Can you be summoned to court in the future for bad eating habits formed in childhood?

Scenario: Two or three decades from now, scores of adults with health problems like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity will be suffering serious self esteem issues and spending tons of money on medicine and treatment. This will have been caused by what they were fed in their daily activities during their childhood.

In their frustration, they form support groups with other adults who share the same health problems and humiliation due to being obese. Eventually they look for something to blame and finally decide and point their accusing fingers at the ones that played a major role in their developing years- their parents. They might even take Mom and Dad to court and win; as the judge will likely be one their own- himself a victim of bad diet and lack of exercise during childhood.

Such a story may be funny, but believe it or not, it might really happen. Young adults these days have been blaming Mom and Dad for their current problems and health and dietary issues might easily include this. One thing’s for sure, the US government or the American fast food industry won’t be taking the blame for it.

The Journal of the American Dietetic Association published a study recently which showed that the diets of toddlers and babies in these times are as bad as those of average unhealthy teenagers who live mainly on junk food.

The diet of 1/3 of the child respondents surveyed by researchers from the Tufts University School of Medicine had vegetables and fruits absent from their diet. Most of those that did have vegetables present in their diet were under the impression that French fries qualified as a vegetable.

It’s bad enough that a lot of children these days aren’t getting much exercise sitting in front of the boob tube the whole day watching cable TV, but researchers also discovered that some parents were even pouring soda into baby bottles designed for milk. Cola drinks and other types of carbonated drinks are a major cause of obesity in adults.

No big surprise that over a quarter of the youngest members of today’s society have ailments that stem from obesity. Also, since the majority cases of diabetes and heart disease are linked to eating junk-food and less than healthy lifestyle habits, statistics are bound to get worse.

Can anything be done to curb this deadly trend? Things may look bleak but as parents, we ultimately have the power to affect the way our children eat and run their future lives by setting-up proper guidelines. Becoming fit, health-conscious role models ourselves can have dramatic effects on how they eat and go about their daily activities as they grow up.

You wouldn’t know it, but maybe a couple of decades down the road maybe babies of today will grow up as smart and healthy adults and give credit to and appreciation for their parents who’ve set-up proper guidelines and helped them form healthy habits during their early years. Wouldn’t this be far more desirable than a lawsuit?