Topic : 04/09 “My Child Can’t Stop Eating”

I agree!  Here we go again... parents that can not say NO!  These parents are no different than the mother that was doing drugs with her son, or the mother that kept driving her son to the theme park so he could make himself pass out on the roller coaster, or the parents that don't check on the kids while they are on the computer or cell phones... it could go on and on and on.  Hmm... the giggling grandmother said the answer best, she has 'things to do' so she just gives the kid the food to make her stop throwing the tantrum.  Look, that kid is no dummie.  She KNOWS throwing the tantrum will get her the food!  It's the leave-me-alone-and-do-what-you-want attitude a lot of parents have today.  I tell my kids it is easier to say yes to everything but harder to say no.  It's HARD WORK being a good and responsible parent.  I chalk it up to plain laziness and no backbones. 

 

I would like to know this:  If these children have an eating issue, why in the world would they buy all that junk??  Did they ever hear of having an apple instead of a donut?  If there is a medical reason for this than they have to address it before it gets more out of hand and they lose their children. 

 

 

Yes, I agree.  Also, can this mother get a sitter or family member to watch the child while she is shopping??  Why make a bad situation worse.  BE THE BOSS!  Don't tell the child you are grocery shopping!  Just do it.  These children know how to push buttons and the mothers are falling for it hook, line and sinker. 

Hunternolan, you stated and I quote you here....."Lets look at the suppliers of the GARBAGE that is sold in the stores,schools,etc. Lets start a movement at the source of the epidemic and stop  it before it is too late."  Are you saying parenting and the role of picking what goes into my shopping cart belongs to the suppliers and makers of food products?  The buck stops HERE, with ME!  And it STOPS with those parents on the stage and with you and everyone else....not the suppliers and manufacturers.   This is a free enterprise country and yeah, we have the choice to not buy the products.  But it is OUR CHOICE.  To say that the epidemic starts with them and let's start a movement at the "source" reminds me of the BOOK BURNING DAYS!  We cannot dictate what others want to purchase because some people don't have problems with moderation.  Some people (like myself) can eat two oreo cookies and not the whole sleeve or whole package and make the package last a month. And the next snack is an apple.   Let's not punish everyone because there are parents out there who are willing to take responsiblity for their own kids and their own weight.  Let's face it...there are parents out there that are lazy or who have weight issues of their own that are passing it down to their kids.  I, personally, feel it is a form of abuse, because they are putting their health at risk.  None of the parents on the stage have been real about this issue until they came on the show.  How interesting it took being on a show to face that fact.  Glad that it happened nonetheless.  Hopefully the kids will benefit from it....and the parents too.  But the source of the epidemic isn't the food.  Here is a saying ...."it's not what you eat, but what's eating you".  There is an emotional component that drives overeating.  Get at what is "eating at you" meaning what is bothering you and you will learn to eat to live not live to eat.  Peace.

Ths is just a sad epidemic in america for children and parents alike....I was an oerweight child  myself  not because I coldnt stop eatting  but  because my family never gave me stict guide lines on what to eat,, But  they  did watch how much I ate  and even though it wasnt healthy I never wa as big as  some of he children you  see on these  shows....Also they  made sure I  stayed active  they walked with me, and we  went on hikes  and we  rode  bikes together.....And now  I go to the gym about 4 to 5 times  a week  andhave lost almost  all of the weight I gainned  in childhood......I think its both the parents  and the childrens responsibility  to change,THe children arent buyig the food yes I agree with that, Bu also I think these children are  trying to fill some void  in their life  or maybe their just  bored all te time? Maye they  need  some motivation  frm an outside  source  as well as the parents.....Thats probly wy Dr. Phil gave them gym memberships.   thik his will relly help them  feel better  and give  them a chance to relize theres  more  to  life  then just  eatting......Which is the impression  I got  off  of them. I  know  that setting limits is the best way to keep your child healthy  My family made mistakes with it  yes  but  as time went on they fixed t which is why Im healthy  and weigh  close  to what i should because Im so active and eat  right  now.....Hese arents ad children can do the same they just have to   really  want it and even f tey dont they have to y and do it.

The tears you saw on the show were tears of, my God what have I done to my child!  How did I let this happen so far to the point of this dangering my childs' life.  My tears would never be for myself in a situation like this.  I've read all the other comments, and I'm not saying I agree with them, but everyone has their own opinion about things be it good or bad.  No one knows my situation until you have lived it.  But, I will not let you say my tears were for the changes I have to make.  I went to the show for help, because I realized that the problem was far beyond me and I need help, for myself and my child.  I have two other children as you saw who are average weight.  I've been overweight all my life and I've always tried different things to deal with it.  I've never had to deal with this with my children until now with Sa'Jatta, that's why I wrote to the show, because I don't want Sa'Jatta to live the life I have and grow up to be an overweight adult like me.  I love my child and I have come to terms with myself that I have to be the changing factor in her life. That when she sees me doing the healtier thing she will memmick it and in turn be healthy.  As for all the other comments, I'm not shocked or surprised at them because you only know of what you've seen on t.v. and that's fine, but trust me there will be an update show on Sa'Jatta and myself and we will be a success story.

I have a stepchild who came into my life (every other weekend) at 4 years old.  She was a little pudgy then. But as time went on my husband (who might have been 15 lbs heavier than he should have been) and I noticed her rapid weight gain.  My husband would speak to her mother (who was considerably heavier than she should have been) about the issue and she would always say the same thing, "we're (parents) heavy so she's going to be heavy." 

 

I am so appalled at this mindset.  Aside from medical issues, a child DOES NOT inherit obesity but instead his/her parents'  bad eating habits! Just because mom or dad is heavy it DOESN'T mean the children will/should be heavy.  Why don't parents get this?

 

Well, the eating habits didn't change as much as we tried from a distance with our step-daughter. The years have gone by and she has developed a VERY serious weight problem at 20 years old. It is very sad because she is such a beautiful girl. 

 

It is sooooo important to teach your child good eating habits right from the beginning and to take the time to monitor what they eat.  It is hard to listen to them cry and throw tantrums but your carelessness now will be their quality (or lack thereof) of life later.

See how quick we are to categorize people.  There are feelings of sorrow for a mother of a child with anorexia, but the parents of a child with the opposite type of eating disorder is chastised.  Both of these children have a psychological problem that is manifesting itself into an eating disorder.  Addiction is addiction no matter what form it takes.

I wonder how many of the people leaving messages here really watched what their kids ate or they were just blessed with kids that had little appetites or had high metabolisms.  I had two children, feed them the same thing, one is fat and the other one skinny.  If anything my son has worse eating habits than my daughter (who is overweight) and he is extremely skinny even now at 23 years old. 

I know that the parents of these children are obese and maybe in these cases they are "lazy" in not taking charge.  But, I can tell you from the experience I am having with my 4 year old granddaughter that just taking the food away is not the only answer.  

Watching the show yesterday made me cry.  I saw my granddaughter in those little girls.  Jaylyn is 4 1/2 years old and weighs 92 lbs.  She is tall with a big bone structure, but she is too big even taking that into account.  She  thinks about food all the time.  No matter what we do to get her mind off of it, she will still bring up the subject constantly.  When we are out in the car with the windows down, she will  even smell restaurants.  She will say "doesn't that smell good Grammy?".  

We have tried to limit her junk food intake, but we hesitate to take everything away.  We are scared it will just make her want them more.  It doesn't matter to her though if she is eating bad food or good food, she just wants more.  She never seems full.  I try to stall her before giving her "seconds" of anything to see if her brain will tell her belly she is full.  I try and make her eat slower too.  I am scared of making the whole thing worse by saying or doing the wrong thing.   

We have thought about locking the frig and the cabinets, but we have not yet.   Sure we could limit her intake of food, but that will not get to the bottom of why she feels the need to eat all the time.  I bet if you ask any extremely overweight adult when their problems started, they will tell you it was always a problem for as long as they can remember. 

If we try and talk to doctors about this they all just look at us like the audience was looking at those parents on the show.  They think the only problem is the child eats too much which is the parents problem.  They don't seem to want to get at the bottom of what is making the child overeat.  I really believe in my granddaughter's case it is stress caused by a series of events in her young life that she had no control over, but I am only the grandmother and my opinion doesn't seem to count for a whole lot.

      

We as a family watched your show on my child can't stop eating.  I would normally never write about a show by my four children were disgusted by the behavior of the children and the parents.  The age range is 8,10,12,13.  It wasn't as if they were unsympathetic to these childrens plight nor there parents regarding the whole eating disorder,  it had to do with how the children spoke back to there parents without respect and no was not no, it was a maybe.  I guess my husband and I are raising them well.  Because each child loves to eat, loves to eat healthy foods and food isn't considered an emotional crutch.  I as a child had issues about food, for whatever the reason, I was always told how pretty you are but too chubby etc. etc.  I really didn't get a handle on healthy eating until I was in High School.  It wasn't that I was obese, I just had poor choices to pick from at home.  I was a ship alone in the house because no one else needed to worry about what they ate and the effect the food had on there metabolism.   I personally had to agree with my children regarding each parents issue with drawing a line in the sand over food and to have children so young with health issues revolving around too much food and the wrong foods is crazy.  Especially, with how health conscious our society is and the availability of so many different healthy choices.  They are purposely making there children sick. My children felt that with the quanitity of food given to each child on the show, how many children in this world would be feed for a week. 

I'd like to know HOW MANY of these people does Dr. Phil follow up on?!? He provides them with free exercise equipment, free gym memberships, free counseling from a nutritionist. I wonder what has happened to all the people he's had on the show before with this exact same problem. Did they lose the weight? He's only actually shown a follow up on a handful of these guests which leads me to think that they got home and went back to their exact same lifestyle.

I could probably write a novel about what I think about this issue but I'm sure my feelings are of he majority. So I'm just going to post hoping the parents of these kids are reading.

#1 mom with the 5yr old girl w/glasses. Boy do you have a strong willed child--but WHAT A GIFT that strong will can be if developed positively and correctly and tunneled into a positive channel rather than negative. That strong of a will can devastate her in later years when "self hate" steps in as a result of how she is treated by others--starting with school kids. It is so obvious that you adore her and want the best for her--I wish a blessed outcome!