Spare the Rod, Fatten the Child: Childhood Obesity a Sin at Church?

I saw a baby in church who was so fat, it looked painful. I looked at her fat parents and wanted to slap them both silly -- Three Stooges style -- but we were in church. The preacher was talking about forgiveness, and as bad as I needed to hear what the good Rev. Dr. was saying, all I could do was stare at the Klumps seated in front of me. I immediately wondered what these people were feeding this child. It's no secret that down South we give our babies cereal very early on, as in weeks vs. the months most doctors recommend. Hence, I've seen a chubby baby or two in my day. However, this baby was ready for the Maury show. In all fairness, I know nothing of the child's medical and genetic histories, so this is based solely on what I saw. If her parents were any indication, this child was being fed far more than she could possibly need. I don't understand how two people living a life that could potentially mirror my past morbidly-obese pain would allow the curse to continue.

When I went home, I started poking around the Internet, only to discover that the problem of obesity among children is officially an epidemic. Several studies talked about how rapid weight gain during the first six months could place a child at risk of obesity by age 3. An article for the HarvardScience Publication found, "As childhood obesity continues its 30-year advance from occasional curiosity to cultural epidemic, health care providers are struggling to find out why - and the reasons are many," David Cameron writes. "Increasingly sedentary environments for both adults and children, as well as cheap and ubiquitous processed foods no doubt play a role, but researchers are finding more evidence that the first clues for childhood obesity may begin as far back as early infancy."

I have no doubt that my parents' bad eating habits became my own. Although they were not overweight, they didn't know a thing about healthy living. If they did, I never knew it. The countless threats over starving kids in Africa kept me with a clean plate all the way into adulthood. While I was saving the kids in Africa, who were starving anyway, no matter how much I ate, I was killing myself from lack of discipline and knowledge about healthy living. Being the fattest kid in class my entire school career, I promised myself that my unborn kids would eat/do/live/be better so they would not suffer as I had. Isn't that something that all parents want?

The following are 10 healthy eating habits I found on freshbaby.com -- that should help keep any young child out of the obesity statistics.

• Talk about what your baby is eating. Make it fun.
• Be a role model. Your baby learns by mimicking you.
• Encourage drinking water. Offer it at each meal.
• Don't give up. Your baby's tastes will change daily.
• Your baby needs a balanced diet. Offer plenty of variety.
• Don't be in a rush at mealtimes. Relax and enjoy the time.
• Set times for breakfast, lunch snacks and dinner.
• Never force your baby to eat.
• Make mealtimes a family event.
• Avoid distractions.

There are many things that can and should be inherited. However, bad eating habits and the continuation of morbid obesity are not two of them. Aim for a fit family instead.

Do you already do all of these things? How else do you encourage healthy habits in your kids?

**Shout out of the week goes to Maggie Maher for last week's 3 pound weight loss. You go girl--keep it up!