I heard yesterday that approximately 20% of children ages 6-11 are overweight.  What is happening?  I'm taking a course on creating Habits of Health and it mentions that eating behaviors start young.  As parents we do not always think of the consequences of habits we create with our children.  Habits begin with repetitive behavior.  An example of this would be rewarding with food.  I'm guilty of it, I've told my children that if they are good during certain situations I will get them ice cream or another treat.  We may encourage fast eating which has shown to contribute to obesity by telling our children they can't play or watch their favorite show unless they eat everything on their plate.  We tell them to hurry and finish.  Our kids are learning to scarf their food down instead of eating slowly.  Do we sit with our kids and watch tv and have a snack in our hands?  We and our children will associate food with certain activities.  These become habits engrained for life.  I still associate some comfort with activities I did as a kid that revolved around food.  Ice cream on Friday nights with my family, pizza on Saturday night before a movie, popcorn and a drink during a movie.  We don't want to deny our children of these situations, or feel we have to offer baby carrots during a movie, but we do need to be careful about the consistency of these things.  Good habits can develop like bad habits but it's easier to start with good habits. 

I agree with everything you just said! Healthy eating habits are very important to teach our children and it is best to do it while they are young. I got my BS in Child and Adolescent Development and for one of my many research papers I wrote one on weight issues and body images with the children of America. Along with that scary fact an equal if not scarier one is that we are seeing more and more cases of child anorexia and bulimia, sometimes starting as early as 7!! While obesity is a huge issue in our country so is the need to be a size zero for all of our lives! We have become way too consumed with weight and it is very much affecting our children! We should strive to teach our kids healthy eating habits and confidence at any size! Also breast feeding helps prevent obesity later in life, as well as a whole slue of other very beneficial things! As a country we are not supportive or encouraging of one of the best things we can do for our babies, breastfeeding, and its free! So lets all be better about what we give our babies and lets not let our children become a statistic!