Some years ago I was the pediatrician for a family of two obese elementary school girls who were children of very obese parents. I saw the family often in an attempt to get them to exercise more and eat better. I tried to tell them that they didn’t need to lose weight, just eat a little less and exercise more. Keeping their weight constant through the rest of childhood would be better than losing and gaining again. I also tried to help Mom and Dad learn what to eat and how to get the girls to exercise.
Before long Mother told me she couldn’t exercise or eat less because she was pregnant. Fortunately her obstetrician and I were in the same office so we ganged up on her during the pregnancy and encourage her to control her eating, exercise more, and not gain any weight.
By the time their sweet baby boy came bouncing into the world we were all on the same page, at least that’s what I though. Mother planned on nursing and not offer baby any other food for the first 6 months and I planned on seeing them all often during these first very important months. When Baby come in for his one month exam he tipped the scales at three times his birth weight. Dad explained they Baby was so hungry they had to offer him solid foods. “You wouldn’t believe how much he eats,” Dad confided. “He’ll gulp down a whole jar of baby food every couple of hours,” he boasted. Then Mom added, “We think he is going to be big like the rest of us.” And he was.
There was nothing I could do to get them to feed the baby less, eat less themselves, get the girls to eat less or exercise.
Moral of the story: If parents are not convinced of the benefits of not being overweight. The kids won’t be able to stay within the normal range. Once again: kids do what their parents do.
Proving once again, the future of our country lies not in our children, but in their parents who teach by everything they do!