Food...what happened? Why is it funny that kids eat junk and more?

I didn't really know how to title this thread but I just wanted to discuss it with those who are not on my FB page since this is where all this is coming from.


So I have a friend who I've known since Highschool. Well she is overweight, had pregnancy issues due to her weight and yet still complains about not being skinny or losing weight ALL the while taking pics of eating nothing but junk and feeding her kids junk. Why complain if you are not willing to do anything to fix that?? She drank soda all during her pregnancy which was HIGH risk to boot and had to have her Starbucks. She said she cut back but I would think that if you are HIGH risk and know it you would cut it completely and change your diet but based on her posts she didn't. I have always liked her but this part of her drives me nuts because it's like why complain when you are making your problems worse by not dealing with it? She says she can't cook so it's pizza or it's fast food. I have never seen her post anything that is remotely homemade food, it's always boxed, fast food or pizza, lots of pizza.

I got really bothered when she posted a picture of her kid with this caption while eating a can of Chef Boyarde.

Have I mentioned that I only feed my kid organic, home made food? Oh wait ... That is the Pinterest version of me. This is reality :/

If you have time to Pinterest you have time to feed your kid something other than McDonald's or Pringles or Chef Boyarde. She posts sooooo many pictures a day of her kid and he always has junk in his hand/mouth and she makes some witty one liner to go along with it. To her it's funny and cute that he is eating crap or wants McDonald's every day. Her kid is only 2yrs old. She has another picture posted of him getting a BREATHING treatment and laughing at how he is eating Pringles at the same time. UM wth. If your kid has health issues wouldn't you want to feed him the best? I know I would.

Then in the comments you have other people making joke style comments about feeding their kids better foods like this

I was just telling my mom the other day how I really want to feed the kids all organic no GMO foods and she said well why dont you? I just laughed, I really do want to though.....

So it's funny to her? Then another mentions how her kid loves easy mac for breakfast and how another gives her kid corn dogs for breakfast. I'm sorry but don't these parents CARE about what they feed their kids? Shouldn't they care what they eat and how their eating habits are formed?? It is apparent they don't and I see it A LOT online esp on my FB.

I didn't make any comments because it is her child and she can do what she wants BUT don't complain about your weight if you aren't willing to do anything about it then mock those of us who are smaller and DO eat healthy or watch what we eat. I get crap because I don't like GMO's and I post a lot of stuff on such products. My mom gives me major crap when I tell her I don't want my son eating fast food and she thinks it is funny and says oh he can have it when he is with me. NO HE CANT!!! WHY do people think it's ok to give a kid something when their parent says no? Just because you are the grandparent it doesn't give you any kind of right to say what my child can have. He will not get fast food from me nor anyone else. I make all his food. It takes me about an hour to an hour and a half. I do it while he is napping or when he goes to bed. It makes enough food for two weeks so basically twice a month I make his food which is NO time at all. If I had a freezer I'd make more because it can freeze for up to two months. I buy all organic and from local farmers for his veggies/fruits. I do realize that stuff in the stores doesn't necessarily mean it's organic but I am trying.

I know this may seem silly and none of my business but why mock those who do feed their kids right? Why would a 2 yr old already know Pringles, cheese puffs and basically all forms of junk food? I mean the kid has soda. Sorry 2yr olds do NOT need soda!


I want to make sure my child has a good diet and knows about food and what is good and what isn't. I want him to know about healthy eating. Too many foods today are toxic and have ingredients that are not needed nor are they good for your body. Even the "bakery" items at the local stores aren't even fresh, they are all processed and pre made. I remember when they were FRESH and not pre made. I was looking at the fudge just yesterday and saw that it had HFCS in it yet it was packaged like it was homemade fudge. Most people don't even look at the label. I know I didn't until recently. I am really surprised at how many items I use to enjoy are not homemade or are not what they say they are. I always say the middle of the grocery store is where I don't shop. It's all the boxed/processed items. IMO they don't even taste like food anymore.

Food today doesn't even resemble food. I mean look at the box and read the ingredients, if you can. It is really depressing and I find myself walking around aimlessly at the grocery store now. The last time I went I came home with $40 in produce and $15 in meat. I had bought nothing else because i knew I could make everything else I could have bought. Sure it takes some time but in the end it's worth it and it tastes so much better. I guess because I do cook and always have I care what food tastes like. I don't want to eat something that tastes like cardboard or plastic.

What happened to our food and why don't more people care?

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I think people dont care as long as its cheap. And the fact is you can get a heap of crap food cheaply these days. I agree with you btw. I hate all the junk they sell. Fake chicken, What has a very small amount of chicken in it etc... And dont get me started on those tinned hotdogs ewwwwww....a fresh winter stew in the cold air...mmmmm i can smell it now . You just cant beat it

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Three words describes it!

Convenience.

Marketing.

Education or lack there of! Do they even teach Home Ec in HS today?


It could actually be four words because I didn't include pure "laziness"!

Not only is it cheap, it's fast and convenient. It goes right along with the TV babysitting your kid.

Remember when people actually sat down for a meal with the family, at the table, and actually talked to each other? And played games?

All the convenience and technology we have today, are just making people overweight, lazy, self centered and lacking in face to face communication skills. (Not to mention parenting skills.)

Here is a scary thought:
How bad is it going to be in the next 20-30 years?

TheDoctor46
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

I think people dont care as long as its cheap. And the fact is you can get a heap of crap food cheaply these days. I agree with you btw. I hate all the junk they sell. Fake chicken, What has a very small amount of chicken in it etc... And dont get me started on those tinned hotdogs ewwwwww....a fresh winter stew in the cold air...mmmmm i can smell it now

. You just cant beat it

I get the "cheap" part but actually fast food is not cheap. What you spend for a family of four at say McDonald's you could get enough food to make a good meal at home.

I think a lot of it is laziness as well.

I just see so many kids with horrible eating habits and I have friends who say they just give in instead of fighting with them about dinner. I know when I was a kid if I didn't eat I went to bed hungry, there was no giving in. I got what was served or I didn't eat.

reply to post by seeker1963


I think you're right.

Yea what happened to Home Ec?! I had to take it in 7th grade. I loved that class but I also always loved the kitchen!

I see commercials now and all you see advertised IS junk. I know someone in another thread made the same observation and they are 100% correct. You never see fruits or veggies advertised it's always cookies or ice cream or chips.

reply to post by mblahnikluver

I get the "cheap" part but actually fast food is not cheap. What you spend for a family of four at say McDonald's you could get enough food to make a good meal at home.

For less!!! 4x6 24 plus tax roughly 27 bucks!!!

You can buys veggies, meat, potatoes and something to drink for under 27 bucks!!! The epicness of the laziness is astounding!!!

SnF

chiefsmom
Not only is it cheap, it's fast and convenient. It goes right along with the TV babysitting your kid.

Remember when people actually sat down for a meal with the family, at the table, and actually talked to each other? And played games?

OH yea! My mom cooked every night and we sat at the table with the TV off and ate dinner and nobody got up til everyone was done.

Now nobody does that. Everyone eats in front of a tv or in their rooms. I know when my son is older we will be eating at the table and having "Family" time. NO games or electronics at the table.

All the convenience and technology we have today, are just making people overweight, lazy, self centered and lacking in face to face communication skills. (Not to mention parenting skills.)

Here is a scary thought:
How bad is it going to be in the next 20-30 years?

It is a scary thought and I worry about how it will be for my son in 20yrs.

Sure technology has helped in many ways but it has also made people very lazy and it has hurt us in more ways than one. People don't think for themselves, why should they? They have the internet! Scary thought indeed.

These parents value too much of their own freetime and are just lazy to make proper meals to their kids. Going where the fence is lower...
I have wondered this same thing why.. do they even deserve to have kids really when they poison their veins and cause type 2 diabetes , there are a lot kids with type 2 and amount increases every year..

We often hear excuses and its what they do best.

maybe one day these kids will sue their parents..

Im glad some still care like you OP ( i know you love cooking real food ). My kid asked the other day in dinner table who is the most important person in our family.. we asked who do you think is.. he said " I am " we asked why do you think you are, he said " because we always dine together and eat real food and you cook better meals than we get in school and you don´t let me eat junk food "

What happened to traditions.. Junk food happened..

reply to post by mblahnikluver

I think a lot of it is laziness as well.

I spent 4 hours today seasoning and roasting pumpkin seeds. My brother brought me over a HUGE bag that he saved for me while he and his family roasted off pumpkins for puree.

Would it have been convenient for me to just go waste money on 4 to 6 bags of potato chips instead? SURE WOULD, and don't think it didn't cross my mind while tending these little buggers to make sure they didn't burn!

I think we have been conditioned to having "instant" gratification. Why put the effort into spending hours making something that is healthy versus walking into a grocery store and buying something that just needs heated up or can just be eaten out the bag? After all, we all know that the Corporations whom manufacture our food cares more about the consumers health than their stock holders, right?

sulaw
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

I get the "cheap" part but actually fast food is not cheap. What you spend for a family of four at say McDonald's you could get enough food to make a good meal at home.

For less!!! 4x6 24 plus tax roughly 27 bucks!!!

You can buys veggies, meat, potatoes and something to drink for under 27 bucks!!! The epicness of the laziness is astounding!!!

SnF

Exactly! I have always been very good at food budgeting because I always had a budget and growing up "poor" and on assistance I learned how to cook and how to make a cheap yet healthy meal instead of something quick and convenient.

I know someone who never cooks, they eat out every night of the week. It is either take out or fast food. They are also the same person who complains about having no money!! I have offered MANY times to help her cook and she doesn't want to. She would rather sit on her but and watch tv and have someone bring her food than make it herself. It's like why complain when you CAN do something about it. She makes plenty of money yet more than half of it goes to some food establishment for food because she can't or won't cook.

If I do eat something quick and easy, which is very rare, I feel sick. It just doesn't taste right and I am then reminded why I don't buy such things.

I have a friend who loves hamburger helper. I know when I was younger I made it til I figured out how to make it myself and let me tell you what it is 10x's better homemade! Well she makes this stuff like it's going out of style and again I have tried to tell her how to make it from scratch yet she says it's too hard when it's really not. It's a couple more steps than the boxed version but it's so much tastier.

I even got my husband off of Kraft Mac and Cheese by making homemade mac/cheese which is super easy. He now won't eat the boxed stuff!

reply to post by seeker1963


Yup "instant gratification" is exactly it!

I personally find making my own foods more gratifying that the instant type of gratification. I don't see the fun in that honestly.

I have started making my own "wheat thins" and "cheese its." I found the recipe via a group I follow on FB. They are super easy and doesn't take but maybe 20mins total. It is about 3 or so ingredients, you roll the "dough" out and the cut it into tiny squares. I used a pizza cutter then bake them. I started making various flavors like you would get in the store only they don't have all those added processed ingredients. They last about a week in a sealed air tight container. I put mine in the fridge for safe keeping.

I personally have never had toasted pumpkin seeds. I was never a pumpkin fan....but I have tried a few things recently that seems to be changing my mind and even I'm shocked.


Here is a link to the Homemade wheat thins. I made a thread on them Parmesan Basil Wheat Thins, homemade

first and foremost i completely agree with the Op.

But that is not how i have always felt...I was 480 lbs and fast tracking for the grave. My family was the "that family" that ate out all the time (4 to 5 A WEEK). when we did eat at home it was on plates in front of the TV. We did not even own a dinner table.

Well after a 5 day stint in the hospital because of what was to become the onset of Diabetes for me, i made a decision to change.

a little over a year later I am down 180 lbs, we don't eat out unless its a special occasion, we own a dinner table and even the cell phone is off limits at dinner time.

This is not just a huge success for me, but the family is tighter, we enjoy that time. We are all getting into shape and i will hit my goal of 200 sometime this next year. We love to shop as a family as we make a game out of it for our younger kids. We go shopping for the "zombie apocalypse". And because we do shop we actually save money. Its insane right.

I feel for that lady because i know how easy it is to fall into that trap of fast food and all it represents.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Maybe she has self esteem issues, in which case she has accepted her fate.
We cannot all be football stars or popstars, and many kids take that as failure(no surprise really in an age of celebrity worship). Once you have "failed" what does it matter?, at least in their eyes.
This is a cause of the rise in self harm and other self esteem related mental issues and the lack of ambition prevalent in our youth..IMO.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Organic doesn't matter nearly as much as mindful eating. That is what we call it here. "Mindful eating" means you pay attention to what is in what you eat, you plan what you are going to eat so that you maintain metrics. You learn to be personal with your food to treat it as ingredients into a culinary piece of art, paying attention to what things are and how to use them.

It is mindful eating. When you pay attention, you figure out a few things:

- carbohydrates are bad for you.
- lots of flavor replaces things like sweet (ex: raspberry reduction is high in flavor, low in calories/carbs, sweeten with erythritol, which helps dental health, too)
- Its important to eat lots of fiber. Health benefits abound in many, many ways
- You can eat all you want, which become much less, by eating lean meats flavored with high flavor rubs and glazes. and leafy greens. Like grapefruit reduction seasoned to your preference. Like a karate chop to the tongue


People don't always find their own solutions. But they have to find their own solution for it to work. You can lead a horse to water......

dollukka
These parents value too much of their own freetime and are just lazy to make proper meals to their kids. Going where the fence is lower...
I have wondered this same thing why.. do they even deserve to have kids really when they poison their veins and cause type 2 diabetes , there are a lot kids with type 2 and amount increases every year..

Agreed. It's called time management and many would rather have their FB time or tv time than make sure their kid eats right. I know I've see in with some of my friends. Years ago I had a friend who had two kids and her son was very overweight for his age which was about 5. Her daughter was 9mths and the doctor told her she was too heavy for her weight and asked what she ate. She LIED to the doctor about what she fed her and when we left I called her out on it. She just laughed it off!! She would give her baby soda and juice and let her eat ice cream. Her son would polish off a 10 piece McNugget meal and then try and eat whoever else's was left. When I baby sat for him I never let him eat that stuff. He wanted to eat those Kid Cuisines which is all she fed them, she never cooked. I would make him what he had in the Kid Cuisine but it was real food and he would not want to eat it!! He wanted to have cookies and junk and the only way I'd let him have cookies is if he could count them out and he couldn't. I felt so bad for this kid. His mom wasn't a bad person she just had her priorities all messed up and her husband was a complete and utter tool. I often wonder how those kids are doing almost 10yrs later.

Im glad some still care like you OP ( i know you love cooking real food ).

Thank you. I think food is something you can easily control but like many have stated people are lazy.
My son will know how to cook and he will know what is good for him and what isn't. When I was a kid I was not allowed to have sweets or soda or junk food. Fast food was like a treat we got when we went to our grandparents. My mom would never give it to us.

My kid asked the other day in dinner table who is the most important person in our family.. we asked who do you think is.. he said " I am " we asked why do you think you are, he said " because we always dine together and eat real food and you cook better meals than we get in school and you don´t let me eat junk food "

Awe that is really sweet. Good on you for making great foods your kids appreciate!

What happened to traditions.. Junk food happened..

Isn't that the truth!

reply to post by mblahnikluver


As I say on threads like this, please point her to the lentils and rice recipe in my signature. You'll thank me later.

reply to post by RogueValleyMFR


Congrats to you!!! It's great to hear someone recognize their problem and do something about it. I'm proud of you for it!

Good to hear it's helped your family. See it's a good thing to have dinner time with your family.

Yea I feel bad for her too. I've known her most of my life and she's always been a big girl. She talks about eating right and losing weight but she will openly admit it's easier to buy junk or get a pizza. I don't ever see her talk about cooking, it's always something quick and easy. She also uses the "I don't have time" because she has kids excuse. I have a friend with 4 kids and two are under 2yrs of age and she cooks all the time. Again imo it's all about time management.

bigfatfurrytexan



Organic doesn't matter nearly as much as mindful eating. That is what we call it here. "Mindful eating" means you pay attention to what is in what you eat, you plan what you are going to eat so that you maintain metrics. You learn to be personal with your food to treat it as ingredients into a culinary piece of art, paying attention to what things are and how to use them.

Agreed!!! I look at food as a piece of art esp the finished product.

It is mindful eating. When you pay attention, you figure out a few things:

- carbohydrates are bad for you.
- lots of flavor replaces things like sweet (ex: raspberry reduction is high in flavor, low in calories/carbs, sweeten with erythritol, which helps dental health, too)
- Its important to eat lots of fiber. Health benefits abound in many, many ways
- You can eat all you want, which become much less, by eating lean meats flavored with high flavor rubs and glazes. and leafy greens. Like grapefruit reduction seasoned to your preference. Like a karate chop to the tongue

I did not know that about raspberry reduction and it sounds very good. I will have to look up a recipe and try it.

I love herbs and spices. I have more than you can imagine and most people always ask why I have so many. IMO I can always tell when someone is a cook, they tend to have a collection of herbs and spices. I also have fresh herbs on my porch. I love a good omelette with fresh basil and tomato for breakfast. One of my favs.

Grapefruits are a favorite. I haven't had one in a while though tbh. I remember when I was a kid my grandmother always ate them and always had them in the house.

People don't always find their own solutions. But they have to find their own solution for it to work. You can lead a horse to water......

That is true.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Grapefruit is low in sugar/carbs. So you can use it to get the citrus effect. Two examples:

reduce the juice of 3 grapefruits by 70% (along with the zest from 2 of them). Add in 1-2 tbl ginger, 2 tbl soy sauce, 1 tbl sesame oil, and 2 cloves garlic minced. Sweeten with erythritol/splenda....and you have a killer ginger/citrus sauce/glaze. I like it as a wing sauce, too (melt in 3/4 stick butter) for when you are gonna eat the fats.

the other example is to slice a whole grapfruit small enough to fit in a food processor, along with half a medium onion and pulse it down. add in 4 or 5 cloves garlic, 1.5 tsp thyme, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 2 tbl brown mustard. Use it as a meat marinade sealed in a tight ziploc

A bit of juice makes a great addition to a home made vinagrette.

Yeah, this isn't a recipe thread. I just can't help myself. sorry.