This is really sad!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...dlers_bad_diets

Health - AP

Study: Toddlers Have Bad Eating Habits
Sat Oct 25, 9:03 PM ET Add Health - AP to My Yahoo!


By T.A. BADGER, Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO - Even before their second birthday, many American children are developing the same bad eating habits that plague the nation's adults — too much fat, sugar and salt and too few fruits and vegetables.

A new study of more than 3,000 youngsters found significant numbers of infants and toddlers are downing french fries, pizza, candy and soda.

Children aged 1 to 2 years require about 950 calories per day, but the study found that the median intake for that age group is 1,220 calories, — an excess of nearly 30 percent. For those 7 months to 11 months old, the daily caloric surplus was about 20 percent.

"By 24 months, patterns look startlingly similar to some of the problematic American dietary patterns," said an overview of the Feeding Infants & Toddlers Study, commissioned by baby-food maker Gerber Products Co.

Recent research has found that roughly one in every five Americans is now considered obese, double the rate in the mid-1980s.

"(Your children) are watching you — they see what you do," said Chicago-area dietitian Jodie Shield, who has written two books on child nutrition. "We're on a very dangerous course if we do not make some changes in helping parents step up to the plate and be role models."

"Across cultures, it's a positive thing to overfeed your chubby little baby," said Dorothy DeLessio, a dietitian at Brown University Medical School in Providence, R.I. But she added that Americans were crossing over to negative patterns of "round-cheeked overweight toddler, overweight preschooler, overweight child, overweight adult."

An overview of the FITS study was presented Saturday at a meeting of the American Dietetic Association. The complete study results are to be published in the association's journal in January.

The study involved random telephone interviews conducted in 2002 that asked parents or primary caregivers what their youngsters ages 4 months to 2 years ate that particular day.

Up to a third of the children under 2 consumed no fruits or vegetables, according to the survey. And for those who did have a vegetable, french fries were the most common selection for children 15 months and older.

Nine percent of children 9 months to 11 months old ate fries at least once per day. For those 19 months to 2 years old, more than 20 percent had fries daily.

Hot dogs, sausage and bacon also were daily staples for many children — 7 percent in the 9-to-11 month group, and 25 percent in the older range.

More than 60 percent of 12-month-olds had dessert or candy at least once per day, and 16 percent ate a salty snack. Those numbers rose to 70 percent and 27 percent by age 19 months.

Thirty to 40 percent of the children 15 months and up had a sugary fruit drink each day, and about 10 percent had soda.

Shield said early diets strongly influence children, whose food preferences are generally shaped between ages 2 and 3.

"If kids are having soda and soft drinks at such an early age, it's going to be very, very challenging to introduce other types of foods for them later," she said.

The study also found that parents were ignoring widely accepted practices by allowing:

_ 29 percent of infants to eat solid food before they were 4 months old.

_ 17 percent to drink juice before 6 months.

_ 20 percent to drink cow's milk before 12 months.

Shortcomings were more pronounced for families receiving financial assistance through the federal Women, Infants and Children program, the study found. More than 40 percent of WIC toddlers did not eat any fruit on the survey day, and those children also drank more sweetened drinks.

That's all pretty scary.
The quote about feeding babies cow's milk before 12 months made me wonder, though. I think it has more to do with possible allergies to milk than anything else. My pediatrician told me to take my oldest daughter off formula at 6 months and switch her to whole milk because of how quickly she was gaining weight on formula. She was born weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz. and by 6 months was already weighing 20 pounds! Of course, her height was keeping up nicely with her weight (at that point she was 95th percentile for both) but he recommended that I switch her just the same (I think his exact words were, "Now would be a good time to change her to whole milk"). Maybe it was because at that point, I was already 4 months pregnant with my youngest daughter and he was concerned about my having to carry a baby that weighed that much (and was gaining about 2 pounds a month) while I was pregnant. It doesn't seem to have hurt her too much because she is still in the 75th percetile for both height and weight and the doc doesn't get concerned about the weight unless it isn't keeping up with her height. By all calculations, they're predicting that she's going to be almost as tall as her father who is 5' 11".
As for fast food, if I had known that my day care provider was planning to take my 1 and 2 year olds to McDonald's, I would have told her that I didn't want her feeding my kids that junk, but I found out after the fact (several months in fact) that she had been taking my girls to McDonalds a couple of times per week. Needless to say, I was a little upset because at home I was feeding them things like fruit, veggies and small pieces of meat along with some other high carb things like rice, potatoes and cereal, of course (they never liked pasta and still don't), but I never planned to take them to places like McDonalds until they were school age at least.
Now they're 3rd graders and only get McDonalds as a rare treat (maybe once every couple of months). We do eat out, but at restaurants where they can order things like salads and real veggies (not potatoes, peas or corn) come with the meal. Something must be working because I often have to tell my youngest that she can't have any more veggies until she eats some meat! She loves her veggies and all kinds of fruit as well! As a matter of fact, for her birthday last weekend, she requested steak, shrimp, cucumbers and broccoli for her birthday dinner.

Your day care provider took her??? Was this someone you hired to take care of her in your home? or a day care center?

My daughter is now 21. When she was born, she nearly starved trying to nurse, so was put on formula at 5 months (she was so thin!). At 6 months she was 15#....she was 5 15 when she was born. I don't remember how old she was when she went to milk rather than formula, but I'd guess around 1 yr. The philosophy on feeding formula, how much and how long, changes over the years. She was given cereal, etc fairly early, because of her low weight, but still, the doc said the main thing was the formula....as long as dhe had so many oz a day she was fine. After 6 months we cut back on formula and increased solids.

At the same time, my sister in law's son, who was 1 month older than Laura, was pushed solids and limited formula once he started on solids....AT 6 months (I remember the poor kid was 5 1/2 months and she wouldn't feed him anything solid because her doc told her not until he was 6 months!!!!!). He was a fat baby! And today, he's a junk food monster!!!!!

She was (and is) very thin all her life. She was in the 90% percentile for height, and her weight was in the 10 percentile. MY doc didn't worry as long as she stayed in the same "route" and didnt' fall lower in her weight. She was VERY healthy....got a cold about once a year. Currently she's 5'9" and about 136 pounds....which she's thrilled with! (The stress of graduating high school, starting college caused her to loose weight....her lowest weight was 105!) My son,, now 19, was a bit less picky than Laura and was always "cubby", but still, ate few sweets. He pretty much stuck in the 75th for both weight and height. Today, he's 6'3" and slim and trim. He still isn't a big sweet eater!

Laura didn't have any candy or sweet until she was almost 3....my son a bit earlier, around 2 1/2. (except for the birthday cake Laura fed him on his first birthday that is) I made a lot of my own babyfood and was very careful to plan out good, well balanced meals for them. They were rarely given juice, but ate fruit whole, chopped and pureed....I'd make my own applesauce without sugar....same with pears, peaches, bananas.

When Laura was almost 5 I was given instructions by the WIC workers to "supplement" her diet with ice cream, frappes, and pudding! AND they threatened me with child welfare if I didn't comply!!!!!!! This was to be given to her whether she ate her "regular" food or not! (She was a very picky eater) Needless to say, I was upset, but luckily went to my pediatrician, who called WIC and told them to lay off.

I remember when they were elementary age.....we'd have a "bad mommy night" about once every 6 months. On this night, I'd take them to a local ice cream place that served food. They could have anything they wanted.....as long as they ate it. I remember once Laura asking if she could just have ice cream.....and I told her yes, if that's what she wanted....but ice cream alone wasn't good for her. Well, neither would order just ice cream.....they'd have a kid's meal, which was hotdogs, or chicken, or a burger.....then have ice cream for dessert. Many times the ice cream went unordered or uneaten....but they loved it, felt like they were in control. My mom and I tool them to family restaraunts often, about once every 2 weeks, and they almost always had a salad with their meals....often it was mine or my mom's salad they were eating because the kid's meals rarely included salad....and they rarely had their dessert...and if they did, they'd usually pick at it. I remember a few times asking for a "kid's meal" version of adult fare....like roasted chicken, roast beef, etc for Brian....and most places were quite accomodating.

When you mentioned the shrimp I had to chuckle. We went to a lobster back when Brian was just about 2....it was a riot! He'd walk around and around the tables.....and people would give him hunks of lobster as he went! LOL He still loves lobster!

Laura's on her own now, and she eats very well....a very limited diet, but she eats her veggies and rarely eats meat, substituting cheese and fish mostly. She almost always has candy around, but has been known to have it so long she's had to throw it out!

Brian's still in that teenager eating crap phase....he's still at home, but rarely here for meals. He eats a lot of fast-foods and packaged foods...but not as bad as most of his friends, who live on BK and MacD's! He also will ask for or buy himself salads often.....I have always tried to keep salad making in the house, even when I'm not dieting.....it's a staple here....and there are times he'll run to the store to get salad makings when we run out! When he and his friends went to the prom, they went out to dinner....and he was the only one who ate his salad! He thought the other kids were nuts.....they thought he was!!!!!

This was a person who did day care out of her home. At the time, she only had my 2 girls plus a couple of her own and I found out several months after the fact that she had been taking them out to McDonalds for breakfast or lunch two or three times a week (she had my permission to take them on outings such as to the zoo, etc...).
I started to wonder when they were 2 and 3 and started recognizing "The Golden Arches" whenever we passed a McDonalds even though I had never taken them there.
While I do allow my girls to eat junk food on occasion, I really try to emphasize putting "good fuel" in their bodies and work with them on learning what good choices are. My oldest has a terrible sweet tooth (inherited from me, no doubt), but my youngest will often eat only half of a dessert and then walk away from it.
In another year or two, they're going to be old enough to start helping me plan and make meals and that will really provide a good opportunity for teaching healthy meals and eating habits. All in all, I'd still say that modeling is the best way of teaching. They see what my DH and I eat (and don't eat) and it makes an impression on them. Kids will more often model what you do than what you say.

I realize a potato is a vegetable, but it's scary that someone would consider fries a serving of 'vegetables'. Next thing you know, chocolate covered cherries will be considered 'fruit'.

Overall, this is very scary stuff.

Why not? In school lunch programs, Ketchup counts as a vegetable! Scary, huh?

Nick!!!!

Chocolate covered cherries aren't FRUIT!??!?!?!?!

Damn....I was going to get some to add my next fruit!!!

I can remember years ago, my sister having an argument about giving her daughter chocolate milk.....But it's LOW FAT says my sister....but there's more calories added with the sugar than you loose with the fat! says mom....We never did convince her! My niece was heavy enough that she has to always buy in the "chubbies" section....and she hated it! She's now barely 40 and diabetic.

What's truely amazing is that there are so few kids with obesity, diabestes, etc....of course that situation is going to get A LOT worse before it gets better! They need to start heavy-duty education of these parents. And docs, teachers, have to start trying to intervene! If the child was being starved there'd be no question but to report the parents....but these parent are killing their kids too! Just at a slower rate!

I get so upset when I hear people talking about something that either they just learned and it's been known for many years....or they half hear something and fill in their own blanks!

Hmmmm.....I feel better!

I breast fed my daughters until they were about 9 mo. old and they didn't have cereal until they were 4 mo. old because at that time the doctor said they needed it because of something in it that I was no longer producing in my milk.

But my son was a different story. At 2 mo. old, he needed the cereal! He was 9 lb 11.5 oz at birth and by 2 mo. he already had two teeth. At four months he could sit by himself and by 5 mo he had 8 teeth. He has always been able to eat more than most kids and he is now 18 and is 6'5" and weighs only about 175.

All kids are different, but I do think they need more carbs than adults. I think the absolute worst thing they get and the one that will eventually do them in is the soda. It will cause them to have osteoporosis at an early age.

Atrsy

Oh, yes, I haven't been to McDonalds in years, but when I saw the Madame Alexander dolls they were giving away, I started buying my son and my husband two happy meals at a time to get the dolls!

It's amazing how those promotions will bring people into Mc Donalds! LOL

Carol

... there's an awful lot of righteous indignation going on with regards to this article, whether on this site or on other sites like Yahoo.

I think what people fail to realize is that fast food, take-out, and delivery have become staples because we are by and large a very busy society. That Protestant work ethic keeps us on our toes... if we're not being industrious, and not stressed to the gills, then somehow we are not doing our civic duty--our families criticize us for not making enough money, not having the best jobs, the expectations of our bosses and coworkers and lifestyles get grander and grander, yet we seem to fall short.

The dilemma between whole foods and fast foods is not that fast foods taste better (even a junk food addict gets tired of the same thing day after day) but that honestly it takes a lot of work to prepare regular well-balanced fresh meals--technically if you are doing the whole foods thing correctly, you are probably out there grocery shopping on a daily basis--veggies spoil if you don't eat them fast enough, so it's not like you can stock up, and freezing only works with some veggies (fortunately well with meats). (Thank goodness for 24 hour Super Walmart).

And say you're out shopping and traffic was hell and it's getting late, and the kids are in the back seat screaming that they're hungry--sure you're gonna go by McD's... got to eat SOMETHING on the run... There isn't any REALLY healthy fast food out there except for salads (which are hard to eat in the car).

If you're gonna cook a variety of things, then you have to have the skill and the time for prep-work. It's easy enough with a big family to spend quite a bit of time prepping ingredients, then cooking, then serving, then cleaning, and then it's time for the next meal--where on earth do folks find the time?

Moreover, when you're a mom working more than just the home and children (which is probably the majority of young mothers these days), you have a double-load of work stress piled on top of family stress, routine things like laundry, dishes, homework assistance, housekeeping, bill-paying combined with office politics, deadlines, and performance reviews. It's hard to end your day with the office stress and go straight into the kitchen a la June Cleaver to prepare whole-some foods for the family. God forbid you are a single mom... moreover men in the home have not caught up with women in the work force... they still look at their 1950's dad's who worked late, came home, and found dinner waiting for them.

Not everyone is talented or enjoys cooking, either. Moreover, not only are kids not brought up eating whole foods, but they have no idea how to make them.

I have two kids who categorically refuse to eat vegetables... they have a fit if they see or taste anything remotely green, and it's been that way since they were infants--and I tried to shovel them full of green beans and peas and brocolli--no dice. I'm at a loss, because I love green foods. So pizza helps them to get some lycopene at least. Sometimes I can smuggle blended veggies into soup--although my older son will eat beef stew and green beans once in a while thank god... my younger son won't touch them, but at least he likes eggs and nuts and cheese and some fruit and yogurt and whole grain bread. I have to go for the best I can with the time that I have, and yes, once in a while we get FAST FOOD.

I think it's probably healthier to have Fast Food once in a while, and even -gasp-candy once in a while, than to forbid it... otherwise it's an eating disorder waiting to happen--everything in balance. I'm not expecting my kids to live on Induction--that's just not appropriate to their activity level, nor do they need weight loss. On the other hand, I prefer to send them to school on eggs or waffles rather than cereal, and I know that cupcakes turn them into little maniacs.

We parents are also battling seductive images on television that show that it is NORMAL and COOL for kids to be sugar and junk-food junkies. Sunny D is advertised as a health food (yikes). And although those of us who are carbwise now know better, most other people don't... I didn't before I was a lowcarber... I believed in the low fat lie. So a sugary drink or cereal with vitamins and lowfat milk was healthy. No eggs, just egg beaters... take the fat out of cheese... don't eat nuts because they are too high in fat... buy lowfat peanut butter... and sunkist fruit snacks were vitamin-friendly health-food.

McD's et al all gear their advertisements towards the fun of childhood--i.e., what's childhood without french fries? And potatoes do have a lot of vitamin C--in fact scary enough, most toddlers get their vitamin C from potatoes than from any other single source (and most Americans get their vegetables from salsa--but what are they dipping in there, hmmm?). Chicken nuggets at least do have protein and a small amount of breading, and HiC has vitamin C, or you can get milk, and you don't want to be a Nazi and let your kids have an occasional treat... and your kids are begging and you are tired of fighting with them, etc. etc.

And not everyone really BELIEVES in the health difference between packaged and fresh foods. People assume organic health-food stores are for fanatical granola hippie types and not for ordinary working stiffs. Moreover, if it's in a package, has the FDA seal on it, it must be good (if it's in a book, it must be true). How much are people going to question what they are eating until it's too late? and THAT's exactly what's happening... grocery stores are 90% crap brand food--it's not much better than the fast food--take your hamburger helper and stove top and hungry jack and canned corn, and you may be better off with the greasy burger--at least it has some fresh lettuce, onion, and tomato on it--and GASP some protein!

When you get used to a certain image of what it means to be an American (albeit the SAD diet), it's hard not to subconsiously assume that it must be okay. We are told by pediatricians that if the kids aren't eating balanced foods, to simply give them a multivitamin and they'll be okay.

If it's okay for adults to have soda pop in the teacher's lounge, why can't kids have it in the lunchroom? It's equally (un)healthy for all of us... but see, we adults have become accustomed to bagel and donut and pizza parties at the office, someone bringing in chips, and someone going out to lunch, our daily soda pop or two, and as it is part of our emotional lifestyle, we subconsciously drop it on our children assuming that they are no different than we are... MOREOVER we assume that if we are not letting them have a bag of chips that we are somehow depriving them of the joy of childhood (pop rocks, pixie stix, orange Cheetos fingers etc.) and all the fun things we used to do when we were kids eating those things.... the sad thing is that we should have never gotten to a point of adult dietary oblivion in the first place, ourselves, but we, too, were suckered in by keggers in the dorm, giant salad bowls filled with cereal, football parties with giant subs and endless bowls of chips and dip, all-you-can eat pizza bars, and the luring "POP" of a Pringles can. Cappucino machines abound in the office--the sweeter the better. Can't get through the day without the caffeine drip and the sugar buzz....

So this whole national SADness is really about our emotions... how we deal with stress, how we seek comfort, and the primal human comfort and socialization often involves eating--it's about flavor and texture and fun as fast as possible. Our psyche is too tired and the day has only 24 hours, so we don't exercise--and the double-combination is deadly.

THAT's the battle that's turning babies into junk-food addicts. And it's not going to be a easy one to turn around until we set a good example ourselves and quit making junk so alluring in the media to capture our ignorant kids, and not kidding ourselves about what is "heart healthy" and simultaneously fake carb-board food.

** end soapbox **