Chubby Cheeks?

Do you all remember the nursery rhyme

Chubby Cheeks, Dimple Chin;
Rosy Lips, Teeth Within;
Eye's So Blue, Lovely Two;
Curly Hair, Very Fair;
Mamma's Pet Is That You?
Yes, Yes, Yes.

I think when this rhyme was written the author had in mind the picture perfect child one who is all gol matol, chubby, and cute just like the calender baby.

This came to my mind because for sometime now when I go on out the mall or park or for that matter anywhere I have noticed that there seem to be lot of obese people around.

The most disturbing aspect is that I seem to notice many children are not just chubby cheek but too chubby all over. It made me think why it is so? Are the parents not aware or are they happy that their children look very healthy? Because in India many people equate size to wealth. But even in this era is it still there?

On one hand we get to hear that all of them are becoming more health concious; proof of this is the mushrooming of so many aerobic, yoga, gym, liposuction clinics and so on, but on the other hand we see so much of obesity .

When I visit some of kid's favourite joint as you all know Pizza Hut or Corner or KFC I find little one's devouring whole Pizzas or one whole bucket of chicken with the parents looking on very happily, I feel they should have this so called junk food once in a while as we all know that the forbidden fruit tastes sweetest right? But over indulgence should definitely be avoided.

My son comes home and tells me that his freind gets to order everyday from some Pizza joint or the other and told me how lucky his friend was, hinting that instead of taking them once a month or once in two months we could take them a little more often. So I explained to him why these are not so healthy as they felt that since it has got veg toppings it is healthy. Though they make sure that they remove all the veggies and keep it aside. Well that is besides the point.

Many young first time mothers are so very enthusistic in feeding their babies that they feel if the baby is fat then they have fed them well and sit and fret if they do not eat or just eat 1 tsp. less than they usually eat. I remember one of our neighbours feeding her 3 month old baby raw paneer that too one whole big cube that one buys at the store. Yuck. Imagine raw paneer and since the baby would obviously refuse such food she would carry her child go for walks with her plate of paneer, go in the lift just to distract the baby and keep on feeding the baby until he would finish. Poor Baby!!!!!!!!


Anyways I feel that Children are our future wealth and we need healthy citizens to move our country into further prosperity. We all know how much problem obesity could cause at such a young age if as parents we neglect our duty and over indulge our children in matters of food. So let us say Hi and Welcome some good home made Indian cuisine with ofcourse just the right amount of fats, carbs etc that is needed.