Don’t Raise Fat Kids

If you have a fat kid you are not about to do society any favors. I just read some very disturbing statistics about how obese people in our culture just become one big burden to society.
Our populations are getting bigger and so our are kids! Coincidentally are kids are getting bigger and bigger, especially when it comes to growing sideway.
According to a National Health and Nutrition Examination that was done in the United States in 2004 a whopping two thirds of kids in the United States were overweight and nearly one third in total of those surveyed could be classified as clinically obese.
I am here to say this is not okay! Being that fat is an ethical issue! Why create such an unnecessary load on our health system. As little kids grow up to get fatter. As people get fatter and fatter, our health system gets strained and then these health systems reach the breaking point.
If you are obese you have a moral obligation to do something about it. Health systems all over the way are already starting to turn away people who are ruining their health on purpose by smoking. There is now the question of how fat people might be just as bad as smokers.
If you know somebody who is overweight you might want to point out to them that they may not be able to receive treatment for any conditions that they bring on themselves in the near future. This is because many systems simply cannot afford to take care of people who don't know how to take care of themselves. Part of self-care is managing your weight simply because weight gain leads to all kinds of chronic and even lethal health conditions that require medical treatment in a hospital or long term treatment.
The same thing goes for your kids. You do not want them being turned away from hospitals in the future because you raised them to think fat was okay.
Many people put off the task of losing weight because they feel that their problem is too big to deal with. It can also be really hard to put your kid on a diet. I know because I have tried many times.
The risks in undergoing serious medical treatment are much higher for overweight individuals so if you want your kid to be rich, make sure he is skinny too! It's not just a clichÃ©!

Parenting Tips
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Making Veggies and Fruits Easy to Eat

One of the biggest challenges for me has always been to make vegetables and fruits more attractive for kids to eat.
One of my more successful recipes is actually out of a really old Betty Crocker cookbook for kids called 'Ants on a Log'

Ants on a Log
Fill celery with peanut butter and stick raisins along the top. Can use cheese, cottage cheese, tuna, or egg salad as filler.
Then there are apple cookies. There is no dough in this recipe and this is one of those recipes that can help keep a fat kid's weight down.

Apple Cookies
Core whole apple and slice in circles. Fill core hole, or frost apple cookies, with peanut butter and raisins.
Of course the more food does not look like food the more appealing to akid it is as well. This is another Betty Crocker from the sixties type dish for kids.

Candle Salad
Tear and arrange lettuce on a plate. Top with a pineapple ring. Place banana (cut off ends) in the hole of the pineapple so it stands like a candle. Add a cherry or carrot curl for a flame
My kids love everything that is bad for them including French fries and cheesies. This dish is like a combination of both worlds and it is a lot healthier for them than junk food.

Cheesy Potato Sticks
Wash 1 1/2 lbs. potatoes thoroughly; do not peel. Cut lengthwise into quarters and then cut each quarter into thirds. Coat potatoes with 2 tbsp. melted margarine. Combine 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs, 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp. paprika, and 1/4 tsp. garlic powder. Roll potatoes in mixture. Place potatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until crispy on the outside. Divide into six 1/2 cup portions and serve immediately.
One way I get my kids to consume potassium, which is good for their nerves and brain, is to serve them bananas in this tasty, fast and easy to prepare pudding.

Instant Banana Pudding
Mash 3 small ripe bananas completely (little ones don’t like lumps) with a fork in a small bowl or in a blender. Add 1 1/2 cups of applesauce. Stir in 2 tbsp. of vanilla yogurt. Place in small paper cups.

Yogurt Sundae
Place a tablespoon of vanilla yogurt into each of 6 clear plastic cups. Cover with a layer of Cheerios (or other low-fat cereal). Then cover with a layer off sliced bananas and strawberries. Repeat the layers until the ingredients are used up. Children can build their own parfaits.
I admit that the above recipe is more like a breakfast dish but it can do double duty as a desert too.

Parenting Tips
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