My FIL thinks he eats healthy, and he is over 300 pounds. He does his "version" of South Beach Diet. He doesn't eat carbs at the Chinese Buffet. He only eats 6 plates of meat/veggie dishes and thinks the sauces are fine, and did I mention he eats 6 plates?! And, he stopped drinking beer, he and his buddy (also very obese and on the diet) drink 3 bottles of wine a night, instead of the unhealthy beer they used to drink. I also had to explain to them that empty calories don't mean they can have as much as they want. It took about 10 minutes and 2 other people to help convince them.
The epidemic of fat children is alarming...
When my 9-year old grandson was here, I noticed that he is starting to get a little bit of a gut on him, not bad, but enough to notice. Neither of his parents have an ounce of extra fat anywhere on their bodies. The problem is, he's an extremely picky eater, and most everything he actually likes is bad for him. Add to that the fact that you almost have to force him to go outdoors because his neurotic dad has made him so afraid of every possible life form that he might encounter "out there," and you have a recipe for problems.