[cj125]

Originally Posted by roxies_mom

I think I've seen some of these kids on t.v. These are pretty extreme cases and it does seem odd to me that most of the parents are also extremely overweight. At times it's mostly the mother being shown and you have no idea if there even is a father. It is so sad and can you imagine what they must go through at school? The teasing and being cast aside instead of being encouraged to play with the other kids getting some exercize. I have 4 kids. Out of the 4 I have one (he'll be 22 in june) that is overweight. He had allot of issues as a child with skin problems and was put on steroids to help controll it. It was a desperate attempt to help him because it was so miserable for him. His appetite seemed to increase and he started to put on weight. We've always been an active family too. I've always made the efforts for him to eat healthy but the person who talked about once they start driving and moving towards adult hood it's difficult to have much say over it is right. He's pretty heavy now and it doesn't seem to bother him. But it does bother me and I can hear him breathing heavy when he's moving about. I feel at times like my hands are tied because he's an adult. I am worried about his health. He has an adorable gf that is crazy about him. He's like a big sweet teddy bear. As a parent I know how difficult it can be to get them to do the right things sometimes.

Originally Posted by RebelBelle

From someone who personally struggles with weight issues, let me just say that maybe my mom ISN'T to blame. She too is overweight as was my grandfather and greatgrandmother. The other half of my family is normal weight. My mom raised myself and 4 cousins. Three of us are overweight the other 2 aren't. We ate the same food, participated in the same activities. We live in the South where we did get grits and sausage for breakfast (which by the way would not have been an issue if people knew more about portion control). The difference is that my 2 "normal" cousins have higher metabolisms than the rest of us. Should my mom have forced us to eat less than the "normal" cousins? Or should she have pushed us to excercise more? And where would she have learned portion control or healthy cooking techniques? From her overweight father? Perhaps he should have learned that from his overweight mother?

Maybe what this world needs is a little more education and a little less judgement.

I am extremely overweight and I'm working my butt off everyday to lose it. At what age was my weight problem no longer my mom's fault...16, 18, 21? One day does that responsibility become mine? All I can say is that I KNOW without a doubt that my mom did everything she could for me. I can say that the judgemental people of the world didn't make me want to lose weight. All they made me want to do is go to my room and cry and eat to fill the void.

I'm not saying it's right to push food on your child as a babysitter, in fact just the opposite, but I am saying that you can't judge a book by its cover. There are plenty of people on Disability due to being paralyzed from drinking and driving or being shot because their drug deal went bad or from traumatic brain injuries from overdoses or from cancer from smoking. I go to work everyday and pay my taxes just like everyone else and I deserve the same benefits as every other American.

Originally Posted by roxies_mom

I'm for more education and less profit and teaching our whole society about good nutrition. We should be allowed to join groups to learn from rather then have to pay huge fees to participate.

Good posts!!!