If you have a kid...

"I can't control him. He won't stop crying until he gets another burger."

I remember when I first saw an episode of Oprah, or maybe it was the Ricky Lake show where I initially saw it, with obese children. I mean, 4 year old kids that weight more than most 10 year old kids. And babies that can't fit into strollers, they're so big. I remember hearing the sorry excuses from the parents "He eats what he wants." Since when does a 4 year old buy groceries?

I'm sorry, but if you're toddler is obese, you should get some sort of ticket or be brought up on charges. Obesity is one of the major reasons why people predict this generation to not live longer than their parents. Allowing, enabling, and promoting kids to be obese is effectively saying "I don't care if they live or die", unacceptable. This was probably one of the most disturbing childhood memories I have of issues that really got under my skin, even as a young teen.

I wonder what could possibly be going through some one's head to debilitate their child's life in such a way. Honestly, I've babysat for some pretty bad kids in my day, but NO kid has ever made me wanna shove a burger down his/her throat. why on earth would a parent do that to shut their kid up or keep them from whining?

My conclusion is that there isn't malice behind it. In fact, I believe these parents really do just want to make their kids happy -apart from possibly having selfish reasons behind their kids not being able to run around the house breaking stuff and crying all day. There are some severe psychological issues to be examined in extreme cases like this. If these issues are occurring in a household then there needs to be some sort of counseling or FAA (food-aholics anonymous, no joke) type of thing. I'm so glad the First Lady has fighting childhood obesity at the top of her list. If only more schools would take out candies and processed, high-sodium canned foods. And maybe a parenting class on proper nutrition at the local library?

Small steps are fine and a necessary start. But the bottom line is we can't sit back, open up a packet of ketchup, and watch our kids die.