Overweight 18 Month Old on French Fry Diet

What! a toddler refusing vegetables! The shock of it... Yep - this is a heavy kid with a poor diet - but I just can't throw stones here. The kid is 7 pounds heavier than the average 18mth old -- not sure if that qualifies for newspaper material...

Geez! Scary. Definitely child abuse to not have your children eating at least somewhat healthfully-- they're growing bodies for chrissakes.

Refusing vegetables? Who's the parent?

Although the weight is not overly abnormal, the eating habits that the parents are allowing are very troubling. I find that the comment about not having big people in the family somewhat disturbing. Genetics play a large role in how are bodies are shaped, but even if the child is not big, that doesn't mean they are healthy. Also, the kid is developing poor eating habits very early, and I think that it is unlikely that she will grow out it easily.

Um, yeah, we form our food preferences very early for the most part, that child is going to have a very hard time getting off of potatoes - and COKE - ugh. (no wonder she liked the bowl of mashed potatoes, duh) - it's the reason we crave going home to momma's food - doesn't matter what it is - kids in Japan love sushi - and my son loves broccoli because I gave it to him early. 4lbs. overweight at 18mos. is like having 25% more weight at any age, I know there are genenic differences but in a girl in particular, it's too much...:(

Her parents are not exactly teacher her proper life skills. Judging by the mothers comments i dont think that she is very well informed.

I know a child who had a similar diet as an infant, substitute french fires for unseasoned deep fried chicken. Now she is sixteen and will still not eat anything else. Apart for the obvious health problems it is an enormous social handicap. Her parents began trying to change her diet in earnest when she reached her teens and started showing the early signs of diabetes. Recently some progress has been made, as her alternative is an early death. Extremely poor diets in the early years can course big problems down the track!

I'm surprised that 7lbs overweight counts as (according to the Daily Mail article) "chronically obese". Babies often are quite chubby, and Courtney doesn't look abnormally big in the photo.

I also wonder if the newspaper has exaggerated for effect (I must confess I am no fan of the Daily Mail at all). From what the mother says, it doesn't sound as though Courtney really only eats chips:

"She will eat a bit of what we're having, say spaghetti bolognese, and she had a massive bowl of mashed potato the other day.

She might have a banana sometimes, or yoghurt, but she won't touch vegetables - she picks them up and throws them."

I've often read about toddlers having quite limited diets and growing out of it. Also, bear in mind that healthy guidelines such as five 80g portions of fruit/veg per day are aimed at adults: of course children still need plenty of fruit and veg, but in quantities scaled-down to match their own size!

I think this story has been blown rather out of proportion.

It's almost a given that children will refuse a lot of what they're given, but the parent is usually the one who steps up to make sure the child eats properly. Children can't be trusted to form a good diet for themselves. We'd like to think they could--sometimes at least--but its unfeasible.

I just think it is sad. To just blatently ignore health professionals advice is beyond ignorant. It just shows callous negligence.

I see it as a form of child abuse as well, to relate to my own experience read on if you will.

When I was a kid, I loved chips and coke, no doubt about that. However, I over-indulged in them because my father encouraged it more that I wanted it. My father stocked the house with junk food, because I enjoyed them. A few years later after I battled with my weight; my problem with my father's behaviour is that, because I liked them, does not mean I need to eat them in abundance. I enjoyed them, but at most a few times a week is good enough. Parents should teach kids moderation and healthy food choices, there is no need to feed me that crap everyday.
The lesson here is that, there is a difference and fine line between the kid liking them, and the parents providing too much.In fact, sometimes kids DONOT need as much junk food as the parents think. It is the same concept as spoiling your child with too much of anything. In my opinion, parents who spoils their child are failures.

I see it as a form of child abuse as well, to relate to my own experience read on if you will. In my opinion, parents who spoils their children are failures.

When I was a kid, I loved chips and coke, no doubt about that. However, I over-indulged in them because my father encouraged it more than anything. My father stocked the house with junk food, because I enjoyed them. A few years later after I battled with my weight; my problem with my father's behaviour is that, because I liked them, does not mean I need to eat them in abundance, there is no need to feed me those $h!t everyday.
The lesson here is that, there is a difference and fine line between the kid liking them, and the parents providing too much due to their child's preference.

My take is that this is non-news. First off, this little girl isn't all that bigger than the average. And secondly, having watched six younger siblings grow up from infancy, I have to say that it's really hard to force an 18-mo. old to eat what she doesn't want to eat. You can't cram it down her throat and you can't exactly reason with her at that age!

Toddlers tend to go through phases of eating very little or eating only one kind of food, and I've never known a kid who didn't grow out of it eventually. The trick is to just keep offering veg and fruits, and one day they will magically try them! I'm not kidding -- tots aren't adventurous eaters, but a lot of school-age kids are, provided they were consistantly offered new foods.

Note that I say "offered," not "forced to eat."

Part of the problem is that Ms. Boswell lives in the United Kingdom where health care is "free".

Even if she didn't care about her child's health she might be more willing to pursue a healthy diet for the child if she were going to be financially responsible for the outcome.

Give people anything for free and they will abuse it. Why take care of yourself when the Government will swoop in to save you from yourself whenever you're sick?

When I was a toddler, I went through a period where the ONLY food I would eat was green olives--pimento stuffed. Concerned, my mother called the ped and was told that eventually I'd get sick of them--and he was right. I did start to eat other foods again after getting tired of my green-olive diet/binge.

On the flip, my cousin who, as a toddler, would only eat banana yogurt, Cheerios, bacon, and milk with Strawberry Quick--not the most healthy diet, but he refused to eat anything else--much to the dismay of his parents. To this day, as a 20-something adult, he still maintains his "diet" of selective foods, having added steak, plain potato chips and beer; he is in great health, exercises regularly, is a student of martial arts, and is actually rather lithe and skinny, of average height; he excelled in college and is considering law school while working in a position with an organization that created a position specifically for him since he worked so well as an intern. His 'bad' diet hasn't hindered him or his health in the slightest.

I can hardly call this mother's nonchalance about the issue 'neglectful,' and I believe it is a bit early for the media and it's sheep to sentence the child to a life of obesity and health problems. One of my daughter's favorite foods does happen to be fries but she also enjoys a wide variety of fruits and veggies which she willingly attacks at meals.

Now if I could just get her to eat meat, we'd be set. Good thing she likes eggs!

I'm with NtB, this isn't news. First, the article doesn't mention how tall she is, second, 30 pounds is in the 97% percentile for an 18 month old girl, which is within normal range. The nutritionist in the article calling a toddler "chronically obese" should be discredited for her intellectual laziness.

Evolutionarily, small children aren't supposed to like veg. We evolved to prefer sweet foods when we're young, before we have the experience to differentiate between bitter foods that are safe to eat and those than are not.

Forcing foods, even if they are healthy, on your children should be a crime. It's been well established that making the dining table a confrontational zone is a perfect way to give your children food issues that will effect their self-image and health for the rest of their lives.

The best way to deal with this is to keep offering a variety of nutritious foods, which these parents say they do. Of course, soda shouldn't be readily available, but with older kids in the house, it's probably difficult to keep all junk food away from the younger ones.

Why don't you mind your own business?

Does it look like the mother is forcing her child to eat french fries?

Did she force her other children to eat french fries?

What gives you the right to butt into someone else's life and method of child rearing, just because something appears to be "different" to you"?

Haven't we lost enough freeedoms yet? Do you want the government passing out lists of what one can and cannot do now when raising one's own children?

You may not like it, but people have a right to be bad parents (within the law). There are a million things people can do to screw up their kids. And you know what we can do about it? Not a whole helluva lot. That's the way it works.

Parents, in my opinion, are responsible not only for feeding their children, but for making sure their kids are getting adequate nutrition. I firmly believe that no matter HOW picky a kid may be, you can get them to branch out and eat a relatively healthy diet. First of all, if you offer your kid a variety of healthy foods and keep junk (like french fries) away from them, they'll have different options to choose from. If they won't eat any of them, too bad, they go hungry until they DO decide to eat them.

I saw an episode of Dr. Phil about obese kids and this one woman had a 150 lb 7 year old and claimed that she found "ice cream containers, bags of chips, etc." in her daughter's room. Dr. Phil said that if she didn't keep it in the house, the girl wouldn't eat them.

Bottom line: parents need to be, ya know, PARENTS. That means saying no sometimes and practicing tough love. I'm sure there were numerous times when I was a kid that I wanted ice cream for dinner and my parents made me eat whatever they were serving before I could have dinner. Face it, kids don't know what's nutritious and what isn't. They just want to eat what tastes good.

I strongly believe that a lot of young people (cildren and teenagers) are fat because of their parents.
I was left alone all the afternoons during primary school and spent my time watching cartoons and eating snacks just to spend the time.
Now I am here with 20 kg I am trying to shed, but it is much more harder now, at the age of 25, rather than during growth.

I don't like the judgmental tone of this post or the original article. Thirty pounds for an 18-month-old is in the range of normal, and that child does not look obese to me. She's got what is normally referred to as "baby fat." Any mother will tell you that it is normal for most children to be picky about food and go through periods when they will only eat one thing.

My children were both in the vicinity of 30 pounds at 18 months. I exclusively breastfed both of them for six months and then continued to breastfeed as I added in healthy food. My children tended to prefer breastmilk and still didn't eat significantly much of anything else by the time they were one. I was extremely careful about what they ate when they were younger -- even their birthday cakes for their first few years were whole grain and naturally sweetened, with fruit on the side rather than frosting. My husband was a large baby. I believe their weight was genetic. They have both always been very healthy, each needing antibiotics no more than twice in their lives. They are both now slim, active adolescents who love their vegetables.

I do agree it's a terrible shame for children to be fed junk food. I have seen 9-month-old babies being fed coke or kool aid out of a bottle, and it horrifies me how unhealthy that is.

For me the younger the better to make our kids to stay out from junk foods because if they grow with the kind of food they are eating it is really hard to correct them.

While I am not a parent I get really confused when parents say the kids will only eat junk food. If the children can't feed themselves, how does that make any sense? Children will eat what you feed them won't they? How will they crazy unhealthy foods if they have never had them?

you are right, because in this stage of the child's life the parent are only the one responsible for feeding healthy or unhealthy food. I think that's unfair to let a child eat this kind of junk food. Everyone of us know the bad effect of eating french frise.

Oh my gosh! this lady is crazy! she is killing her child. Its kind of common sense that if you give your kid a bunch of french fries, and then try to give him/ her carrot, your kid won't eat the carrot. Why would you ever give such a young child mc donalds anyways?

I really feel sorry for this child, and I really hope someone helps this mother see that she is wrong in what she is doing.

It's the mother's choice of what she wants to do with her child. I know it's crazy for her to do that, but we really can't do anything about it. Let the mother find out by her own mistakes. If the child doesn't get fat, then a miracle just happened.

Parents pass on habits good and bad, and unfortunately kids are kinda defensless when it comes to avoiding what their parents teach them.

What is an 18 month-old child doing being offered soda and fries? This child should be fed foods that will help her grow strong not end up giving her health issues. She might grow out of her eating habits, but since there is a huge possibility she wont the mother should know better than to give it to her. A child will eat to the standards that you set for them. A parent who doesn't try for the best for their child is a failure. No wonder the recent generations are dying younger than the ones before them ... they have parents that just don't care enough to make sure they are being decent caretakers to their children.

People just got to stop judging ... in today's society there is no such thing as a normal sized child. Which "perfect" child are we suppose to model our children to? And what about ourselves as adults,oh come on now. Even the supposingly most fit still have heart attacks,etc..yeah it's good to maintain an appropriate healthy lifestyle. That would be great for everyone but we don't live in this great made up world everyone would like to see. I have 3 children & they vary in weight my youngest is 18 months & weighs about 29 lbs but she is very tall for her age. So should she weigh as an 18 month old and be the height of almost a 2 & 1/2 yr old? Ah maybe not

Kids can't eat what you don't give them. Our 18 month old demands to eat bananas most of the day & will eat fresh & dried fruit as often as he can. Also meat & vegetables & pasta & bread (wholemeal & rye) & rice & milk & yes - very occasionally a taste of cake or a chip or two when at a party or similar.

A healthy happy & not fussy kid.

It's not about size, but it is about parents being parents & not spineless worms who ABUSE their children daily with their sniveling "she just won't eat healthy food, so I HAVE to give her french fries".

Authorities should be brought in & the child should be put in the care of someone who actually LOVES their child enough to do what is right by them. Regardless of the occasional refusal of food.

Get a grip on reality!

well i think that the mother should take responsibility in her actions and take it serious that a 18 mth baby should not eat french fries everyday. its just not possible i never seen nothing like it and she wont eat anyother meal besides french fries or mashed poatoes then yes there is your answer she will be overweight or obese if the mother doesn't take it serious.