.....to think the 'too fat to toddle' programme is hardly a 'shocking documentary', but just plain common sense?

[tori32]

I have just watched some of this programme and was that these parents seemed unaware their dcs were obese. I am being unreasonable to think that surely these people must realise that their kids have put on weight, especially when they can't fit clothes in their sizes and the legs etc are too long???

that should read 'am I being unreasonable' not 'I am'!

I expect they were in denial.

"There's none so blind as those that will not see"

But some people don't realise when they themselves are obese, let alone their kids.

I didn't see it - was it good?

Yes. Especially the mother at the end, saying, "Oh, I couldn't have done it by myself". Er, the specialist's input consisted of telling you to give the child less food and make them take more exercise. 'Tain't brain surgery.

I wonder why they put their poor kids on tv.....do they get paid?

And some of those kids were mahoooosive, esp the ginger boy and the bonde girl.

I agree that the programme was not very good, but it did make me think. DS1 (nearly 3) has always been chubby and it is not at all clear to me how much of an issue to make of it. He eats very healthy food although I should probably cut down portion sizes and encourage him to be more active. It is hard though as being chubby is seen as a good thing in babies and it is difficult to know when they are too old for this to apply. I thought that the prgramme was helpful in highlighting that the common view that children will stop eating when they are full is nonsense for some children.

I suppose I have been guilty of overloading dd1's plate,however, I usually realise when I look at it on the table and then the eat up rule is void, just ask her to eat a bit of everything. I also know from experience that they eat more when they are growing and then that portion becomes the expected iyswim, instead of adjusting it back to normal. I have to say though, that I have never had a problem knowing that I was obese at one point, just lacked motivation to change until it was a mamouth task. I did lose the weight btw but need to shift it again due to dd2 (now 6wks!)
DD2 always leaves things if she is really full.

sorry that should be 'dd1' leaves things when really full
dd2 eats constantly and leaves nothing!!!

DS1 doesn't know what it means to be full. He will eat everything on the plate and then assert that he's "still hungry". It really does my head in at times at it seems like his sole mission in life is to persuade us to give him more food. I'm torn between being completely strict and allowing him to have as much as he wants of the healthy stuff. On the one hand I'd like him to lose a bit of his belly but on the other had I don't want it to become an issue. And if one more person says "at least he's not a picky eater" I think I may slap them... Ok maybe that's a bit extreme, but it does annoy me.

agree love2sleep. My dd will carry on eating a long time after she is full. I manage her diet very closely but I fear that things will be difficult for her.

I thought it wasn't a bad programme. I don't like the idea of calorie counting for children, but agree those parents needed a more focused approach to eating.

The portion sizes some of those kids got was astonishing!! That pretty little girl (Tegan?) was given as much food as her 14 year old brother.

No, YANBU, it's not rocket science is it? But there are thousands of parents out there who have literally no idea how to feed themselves or their children. I have worked with mums who truly believe that children should eat chicken nuggets, chips, pizza, sausages etc and can't eat meat, spuds and veg because the former is children's food and the latter is food for grown-ups.

Oh don't get me started about the level of food ignorance. I know mums who only used jars when weaning because they felt they didn't know enough about nutrition and thought it was better to "trust the experts". And then they were suprised that their toddlers won't eat their home cooked food. And as for the "children's" section of the cereal aisle at Tesco...

I have a friend who has a rather fat dd, she is always putting her on a diet, she said that her dd got 8 big easter eggs and ate them all.
Umm, my dd got the same amount (ridiclous I know) and still, in May, has 2 left.... she ate hers, and was allowed to, in a few days.

She feeds her low fat everything but then whips cereal bars out for a snack. Cereal bars as in the Rice Krispies sugar loaded ones.
I dont get it

lovetosleep, I agree, don't get me started on weaning either! I think the key is to give the healthy stuff, limit portions. If they are still hungry after 20-30mins give them something else thats healthy. That way at least their brain has had chance to realise that the stomach is full?

QOD thats the ignorance again, misguided dieting doesn't work. I bet we all know people who say they eat 'healthy', but what they really mean is that they use low fat versions like 'healthy eating lemon drizzle cakes!'

I personally think they should reintroduce or provide (not really sure what happened to it all) the idea of cooking good healthy meals from scratch, i remember vividly as a child cooking with mum. (we even did cookery in school as well) even now we do it together. (well more dad but you get he jist). cheap food, smaller portions. get rid of all these ready meals full of salt.

(oh and btw totally agree re the grow thing - I normally realise DS is on the grow after a day of him constantly eating, & keep forgetting to increase his portion sizes - but I figure if he's hungry he'll eat it if he's not he won't) fruit's always on offer to him, and meals are at set times.

low fat doesn't that mean they've either added the things to make you poop laxatives, or sweetners (which are prob not much better?)

the same as weight watchers meals - DP eats them all the time - but doesn't realise when he stops eating them the weight will all go back on??? surely it's better to eat healthy meals in smaller portions. and exercise

low fat can just mean really high sugar - it doesn't necessarily mean low calorie. The most delicious muffin that I've ever eaten was "low-fat" but the calorie count was astronomical as it was full of sugar and honey. Delicious though

I find bread a real problem as it is high calorie compared with the same volume of potatoes, rice etc but it's hard to know what else to give them for lunch at the CM. Maybe that is another thread to start

I sympathise with love2sleep and margoandjerry. I am another one with a toddler who does not stop when she is full. It's hard, because although I cook what I feel are balanced meals, DD would eat an adult sized portion if given free rein. I too worry for her in the future.

How active is your DD? I think that part of ds1's issue is that he is not very active - he'd far rather sit and do puzzles that do anything physical. I encourage him as much as possible and hopefully it will be easier now that the weather is better.

I thought the programme was informative.

DD will eat anything I put in front of her (and I mean 'anything'). She eats very healthily, but still has the odd chicken nugget or pizza - last night we had good ole' fish 'n' chips. Just a 'child size' portion!

Interesting how many of us have young children who do not do what we are told very young children will do (ie, eat till full then stop). DD is only 18 months old and has never been given food for comfort and also never has food between meals. So this is entirely her own little personality and metabolism driving it rather than any parental influence.

She is a bit too young to be very very active - she's only been walking a couple of months and still not quite stable and we don't have a garden or a very convenient nearby park but this is what we will have to focus on in the coming years to offset what is clearly her natural "thermostat".

I haven't watched the programme but would just like to say sometimes it is hard to know what to do and when. My two older dc's are very slim, active, healthy eaters who have been small from birth. DD2 (8mths)on the other hand is at the 98th percentile, has been so since birth, and will feed and feed. I know a lot about nutrition - she has all homemade stuff, but I am still at the stage when she has feeds and I monitor how much milk she has and worry when she doesn't eat all her tea etc etc. When they are babies, we are happy for them to feed, feed, feed and worry when they pick at food/milk and then we have to re-adjust when they get a bit older. i never had this problem with my other two who both had small appetites (much to my worry when they were babies) but I am already concerned that my dd2 may end up overweight. She has her dad's genes, and he is overweight, and i don't want her health to suffer

Indeed - I fell for the health visitor's line about "all children eat when hungry, and stop when full". I accept that this may be true for most children, but this thread shows it is not true for all. And there's little nutritional guidance out there in terms of portion sizes.

DD has just started walking with confidence and so I am aiming for a least one long daily trip to the park. Her natural tendancy when at home is to sit and "read" books, or be read to.

One thing I do hang onto is that I was very fat as a toddler, but slimmed at around age 6 with no significant lifestyle changes, and am a normal weight now.