Research on the subject of children dieting was found on an unlikely source, a coupon code site. Apparently, a trend had been noticed and www.CouponCodes4U.com, polled Americans to get their input on Halloween candy. To their surprise they found that 19% of parents did not allow their children to go “trick or treating” due to the amount of candy they would consume. The poll also revealed that 26% of children under the age of 12 were on diets.
Now you may ask just how many people responded to this poll on this coupon site. That is a valid question and one I wanted the answer to myself. The poll consisted of 6,523 parents of American children under the age of 12. The poll found that 24% of parents fed their kids “healthy food” while 58% fed their kids “junk food” when posed the question “what food do your kids generally eat the most?” Further findings showed the 26% of parents had their children on a diet and 11% were monitoring their children’s food intake. When CouponCodes4U asked the reason for why their children were on a diet, 6% said it was recommended by a pediatrician. Yet, this did not prevent 19% of parents from giving their child a written excuse for skipping gym class and 11% of being certain their child had regular exercise.
Mark Pearson, Chairman of CouponCodes4U.com, had the following to say about the study;
“With Halloween very close now, we wanted to find out if parents would prevent their kids from going Trick-or-Treating, for whatever reason. The study actually found that more parents were concerned about their child eating too much candy on the night than them being safe, which is quite surprising.”
What does this all mean? Childhood obesity is on the rise so the results of this poll are not surprising. What is surprising is the fact that parents are willing to put their children on a diet but not willing to be certain they are getting enough physical exercise. I am also surprised that so many have prevented Trick or Treating due to the consumption of candy. While, I understand that this time of year brings about many temptations that can easily wreck a diet, I do not understand the lack of parenting.
A parent is responsible for a child’s well being. The parent is in charge. As a parent I am fully aware that I am not raising a child but a future functioning adult. I am far from perfect and I am not immune to having a child with weight concerns. However, a parent needs to take control if a child is truly suffering from obesity. Childhood obesity is dangerous in the short term and in the long term. When a child is two and does not want to sit in her car seat we do not hesitate to take control. When a child is two and wants to play in the street we do not hesitate to prevent it despite tantrums and pleadings from the child. Your child may be 10 or 12 but she is does not possess the maturity to understand the full effect of eating a bag of candy or only to walk to get from point A to point B. Childhood obesity is a true threat to our children. It is fine to prevent your child from Trick or Treating but maybe it would be better to use this time to teach self control. Temptations cannot always be prevented and a parent will not always be there to throw the candy bar away. A child needs to be equipped with the tools to control his or her food intake.
I see no problem with children being put on diets if it is necessary. However, I think the attitude of the diet is key. Does your child feel worthless? Does your child feel like his health is the primary concern? Are all family members making healthy decisions and not just preventing one member from eating dessert? A child needs to be aware that being overweight is unhealthy and had real consequences that last far beyond the fashion trends of the day or the bullies at school. A diet should be an act of love and not a burden.
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