Tag Archives: pediatrician

Mom Chronicles 7-Year-Old Daughter’s “Obesity” Battle in Vogue

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Photo of Dara Lynn Weiss and Daughter Bea
Let’s talk about fat, shall we?  In fact, let’s just throw caution to the wind and talk about the potential damage parents can do to their children in the name of curtailing the national trend toward childhood obesity.

Or we could just talk about what a crazy bitch Dara-Lynn Weiss, who recently wrote a piece for Vogue focused on the alleged need for her 7-year-old daughter’s need to lose weight, is.

Incidentally, her daughter Bea was 4’4” and weighed 93 pounds.  She is now sixteen pounds lighter.

And, in case I haven’t already mentioned it, seven.

According to Weiss, Bea’s diet was recommended by her pediatrician, who felt that “she was clinically obese and could be at risk for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes.”

Just for shits and giggles, I put Bea’s stats into the BMI calculator at the National Heart Lung Institute.  It came out as normal. While, to be completely fair, the CDC has a pediatric BMI calculator that does classify Bea as “overweight” considering her age, I think there’s more than meets the eye here.

To wit, here’s what Weiss had to say about Bea’s dietary habits … and her own actions undertaken as…

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Making an Active Choice for Healthier Kids (And Healthier Yous)

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Photo of Children Eating Apples

As school heads back into full swing, there’s often a feeling of guilt on the part of parents. After all, leaving your kiddos in the hands of a school system that might or not be taking in loco parentis to heart is a bit frightening.

Perhaps to alleviate potential parental anxiety, Womenshealth.gov recently gave out some tips for what parents can do to give their children the best in terms of both help and well being.

1. Encourage your kids to catch all the Zs they can.

Adequate sleep and rest are essential, Dr. Peter Richel, a pediatrician at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., said in a hospital news release. His advice in this regard? Establish fixed bedtime routines and avoid booking too many extracurricular activities.

You know, it’s funny about kids and sleeping. My about-to-turn-sixteen-year-old daughter is a hard-core night owl. I cannot seem to convince the kid to go to bed at a normal hour (except every morning at 5:30 a.m. when I’m shaking her awake, at which point she laments her decision to stay up until two in the morning), and she’s almost proud of the fact that she spent much of her Honors Biology class last year asleep.

On the contrary, my little one totally resents the concept of naptime at school. Hates it. Wants to be learning (or on the playground) every minute.

It just got me wondering why younger children are given structured “rest time” of which they’re resentful while adolescents, who could probably use a mid-day siesta far more, struggle to say awake.

Odd.

2. Kids need to eat healthy.

Make sure your children get three healthy meals a day, [Dr. Richel] added. Breakfast is particularly important, and eating together as a family helps promote good communication skills.

I don’t think this is news to anyone. What’s worthy of conversation, however, is the follow through put forth by most parents.

And I’m guilty of this. One of my children has a cold Pop Tart for breakfast every morning, the other a cup of coffee.

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Another Reason to Breastfeed … Or is It Just More Propaganda?

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When you hear the phrase “a woman’s right to choose,” there’s generally a quick synapse pop to the word “abortion.” However, I feel that the push to force women to breastfeed gives new meaning to the idea of choice … and it’s a meaning that does not reflect well on the medical profession.

Anyway, there’s a new study out that gives yet another enticing reason to breastfeed—it evidently lowers the risk of developing Type II Diabetes (the one that’s linked to obesity) later in life.

From Bloomberg Businessweek:

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh studied more than 2,200 women aged 40 to 78. They found that 27 percent of mothers who didn’t breast-feed developed type 2 diabetes, almost double the rate among women who breast-fed or never gave birth.

The researchers say the differences between the groups held up even after they adjusted the statistics for factors such as age, race, levels of physical activity and body-mass index.

“Diet and exercise are widely known to impact the risk of type 2 diabetes, but few people realize that breast-feeding also reduces mothers’ risk of developing the disease later in life by decreasing maternal belly fat,” said Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, an assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology, and obstetrics, gynecology …

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