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Feeding Kids Can Be Daily Struggle

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By MARY SHEDDEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2008

TAMPA - Cost is the excuse most parents give kids to avoid buying fast-food meals. Their health is another good reason to pass up the drive-through.

An estimated one in three Florida children is overweight or obese, putting them at risk for long-term health problems.

"Kids say they don't want to eat the healthy foods you say is good for them," said Jim Lindenberger, director of the Center for Social Marketing at the University of South Florida.

"After a busy day at work and picking the kids up from school, and you've got two or three kids with you saying, 'Please don't make us eat that.' It finally wears a mother down."

Harried parents seldom think that hitting the drive-through is going to make a child fat. But it's those choices — made at restaurants and impulse trips to the grocery store — that lead to unhealthy results, said Denise Edwards, director of the Healthy Weight Clinic at USF.

"Very rarely is there an actual medical cause of them being overweight," she said of her young patients with unhealthy eating habits.

The jump in the price of fresh produce makes the situation harder. Tampa resident Lynn Wilson said she and her husband struggle to buy a nutritious mix for their 13- and 10-year-old children. They focus first on getting fruits and vegetables, but still try to buy inexpensive snacks that appeal to kids, such as popcorn.

"You hate to tell your kids they can't have something," she said.

Parents can help their children maintain a healthy weight and save money by removing high-calorie, high-fat foods and sugary sodas from the house, Edwards said. A lot can be accomplished with planning and perseverance.

"It's the end of a long day. [Parents] don't know if they can get [their children] to eat anything else. They don't want to take the time to think about it," Edwards said.

"Instead, go pick up a rotisserie chicken for about the same price. And throw some frozen vegetables in there and you have a meal."

Despite the nagging, adults control how well a child eats. That has nothing to do with prices at the supermarket, said Cynthia Hardy, the Hillsborough County health department's assistant community health nursing director.

"Ten-year-olds don't buy the groceries."

Reporter Mary Shedden can be reached at (813) 259-7365.

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