I mentioned in a previous post on my own blog, Through It All, that I had set the TiVo to record a new program, "Honey, We're Killing the Kids," which is a new TLC series.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how well this program was handled.  Hopefully this show will help many parents realize that they are, indeed, killing their kids.

The family featured last night was totally out of control in many more ways than just eating!  The 8 year old son had never once slept in his own bed---straight from his crib into his parents' bed with mom---it didn't really say where dad slept...  Both parents were chain smokers.  The boys both played video games non-stop, and the family had no concept of going out and doing things together.  There were no chores or family responsibilities for the boys at all, and they were not required to do anything to earn privileges.  The youngest son was developing behavior problems that were directly linked to caffeine and high sugar intake. 

The doctor on the program, a nutritionist, feels it is her life goal to make parents realize that allowing their children to be out of control in their eating and other areas of life that contribute to obesity is really killing their children.  She wants to make them understand that they are in control, and they are responsible for their children already being in a situation that threatens their health. 

To accomplish this, she uses state-of-the-art computer imaging to show the parents what their child will look like each year until the age of 40, if they do not change their current behaviors.  This is done after she analyzes the family via hidden cameras in the home for a week so that she can get accurate information about their lifestyle.  In this program, the boys, 8 and 12, were non-stop eating machines, and the oldest was 3 times the weight of a normal 12 year old boy.  The 8 year old was also severely overweight, and was pre-diabetic and asthmatic (yet the parents continued to smoke while he had to be on a nebulizer!)

Even I was shocked to see the appearance of these boys as they aged via the computer imaging, as were the parents.  They were told that by not taking control of their sons' eating, they were in effect, taking 15 years off their lives, as if they continued their present lifestyle, they would most likely die by the age of  60. 

The rest of the program showed a week by week program of improving their family's lifestyle, which lasted 3 weeks, and then the boys were re-evaluated.  Some of the rules the doctor gave were get rid of all junk food---completely pitch every bit of it, the parents were to stop smoking, youngest son sleep in his own bed, start exercising by enrolling in a boxing class, parent alone time, earn privileges by having a chore chart, eating healthy meals that they were given recipes for, and so much more. 

It was fun to watch as the boys changed their attitudes through the three weeks from "this is like prison" to being excited about their new lifestyle.  The oldest son lost 15 pounds during the 3 weeks! 

On re-evaluating the boys, basing the new computer imaging on the assumption that the boys would continue their new lifestyle, it was exciting to see the handsome men they would become---and with a normal life expectancy!  

Moms, if you have children who are obese, especially if this is a generational thing for your family, and you yourself are not able to control either your own eating and/or your child's eating, I encourage you to watch this program.  You just might learn something that could add years to your child's life!