An Open Letter to Parents of Young Children

Dear Parents of Very Young Kids:

I will keep this note short and sweet, attempting to avoid too much emotion. However, I feel it's necessary to make this plea:

I beg of you,
STOP FEEDING YOUR CHILDREN CRAP!

As the Mommy of an almost-four-year-old, it's troubling to see his playmates waddling around, filled to the brim with sugar, fat, and goodness knows what other garbage. Cakes, chips, and candy should be treats, not staples. Sure, they taste great. But they are ideally meant to be consumed in extreme moderation.

(NOTE: If you can't stop yourself from eating them, don't have them around. I haven't ingested chocolate since January 1996 because I couldn't control myself and would wolf down a pound of M&Ms like it was my last meal.)

And please don't fall back on "s/he has big bones", "everybody in our family has weight issues," or "I'm sure it's a medical problem though the doctors haven't discovered the problem yet." In 99% of cases, not one of those excuses holds water as well as a rusted colander would.

Don't just do this for me. Do this for them. Because other kids are going to be mean.

I know.

I was a chubbette from about age seven until age thirteen. It was horrible. It was embarrassing. And two decades later, taunt starters such as, "Look at fatty..." and "You're fatter than..." still haunt me.

But enough of me. Let's talk about you and your family. After all, it's summertime in the northern hemisphere! So go out and get some exercise.

Munch on apples, carrots, oranges... produce is so incredibly delicious, especially when shared with family!

Make healthy meals together, avoid the fast food windows, and please, oh, please, think twice before allowing TV watching to become a time of mindless noshing.

That is all.

Healthily yours,

The Quoibler