Obesity surgery at two years old… Really?
As parents, our children are our #1 priority. As a father myself, three years ago I did a short reality series on childhood obesity. I worked with seven kids under the age of 13 to see if our Personal Trainer Food program could help them lose weight.
Two of the female children at 13 years old weighed in at 270 pounds. Their parents were reluctant to say ‘no’ to their kids when it came to certain things, like healthy food choices. Like many other parents, they had fallen into the they will change as they get older trap. It’s a hopelessly optimistic way of thinking.
In fact, in my research, I discovered that 85% of cases of obese children were linked to the eating habits instilled (or allowed) by their parents. Obese children are not likely to change, ending up as obese adults.
A few days ago, our lead weight loss coach emailed me a sad and shocking story about an obese two-year-old who underwent weight-loss surgery.
Now, by no means am I a perfect parent, but I have learned that if given the choice between ice cream and broccoli, my children will choose ice cream 100% of the time.
These parents have fallen into what I call the new world of eating healthy trap: feeding their kids things like fruit roll ups, whole wheat waffles, cereal, granola bars, fruit juices, and energy bars. Parents mistakenly believe that a food is okay for their kids if there’s a picture of wheat on the box, or if we see convincing words like fortified or nutritious.
Remember folks: those foods are all just processed starches. And that ain’t good! (I know ain’t is not proper in most circles… However, a two-year-old child getting weight loss surgery isn’t either).
Children will not (cannot) become obese eating meats, vegetables, eggs, cheeses or nuts. It’s 100% impossible. Children (and adults) can eat bacon, burger patties, chicken, turkey, fish all day long and guess what? They will lean up extremely fast.
I am grateful that my three young daughters have Personal Trainer Food at home. Every day, they get home, grab their favorite meat and vegetable, heat it up in microwave for three minutes and they’re done. They even enjoy it. If we have sweets around, they will be discovered and eaten, so our policy is simple. Don’t have them around.
I challenge all the parents out there. You are the parent, they are the children. Care for your kids, and don’t fall into the new world of eating healthy trap. Teach them that meats and vegetables are the only way to go. Set the standard for your children and they will be grateful when they are adults.
Personal Trainer Food is just real food, so it is good for your kids to eat too. And best of all, they will love it. Check out this taste test to see!
Oh yeah. Remember the two young girls I mentioned earlier? Both are 17 now. Both weigh over 300 pounds and are heavily medicated due to a number of complications from their obesity.
Let’s all be thinking about this.
Mike StarksPersonal Trainer Food Founder & CEO
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