Kellogg’s is trying to come up with a healthier Pop-Tart and healthier cereals to help battle childhood obesity. The company, which already has a policy of not marketing to anyone under 6, also will stop marketing unhealthy foods to the under-12 audience. The standards for unhealthy food would include anything that has more than 200 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat, 230 milligrams of sodium, 12 grams of sugar or any trans fat per single serving. Applause goes to Kellogg’s for making an effort to keep our kids healthy. But a stern shaking finger goes to the parents who aren’t responsible enough to make sure their kids are eating healthy.
Posted by Andie Clum
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65 Comments
I`m sorry but there is nothing wrong with kids eating poptarts. some kidsmight just want a little something for breakfast and a lot of kids are not hungry when they wake up.
This is just common sense. I think a nutrition class should be required starting at the middle school level for all children.
I’m often surprised on what people think are healthy diets.
Fat people are disgusting, and it’s a reflection on their personal choice to be fat. If a person chooses not to take care of themselves, should they have a right to raise a child?
“This is just common sense. I think a nutrition class should be required starting at the middle school level for all children.”
So now the lying hypocrite Republican WANTS the government to supercede parenting and tell our children what they should eat.
People obviously can’t take care of themselves, so maybe the government should start rationing food.
This is so incredibly stupid, the food police, again.
Gee, that Angel post sounds just like a troll that ran everyone off the kansas.com board. Scarlett is that you? Go back home little girl. I realize it must be boring there now, but that’s what you get.
People fail to realize that fat people are just as much a drain on our economy as illegal immigrants. They force up the price of healthcare, use more fuel to travel, and eat all the food while kids are going hungry.
I agree that nutrition education desperately needs to be taught in schools. Parents of an awful lot of kids are failing in that regard. Kids need the information necessary to succeed in living healthy despite their ignorant parents.
Many middle schools require a home economics type class, which already teaches nutrition. And if you think those kids give a fat rat’s patootie, think again. By that age, food habits are already formed.
Get a clue.
“I`m sorry but there is nothing wrong with kids eating poptarts. some kids might just want a little something for breakfast and a lot of kids are not hungry when they wake up.”
OMG that is TOO funny. IF that doesnt illustrate parents’ attitudes, I dont know what does.
Maybe a “little something” could be a whole grain muffin, toast, a banana, some yogurt, etc.
Pop tarts? Why not just sit them down with a bowl of sugar and a spoon?
I’m OK with with fat, so long as it isn’t primarily from the neck up.
The three prejudices that are still socially acceptable. Fat, gay, or Muslim.
You know, RD’s note is symbolic of the cynical liberal mindset when it comes to kids. Which is: “The little darlin’s are can’t help themselves. They are gonna do what they’re gonna do, so why bother trying to convince them to change their behavior? Whether it’s underage sex, violence, or 24-7 twinkies, all we can do is help them minimize the damage.”
Granted, that may be true for some kids. But others do care about their lives and need the tools to be the best they can be. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Farmgrrl,
You left off “atheist.”
Yer right Tom. And I’m three for four…
Outie, you read all that in RD’s post? Damn you must be psychic.
All I read is that food habits start early. I took that to mean the training must begin early.
But since you saw all that text that only YOU could see, I guess I need different glasses.
Nice try though, outie. We are amusted, and we do encourage you to try again.
I have to laugh. We have taught our munchkins to eat all sorts of things – meat, veges, and yes, treats.
Funny thing is that one of the twins’ favorite treats is ‘matoes’ – the little grape tomatoes I grow.
The three prejudices that are still socially acceptable. Fat, gay, or Muslim.
Posted by: ksfarmgrrl | June 18, 2007 at 09:51 AM
Imagine the problems a fat, gay muslim has overcoming all 3 prejudices.
Maybe, along with the nutrition class, schools should start having P.E. everyday, again. Contrary to the daily 30 minutes of P.E. when I was a child, my kids have P.E. 2-3 times a week for 15 minutes. If we are going to teach them to eat healthy then we might as well teach them to exercise as well.
How about letting them go out to play again?
Oh we can’t have that.
There aren’t a whole lot of parents out there who can afford to feed their kids poptarts every day, but once in awhile big deal.
One of the skinniest kids in the world I know eats junk food all day long. Health isn’t all about fat or parenting. Everyone is different, no two people are alike. Not everyone needs to be skinny as a rail and that is probably what hurts us more than anything- that attitude that you CAN’T have it.
While I agree that poptarts for breakfast is pretty much empty calories and would not be healthy as a steady diet, it would be interesting to see what should be pushed as proper nutrition.Would that be the low fat, high carb diet, the low carb, high fat diet, the vegan diet, the low calorie diet? In my lifetime, I have seen eggs go from good, to bad, to good, to irrevelant. i have seen potatoes and a lot of other starches go from good to bad, or bad to good. Personally, I think that our health is probably less affected by our diet, and more affected by the fact that we do nothing but sit on our butts all day, and even if we have a physical type job, it really isn;t as physical as we think. Not all, just some. Our diets are out of balance, not so much with proper nutrition, but our lifestyle
Imagine the problems a fat, gay muslim has overcoming all 3 prejudices. Posted by: TDT | June 18, 2007 at 10:17 AM
LMAO!
==============================I took a nutrition class in college, only because all the cute nursing students were in there. :)
It’s amazing how much misinformation is out there about foods and what it is, what it does and what portion size we should really consume.
I also learned that taking excessive mega vitamins can be dangerous (some vitamins and minerals) and we end up urinating most of it out as the body cannot absorb the excess.
Take a nutrition class, it’s an eye opener.
Mmmm, poptarts.
I see nothing wrong with every great once in a while giving a child a poptart. Did you give your kids cereal when they were small? Same difference, unless all they ate was grape nuts or Bran cereal – they are ALL loaded with sugar. How is a poptart any different than fixing your child pancakes and syrup? I mean, come on, really… now, i am NOT saying that eating pop-tarts every day is okay. But personally, I would rather be sure my child is at least eating SOMETHING for breakfast than not eating anything at all – seeing as breakfast is the most important meal of the day and all…
Being fat is a choice for adults, but what about these unfit parents that push that choice on their children, endangering their lives? Those children should be removed from the homes of overweight parents. If the parent can’t properly care for themselves, how can they properly care for a child. Save the children by calling your local CPS on fat parents with fat kids. They’re the ones that are the victims.
I have always been fat. There was one time when I was about 18 months old and had a big growth spurt and I was almost normal weight. I have always been very active. I played sports in school, did chores (haul hay, feed and water horses and numerous other animals, worked in the garden etc..). I have stayed active as an adult. Although since having torn my ACL and PCL in February and having surgery in May I have not been able to do my normal work out routine.
I have had have classes on nutrition and while not perfect, I do a pretty good job of eating well most of the time.
At 45, I weigh what I did in my twenties. I am still fat. My doctor encourages me to diet, but has told me I have a very efficient body that uses every nutrient it gets. In order to lose weight, I have to be very restrictive on calories and up my exercise level. If I put on a few pounds, I diet and get it off. This summer, once I can get back to working out more than my hour of PT a day, I plan to try to take off some more weight. If I can lose 20 pounds, I’ll weigh what I did in high school.
My point is that not all people are fat because they sit on their butts and eat junk food every day. Some people are fat for those reasons, but not all. Just as some people can eat non stop and not gain a pound, others are not so lucky.
You know Angel, it has been PROVEN that some obesity is not the result of poor eating habits.
I had a friend in high school who was overweight. She probably weight 250 lbs or so. She was very active, played on the HS volleyball and basketball teams. She ate healthy EVERY day – while the rest of us were eating whatever the cafeteria had to offer, like pizza and burgers, she was bringing whole wheat turkey sandwiches and salads with vinaigrette dressing for lunch. And she ate rather small portions as well. Yet, she was still overweight. So before you go lumping “fat” people into all the same categories, you need to make sure you are looking at the WHOLE picture.
The problem is not Pop Tarts.
The Problem is the little fat kid who is eating 3 Pop Tarts a day, going home playing Wii for 6 hours while drinking soda and eating candy, never doing any kind of exercise.
I ate a Pop Tart for breakfast almost every day while in Iraq for several months.
I am not fat or even getting close.
What killed me was Kuwait on the way home.
In one day I had 2 Frappacinos, Chinese, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Doughnuts, and soda all day.
That killed me. LOL
So true nathan. As I watched my “Three Amigos” bouncing on their trampoline; racing their trucks around the yard; climbing their play-yard; etc etc etc I can definitely see why they are NOT fat! Even though they eat more than I do!
With very few exceptions (thyroid problems and other medical conditions)most of obesity can be contributed to bad eating habits.
Anon, it’s most likely what you didn’t see your friend eat that caused the weight gain. I’ve had room mates like that in college, constantly snacking and eating too large of portions, wrong kinds of foods (fast foods) when they eat a meal. Then they can’t figure out why they gain weight. duh!
I’m glad that there are so many obesity experts on this board!
Usually the ones pointing the fingers never had a weight problem in their lives.
I’ve been a yo-yo forever. I’ve been thin, I’ve been fat. I can tell you without a doubt that I practically turned myself anorexic when I lost the weight. BUT once the weight was off, I could eat normally and not gain a pound. That was what I found so hard to believe. Thinner people have better metabolism that enable them to keep the weight off.
I had the same very physically demanding job throughout, so it’s not always the physical either- but it helps.
This is why bariatric surgery helps those who cannot seem to lose weight any other way. It restricts their food intake SO severely that there is no other option than to lose weight. Simply eating healthy does NOT do it.
Stress adds a ton of triggers to make someone eat. They’ve done so many studies that show this. See a fat person just assume they have a lot of stress. Genetics play a role. I know a family that all of them are terribly obese, most of them diabetic, they HAVE to eat right or they’ll die.
Obesity is a number of factors working together it isn’t just one thing.
For someone to say that fat people should have their kids taken away (even if it is a stupid troll), someone should take their kids away for instilling such hatefulness and stupidity in them. Karma has a way of working against people like that though.
littlejohn,
Diet and weight can be easily controlled by followingone simple rule. Avoid all processed foods.
If the food is manufactured, don’t eat it. (Cookingfood is ok, just avoid any dishes that you don’t makein your home or not made in a restaurant you trust.)
Pop-tarts, most cereals, processed flour (whitebread), man-made fats, processed vegetables andfruits, processed sugar: avoid it all. Raw sugar may beok in moderation (brown sugar, too), as are raw grainsand bread made from raw grains. Natural cheese andbutter: it’s ok. Beef, pork, chicken, fish are allobviously ok (avoid processed meats, though, likebacon, pastrami, corned beef, etc.). Use only naturalvegetable oils.
If you follow that rule pretty closely – and if you’rein good health overall – then your weight willeventually and always thereafter fit reasonably yourphysical structure. I like to think we all have a natural weight, a weight that our bodies seek and maintain naturally. This rule will help you find your natural weight.
If you can’t follow that rule, then here’s anotherthat’s sure to work. Daily always expend an amount ofenergy at least as great as the amount of energy youconsume. Guaranteed to work (again assuming normaloverall health), but far less fun than the far simplerrule above.
In 1992 I weighted 248lbs, of which 22% was body fat(I had it measured at WSU). Since 1993 I’ve weighed200lbs, plus or minus 5 lbs, following thesecond, “not so fun” rule above. Since 2002 I’vefollowed the more fun rule above (but I still exercisedaily, as I have for years).
Finding and maintaining your natural body weight is a pretty simple problem to solve, andit doesn’t really take all *that* much discipline.
My point is that not all people are fat because they sit on their butts and eat junk food every day. Some people are fat for those reasons, but not all. Just as some people can eat non stop and not gain a pound, others are not so lucky.
Posted by: Cheri | June 18, 2007 at 12:14 PM
Obesity is a number of factors working together it isn’t just one thing.
Posted by: political_mom | June 18, 2007 at 12:37 PM
Both of you are correct. For many, it is not so easy. However, IMHO, the greatest majority of those overwweight is precisely because their eating habits do not match their lifestyle.
Cheri, you sound like me!
I agree about sugared cereal. And LJ, you are talking about diets.
I think DIETS are the real problem here. Once a fat cell is made, it never goes away. It may shrink, but it is always there, waiting to “reinflate”.
THAT is what makes the eating habits of kids so dangerous. Even if they lose weight when they grow, they are at significantly more risk of morbid obesity than kids who were the correct weight for their height.
And all of you are correct about exercise. Some of my pals and I were talking yesterday about how the old germans ate lard, flour, heavy cream, eggs and fatty fried red meat every day.
But they also worked their ASSES off. Everyday. I know my weight depends less on what I eat and more on what I do.
Or some days, what I DONT do…..
I am an adult and the sugar in one pop tart makes me buzz and hyper. It is so sad to see kids on a high sugar diet, wonder where attention deficit came from???? Can’t sit still and think when the body is overloaded with sugar. The worse thing is pop in babies bottles, poor little things, headed straight to obesity, diabetes and rotten teeth. Babies!! I see the easiest thing a parent can do is give in to the begging and let them eat the frosting off the cake, then sit back and watch the tantrum about 20 minutes later. Stupid Parents!!!
PMom,
Put the Snickers bar down and slowly back away. :)
Pmom, I know you already know this but muscle mass burns more calories than other body mass. If you want a better metabolism, lift weights, or do other muscle building exercises in addition to the aerobic.
And Pedant? “Diet and weight can be easily controlled by followingone simple rule. Avoid all processed foods.”
That is VERY good advise. If you think sugar is ubiquitus, look at salt. I have no problem with sugar but have to restrict my salt intake.
About the only way to REALLY do it is buy whole foods from around the edges of the grocery store and then cook it yourself.
Good think I like to cook. And farm veggies, chickens and eggs.
Screw the grocery stores!
Oh yeah, and from a fat perspective, artificial sweetners in sodas are WORSE than sugar.
I love my friends who order a double whopper with double cheese, extra fries…
….and a DIET soda!
Poptarts are not the issue. Any breakfast cereal aside from Grapenuts and the like are loaded with sugar. Kids today are not made to be active for the most part. Computers, 200+ tv channels, videogames, uncaring parents, and genes all play a role. Also the fact that schools have next to no physical activity in them, and the stuff they do have is so basic, it is a wonder more kids aren’t obese. Track and Field day used to be a hyper competitive event when I was in elementary school 20+ years ago. Not everyone won a medal/ribbon. But we can’t do that today because the fat kids would never win a ribbon. Now they do crappy events and everyone gets rewarded for participation.
I have never in my life gotten a sugar high. I have no idea what that means. I think it’s a figment of someone’s imagination.
Sure, muscle burns more efficiently, but fatter people have more muscle mass than some thin people simply because of what they’re carrying around with them. And yes, when I was thin, I was muscular, and I hated that. I attributed it to my job, I always wanted to be more ’soft’ and feminine looking especially around my shoulders instead of so boxy, my broad shoulders were too square for my tiny waist at that time. But when you lift people all day long, that uses quite a bit of upper body strength.
Other than 5% of the population, being fat is a choice. That’s a fact.
hee hee hee
Who wishes angel would step out here so I can kick it’s skinny little ass? Me and my army of well fed chickens!
Who else wants to bet that it thinks being gay is also a choice?
Troll city.
Hey TDT, we added athiest to the list too!
The only one I am NOT is Muslim. But given the prejudices of other people, I dont think it would hurt me anymore if I converted to Islam.
:)
I wouldn’t mind being Buddhist if I could get over that it’s just another thing to do.
KFG, can I help? You know, even when I was thin I never looked down on fat people. Fat used to be thought of as beautiful- a survivalist plus to make it through famine. Real women have curves.
not all middle schools offer Home Econmics (it is not required in USD 259)
NO, Republican, I spent a LOT of time at her house. She was a much healthier eater than I was, even though she was well over 250 and I barely topped out at 100… She is a nurse now, and is still active and still eats healthy. Genetics plays a HUGE part in things, and I happen to know that she has some kind of metabolic disorder that causes her body to improperly store fat…THAT was my point. Not everyone is fat by choice… When I was in high school i could eat anything I wanted and never gained a pound – I didn’t even hit 100 lbs until my senior year. But I was also a late bloomer and had to be put on birth control at 18 in order to force my body to go finish up puberty (because at that point I still wasn’t physically developing like a normal 18 year old girl) After that, I put weight on ridiculously easily and struggle with it constantly. I am still not a big person by any means, but when you are used to weighing 100 and all of the sudden you weigh 135, it can be a bit of a culture shock. I am still barely within my healthy weight range, and I try to eat mostly home cooked food with whole grains and low carbs and low fat, but i still gain weight- and it is all a result of the hormones they put me on in college – I have even had my doctor tell me that… THAT is my point.
hehehehe pmom. Sure you can help.
Send money to R.R. 2, Box 97….
Ya know, in some seminars I took in Austin, they had a little exercise where the leader asked “how many of you know how to lose weight?” All the hands went up.
Then she asked “how many of you are still overweight, even a little?” and all the hands went up, slowly, and with guilt.
Then she said “there you have the power of knowing. Power is in doing, and being, not knowing….
heheheheh. Still thinking about this. You would be amazed at how healthy I eat. And how much.
Even too many HEALTHY foods can make you fat….
Maybe I could have a new career in competitive eating? Kobyoshi, or however you spell his name… YER ON!
Outlander, thanks for putting words in my mouth–words I didn’t say nor mean.
(sarcasm/)
How many fatties think they can kick my in-shape ass? Get over it.
BRING IT!
The only way you will avoid an ass whipping from me is if you RUN away.
And in that way, yes, you could out run me.
But if I ever catch you….
hee hee hee
Follow me around someday after I heft fifty pound sacks of feed, spade up a half acre, and when I tote fifty pound bags of food in the restaurant biz.
Then tell me how your “in shape” ass feels. HEH! And I dont even have to pay gym fees…
The real point is that it’s ok to discriminate against fat people because 95% of them choose to be this way. It’s ok for a business to discriminate against someone’s hairstyle, because they choose to have their hair that way. You don’t seen waiters in nice restaurants walking around with mohawks and piercings everywhere.
Oh, and Ksfrmgrll? Sorry. It wouldn’t happen.
fap fap fap
Is that the sound of you hitting the buffet line?
You are a complete idiot. Case closed. Don’t breed.
PMom
^5
That’s what I thought.
So Angel, by your assessment, it’s ok to go and make fun of quadriplegic, providing they only are doomed to their wheelchairs if they, say, drove their car into a bridge. Afterall, they CHOSE to get behind that wheel.
We should be able to make fun of people getting cancer, for they probably didn’t live a healthy enough lifestyle to avoid it?
Wow, you’re truly a STELLAR human being. To think that we can make fun of people and it’s ok, providing the reason is perceived as they did it to themselves (or so you believe).
Political Mom,
The difference is that a fat person can still change.
I don’t think we should make fun of them, but we definately shouldn’t be sugar coating (HA HA no pun intended) the truth with nice PC words.
I certainly think it’s wrong to make fun of fat people. I’ve never walked a mile in fat people shoes.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with vilifying parents who let their children become morbidly obese by taking them to McDonalds all the time and giving them soda and candy every day. As a parent, it is your job to teach your children good values, and that includes how to eat well and stay healthy. If you’re child is the weight of a small horse, you fail. I realize that there are glandular problems and whatnot but for the most part fat kids are fat because of their eating/exercise habits, and that is the fault of the parents–not advertising execs, not the media, not anyone else.
Although, I empathize that it costs much less to feed a family ramen, white bread and potatoes than a variety of vegetables, lean meat and whole grains. I think every parent who receives food stamps should be required to take a class on how to eat healthily on a budget.
Don’t forget medications Tara. Villifying parents isn’t going to help the problem though, I can promise you that. It will only make it worse.
And just from my days as a preschool worker, it seems that there is a strong correlation between people who hate trying new foods and obesity.
Anybody know how to convince a kid to eat couscous and edamame???
Pmom,I suppose vilify is a bit strong. But I felt the same way when I saw a child with very bad hygeiene because his parents don’t want to force him to take a bath, for instance–it’s neglect for a child’s health, plain and simple.
Was the child autistic by chance? If so, trust me it’s like trying to bathe a cat. Someday he’s going to be a teenager and I’m going to have to try to wrestle that boy who will be taller than me every day. Sigh.
I don’t like new foods, and I only have certain foods I want to eat. No peppers, no onions. Avacado is yucky (but that’s bad for you anyway). The fattening stuff simply tastes better.