I can’t tell you how many friends had people express concern about their child’s weight to them, including parents of newborns who were subsisting on breast milk. Obesity has become a national obsession starting it seems from birth.
Now The New York Times has thrown new fuel on the fire, reporting that “pivotal events very early in life — during the toddler years, infancy and even before birth, in the womb — that can set young children on an obesity trajectory that is hard to alter by the time they’re in kindergarten. The evidence is not ironclad, but it suggests that prevention efforts should start very early.”
Great! Now every busybody on the planet will feel free to chime in our kids weight. Our good friend Caroline came up with the winning response, “Thanks so much for your concern. I’ll be sure to bring that up with our doctor at the next appointment.” It’s respectful, awknowledges their input and concern but also establishes that you and your child’s pediatrician are driving the health decisions.
In second place was, “I was concerned about that too, but our pediatrician assures me that he/she is totally in the range of normal.”
Has this happened to you? How did you handle it?
2 Comments
As the mother of two girls, I have given a fair amount of thought as to how to help them lead healthy lives with healthy body images. I have found the most important thing I can do is serve as a good role model. Towards that end, I try to eat healthfully (at least in front of them!!), snacking on carrots, fruits, etc. I discourage the ‘juice’ thing (we drink only water and milk at home). In addition to trying to keep them active, they see my husband and me exercising on a fairly regular basis. I am hopeful that all of these things will be more useful to them than reprimanding them not to eat too many cookies! Having started these habits from the time they were little, I think of these as our preventative measures!
I know a couple who were both very over weight and their breast fed baby was huge I understand genetics play a part in it and I don’t think every one has to be athletic or skinny or fit a certain body type but I think people need to focus on good nutrition I think it may be possible to pass on junk to you baby through breast milk if that is all you’re eating teaching a baby to keep feeding because naturally he needs more nutrition than is provided in mothers milk. This is a pure conjecture on my part but I wish people would focus on eating healthy and use weight only as a tool to look at what you’re eating and your activity levels.