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The summer is almost over, and the start of the school season is just a few short weeks away. At this time of year I always get to thinking: How many parents with overweight kids—who were overweight last school year, and the year before that and the year before that—will again be sending their kids back to school overweight this year? A year older, a grade higher, and heavier.  And I always wonder how they feel about that: Do they even acknowledge it or continue to deny it? For those parents who see it, I wonder how much longer they’ll do nothing about it, and whether they still believe their overweight kids will grow out of being fat as they get taller.

As a mom of a daughter who went to the same school for 15 years and with many of the same kids from year to year, starting when she was just shy of 3 years old, I watched very chubby young tykes turn into fat adolescents, expand into very overweight tweens, morph into obese teenagers and, these days, battling with packing on more pounds while in college. And you know the one thing they all have in common? Their parents didn’t do anything when they were young and when they had control over their children’s environments. Too late now, eh? And you know the other thing they all have in common? They’re going to blame their parents . . . you can count on it . . . because I hear that from every single overweight and obese college student that I work with. No exceptions.

This year, don’t let back-to-school preparation be only about buying your children new clothes and school supplies. If your kids are fat, you need to do some serious and, yes, often difficult introspection as to why you’ve allowed them to become fat and why you have done nothing about it. These were conscious decisions that you chose to make. Own up to it, and then perhaps—maybe—you’ll do the right thing by your kids to make sure this is the last time they return to school fat.

~ Lori Boxer

"My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four . . . unless there are three other people."
~ Orson Welles

The R.E.D. of Weight Loss
Give up the R.E.D.  That color doesn’t look good on you.

The Big Fat Blame Game
Obesity in kids is the fault of parents.

When You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail
Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down.

Which Is Better—Panko or Regular Breadcrumbs?
Give up the calories without giving up the crunch.

Miss any of these Fat Chat^SM podcasts last month?

Are Your Friends Making You Fat?
Your best friend can be your worst enemy.

Good Mornings Start Here
To lose or control your weight, how you begin the day is the key to everything else that follows.

Did You Gain Weight After Gaining A Spouse
Did you turn ‘for better or worse’ into ‘for bigger and girth?’

Please share the Fat Chat^SM podcasts with family, friends and colleagues. Thanks!

The Urgency in Fighting Childhood Obesity
Study finds that parents underestimated their overweight child in 85% of the cases.

The Reason Your Weight Can Fluctuate 5 Pounds in a Day
Why does the scale seem so erratic when you are dieting?

Pancreatic Cancer: Study Yields Insight Into Effect of Obesity
Obesity might promote tumor growth and disrupt chemotherapy in patients with pancreatic cancer.

7 Biggest Mistakes Weight Loss Coaches See Their Clients Make
There are endless ways to trip up before reaching your goals, even without realizing it.

Photos for (and links to) recipes at our site:

(Basic) Yogurt-Chicken
(Intermediate) English-Muffin Egg Pizzas (Advanced) Tinfoiled-Baked Fish Tacos
(Final) Spaghetti Squash Amore
(Stabilization) Peanut-Crusted Chicken with Pineapple Salsa