View Full Version : TLC's "Honey, We're Killing The Kids"
This is the TLC show where the overweight children are "aged" onscreen to shock their parents into a healthy lifestyle. Seen it?
We caught one episode last week. Three boys, two overweight, one underweight, all eating junk galore because the parents are too busy to cook. Little exercise. Family history of diabetes.
It was disgusting. And the Ph.D., R.D. is a harpy. The "aging" thing is gimcky. All in all, I doubt we'll watch again.
stan4d_steph
04-21-2006, 05:34 AM
I saw an ad, and I thought it seemed gimmicky. Did the experts provide any helpful advice?
Did the experts provide any helpful advice?
Understand that their "before" diet was 60% fried foods and pretty much the rest sweets. One of the kids was watching obscene amounts of tv daily, another was on the computer 24/7.
So pretty much any commonsense advice was going to be good. The dietician got them to eat whole foods, tone down the deep-fried fast food, and substitute fruit for sweets. She got them to turn off the tv and the computer, go outside, have a family game night around the kitchen table.
As a mom and heck, as a person, it's difficult to grasp how these kids could have been so, well, abused and neglected. Add to this the family's genetic predisposition to diabetes and it just boggles the mind.
stan4d_steph
04-21-2006, 05:55 AM
Well hopefully the show will open some people's eyes. I saw an interesting statistic the other day that of the people who are categorized as obese based on BMI, only 15% would classify themselves as such, versus about 70% for those in the average or overweight categories.
Obesity is definitely a blind spot to many people.
Obesity is definitely a blind spot to many people.
Interesting. Picky eating must be a blind spot to many people, too. I mean, these kids were telling their parents what to feed them. A kid is allowed preferences, of course. But anyone who's made it to adulthood knows what basic healthy habits are, at least in theory.
stan4d_steph
04-21-2006, 06:15 AM
Interesting. Picky eating must be a blind spot to many people, too. I mean, these kids were telling their parents what to feed them. A kid is allowed preferences, of course. But anyone who's made it to adulthood knows what basic healthy habits are, at least in theory.Very true. Sounds like the parents didn't want to be the "bad guy," or were the parents' just as bad as the kids?
Alex S.
04-21-2006, 06:25 AM
The statistic I heard on the radio last week was that in a survey 80% of respondents said that more than 70% of all people are obese but only 30-something % considered themselves obese.
stan4d_steph
04-21-2006, 06:29 AM
The statistic I heard on the radio last week was that in a survey 80% of respondents said that more than 70% of all people are obese but only 30-something % considered themselves obese.This article (http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=816488e7-58af-48d8-bfed-7d9fdd7ddf82&k=70022) was the one I was referring to.
Drince88
04-21-2006, 09:03 AM
I saw the same episode 3894/Helen did. The aging was total gimick-y, but it seemed to actually hit the parents. It kind of reminded me of the Nanny shows, but instead of overall behavioral problems, it was health-related.
Just because you 'know' what healthy eating is, it's sometimes hard to actually put into practice (at least based on my personal experience), and 'not having time' is one of the first things that starts me on bad paths, and that was the case with this family.
I'm so not shocked by any of the obesity acknowledgement figures. Obesity is a bad label, and people know that, so they aren't going to willingly call themselves a bad word. I'm guessing that most of the obese people who didn't give themselves that label, did admit that they were overweight. Society tends to think of 'obese' as the label for people who can't get out of their houses.
Barbossa
04-22-2006, 11:13 AM
This article (http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=816488e7-58af-48d8-bfed-7d9fdd7ddf82&k=70022) was the one I was referring to.
Interesting article, because I've never met a person who's been "overweight" most of their lives who didn't see themselves as overweight, no matter what their weight happened to be. I'm one such person. I remember when I had a labor intensive summer job at age 19. I must have been close to 0% body fat, I looked gaunt in pictures. And I remember thinking at the time that I was fat.
I'm 5-10, and the article says that I'd be overweight at 174 pounds. Yeah right. I'd look like Joey Ramone if I was that weight. I would put my normal weight at around 185 (yes, as Eric Cartman would say, I am big boned). 209? I'll take that too.
newhdplayer
04-22-2006, 12:35 PM
I Obesity is a bad label, and people know that, so they aren't going to willingly call themselves a bad word. I'm guessing that most of the obese people who didn't give themselves that label, did admit that they were overweight.
"Fluffy" is the correct term. No bad connotations, and so good for the self-esteem.:)
I Heart Disneyland!
04-22-2006, 10:27 PM
Forget honey we're killing the kids...honey we're killing ourselves!!! Our diet needs a major overhaul. The show was so-so in my opinion, but, I feel they did offer helpful advice that will work for anyone.
hlbtimes2
04-24-2006, 10:47 AM
"Fluffy" is the correct term. No bad connotations, and so good for the self-esteem.:)
"Sturdy" is also a good term. :D My mom refers to my neice and I as "sturdy girls".
stan4d_steph
04-24-2006, 11:27 AM
I caught some of the replay this weekend. I liked the buffet challenge, although as a kid I would have been mortified to have to use measuring cups and scoops from home. It's always hard to judge serving sizes at a buffet, that's why it's just better to avoid them. I save them for special occasions like Boma in WDW or Bellagio in Vegas. :)