Another Parental Wake Up Call!
In a recent entry, I referenced a new study from the American Heart Association. Within the study, researchers identified that young children may have a “vascular age” that is 30 years older than their actual age.
After reading the initial study, I had feelings of disgust and disbelief. I cannot grasp how so-called loving parents are able to fill their kids with enough garbage to cause health problems. The obvious response to my reaction would be that the parents did not know the consequences of their actions. Perhaps they do not realize what is contained within certain food products. Perhaps they have been victimized by the food industry’s powerful marketing force.
Is Ignorance An Excuse?
Should we let these parents off the hook? Does ignorance now serve as a viable excuse for poor parenting? Is that really the state of our world today? Does anyone else find this to be a tad bit on the pathetic side?!?!
Yes, the food industry is deceptive, but that’s no excuse to fall victim to its nonsense. What happened to due diligence? My wife and I were not given step by step instructions on how to raise our children. We actively sought out our own answers. Whether it was food related, vaccine related, social development related, physical development related, and so on, we read everything that we could get our hands on. We searched the Internet, read books, watched videos, and continue to do so today. We don’t take anyone’s word for anything. We take the time to perform our own research so we can at least attempt to make informed decisions.
And don’t give me the excuse that you do not have time to perform research for your children. Whether you are homeless and unemployed or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you have 24 hours a day. Busy people do not have 36 hour days. We all have 24 hours a day, and what you do with your time is your decision.
Putting the welfare of your children at the top of the priority list should be a no brainer! Why does it appear to be so uncommon?
Just last year, Time Magazine referenced research from Stanford University regarding the preferences of three year old children. At age three, many kids are already hooked on McDonald’s fast food. At age two, children have already formed beliefs about certain brand names, logos, and packaging.
How does a 2 year old already know about McDonald’s? Did he drive his tricycle up to the drive through window? And how does a 2 year old watch enough television to start identifying logos and brand names? Do parents ever think to turn off the television and instead spend some time trying to develop the child’s brain!
What happened to working on the alphabet? Numbers are also fun! How about puzzles and other BRAIN stimulating games? And what about getting outside and playing! Ya know… real simple activities like running in the yard, throwing the ball, learning how to pedal a tricycle, and so on.
I may not be a perfect parent, but I sure as hell try. My son is two and a half and has never stepped inside a McDonald’s restaurant. He wouldn’t know the difference between a Big Mac and a hot dog. He has never tasted either.
Is he deprived? Hell no! I don’t consider nurturing the child and putting HIS welfare first to be any form of deprivation. It may be unusual based on modern statistics, but I’ll happily be the odd man out if it means raising healthy children!
Parents need to take their parenting roles more seriously. If that means staying up late to read a book, it looks like you’ll be staying up late. Loving parents make sacrifices for their children. Turning on the television to distract your kid isn’t a sacrifice. It’s a damn shame. Regularly filling your kid with fast food isn’t a sacrifice. It’s pathetic.
Oddly enough, until I was a parent, these topics never really mattered to me. Now that I have children, I cannot imagine living any other way. My kids mean more to me than anything in the world. It is difficult for me to offer anything but disgust to those who neglect the health and well being of their children.
Ross
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Hey Ross!!! it’s yor boy Chuck!!!
Wooooo Mannnnn, Now that’s wtf i’m talking about you go Ross. Man you couldn’t have said it any better man. Before they even study any books read this article if this can’t wake a parent up then they shouldn’t even be called a parent. You are the man Ross!!!
I couldn’t agree more! Awesome, awesome article!
I think every parent should read this article.
With your permission, I would like to print out and distribute this article to parents I know.
Not even a hot dog for little ross?
In all seriousness this message hits home as I was raised by TV and with microwavable dinners/fast food. The fact of the matter is, you cant choose your parents.
Hey Ross,
Great post. I definitely agree that the need for parents to be involved in the lives of their children is huge. I don’t know how get away with just giving their kids fast food. All of us around here seem to manage making food for ourselves despite a busy schedule. If it means you have another mouth to feed just add another serving to the menu.
It’s sad that we live in a world today where people aren’t even willing to cook their own meals. As far as I know people have always been busy it’s just the social norms that have been changing. No one seems to believe in a good hearty home cooked meal anymore.
Good work !
Tell it like it is, Ross. More and more parents need to understand this. Health and nutrician is nothing magical. Turn off the television and play outside. Forget McDonalds, Pizza Hut or any fast food junck. Stock up of fruit, vegetables and lean protein. Now anybody with two brain cells can understand this.
Childeren eat what their parents give them. Stick to natural foods and you will be okay. It’s only bad habits which bring on these negative health effects. If more parents read this article, the problem would vanish.
OHH MAN ROSS!
I was raised with a little fast food, not much, but here and there, and now that I’m in college I completely HATE fast-food with a passion. My buddies will go get something quick to eat before heading to the gym, and I’m the only one who is in the apartment, cooking up some homemade food, or at least heating up something my mom made for me… I mean at this very moment they’re sitting on the couch eating a bunch of mcdonalds and I have a nice home cooked meal my mom made me just this morning! Fast food makes me sick to my stomach!
HELL FIRE BUDDY! and thanks, maybe this might get through to them.
hey,Ross thank you continue to warning and remind us about the danger of some routine
Patrick
I’m consistently surprised by otherwise-competent people who go on autpilot with their parenting. It starts right away when they take an epidural for childbirth, never reading up on statistics of potential complications. Cuz it’s all about avoiding pain, even natural and brief pain that serves a purpose (amazing instincts kick in when the mother’s body is aware and awake to what is happening).
Then a few years later no reading has been done on nutrition, and to avoid “pain” (food prep time) they go on autopilot and live off fast food. Food prep serves a purpose — it keeps us aware of what’s going in our bodies, and it’s a checks and balances system. If I’m gonna have to work to make my food, I want it to be good! If I’m just going in the drive-thru, though, any old mystery meat will work.
I grew up in a family that didn’t eat great food but my parents cared deeply about us, and they genuinely tried hard with their parenting. We felt their investment and concern for our future, even if it didn’t always play out into nutritive meals.
If only all children could feel the same thing from their parents!
I think the error in logic comes from a faulty assumption…
“I cannot grasp how so-called loving parents are able to fill their kids with enough garbage to cause health problems. ”
It is obvious that these parents have other priorities. From my observations it usually goes something like…career, house, self-interests, kids, spouse.
Well stated Ross! My son will be 2 on Christmas and he’s never had sweets or fast food or candy. He’s enroled in a toddler gym class to learn tumbeling and things, goes to play groups, eats dirt, loves books, etc. My wife has always made our son’s food (his favorite is frozen berries). He loves bicycle trips with mom to the library for story time and he loves the park, even in the rain.
One of my great joys is knowing that he’s not raising himself as a latch-key kid on MTV like I was. He’s being shown a way of life that is priveledged for sure, but priveledged in the sense that he’s a priority over me and my wifes needs.
In terms of poverty culture and its effects on kids, I can attest that my wife and I are not wealthy by any means and we’re able to pull all this off on a very simple income. I don’t by the poverty excuse as a rationale for garbage food and bad t.v. for kids.
Great post Ross!
solid!
Well said Ross, I cannot agree more!
Javier – Putting self interests, house, etc. ahead of the child’s health IS a problem. That isn’t a fault in assumption… rather it is simply identifying ANOTHER problem.
Ross
You go boy! I live in a town where there are 7 fast food restaurants all next door to each other (i’m not exaggerating) And everyday these places are packed with lines whipping around the building. I feel bad for the kids cause they don’t know any more than what their parents show them at that age. You’re really on the ball with your parenting skills if your little one doesn’t even know what a hotdog tastes like. When I become a parent, my child is going to think that apples and bananas are candy. They don’t need to know what an M&M tastes like to be happy.
Great Post Ross! i have 3 little girls and we feed them the same stuff we eat… real meat, veggies and water.
i cant figure out why people put themselves on diets and then feed their kids pop tarts and hot dogs…
kids need MORE nutritient dense foods than adults!
have you ever read anything from the Weston A Price Foundation? http://www.westonprice.org – good stuff about children and nutrition.
Elliott
ross
this is why i love you man! the workouts are top notch, but THIS is what IT is all about. parents have to do a better job of protecting their children from our fast food TV society. as i read this i can hear your passion and it is a great example you are settig and teaching to your readers. much appreciated.
Hey Ross,
Right on the head man!!! Kids will learn and imitate almost exactly the habits of the parents (their first teachers). I’m proud to say my son is 2 1/2 and has never watched even 10 minutes of TV since my wife and I don’t subscribe to it. Sure we watch DVD’s, but he is long asleep when we watch them. As far as food goes, he eats what we eat, meat, steamed veggies, and fruit. He loves Carlson’s Fish oil, half teaspoon daily. The old saying goes “you get out what you put in” and that could’t be further from the truth. Keep up the great work it is appreciated.
Scott
While I believe in personal responsibility and a parent’s obligation towards cultivating an healthy dietary regimen in their kids, there is something to be said for the government’s role in this too. Successive governments in this country have been in the pockets of the farming industry (comprised of mega corporations). This has caused the food market to be flooded with cheap high-carb items loaded with trans-fats and corn syrup.
“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are”
Ross,
I agree with you about doing everything you can to make sure your child is healthy, but sometimes I think about Todd Marinovich, whose dad raised him from birth to be a star quarterback. When he was growing up, the kid worked with all sorts of coaches and never ate a Big Mac or anything with sugar in it. When he went to friends’ birthday parties, he passed on the cake and ice cream.
He needed up getting that college scholarship and pro contract that he was raised to get, but he also had several drug-related run-ins with the law.
I don’t know if he would have had those problems had he led a more “normal” childhood, though that does seem to be the prevailing opinion.
I’m not trying to be a jerk and I’m sorry if I come off that way, but I’m just wondering what your take on Marinovich was.
Stephen – Marinovich wasn’t raising a child, he was trying to CREATE an athlete. A kid needs to be a kid. Forcing a child to become something is poor parenting. I’ve discussed this concept in past child-related blog entries (you can find them within this blog).
With that said, regularly sending your child to McDonald’s shouldn’t be associated with “normal” parenting either. We as a whole need to change what is considered normal and optimal.
Just for an example, we bought a huge ice cream cake for my son’s birthday in May. My son had a few bites, but was more interested in the fruit bowl. He ate strawberries and blueberries and was hardly interested in the cake. He has grown up eating fruit and that IS a treat for him. Most of his peers are the same way. Based on what I’ve seen in 2 and a half years of parenting, kids start out this way, but change over time based on what they are exposed to.
I’m not here to deprive my child of anything, but I will certainly promote a certain lifestyle (which is everything but deprivation).
Ross
It a time when weening at a few months then formula-feeding children is considered normal, and handing a child off to a stranger to watch all day before the age of two is considered par for the course, wtf are we supposed to expect? With the computer revolution came several things, one of which was dual-income households being the norm, leaving little time for raising children, and the other was an addiction to convenience. Paradigm shifts are never easy, and there’s often quite a bit of fallout.
Kids have always eaten tons of crap – that’s part of being a kid – the difference is that kids also used to spend 6-12 hours a day running around outside, and had to be dragged in by the ear sometime after dusk. Now they have to be dragged kicking and screaming away from the tv after “only” 5 hours of Spongebob. Now people, kids included, talk about getting winded playing Mariokart on the Wii and what a killer workout Guitar Hero is. We’ve been getting more and more sedentary for a few hundred years.
Poor health isn’t anything new, though – people have been finding ways to destroy their health for as long as health was a normal thing. I often wonder if the real change we’re seeing as a society isn’t just an overabundance of information, studies like these included.
omg you are so right on every point that you made.
i have a 5 year old girl and she has no sweets or chocolate or general junk like that and myself and my partner made this descision from day one but whne i told my health vistor this,rather than support us she told us this isnt something we should fully do we were told to perhaps not give as much as she may binge when shes older or resent us for not letting her have it,which is just crazy im protecting my childs health,teeth,bones,inmune system and etc.
when she 1st started school and i told them also that i didnt want them to let her have any they asked me is it because of an allergy and i told them no its for her health and they just looked at me gone out like i was deprizing her of air or something,also they asked well hw are we meant to reward her then? to which i replyed 1.it doent have to be done with food but if so use friut perhaps(which she loves)or a sticker.it doesnt have to be an unhealthy treat that doesn install good patterns in life.
im not saying that im perfect but its not hard to make a meal from scratch or go for a walk rather than use the car.
are chilldren are the future we should build them to last that way.
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