"You know where that comes from? Watching that da*# TV."
Seriously.
Those quotes, for those of you who are not movie afficionados, came from "The Nutty Professor", with Eddie Murphy. And studies have shown that obesity, and especially childhood obesity, comes from a sedentary lifestyle that involves watching too much da#% TV.
Oddly enough, although I'm very careful about my eating and exercise and that of my husband - apparently I was a slacker parent. Somewhere over the last two years I wasn't paying close attention to my daughter's eating habits and she put on weight. More than a typical 5 yr should, especially one who is vertically challenged. And since she is not inclined to be as active as her brother at the same age, it is adding up. I feel like such a schmuck. As the stay-at-home parent I should have realized this. My hubby said something on several occasions, and I was doing the "can't see the forest for the trees" or the "ostrich head in the sand" thing.
Well, last week I read an article at the Washington Post about back to school and school lunches for kids. That was the real eye-opener. Of course I forgot to pull my head out of the sand first - that sure stings. The article breaks down by age groups the number of calories a day an active vs. a sedentary child should be eating. On page 2 I got a stunner: a 4-8 year old sedentary child should be eating only 1,000 calories a day! Holy crap on a cracker. I knew my little Ellie was packing way more back than that, and she loves to sit down and feed her baby doll, or read books (sitting) and of course watch TV.
So what did I do about this? Well, it took me a week to get my head out of the sand! Then I realized I needed to start by collecting data. I began this weekend to keep a food journal for her. It has been both eye - opening and encouraging. We've kept her caloric intake to 1170 calories or less, and we've gotten a few veggies "over the lips, past the tongue, look out stomach here they come!"
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