It has become very clear that our children’s collective health is deteriorating. Obesity, diabetes, liver problems and medication use are at levels that shock me. I personally cannot understand the use of cholesterol lowering meds given to children by a pediatrician. How do you give a drug to a population at incredibly low risk of a heart attack (the process of destroying our vascular health is a decades-long endeavor and medications that are taken 20 or 30 years before an “event” will never have the benefits outweigh the risks) in lieu of lifestyle changes?
But those changes HAVE to begin with the parents. These kids pick up their bad behaviors from their parents. Keegan, who is now 5, eats wild caught salmon, artichokes, olives, hummus and squash because he loves to steal them from my plate. It’s all he’s seen and he thoroughly enjoys these foods. The first time I heard him order a 1/2 water, 1/2 lemonade (which was our concession to allowing him something different to drink when we go out) I was pleasantly floored. I had been quietly ordering this for months, but he had picked up on my queues.
Here we have yet another study that supports the fact that parents are not choosing the right lifestyles for themselves. I know that parenthood can be challenging. But that is NEVER an excuse to pull through the fast food drive thru instead of spending a little more time getting healthier fare for your children. Our society is paying the prices for these choices.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/127/5/881