It's the puritan work ethic applied to food - if it tastes good, it's sinful.

I had this idea that only Protestants drank non-whole milk because my best friend's family did (her father was a Methodist minister) and nobody else I knew (pretty much all Catholic) did.

Total Liberty Heights / Barry Levinson flash right there.

re: diabetes

When Hubby was first diagnosed, his sugars were all over the place. He once got down to 17, according to his meter. Granted, he had just passed out in the street and was curious as to why he felt weird. In any case, his doctor swore he had a bad meter, so Hubby offered to test it on the meter of Doc's choice. Pre-meal number--32. 35 on a second meter. Hubby smiled and continued his then-standard breakfast of a pint of Haagen Daz, which would get his blood sugar up to a blistering 140.

The metabolism. It's weird.

aha! I knew I'd seen a story about (under)feeding toddlers!

It's the puritan work ethic applied to food - if it tastes good, it's sinful.

Wrod. And Hubby has to beat me about the head and shoulders (metaphorically) to get me to a doctor, because I've somehow acquired the belief that a worthy person wouldn't have these ailments (ie, only slatterns and low-lifes are as fat as I, so it's only just that I should be suffering from ailments, and the doctor will give me the look of Unclean! if I ask for help).

Unfortunately, connie, you might get that - there have been a number of stories about doctors who look at someone overweight and immediately say that all you need is to lose some weight.

I knew I'd seen a story about (under)feeding toddlers!

I read that blog all the time. She's excellent with her research, and pretty rigorous.

doctors who look at someone overweight and immediately say that all you need is to lose some weight.

Time to get a new doctor. And I'm not saying that to be flip; that kind of treatment being passed off as "medical care" is simply unacceptable.

As a parent, I have to say that most of the concern I have seen about small children's weight has had to do with underweight - lots of breastfed babies who are wee and the moms are getting lots of medical pressure (note: breastfed babies show a different growth curve than formula fed babies, which doctors should know but many seem not to; also, if mom is Asian and dad is 5'4" it's perhaps not a shock that baby is 10%ile, and the most common growth charts are white babies from Ohio in the 1960s) and picky eaters. I haven't seen concern about childhood obesity, either from doctors or socially, for kids in the age range I know (under 5). More it's, "My three year old will only eat white foods and french fries! Will he die of scurvy?"

I do think that school lunches have a strong tendency to be nutritionally crap. It's pizza and chicken nuggets and stuff all the time at Casper's school, which are fine as part of a diet, but that's why I pack her lunch (which she doesn't eat, because she wants cookies or pizza. Or, you know, kalamata olives and feta cheese. She's odd.)

I should note that Casper, while the world's worst sleeper as a baby, now always sleeps through the night, and has done since about 3.

Or, you know, kalamata olives and feta cheese.

Mmm. Casper and I should have lunch some time.