Dublin "mother" blends up McDonalds and feeds it to baby

Handsome Bob · 18-10-2013 12:15PM

Foxhound38 wrote: »

Anyone who seemingly goes out of their way to make their kid into a fatarse before they can even walk *is* a scummer and a bottomfeeder

It makes them clueless, not a scumbag.

Czarcasm · 18-10-2013 12:16PM

hardCopy wrote: »

The McD's bit is pretty sensational but there is a big gap in nutrition between advantaged and disadvantaged groups, particularly when it comes to fruit and veg. Women in disadvantaged areas are also likely to be shorter and more overweight than women from advantaged backgrounds. So it would make sense to target an education campaign at people in disadvantaged areas.

I dunno hardCopy tbh, I think the issue is a lot more to do with a person's lifestyle than just their diet. I work in a disadvantaged area and some of the young mothers are rather fit looking, fit as in slim and healthy, not as in particularly attractive, and then I mean, would we not see more traveller women and children who are obese if there was any truth in the idea that it's just down to the fact that the problem is an apparently financial one?

I know in most primary schools there is a Food Dudes program run every year and children are educated about their nutrition, diet and exercise, so it's not as if the issue isn't being addressed already.

It just seems like rather poor stereotyping tbh because we've all seen the American daytime chat shows and the Gillian McKeith style programs on television that point and laugh so to speak at people who have poor nutritional education. "Confirmation bias", that's the expression I'm thinking of - The idea of the single mother feeding the child McDonalds and chips and look what she could get in LIDL for the same price but she's too lazy, etc. Putting McDonalds in the blender was a new twist on an urban tale it has to be said.

Tiddlypeeps · 18-10-2013 12:16PM

Foxhound38 wrote: »

Anyone who seemingly goes out of their way to make their kid into a fatarse before they can even walk *is* a scummer and a bottomfeeder

They aren't going out of their way tho, at least it's very unlikely they are doing it deliberately. They are either very lazy or very ignorant. Likely both.

folan · 18-10-2013 12:18PM

Handsome Bob wrote: »

It makes them clueless, not a scumbag.

not spending time and effort making sure your child is growing up healthy seems pretty scumbaggy

AnonoBoy · 18-10-2013 12:20PM

Czarcasm wrote: »

I know in most primary schools there is a Food Dudes program run every year and children are educated about their nutrition, diet and exercise, so it's not as if the issue isn't being addressed already.

Unfortunately that's just in the schools. The kids then go home and get told, "We're having chicken nuggets again." and they're happy.

I know a teacher who was doing that 'food dudes' program and some of the kids in his class had never eaten a vegetable before. These were 8 year olds.

Now that is scary.

jimgoose · 18-10-2013 12:20PM

Handsome Bob wrote: »

It makes them clueless, not a scumbag.

Aye. I'm sure there are plenty Fionnuala O'Carroll-Kelly types doing much the same, only with classier unhealthy food!

josip · 18-10-2013 12:22PM

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

So a young mother from inner city Dublin owns a blender

i smell bullsh1t

It's probably the child's father who owns the blender. He doesn't live there obviously. He needs the blender for his work. Customers in breach of his distribution policies will have their digits blended. It's standard accounting procedure.

RoboRat · 18-10-2013 12:22PM

I have an 18 month old and since he started eating, we have made everything for him without salt and sugar... the reason, a child's kidneys are simply not equipped to process salt and it can lead to serious kidney damage. There have even been extreme situations in which babies have died as a result of consuming too much salt. It can also lead to high blood pressure in later life. in regards to sugar, we don't give him refined sugars as they lead to obesity (duh!), tooth decay (another duh!), and continuing patterns of increased sugar and fat consumption in later life. To say a burger is Ok because it only contains 250 calories is just wrong. A developing child needs vitamins, minerals, calcium, proteins etc which are not found in a big mac, also calories don't take into account the salt content.

In a nutshell, your babies diet can determine their entire life and I am not just referring in medical terms. Obese children will have social and mental issues. I want to give my child the best possible platform to live their life to ensure he is wealthy and healthy and can look after me in later life :-P Seriously, if you love your child and care for their wellbeing you should be happy to put the extra effort into ensuring they are getting the right food to help their brain and body develop.

You need only go into a creche and look at the difference between a child who has a good diet and a child that gets junk. The well fed children learn quicker, generally are easier to manage and are more active with much better attention span. Some people seem so short sighted when it comes to their children, yeah giving them a happy meal will make them happy for a shot time but a child who is fed well is generally more manageable, develops better and will be much easier to manage and parent on the whole.

ZiabR · 18-10-2013 12:24PM

Foxhound38 wrote: »

For jaysus sake!

Why would anyone do that? What possible positive outcome could there be to this??

What hope can there be for the child if this is how he/she starts life?

Holy crap... please let this be fake.

RoboRat · 18-10-2013 12:26PM

would we not see more traveller women and children who are obese if there was any truth in the idea that it's just down to the fact that the problem is an apparently financial one?

A poor traveller? Seriously? They may live in a Caravan but travellers in general are not poor!

Czarcasm · 18-10-2013 12:31PM

RoboRat wrote: »

A poor traveller? Seriously? They may live in a Caravan but travellers in general are not poor!

Just what this thread needs - more stereotyping.

Mind you don't fall off that high horse.

Handsome Bob · 18-10-2013 12:31PM

folan wrote: »

not spending time and effort making sure your child is growing up healthy seems pretty scumbaggy

It's a horribly irresponsible situation to let develop, but that doesn't mean there's any intentional malice in it. Some parents just don't realise the long term damage their actions will have, and do not wake up to the problem until their child is quite visibly obese. And as sad as it is, most need the problem pointed out to them by the school/a medical professional.

Again, that doesn't mean they don't love their child, it just means they are woefully ignorant, and even in denial about what they've let happen.

hardCopy · 18-10-2013 12:32PM

Czarcasm wrote: »

I dunno hardCopy tbh, I think the issue is a lot more to do with a person's lifestyle than just their diet. I work in a disadvantaged area and some of the young mothers are rather fit looking, fit as in slim and healthy, not as in particularly attractive, and then I mean, would we not see more traveller women and children who are obese if there was any truth in the idea that it's just down to the fact that the problem is an apparently financial one?

I know in most primary schools there is a Food Dudes program run every year and children are educated about their nutrition, diet and exercise, so it's not as if the issue isn't being addressed already.

It just seems like rather poor stereotyping tbh because we've all seen the American daytime chat shows and the Gillian McKeith style programs on television that point and laugh so to speak at people who have poor nutritional education. "Confirmation bias", that's the expression I'm thinking of - The idea of the single mother feeding the child McDonalds and chips and look what she could get in LIDL for the same price but she's too lazy, etc. Putting McDonalds in the blender was a new twist on an urban tale it has to be said.

I don't think it's a financial problem; as you say, better food could be purchased in Lidl for similar money.

I'm not talking about TV evidence of obesity, research done in Dublin backs this up: http://arrow.dit.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=sciendoc

There are a lot of different factors identified for this:

Both the attitudinal component of the quantitative study and the qualitative study have clearly demonstrated a preponderance of less health-conducive attitudes and beliefs among the women of low SES when compared with their more affluent peers. Unlike their advantaged reference group, these disadvantaged women experience not just a greater prevalence of “push” factors (psychosocial stress, low self-efficacy, social affiliation, health-subversive built environment etc.), which predispose them to poorer dietary and health behaviours, but also a lower preponderance of “pull” factors (health–conducive social norms and social re-enforcement of healthy behaviours) which might draw them away from such deleterious practices.

I've just been reading that study now and it needs more than education, they recommend examining the location and distribution of fast food outlets as well as provision of mental health facilities to deal with psycho-social stressor present in these communities.

SpaceTime · 18-10-2013 12:33PM

Some people are clueless about food though.

With very basic cooking skills you can east way healthier and way cheaper by just buying for basic ingredients and being a bit creative.

If you learn how to blend flavours and use herbs and spices, you can cook anything .

It's like learning how to paint. If you don't know the basics you'll produce an ugly mess.

I think we miss out on teaching kids about food and flavours and cooking.

That's why we have such an over dependence of fast food.

You can even get convenience food that is perfectly healthy and will make cooking much faster. Pre-sliced, pre-prepared simple stuff is all good!

I think though that it's nonsense to say diets are worse than in the past. The selection of fresh ingredients and good quality prepared foods is absolutely vast compared to even the early 90s.

RoboRat · 18-10-2013 12:34PM

Just what this thread needs - more stereotyping.

Ever visited Rathkeale? Ever seen a traveller at communion/confirmation/ wedding. Ever seen a travellers grave? Ever visited a halting site?

I am not saying that they are rolling in it and that there are not some that are living in poverty but from my experience, and I have a fair bit of that, they are in general not poor.

Final Approach · 18-10-2013 12:35PM

...she probably threw the whole lot into the blender, box, wrappers, toy, the works.

K-9 · 18-10-2013 12:36PM

D1stant wrote: »

And in several unconfirmed cases. Minute traces of chicken

Reminds me of the ad a few years ago saying McDonalds Chicken Nuggets, now with 100% chicken. Well what the feck was it before that then!

Frank Lee Midere · 18-10-2013 12:39PM

Funny that nobody posted the other Irish times article basically saying that fast food was not the problem.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/fast-food-accounts-for-minority-of-calories-but-gets-all-the-focus-1.1564561

stoneill · 18-10-2013 12:39PM

Brilliantly simple - why didn't I think of blending burger chips and nuggets for a meal that has atein and drinkin on it.

18-10-2013 12:40PM

A bit off topic yesterday was world anti poverty day or something like that the RTE news had a little bit on it and the report was from East Wall in Dublin as it is a deprived community!! talk about stereotyping a community It was full on cringe I do think the media had a responsibility in how these things are portrayed and its good that most people realise the blended burger thing is a urban myth.

SpaceTime · 18-10-2013 12:41PM

Final Approach wrote: »

...she probably threw the whole lot into the blender, box, wrappers, toy, the works.

I remember seeing a woman in Dublin complaining at the pizza counter in a supermarket. Remember those make your own pizzas that were on a base that was a bit like a giant digestive biscuit?

She was complaining that the outside was very hard.

She had baked the Styrofoam box the pizza came in!!

Love2love · 18-10-2013 12:41PM

seamus wrote: »

Because that would require effort?

A scummer going to McDonalds and blending up a happy meal sounds more plausible than them going to Spar to buy veg tbh.

Never underestimate the lowness of the bottom feeders. Go stand outside a maternity hospital for an hour and witness the number of pregnant women in dressing gowns chain smoking, and visitors with 2 and 3 year old children supping coke out of a bottle as they wander around.

For a lot of the proper scum, children are a burden, and little more. They do whatever they can to make the child-rearing process less hassle. Going down to McDs for a happy meal is easier than making breakfast and they can have a few smokes on the way and leave the child at home on their own to get a bit of peace and quiet.

"I refuse to believe a mother would..." - your refusal to believe it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Imagine all of the things you could never forgive yourself if you did to your child. Parents are doing it, lots of them, every day.

I never said I refuse to believe it. You might be confusing posts there.

Look what I actually mean is that, nobody is stupid enough to believe McD is more nutritious than say, boiling some veg and blending that! Or getting one of those pouches of baby food that are 100% organic veg (I'm not saying these are the healthiest either) And just because their might be a small percentages of mothers that will give their children crap because it's easier or because their children are a burden to them. I doubt anyone would openly brag about it.

I'm from the inner city, I don't do drugs or walk to McD, leaving my child home alone so I can smoke a few cigs in peace. I don't even smoke. I'm not saying mothers like that don't exist either, I'm just saying its far fetched and we can all make statements like that without proof to back up articles that we've written.

Plazaman · 18-10-2013 12:42PM

Worse still is the creating of sissified namby pamby children by blending their Mc Donalds. How will they ever learn to chew and use their teeth. Babies love Big Macs, fact so let them learn to eat it properly (rumour has it that some of them go to town on the Suspect Mc Nuggets with the sweet curry sauce too).

Frank Lee Midere · 18-10-2013 12:45PM

It does seen that the bigger issue with the burger would be the salt. As a poster pointed out it can have long term effects. This really needs to be advertised more - a lot of children's food is salty.

Dravokivich · 18-10-2013 12:45PM

K-9 wrote: »

Reminds me of the ad a few years ago saying McDonalds Chicken Nuggets, now with 100% chicken. Well what the feck was it before that then!

It's kind of like saying 60% of the time it works all of the time. So for that 60% it's 100%. I'd want to see more than 1 vague line such as what you've commented on to be honest. I'm even thinking "100% Chicken what?" right now.

lukesmom · 18-10-2013 12:47PM

Wow my baby is 14 months old. It's so easy to give them veg and meat for dinner. Cheaper than a happy meal too. I can't get my head around this story at all.

SpaceTime · 18-10-2013 12:48PM

I think it's pretty bad that restaurants often have a children's menu that consists of bad quality cheap bland food.

You should just get your kids used to eating real food as soon as they've an appetite.
Letting them taste food and develop a palette is really important.

Kids will often imitate their parents. So if the parents have irrational dislikes of 'green things:' ( I've seen this so many times) so will the kids.

I mean if anyone needs good quality food it's rapidly growing kids that are building themselves from what they eat!!

Seems really weird that people think the adults should be dining on the good stuff while junior eats junk food.

Frank Lee Midere · 18-10-2013 12:48PM

Dravokivich wrote: »

It's kind of like saying 60% of the time it works all of the time. So for that 60% it's 100%. I'd want to see more than 1 vague line such as what you've commented on to be honest. I'm even thinking "100% Chicken what?" right now.

A standard trick is 100% Irish chicken. Which is just saying the 1% of meat in the chicken pie is all Irish.

K-9 · 18-10-2013 12:49PM

Dravokivich wrote: »

It's kind of like saying 60% of the time it works all of the time. So for that 60% it's 100%. I'd want to see more than 1 vague line such as what you've commented on to be honest. I'm even thinking "100% Chicken what?" right now.

Well that's the other thing, I'd be wondering what quality of chicken it is if it's 100%, no doubt reformed pieces like slices of ham, chicken and turkey, but sure what do people expect.

RoboRat · 18-10-2013 12:50PM

I think it's pretty bad that restaurants often have a children's menu that consists of bad quality cheap food.

THAT, really ****ing annoys me. Why they can't do smaller portions or good wholesome food. Not every parent wants to shove nuggets and chips into their kids mouth yet most places seem to only offer this ****e in their kids meals.

You should just get your kids used to eating real food as soon as they've an appetite.

My little fella has been eating home made curry, mousakka, lasagne etc since he started on solids. People assume that they won't like it, try it and don't give up first time. The more flavours they become accustomed to, the easier they are to cook for. We just make dinners for the entire family (sans salt) and he eats what we eat.

Dublin "mother" blends up McDonalds and feeds it to baby

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