Full disclosure (and trigger alert?): In Vietnam, people use the word “fat” (béo) to describe those who are overweight or obese. There’s no sugarcoating this reality, no euphemisms, just a brutally honest adjective.

It made me sad to see this little girl sitting at a nearby table in a popular Ha Long restaurant. Whenever I see fat children, I first look at their parents. In this case, you can see that her mother, sitting to her left, is also fat. Next, I look at what they’re eating and drinking. I noticed that mom kept feeding her daughter, who washed it down – wait for it – with Pepsi.

Guess what was resting comfortably on the table in front of this girl? The babysitter of the 21st century – a smart(aka dumb)phone. Children as passive consumers of food, entertainment, and God knows what else online.

Here’s the problem in a nutshell. Mom doesn’t see a problem with feeding her children the same bad food that she eats in larger than necessary quantities. Secondly, most Vietnamese parents tend to indulge their children, boys more than girls, but food applies to both. It’s part of being a good parent. Thirdly, Vietnamese children of the current generation are not as active as they were in the past. They spend too much time online, watching TV, in school, in private lessons, and too little time spent doing something, anything, with their bodies. Finally, Vietnamese children are eating more Western food with the usual high levels of sugar, salt, and fat.

In a January 2023 research report, Childhood Overweight and Obesity in Vietnam: A Landscape Analysis of the Extent and Risk Factors, one of the conclusions is that The prevalence of overweight among children aged under 5 years increased from 5.6% in 2010 to 7.4% in 2019. For overweight and obesity among children aged 5 to 19 years, prevalence rose from 8.5% and 2.5% in 2010 to 19% and 8.1% in 2020, respectively. While I know Vietnam is a piker compared with the US and other countries, the increase in overweight people, including children, is noticeable since I moved here in 2005.

Good eating (and drinking) habits begin in childhood. Parents are supposed to take care of their children not ensure they develop an addiction to food and sugar water. Life is short enough already; let’s not make it shorter by making bad dietary decisions. Shame on this mother and parents like her.

This well-meaning yet misguided mother is setting her daughter up for the daunting challenge of overcoming these addictions and trying to live a healthy lifestyle. She’s also sentencing her child to any number of obesity-related health problems as she grows older. Think of it as a form of delayed child abuse. Children like her must ultimately overcome the culinary sins of their parents or pay the price of lower quality of life and diminished healthy life expectancy.

Shalom (שלום), MAA