ice cream, anyone?

I was watching Will yesterday at the beach on our 4th swimming expedition this week and was startled to notice how skinny he is, I can actually count all his ribs and his knees look more than a little knobby. Worried, I called up a nurse friend and asked her to consult her growth chart and see what he should be weighing. She reassured me that he was on the thin side, 25th% for weight and 15th% for height, but nothing a few extra trips to the ice cream store won't cure. Luckily, going out for ice cream seems to be one of Maine's summer pastimes, there must be 5 ice cream stands within 15 minutes of home. Our favorite flavors from the downtown shop are oreo, peppermint, chocolate custard, and cinnamon gelato. Last evening I hit the jackpot, getting Charlie's 1/2 eaten cone as well as my own, but then I had to share with the baby. Yes, Will got 2 scoops, rather than the kiddy cone like everyone else.

He and Mary have been rather active this summer with bike trips to the pool, sailing lessons, camp hikes, and chopping down saplings in the woods. Mary eats more foods so I don't worry so much about her calorie intake. With my fears about malnutrition put to rest, he and I can be grateful that I don't work so he can be ferried about to all these activities and certainly not be concerned about potential childhood obesity.

MIDDLE CLASS WORKING MOTHERS FUEL OBESITY
...childhood obesity is soaring in middle-class families where mothers go out to work and spend less time at home. The risk is even higher for children cared for by a nanny or placed in other forms of childcare while their parents work, the study found. Children with childcare were 24 per cent more likely to be overweight or obese than children cared for by their mother or her partner.
...The new research shows, instead, that obesity increases in direct correlation with family income. And in higher-income homes, the longer the mother works each week, the greater the chances of her child being overweight. The report, published in the International Journal of Obesity, concludes that, "Long hours of maternal employment, rather than lack of money, may impede young children's access to healthy foods and physical activity."
London Telegraph, July 23