Recognizing the Early Years of Obesity

Male Speaker: People have a lovely new born, they can feed either formula or breast milk would prefer, certainly breast milk over formula but sometimes you have to look what the situation going to be. And parents are very eager to start solid foods very early. The American Academy of Paediatrics is now saying trying to hold it off at least four months, preferably six months, because the formula breast milk is all the kid needs. But if you start giving sugars, sweet taste very early in a child's diet, there is a great indication the kid is going to now want to have more sugars diet which is not a healthy way for him to eat. Is that correct? Female Speaker: Of course. Male Speaker: So solids later and we are now trying to give foods that the babies have less of that sweet taste which makes more sense, so they don't do all of that sugar bridge down the road. Is that correct? Female Speaker: Of course and not only that but we all know that as the kid gets a little bit older, the ones and two and when their teeth are redeveloped finally dentists thinks that sugar is good for a kids growing teeth. It's not going to happen, it's not going to happen and yes the early you give a child sugar, you are absolutely right, that child will develop a taste for it. Male Speaker: The obesity epidemic probably started and accelerated probably early 1980s. So a lot of people think the reason for that is high fructose corn syrup because it gives you a rush of blood sugar and you can drop it quickly trying to make insulin and you get more hungry, you have to eat these fructose corn syrup drinks and what not and probably it's making the diet problem even worse because of that. Female Speaker: Yes it is, but yes, you are right -- Male Speaker: That's a fat -- this a tall -- Female Speaker: That's a very main ingredient, no question about it. Male Speaker: Second factor is you can't watch a television show who are advertising for all the wrong kind of foods. Female Speaker: You are right about that too but again it doesn't matter what the ingredients are in the food or what television show is advertising or what products the Jonas Brothers for example might be holding in their hands in a Jonas Brothers movie with 70 millions freaking teenage girls. Who puts it in their kid's hands? It's the parents. Nobody says that you have to bring that garbage into the house. Who is doing that? Who is doing the cooking, who is doing the shopping, who is putting this stuff in the pantry, who is putting the stuff in refrigerator, who is putting this soda in the kid's hands when he is seven-years-old at a pizza party? Male Speaker: Well people talk about they want to filter the Internet content, the kids are going to get bad exposure. Well the Internet content is also filled with ads of that exposure for the things we just discussed. Female Speaker: And worst. Male Speaker: And TV is loaded, screen time as we now know the more screen time the kid is younger that needs watching TV or on a computer playing the game and they are not moving around. They are going to have a greater risk of becoming obese. So there are so many things in here they are going to make you defeat -- go down into defeat. The only thing that works in your favor is the family that stays together and takes the nutrition as the main way of feeding, living and functioning the nutrition of a good family that's more than food. Female Speaker: That's right. It's not only the family environment in terms of the way they are reading but moms and dads also should be hitting out. I mean I am not saying to listen a parent who especially nowadays so many people have, so many kids come from two income homes, as my daughter does, we both are -- well let's think that way for a long time versus the point is for the last 20 years women have been in the market. 25 years women are working just aside as men and all the kids have two income families. You come home at the end of day, everybody is tired. I am not saying that a father and mom have to come off from work, drop his stuff and they all went to the gym for two hours. But come on, there is a way for parents to get their kids from early-on engaged in physical activity, even if you are exhausted. Right after dinner, take a walk around your cul-de-sac. Everybody just take a walk, walk around twice. You kids are on the bicycle and you and your wife are walking around that gets your kids out of the early age and gets used to the fact, you have just eaten dinner, let's go out for a little while and take a walk, or you have just eaten dinner let's go -- you will go on your scooter and mommy and I will be running alongside you. There has to be that as well, it's not only eating, it's movement, it's teaching your kids that movement is good. That there is a place for watching TV and playing video games, but it has to be secondary.