Michelle Obama has been taking a lot of heat online the past day or two. Not for her dress selection this time. (BTW - Really people? Because that's what's important, right? *rolling my eyes*)
No, this week she's being slammed for being a mom and caring about the health of her daughters. Shame on her!
The First Lady has picked childhood obesity as her cause, and in discussing how childhood obesity rates have tripled in the past 30 years, she mentioned how she had to reign in her daughter's eating habits after their pediatrician mentioned that they were both gaining weight.
She's now being criticized for talking about her daughters like that. Pundits are saying Malia, 11, is in a "precarious" situation. That she is at high risk of an eating disorder as she enters the pre-teen years.
As the former fat kid, I can say that overeating IS a serious eating disorder.
It's nice to see that even though she's the First Lady, she's paying attention to the health of her children and doing something about it.
I wish my parents had paid more attention to my weight when I was a pre-teen and teen. I wish they had stocked the house healthy snacks instead of bags of chips and candy.
When I was 16, I quit my gymnastics team so I could have an after-school job. Before that, my horrible eating habits were kept somewhat in-check by constant physical activity. Once that was gone, the pounds just piled on. And no one said much, and they certainly didn't DO anything about it.
Today, I don't buy chips unless it's for a specific occasion, and snacks are carrot sticks, cucumber slices or fruit. Our kids know this and are pretty good about not even asking for junk food. They have to try everything on their plate, and have to eat their veggies and protein and finish their glass of milk -- that's a must.
I also enforce vitamins. Sue me.
As parents, we have a responsibility to teach our kids healthy habits, such as brushing their teeth, getting enough sleep, and eating the right amounts of the right things.
If we don't, who will?
And not talking about it? Sorry, EVERY mom talks about her kids to people.
I don't think this is going to put her daughters in a precious position. I doubt they read and watch everything said about them anyway. I have a feeling they are pretty-well shielded from the media.
Yes, she's the First Lady and has assistants to answer her phones and open her mail, but at least she's paying attention to her kids and their health.
TALK ABOUT IT:
How do you make sure your kids are eating right and getting enough physical activity in their day?
I require a fruit with breakfast and veggies with dinner. With dinner, is easy to give them carrot sticks or a salad while I'm preparing dinner. This also stops the "I'm starving, when will it be ready?" chorus.
And on weekends, the TV and Wii are O-F-F during the day, unless we have family movie time. Even if they aren't outside playing, they can color, read, or build with Legos. But I normally shove them out into the sunshine. :-)
Comments
A great read and I like that you pointed out positive, tangible ways parents can help their kids with eating choices. Nice to see someone take the message back to where it was supposed to be -- health. I shared your post on facebook.com/childrenscentralcal.
We got to teach our children good eating habits so that it may not cause any bad implications for them in the future. Good health is everyone’s foundation for good future. So, if we want to give our children good future ahead of them we got to give that to them now not later. What kind of parent would not sacrifice just a penny in any Money Mart account for just a meal of nutritious food and vitamins plenty dinning?