Obesity and a Lifetime Struggle with Weight Problems Starts In Childhood
Feb 4th 2009 · by Catherine Osthaus
Watching kids eat these days is horrifying and it makes me cringe. Carbs and Sugar are everywhere – from pizza’s, candy, french fries, chips, muffins, sodas, juices, cereals. Kids these days have their insulin raised from the moment they eat their breakfast to the moment that they fall asleep. Their poor cells are being assaulted with insulin to get rid of sugars in the blood. But the cells can only take so much before they start to get resistant to the insulin and not working properly. This is how we become insulin sensitive and insulin resistant. The pancreas has to produce more insulin to get rid of blood sugar. The thing about high insulin is that it STORES FAT! That is why insulin is called the fat storing hormone.
With this kind of high sugar and carb diet we are ensuring that our kids will battle weight gain in adolescence or adulthood. This is what happened to me. I was a skinny kid that ate sweets and carbs and as I reached adulthood the fat piled on. As an adult I was eating natural whole foods but still I gained weight.
Why do kids need special menus at restaurants made up of processed carbs? Why are crackers a staple in kids diets? Kids should not need to have juice boxes for lunch. Limiting these foods would do your kids a great favour!
A lifetime struggle with chronic disease and overweight is hard! By limiting sugars and carbs you would be doing your kids a huge favour. ADHD, allergies, behavioural problems, cavities, diabetes, obestity, cancers are just a few of the diseases that can be attributed to the above aforementioned foods.
We should be teaching our kids about living a healthy lifestyle and not how to treat disease.
Let me know your thoughts and experiences!
To your health and wellness,
2 Responses to “Obesity and a Lifetime Struggle with Weight Problems Starts In Childhood”
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Hello Catherine,
Thank you for writing this great article! Before we eat it, yes, sugar is fat-free! But once we eat it, it will turn into fat if we don’t burn it off shortly after consumption.
Therefore, when you see a food package that says fat-free, please take the time to look at the sugar content. In addition, by drinking a can of “harmless looking” sugar soda a day will equal to approximately 28 POUNDS of sugar consumption a year. (Source book: Mind Your Own Wellness – Turning Thoughts Into Reality).
If we give ourselves the freedom to drink half a glass of water prior to drinking the sugar soda, we will gradually become less dependent on soda. As a results – we will gain less weight, fall sick less often, have better concentration and sleep, etc…
As parents, if we choose to lead by example, we will have a better chance of helping our children consume less sugar and make better choices. I hope the following sentence is helpful: If you choose to eat 10% to 20% less unhealthy/junk food from now on, you are likely to live 10 to 20% longer for yourself and your loved ones.
Thanks Catherine & Best Wishes,
Alex Ong
Hi Alex,
By eliminating all sugars you can get rid of those cravings for junk food. I myself am very insulin sensitive. Eating a small piece of food that will spike my insulin can send me into binge eating. I can’t eat anything sweet (even low sugar berries).
Only you can judge for yourself how you feel when you eat junk food (or by watching your kids). It is better to abstain totally from them.
My kids may get a sweet treat only once or twice a week. My choice of sweetener for the kids is raw honey. There are many health benefits to raw honey. But it is still limited.
It is crazy how much hidden sugars there are in food.
Thanks for your comment! I love to hear your thoughts.