Do you think your health now reflects how well you ate as a child?

[Lucy in Australia]

I guess this is a s/o the "What did you eat growing up?"

 

I grew up eating a Mediterranean diet (before it was called a Mediterranean diet :D). When I think back, I am amazed at how many different vegetable dishes we ate; usually 2 or 3 at each meal. Plenty of garlic, quite a bit of fresh seafood. Dessert was always fresh fruit and/or natural yoghurt (no sugar or fruit added). Now I'm in my mid-40s :blink: and in excellent health: good immune system, good cholesterol, good weight, etc... I know genetics has a part in it, but I'm thinking that kind of diet didn't hurt either.

[Liz CA]

Yes, I think that healthy eating for most of my life has helped, even though I did not always buy organic. I am now doing this very consistently since 2007.

Also, staying away from drugs and too much alcohol was a good thing, healthwise. I know several people who went overboard in their teens / early twenties and are suffering some kind of after effects even though it's been many years since they lived that lifestyle.

[Sandra in FL]

I think that each successive generation eats worse and worse because of the addition of pesticides/hormones/genetically modified foods. My parents' generation got high cholesterol/high blood pressure in their 60s and 70s. My friends are getting them in their 40s and 50s. When I was growing up, I didn't know one person with allergies, and I'd never heard of autism until my 30s (I'll be 50 this year).

 

Ds had a recent flare-up of his asthma because of sulfites (a preservative). You wouldn't believe how many things have sulfites in it eg. Cape Cod potato chips (sprayed from September through spring). Even the EpiPen has it - too bad if you have a sulfite allergy - you're left with Benadryl for anaphylactic reactions.

[VaKim]

Not sure. I am very healthy and have an extremely good immune system at 46 years old. But until just the last few years, I ate like crap. Nothing but junk, junk, junk. No fruits and veggies to amount to anything. Mostly packaged junk, and lots of candy and cookies. Never been overweight though. Anyway, I think it may have to do with the fact that the junk food back then wasn't nearly as bad for you as some of the supposed good stuff is now. Not all the pesticides, additives, preservatives, HFCS, etc. Then again, maybe it is mostly genes??

[Lolly]

No. I had the typical American diet growing up. I am the healthiest person I know. It all seems to be in the genes.

[JMDRAD]

I'm not sure. I grew up eating homemade but not so healthy foods. We ate a lot of white breads and pastas and very, very few veggies and fruits. My brother and I would go through a packet of kool aid every day. I was always chubby as a kid until I turned 16 or so. I had some health issues and lost a lot of weight. Today I'm overweight (pre-pregnancy about 50lbs) but healthy, meaning my BP is excellent (6 mo preggo and it was 92/60), my blood work is perfect, cholesterol, etc. And most of my family has very high blood pressure (even my younger brother) and cholesterol problems. For the most part they have continued eating like they've always eaten while my family and I eat fairly healthy (whole grains, fruits, veggies, etc).

[regentrude]

No, I do not think that - nor do I think the correlation is a large as we would like to believe.

My grandmother lived through two World Wars in Germany, the post-war starvation period, and fourty years of less-than-luxurious communism. She lived a healthy live into her nineties and died after three days illness in her own bed.

My mother was born in 1941 and grew up during the last years of the war and and the hunger years after the war. As far from optimum nutrition as imaginable. She, too, is healthy.

 

A good diet is nice, but can not get too much credit for health; genes are a lot more important.

[Jenny in Florida]

Absolutely.

 

I was a fat kid, with no idea of what looked like an appropriate portion size. I grew up eating no vegetables to speak of and thinking a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese is a meal.

 

Once I got close to my teen years and didn't want to be fat anymore, I started dieting. I grew up with a mother who was also fat and who veered wildly between binging and the most recent fad diet. So, my only framework for how to lose weight was to crash diet.

 

Since I also grew up thinking of food as both love and entertainment, depriving myself of food is extremely tough. So, I've spent most of my life on a yo-yo cycle of eating everything in sight, then crash dieting, then back to eating.

 

I'm still struggling with this at going on 50 years old and have spent most of my life overweight or starving.

[Old Dominion Heather]

No way.

 

I grew up eating whatever was available. My dad would go buy 10-20 burgers from McDonalds, freeze them and then thaw them out for our breakfasts. Froot Loops, Cheetos, Coca-Cola: This is what I remember eating.

 

Dh on the other hand grew up with a mom who was VERY, VERY health conscious. SHe sprinkled Lethicin on their cereal, they ate veggies, had NO candy or soft drinks.

 

I am in great health, low BP, low cholesterol. Dh is borderline type 2 diabetic, has high bp and high cholesterol. He has to run to maintain his weight, I don't.

 

So no, I don't think it has a thing in the world to do with how you ate as a child. By all rights, I ought to be morbidly obese and have high blood pressure.

[In the Rain]

I ate poorly as a child, and have poor health. Dh and I are trying to raise our kids with an interest in healthier food choices. So far, their health is nothing to brag about. :tongue_smilie:

[angela in ohio]

It affected my health then, but now that I eat well I am pretty healthy. When I was eating poorly all those years, I struggled with depression, sinus infections, ear infections, bronchitis, asthma, aches and pains, and so on, Now that we eat well, I don't have any of those problems.

[amy g.]

I think it is genetics. We ate healthy food growing up. Dh did not. We are both 45 and have no health problems, no allergies, are not overweight. I had no complications with any of my 5 deliveries. When dh gets a physical, his doctor says that he would like to trade results, his lab work is so good.

 

I think we can just attribute it to coming from good stock. I'm sad that some of my 17 year old's friends are already having chronic health problems and needing medication.

[Laura Corin]

I grew up with a good diet of home-cooked food, lots of veg with small amounts of meat. I have high cholesterol but my health is otherwise good. My father died at 76 from heart disease followed by two forms of cancer.

 

Husband grew up on US Southern cooking. His health is also good and his cholesterol is lower. His father has always had a dreadful diet, has Parkinsons but is still with us at 90.

 

Laura

[leeannpal]

My husband's grandfather lived to be 98. There was nothing special about the way he ate (or lived for that matter). He was usually overweight, worked 3rd shift for most of his working years, and drank heavily and regularly. He also lived through WWII in Germany.

 

There never has been anything special about the way I've eaten and my health is fine. I haven't been to a doctor in years and haven't had a reason to go.

 

On the other hand, my mother's mother was meticulous about what she ate, exercised regularly, etc. and had a laundry list of health problems. My mother ate like crap, smoked, etc. and had bad health most of her adult life.

 

So it's all over the place. It's certainly not convincing to me that it's all about eating healthy.

 

I have similar stories about grandparents. I'm convinced that overall health is largely genetic. My sisters and I ate the same way growing up, and I have health issues that my grandmother had, but that my sisters don't have. That doesn't mean that I don't try to eat healthy, but I don't think diet alone will change your genetic tendencies.

 

It's funny, I just saw a story on the death of Greta Weitz, the great long distance runner. She died of cancer last year at the age of 57. I am assuming that she ate very well and took excellent care of her health as a long distance runner, but genetics or just plain bad luck had its way in the end.

[The Girls' Mom]

Hard to say.

 

I think it is hugely genetic, with some people having more trouble with a bad diet. My half-brother and I grew up in the same house. He has fought obesity his whole life, and is now a diabetic at the age of 29. He was in ICU for over a week about 18 months ago due to his sugar and his pancreas failing. He had asthma when he was young..but appeared to grow out of it.

 

I have been extremely healthy most of my life, with the exception of a mild heart issue. I am overweight now, but it is simply because I eat too much and move too little. If I cut back some and started biking again, the weight would go away.

 

We grew up eating the same junk. We were a convience food family that was never without soda, ice cream, and chips. We did get a good dose of veggies, but they were always cooked to the point that any nutrition was minimal.

[Word Nerd]

No.

[newbie]

No, b/c we had good homecooked meals, and I was sick a lot and sick a lot now. So no connection.

[BMW]

No... sometimes our meals reflected that we had very little, but I was never undernourished... I did eat several years' worth of color cereal in the morning with sugar... don't think that affected me now.

 

BUT, when I was 19 at the Dr. answering questions about my family health history and looked at it: one grandmother had a bit of breast cancer, dad and his mom had diabetes, mother and her mom and that grandma's entire family ALL had heart disease, I had a choice to make! I said, out loud, "Well, I can make healthy choices for myself and try to beat those things!" The Dr. said something about being proud of me, that I could, in fact, make choices that would decrease my odds...

 

So, I have never had a high-fat diet, rarely eat desserts (as in less than once a week), and have tried to eat plenty of vegetables and maintain good health... of course genes are genes and what you ate as a child might play into it, too... but, for me, I try to do the best I can with my daily choices.

[AimeeM]

I grew up on a steady country diet - fried foods, mac and cheese, meat loafs, casseroles, meat with every meal (and generally red meat at that) etc (although all were homemade) and I am in great overall health.

 

My husband is the son of Italian immigrants. He grew up on much the same diet as yours (except pasta every meal! Lol). He is overweight and unhealthy. I think that his heath (in that respect) stems more from his parents' "eat everything on your plate plus another helping" philosophy. It is something he struggles with to this day. He CANNOT stand to see food not eaten in the pots and skillets on the stove. He WILL eat it because it is that ingrained in him to do so.

 

With our children, I encourage them to listen to their body's cues. They are NEVER forced to eat more than what they are comfortable with, food is never a battle, the kitchen is always open, small snacking is allowed and encouraged, they help pick the meals, help shop for the meals, and help cook the meals. There will be no "eat everything on your plate" in my house. We eat now, much the same as T and I did growing up. We eat homemade mac and cheese, meatloaf, pasta dishes, sea food, salads; we always have fresh vegetables and fruit readily and easily available.

[kalanamak]

When he was in his 90s, and had outlived all his sibs by at least 9 years, my father credited my mother's whole grain, lots of veggies, very little junk/artificial whatever- style cooking. He forgot to mention never a puff of tobacco, all that gardening and hiking, as well as that little bit of alcohol twice a week, but I agree the cooking was part of it.

[*********]

Yes, I think it has a profound effect on one's health.

 

We ate a crappy diet growing up. My parents knew NOTHING about nutrition. We ate processed foods all the time, and very little fruits or vegetables.

 

When you eat that way for 17 or 18 years, that's what you're used to. It's just what I continued eating like once I was out on my own.

 

Not until I had children (and was carrying extra weight from pregnancy) did I start learning about nutrition and proper eating. It's something I want my boys to be in the habit of. Everything in moderation is our motto. I just want them to have knowledge of what a balanced diet is, and to understand that we don't just always eat whatever we want. I want them to understand nutrition, and how our bodies need food energy, and all sorts of things like that. So far, they find it all interesting.

[*********]

With our children, I encourage them to listen to their body's cues. They are NEVER forced to eat more than what they are comfortable with, food is never a battle, the kitchen is always open, small snacking is allowed and encouraged, they help pick the meals, help shop for the meals, and help cook the meals. There will be no "eat everything on your plate" in my house.

 

IMHO, this is SO important and good.

 

That's what we do, too. I want my boys to understand that their bodies tell them when they're hungry, not the clock or some arbitrary schedule. *And, their bodies tell them when they're full; not a clean plate.

 

I grew up with 'This is what you're eating. Eat it, and eat it now." There wasn't even the option to NOT eat if we didn't want to. That's not the best approach, in MY opinion. My boys are not forced to eat at a certain time (generally speaking, so long as schedule allows), they're not expected to clean their plates, and they're not encouraged to over eat. I want food to be an enjoyable necessity, not a battle. I think I'm doing a good job of that. I hope they have a healthy relationship with food when they're grown; it's an area in which I want to do better than my parents did.

 

(And my above opinions are NOT a judgement on those who do things differently. :D)

[silliness7]

I guess this is a s/o the "What did you eat growing up?"

 

I grew up eating a Mediterranean diet (before it was called a Mediterranean diet :D). When I think back, I am amazed at how many different vegetable dishes we ate; usually 2 or 3 at each meal. Plenty of garlic, quite a bit of fresh seafood. Dessert was always fresh fruit and/or natural yoghurt (no sugar or fruit added). Now I'm in my mid-40s :blink: and in excellent health: good immune system, good cholesterol, good weight, etc... I know genetics has a part in it, but I'm thinking that kind of diet didn't hurt either.

 

I had a lousy diet, still do by some's standards. I am in excellent health as are my children. We don't avoid people with colds or stomach viruses, don't wipe down shopping cart handles and are very, very rarely sick.

[AimeeM]

Yep. The children are required to sit at the dining room table during family meals (dinner), but they aren't required to eat and there is no veiled threat of going hungry over it; they know food is available when they ARE hungry.

 

QUOTE=bethanyniez;3496992]IMHO, this is SO important and good.

 

That's what we do, too. I want my boys to understand that their bodies tell them when they're hungry, not the clock or some arbitrary schedule. *And, their bodies tell them when they're full; not a clean plate.

 

I grew up with 'This is what you're eating. Eat it, and eat it now." There wasn't even the option to NOT eat if we didn't want to. That's not the best approach, in MY opinion. My boys are not forced to eat at a certain time (generally speaking, so long as schedule allows), they're not expected to clean their plates, and they're not encouraged to over eat. I want food to be an enjoyable necessity, not a battle. I think I'm doing a good job of that. I hope they have a healthy relationship with food when they're grown; it's an area in which I want to do better than my parents did.

 

(And my above opinions are NOT a judgement on those who do things differently. :D)

[lllll]

..

[VaKim]

I had a lousy diet, still do by some's standards. I am in excellent health as are my children. We don't avoid people with colds or stomach viruses, don't wipe down shopping cart handles and are very, very rarely sick.

Good point. We were allowed to be dirty, hardly ever washed our hands unless there was visible dirt on them or we were taking our weekly bath, and were definitely not careful about germs and such. And with my kids, it is pretty much the same, except we take more than one bath a week now. :001_smile:

[mommaduck]

No, I think it reflects a decade and a half of back to back pregnancies and nursing.

[TranquilMind]

Absolutely.

 

I was a fat kid, with no idea of what looked like an appropriate portion size. I grew up eating no vegetables to speak of and thinking a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese is a meal.

 

Once I got close to my teen years and didn't want to be fat anymore, I started dieting. I grew up with a mother who was also fat and who veered wildly between binging and the most recent fad diet. So, my only framework for how to lose weight was to crash diet.

 

Since I also grew up thinking of food as both love and entertainment, depriving myself of food is extremely tough. So, I've spent most of my life on a yo-yo cycle of eating everything in sight, then crash dieting, then back to eating.

 

I'm still struggling with this at going on 50 years old and have spent most of my life overweight or starving.

 

I can relate to a lot of this. I was never fat but I grew up with a horrendous diet. We ate all packaged, processed foods. My Mom - also not fat - made things better with Hershey bars. She used to say, "Chocolate is love".

 

Not a good move, though she was well-intentioned. This was such a thing for her that we stuck a Hershey bar in the casket for the road...

 

Anyway, I had to massively change this because my whole family was dead early (except one brother). I began to have some issues by my 40's. I eat well now, little processed, no sugar.

 

I've been pretty healthy and I'm over 50. It's a miracle. God is good. I'm determined to get all those years they didn't get.

[mamakim]

While I don't believe in the personal anecdote proving anything, it is true that in our marriage, I am the one who catches every bug that goes by and turns it into bronchitis or pneumonia, and dh has an extremely robust immune system. I grew up on the SAD and my mom believed fervently in "scientific progress" meaning thank heaven they created Space Sticks, Tang, Ravioli-o's, and TV dinners. Science to the rescue!

 

Dh grew up in impoverished rural Jamaica, where he ate all organics (who could afford pesticides?), mostly fruit and veg, with perhaps weekly meat which was raised wild on the surrounding land, killed and consumed. Because there was no electricity, food was consumed right away and fresh.

[justamouse]

Absolutely.

 

Moreso, My aunt has always eaten with health as the main importance, and she. at 72, runs circles around my unhealthy food choices 70 yo MIL.

 

So, when I make my food and lifestyle decisions, I look to my aunt, who could travel the world on a whim, and my MIL who can't walk more than a half block and would love nothing more than to travel, but knows her limitations.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Nope. I ate very healthily growing up (lots of fruits and vegetables, small amounts of meat) and had lots of healthy exercise too. I've had chronic illness for 20 years now. . . Now once I became ill, I stopped eating so healthily because it was easier to grab something unhealthy that didn't need preparation and that contributed to my further decline in health, I think. And again, being ill, I stopped exercising and again that contributed to further decline.

[freesia]

I think that each successive generation eats worse and worse because of the addition of pesticides/hormones/genetically modified foods. My parents' generation got high cholesterol/high blood pressure in their 60s and 70s. My friends are getting them in their 40s and 50s. When I was growing up, I didn't know one person with allergies, and I'd never heard of autism until my 30s (I'll be 50 this year).

 

Ds had a recent flare-up of his asthma because of sulfites (a preservative). You wouldn't believe how many things have sulfites in it eg. Cape Cod potato chips (sprayed from September through spring). Even the EpiPen has it - too bad if you have a sulfite allergy - you're left with Benadryl for anaphylactic reactions.

Regarding the epi-pen. Dh has a severe sulfite allergy. The doctor told him that the epinephren in the pen would keep him alive long enough to get to the hospital! Fortunately he's always been able to control it with Benedryl and hasn't had an anaphylactic reaction since before he got the pen.:tongue_smilie:

[justamouse]

. I think that his heath (in that respect) stems more from his parents' "eat everything on your plate plus another helping" philosophy. It is something he struggles with to this day. He CANNOT stand to see food not eaten in the pots and skillets on the stove. He WILL eat it because it is that ingrained in him to do so.

 

With our children, I encourage them to listen to their body's cues. They are NEVER forced to eat more than what they are comfortable with, food is never a battle, the kitchen is always open, small snacking is allowed and encouraged, they help pick the meals, help shop for the meals, and help cook the meals. There will be no "eat everything on your plate" in my house.

:iagree:

I think that clean your plate club goes beyond ethnicity, though. My grandparents, children of the depression, had it. They weren't overweight, but they definitely believed that food should not be thrown out.

 

Actually my MIL, first generation Italian (to immigrant parents) is the one that taught me to NOT make them clean their plate.

 

I'm totally with you-I never, ever, make my kids clean their plate. I give them small portions and let them take seconds (my kids are twigs) if they're still hungry, but I never overload them and make them finish.

[8circles]

Yes. I grew-up having to "clean my plate", parents were lucky to have any food to eat at all when they were kids. We also ate mostly starches, very few vegetables at all. I remember the few (like once/twice a year) times we went out to eat I was not allowed to order a salad. Most of our food was made from scratch, though. They did what they knew & they did their best but it set me up for a hard slog as an adult.

[J-rap]

I can't say that it affected my health, but it definitely affected my attitude on maintaining a balanced, healthy diet!

[T'smom]

I had an okay diet growing up and I have okay health now. I'm totally out of shape, but that's due to my current choices.

 

Dh had a slightly better than okay diet and he's pretty healthy now.

 

However, I've been thinking a lot about genetics and disease lately- Dh's mom has 3 siblings, 1 brother died of cancer, 1 sister is fighting cancer, and the other brother was just diagnosed with....you got it- cancer! Dh's dad also had cancer, but it was caught early and he's fine. But what does this mean for dh's chances? My kids' chances?!?!? I gotta say this is freaking me out more than a little bit.

[laughing lioness]

Yes. And no. I grew up eating a VERY healthy diet. BUT, my mom got pg with me 3 mths after giving birth to my ds. She was toxemic with my sister, high blood pressure, etc and they both almost died before and during the birth. My mom was not healthy when she got pg with me.

 

I have had had many, many health challenges (many genetic) despite a life long diet of low carbs, few milk products, little sugar and lean meats, in addition to regular exercise.

 

My dh, otoh, grew up eating cr*p and is the picture of health with the exception of catching every bronchial anything that comes along.

[myfunnybunch]

Yes, I do, along with the amount of exercise I got as a child.

 

Cat

[TravelingChris]

I don't think it has anything to do with it in most cases. In my case, I was active, eating well and thin when I developed my first autoimmune disease. I have since then developed a few more and also I now know that I have a condition which makes my blood clot much easier. It is called Factor V Leiden and about 3-5% of Northern Europeans have inherited this factor,