 billion dollars a year the food industry is spending to sell a chubby lifestyle to you and your kids.

So far, the marketers are winning. One in seven American kids is currently overweight or obese, a jump of 50 percent in the past 20 years. That's nine million Whopper Jr.'s spilling out of their buns, growing to full Whopperhood. (Researchers at NYU have correlated the plump jump to the invention and marketing of the supersized meal, in the late '70s.) At the rate we're going, by 2011 the fat kids on the playground will be banding together and making fun of the few remaining skinny ones. At least, until the large generation succumbs to diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer, and other diseases associated with too much flesh and not enough action. The USDA figures that kids consume around 1,900 calories a day, even though they need only 800 to 1,300. Urp.

Kind of makes the Happy Meal stick in the throat, doesn't it?

"A lot of parents tell me, 'My kids don't like healthy foods,' " says David Katz, M.D., an associate clinical professor of epidemiology and public health at the Yale medical school. "Well, 'finicky' is not an excuse. You never hear a parent say, 'My child doesn't like to look both ways before he crosses the street.' They tell him to do it. They should do the same thing with dangerous foods. More of today's kids will die of complications from bad foods they eat than they will from tobacco, drugs, and alcohol."

Even slim kids are at risk of heart disease and cancer. And exercise habits and dietary smarts are the way to avoid them. You, more than anyone else, can help your kids do that. Yeah, you.

Here is where you can take a page from the Old Testament playbook: Throw some commandments at 'em. Okay, so you're not God. But with the help of the smartest people in the weight-loss game, you can keep the whole family out of caftans.



Note: Information on this site is provided for informational purposes and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professional. You should not use the information contained herein for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication. You should read carefully all product packaging. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, promptly contact your health care provider. Statements regarding Nature's Youth products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.