I've seen mothers with attitude problems who think they're great mothers who become very defensive and say, "When my child is hungry, I'm going to give him something to eat. I'm not going to let my child go hungry." They have damaged their child's natural ability to eat a certain amount, feel satisfied, and stop.

I was raised by parents who fed me sugar, and lots of it. I had soda for breakfast, with my meals, whenever. My brother used to bring us several cases of Pepsi for Christmas; I don't know if that was because I drank so much, or just in general for the family. He didn't live with us, and was an adult, so it wasn't for him. I am overweight and can't seem to get control of my sugar, and I'm truly scared of developing health problems. I'm out of shape and feel awful about my body.

I understand it's hard to say no to your child, and it seems mothers have a bigger problem with this than fathers. Plus, fathers aren't always in the picture. But you have to. Mothers on the talk shows say, "I feel guilty." Too bad. You'll get over it. When your child grows up healthy, you'll be glad you did it. Your guilt is not an excuse to harm your child, and yes, you're doing just that when you feed your child the wrong things, the wrong amounts, and don't make them exercise.

Spoiling your child--whether we're talking about food, toys, or anything else s/he desires--is not ok. That doesn't mean you can't treat your child now and then, but not too often. Children appreciate things more when they have to earn them.

Your child might cry, your child might throw a tantrum, s/he may kick and scream. Eventually, s/he'll stop and realize things will not go his/her way all the time. That's life.

Too many parents say their kids will outgrow it, will lose the weight later, or are perfectly fine (they claim the doctor even says so!). Maybe they're fine now, but later, they may not be. I forget the statistics, but an overweight child is very likely to become an overweight adult.