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  #1  
Old July 18th 03, 12:29 AM
PF Riley
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I thought of JG today as I sat at McDonald's with my daughter and
watched a family nearby. There were three young children with their
grandmother (probably about 160 lbs.) and mother (at least 300 lbs.,
conservative estimate -- her butt was twice as wide as her chair, she
had a suprapubic fat mass that bifurcates as it hangs down in front of
her crotch, and she walked with the waddle typical of people who can't
adduct their thighs fully due to their girth). The youngest boy was
clearly full. He was sitting and staring at his small pile of
remaining French fries. As the older sister was off at the front
counter, the grandmother told the boy, "Finish your French fries if
you want ice cream." The girl returned with a handful of ice cream
cones for everyone and repeated their "rule" to him. The boy slowly
stuffed the remaining fries in his mouth and then over the next 20
minutes or so managed to eat his entire ice cream cone too.

What wonderful dietary advice from grandma! Teach the boy not only to
ignore is innate sense of satiety, but to override it in order to
consume more carbohydrates deep fried in fat (oh, excuse me...
McDonald's is at least frying them in vegetable oil instead of beef
tallow now) so that he may receive, as a "reward" for overeating, MORE
food -- a sugary, fatty treat! The grandmother seemed quite confident
in her ability to dispense advice on eating habits. She probably
thinks of French fries as a "vegetable," no doubt, so she's helping
him be healthy, right? It was amazing that watching this small
interaction made it immediately apparent why the mother was so
enormous.

PF
  #2  
Old July 18th 03, 02:01 AM
Wendy Marsden
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Default Good parenting

PF Riley wrote:
It was amazing that watching this small
interaction made it immediately apparent why the mother was so
enormous.


In another newsgroup I was participating in a thread about how awful it is
that parents let their kids get obese.

I mentioned how I didn't allow my children to eat Frosted Flakes at a
family reunion week. I fed them reasonable portions of low-glycemic foods
(that would not cause a sugar crash at 10 am while out doing
activities.) I was treated like some sort of twig-eating
nature freak for serving them oatmeal and putting peanut butter (instead
of jam) on their english muffins and not allowing donuts. My in-laws
were actually ****ed at me for being so mean to my kids. Of course, these
are the same in-laws that bought all the sugary cereals and pastries. I
brought the oatmeal and peanut butter myself.

The weird thing is, other posters in the thread jumped on me for causing
my kids potential complexes because they were denied sugary cereals. In
their mind, it was BAD PARENTING to dictate menus to them. (Mind you, at
this same family reunion the kids had soda and cake every day - I just
limited how much sugar they got to something less than infinite amounts.)

I think it is interesting that people with slim, active kids are suspected
of abusing the children to get them that way.

On a possibly related note, have you observed the new fashion of wearing
very low-cut pants and having your belly fat hang out over them with
cropped shirts? I've seen this look a half-dozen times now amongst
teenagers - it's so gross that you can't manage NOT to look. I think it
is some sort of backlash against health-freaks who think belly fat isn't
attractive. (Probably the same squares who think smoking is bad.)

So, there you go. Being slim is a sign of pathology.

Wendy
  #3  
Old July 18th 03, 03:40 AM
Roger Schlafly
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"Wendy Marsden" wrote in
I mentioned how I didn't allow my children to eat Frosted Flakes at a
family reunion week. ...


What do you think of parents who give candy directly to other
kids?

It seems like about once a week or so that my kids goto a birthday
party or some other event, and come home with a bag of candy.
The only time anyone asks my opinion is when my 3-year-old
comes to me with a Snickers bar or a Tootsie Roll and asks me
if it has peanuts in it. (She has an allergy.) I am not particularly
strict about it, but she'd be eating chocolate candy every day if
I let her eat all the candy she gets from other parents. What are
these parents thinking? Do they feed their own kids this much
candy? Am I rude if I refuse the candy?


  #4  
Old July 18th 03, 07:17 AM
PF Riley
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Default Good parenting

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 02:40:10 GMT, "Roger Schlafly"
wrote:

It seems like about once a week or so that my kids goto a birthday
party or some other event, and come home with a bag of candy.
The only time anyone asks my opinion is when my 3-year-old
comes to me with a Snickers bar or a Tootsie Roll and asks me
if it has peanuts in it. (She has an allergy.)


Ignoring all the other issues you raise, I'd like to know if you
really do send your three-year-old child with peanut allergy to events
where she is given food without your supervision and expect her to
maintain surveillance herself for peanuts, given that peanut allergy
is the leading cause of food allergy deaths in the U.S. and is usually
lifelong.

You have already unabashedly revealed your general lack of any sense
and your childishly self-destructive oppositional attitude (i.e.,
"Because I was told to do it, I won't.") when it comes to supine
sleeping for infants, bicycle helmets, firearm safety, and seatbelts,
yet you continue to amaze me. It seems that my opinion of you and your
mental abilities becomes lower and lower every time I read one of your
posts.

This scenario reminds me of the two-year-old child with extensive
second-degree burns on his hand whose mother told me that, as she
cooked with him watching while standing on a chair next to the stove,
she had told him not to touch the burners. I can only imagine
Schlafly's three-year-old daughter in the ER getting fluid boluses and
subcutaneous epinephrine as her blood pressure drops, with Roger
standing off to the side saying, "I TOLD her to read the label on the
cereal box!"

Ah, I guess this all fits with the theme of this thread. (Hint: the
"Subject" is full sarcasm.)

PF
  #5  
Old July 18th 03, 08:22 AM
JG
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Default Good parenting

"PF Riley" wrote in message
...

I thought of JG today as I sat at McDonald's with my daughter and
watched a family nearby.


Gee, thanks! It's nice to be thought of... g

There were three young children with their
grandmother (probably about 160 lbs.) and mother (at least 300 lbs.,
conservative estimate -- her butt was twice as wide as her chair, she
had a suprapubic fat mass that bifurcates as it hangs down in front of
her crotch, and she walked with the waddle typical of people who can't
adduct their thighs fully due to their girth).


And you didn't lose your appetite?

The youngest boy was
clearly full. He was sitting and staring at his small pile of
remaining French fries. As the older sister was off at the front
counter, the grandmother told the boy, "Finish your French fries if
you want ice cream." The girl returned with a handful of ice cream
cones for everyone and repeated their "rule" to him. The boy slowly
stuffed the remaining fries in his mouth and then over the next 20
minutes or so managed to eat his entire ice cream cone too.


As you sat engrossed (or merely grossed out), huh? (Hope your daughter
wasn't trying to get your attention!)

What wonderful dietary advice from grandma! Teach the boy not only to
ignore is innate sense of satiety, but to override it in order to
consume more carbohydrates deep fried in fat (oh, excuse me...
McDonald's is at least frying them in vegetable oil instead of beef
tallow now) so that he may receive, as a "reward" for overeating, MORE
food -- a sugary, fatty treat! The grandmother seemed quite confident
in her ability to dispense advice on eating habits. She probably
thinks of French fries as a "vegetable," no doubt, so she's helping
him be healthy, right? It was amazing that watching this small
interaction made it immediately apparent why the mother was so
enormous.


I'd hardly consider the grandmother's words "advice." (An *order*
perhaps.)

Read what I wrote in response to Elizabeth, PF. The grandmother
undoubtedly falls into one of three categories (I think it's safe to
assume that virtually *everyone* is aware of the correlation between
overeating and excess weight--the "information."): Either (1) She
hasn't pondered the information (and consequently hasn't taken any
action), in which case she's an "idiot"; (2) She *has* pondered the
information, and come up with a rational (to *her*; people, mind you,
have a right to make what others would consider foolish choices) reason
for encouraging (coercing) the boy to overeat (at least on this
occasion); or (3) She's not capable--she doesn't have the mental
acumen--to ponder the overeating--overweight information, and thus is a
candidate for advising.

So tell us, PF (I'm dyin' to know!): What did you do? Did you say
anything to her/her family (daughter)? Did you accost her with your
expert advice? g


  #6  
Old July 18th 03, 10:54 AM
Roger Schlafly
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"JG" wrote
assume that virtually *everyone* is aware of the correlation between
overeating and excess weight--the "information."): Either (1) She


Yes, I am sure she understands that she got fat from overeating.


  #7  
Old July 18th 03, 01:15 PM
Jeff Utz
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Default Good parenting


"PF Riley" wrote in message
...
(...)

It was amazing that watching this small
interaction made it immediately apparent why the mother was so
enormous.


The immediate question that comes to mind is why didn't the mother do her
bit as a parent and say something like: you don't have to eat your fries or
the ice cream if you don't want it? The mother is obese. One would think she
should know better.

The mother is clearly suffering from obesity. I agree it is not her fault
that she grew up fat. However, she has the ability to lose weight. And she
is one of the people who will suffer if she doesn't.

Jeff

PF



  #8  
Old July 18th 03, 01:19 PM
Jeff Utz
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Default Good parenting


"Roger Schlafly" wrote in message
et...
"Wendy Marsden" wrote in
I mentioned how I didn't allow my children to eat Frosted Flakes at a
family reunion week. ...


What do you think of parents who give candy directly to other
kids?


Perhaps you could mention politely to the other parents that your don't want
your child to get candy.

It seems like about once a week or so that my kids goto a birthday
party or some other event, and come home with a bag of candy.
The only time anyone asks my opinion is when my 3-year-old
comes to me with a Snickers bar or a Tootsie Roll and asks me
if it has peanuts in it. (She has an allergy.) I am not particularly
strict about it, but she'd be eating chocolate candy every day if
I let her eat all the candy she gets from other parents. What are
these parents thinking? Do they feed their own kids this much
candy? Am I rude if I refuse the candy?


No, if the other parents know that you don't want your kids getting candy
and you are polite about it, no, I would say that they are rude for offering
it.

All the best,

Jeff


  #9  
Old July 18th 03, 01:24 PM
Jeff Utz
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Posts: n/a
Default Good parenting


"JG" wrote in message
.. .
"PF Riley" wrote in message


(...)


So tell us, PF (I'm dyin' to know!): What did you do? Did you say
anything to her/her family (daughter)? Did you accost her with your
expert advice? g


My experience is that outside of the office, such advice isn't welcome. Most
people who are way too fat (e.g., they waddle) know this. And the
grandmother would not welcome this advice, either.

Jeff


  #10  
Old July 20th 03, 12:11 AM
PF Riley
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Default Good parenting

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 07:22:39 GMT, "JG" wrote:

So tell us, PF (I'm dyin' to know!): What did you do? Did you say
anything to her/her family (daughter)? Did you accost her with your
expert advice? g


No, I did not say anything because I was there as a father and
McDonald's patron, not a pediatrician. I don't go nosing around other
people's business when outside the office because, as I have said
before, I operate under the supposition that people come to my office
because they want my advice. I wouldn't assume the same at McDonald's.

PF
 




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