Walters accuses Deen of contributing to childhood obesity
When Savannah restaurateur Paula Deen appeared on “The View” Tuesday morning, the ABC Daytime talk show’s resident den mother Barbara Walters clearly had no appetite for the queen of cholesterol.
As usual, Deen arrived on set with a calorie-choked array of foodstuffs from her latest tome, “Paula Deen’s Cookbook for the Lunchbox Set,” her second literary effort aimed at small fry.
When Walters initially resisted the smorgasbord in front of her, Deen cracked: “Barbara, you’re not diving [in!]” and complimented Walters on her lady-like composure, comparing her to “my mama and my Aunt Peggy.”
As Paula pushed slices of strawberry cake to the other “View” co-hosts, Walters replied: “Let me act like your mother and ask you to hold off a minute.”
Deen looked a little stunned and licked her fingers as Walters scolded: “This is a cookbook for kids. Obesity is the number-one problem for kids today. Everything you have here is enormously fattening. You tell kids to have cheesecake for breakfast! You tell them to have chocolate cake and meatloaf for lunch. And French fries! Doesn’t it ever bother you that you’re adding to this?”
Deen, looking a bit uncomfortable replied: I think we have to teach our children, first off, Barbara, moderation.”
Snapped Walters: “Not when you’re giving them this!”
Deen then defended herself, saying: “No, I’m not saying that they should eat like this every day.”
In the interest of fairness, Deen’s was the final segment on the show as the noon hour approached. Perhaps, the bird-like Walters was feeling, well, peckish. . .
So, what’s your take?
Was Barbara right to ask the mayonnaise and butter booster some tough questions about her nutritionally negligent brand that she’s now marketing to kids?
Or is Walters just in drastic need of some Lady & Sons macaroni and cheese and she should let Deen alone?
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© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
490 comments Add your comment
Ken Leebow
September 22nd, 2009
4:20 pm
While Paula Deen’s recipes are in a word fattening, she is in no way responsible for adult or childhood obesity. It’s called the Western diet and our culture breeds an environment of high-fat, high-sugar foods, with portions that are huge.
So, I’d blame Coke, Pepsi, McDonald’s and many other organizations like them before I would accuse a cook.
Ken Leebow
Author of the upcoming diet and healthy lifestyle book:
Feed Your Head, Not Your Stomach
Jst_Sayin
September 22nd, 2009
4:20 pm
Barbara is an old hag and needs to retire. Sick of her!
Jim Mora Jr.
September 22nd, 2009
4:22 pm
Barbara- you’re just as guilty of making your viewers ignorant with your liberal takes on everything. Pot, meet kettle.
mission man
September 22nd, 2009
4:23 pm
The problem with childhood obesity is not due to all of home cooked meals they are eating.
JAMES
September 22nd, 2009
4:24 pm
This is the first time in my 49 years that i agree with Walters.
Kenbud
September 22nd, 2009
4:24 pm
I have seen Barbara Walters in person, and if she thinks for one INSTANT she is healthy, then she is fooling herself. She makes a toothpick look fat. What a hypocrite! Calista Flockhart has nothing on Barbara (and Diane Sawyer for that matter. Both are waif thin)
And I’m not going to even MENTION the cake layers of make-up she wears. What kind of message is that sending to little girls, Barb?
Eric Payne
September 22nd, 2009
4:25 pm
Barbara Walters was correct, but she was wrong. She was correct in stating that obesity is the number one health problem affecting children today. She was wrong in placing the blame on Paua Deen and/or any other cook and cookbook writer.
Cookbooks are only a tool – a reference. It’s up to PARENTS to control their child’s diet.
Hush, Puppy
September 22nd, 2009
4:26 pm
Maybe if Barbara ate a little more she wouldn’t be acting so b****y. I agree with Mrs. Deen. No one says to eat it everyday. Eating everything you like in MODERATION is healthy. Doing away with one certain food group, be it meat, starch, whatever, is NOT healthy. Your body requires all the food groups to be healthy. Knowing when to say “enough” and leave the table is what keeps you from becoming obese. Stop blaming the food for obesity. Blame the person who can’t stop shoving it in.
VEEMMMGEE
September 22nd, 2009
4:26 pm
Barbara is just hungry, old, and grouchy – someone give her a piece of gooey butter cake!!!
PEGGY
September 22nd, 2009
4:26 pm
If a man had said this to Paula, this would not be headline news. The media is just trying to start a cat fight.
Ryan
September 22nd, 2009
4:27 pm
Barbara was out of line and I think Paula deserves a public apology from Barbara. She in no way condones eating to the point that you turn obese. If the consumer sees that it is too fattening then DON’T BUY THE COOKBOOK!!! Classless move by Barbara. Almost as bad as what Kanye did to Taylor Swift.
SA
September 22nd, 2009
4:27 pm
Why was Deen even invited to the show if BW does not like her? The whole point is to promote the book isn’t it?
Mark
September 22nd, 2009
4:27 pm
Good for Babara. I think it’s high time more journalists start asking hard questions. This notion that you can’t ask hard questions of famous people has gotten us into quite a pickle. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, some of the best, most insightful and most informative “journalism” these days is coming from The View and The Daily Show.
Rob
September 22nd, 2009
4:27 pm
Barbara Walters is the epitome of all that is going wrong in this country. It is the wimpification of America. It is like blaming rock music or TV for a kids behavior. It should start and end in the home. Maybe if kids had more homecooked meals instead of McDonalds and Burger King they would take more interest in cooking and eating helathy. Stop blaming or expecting society to raise our children and let the parents do it themselves.
Kathy
September 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
Barbara is just another rude Yankee that looks down on anyone that “Y’all”
denise
September 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
Barbara Walters is a AWFUL! She can’t say a kind word to save her life! She should be taken off of ALL TV shows! I can’t stand her!
Paula Deen is a dear and I say if didn’t want her bringing goodies and cookbooks, they shouldn’t have invited her on the show! She is filled with goodness!
Big Jon
September 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
Enter your comments here
Barbara is trash. she has no class. She just hates southernors. Get em Paula. Paula’s got more class in her big toe that barbara got anywhere. Mean old woman never suprise me.
Waltersisahag
September 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
Barbara Walters is a rude old hag and needs to give it up. She hasn’t retired yet! I wish the network would do a forced retirement on her. Her voice grates on my nerves too!
Sure, Paula Deen is force feeding kids! Old hag must be on a diet and couldn’t eat any of Paula’s good homecooking and it made her mad.
Lisa
September 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
Barbara has a point BUT so does Paula Deen. It is our responsibility to teach our kids moderation. Cooking out of Paula Deen’s cookbooks would be a step up from eating fast food which is wayyy worse. Barbara should have taken her love of not so healthy food with a grain of salt. Go have lunch Barbara…
romebuzz
September 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
walters needs to mind her on business
Emette
September 22nd, 2009
4:29 pm
I don’t feel Paula Deen, Coke, Pepsi or Mcdonald’s is responsible for anyone being fat. You are responsible for yourself. You don’t have to each or drink those thinks. Parents are responsible for the kids and Adults are responsible for themselves. We as people need to stop blaming someoneelse for our problems.
Tony
September 22nd, 2009
4:29 pm
Barbara Walters needs someone to take her to task. She has pushed her form of liberalism down the mainstream media for years. A cookbook no more makes kids fat than a bicycle makes them skinny. It is sickening how so many people have the attitude that they know better how to fix the world. She needs to retire.
AnnieR
September 22nd, 2009
4:29 pm
Barbara Walters is one of the reasons I never watch the View….if I want to listen to a bunch of opinonated gals jabbering on about whatever, I’ll talk to my own friends – none of whom are as annoying as the cast of the View. Poor Paula was doing her thing and Baba Wawa had to bring her down just because she’s a beyotch! Babs, we can all look out for our own kids and their waistlines thank you! I’d rather hang out with Paula any day, (even if I didn’t fix her recipes every day).
Elle
September 22nd, 2009
4:30 pm
Figures. Barbara can kiss politician ass and avoid the tough questions, but she wastes no time ripping into Paula Deen. Yes, childhood obesity is a serious problem, but it’s not Deen’s fault.
Perhaps BW is past the point of being unbiased and should retire? Does she even like anyone? Or does she yell “Get off my lawn!” to everyone now?
Hush, Puppy
September 22nd, 2009
4:31 pm
It’s not the food making your little couch potatoes obese. It’s lack of exercise. You can eat whatever you want, as long as you have healthy exercise to work it off. Too many parents are using video games and t.v.’s as babysitters these days, and don’t make their little marshmallows get out and get some fresh air and exercise like we did in the 50’s and 60’s, before cable t.v. and video games. We WANTED to be outdoors, and our parents had trouble getting us back in. We used our imaginations and got plenty of exercise. Our mothers cooked potatoes, breads, cakes, cookies, etc. (homemade, of course), and we ate our share, and stayed THIN. Tell you kids, EAT…then go outside and play…put some color in your cheeks!!!
TheJadedCynic
September 22nd, 2009
4:31 pm
Of course Barbara Walters was right when she called Paula Deen out for her recipes. My wife and I watch her show often, and whenever we do, I am appalled by the recipes she suggests. I usually joke that her desserts are like a heart attack on a plate! Atkin’s she ain’t!
Kim
September 22nd, 2009
4:31 pm
You can’t tell me that all the fast food and eating out is not contributing to childhood obesity! I have always cooked at home, and not many of my friends do. And I used to cook a lot like her. My child was never obese. Portion control is key. But go ahead and drive your kids to McDonalds if you want and just blame Paula.
Mary
September 22nd, 2009
4:31 pm
Paula Deen would’ve made a better contribution by publishing a cookbook that had fun, HEALTHY food for kids.
Steve
September 22nd, 2009
4:31 pm
Barbara Walters needs to retire and issue a public apoplogy to Paula Dean. She was totally out of line.
Steph
September 22nd, 2009
4:32 pm
I dont thing Babs was blaiming Deen for childhood obesity, just making a point that when the rest of the country is becoming more aware of it, and trying to do something about it, Deen’s cookbook seems to be counter productive.. do you let your kids eat cheesecake for breakfast? I dont…
faybee
September 22nd, 2009
4:33 pm
Enter your comments here Children sitting on their butts is what makes them fat. You hardly see them outside playing anymore.
Dave
September 22nd, 2009
4:33 pm
Pretty tacky to ambush a guest on the show. She could have easily made her feelings known without having Paula there in person. Having said that, childhood obesity and obesity in general is a problem and promoting this for children isn’t right, either.
overit
September 22nd, 2009
4:34 pm
There would be less childhood obesity if those kids would move instead of being on the sofa in front of the TV. And Barbara Walters needs a lesson in good manners.
Meme
September 22nd, 2009
4:34 pm
If Barbara Walters didn’t like the recipes and their ingredients and felt they contribute to childhood obesity, why did they invite her to the show, a more diplomatic way to handle your objections and distaste for such would be to not have her appear at all.
fender bug
September 22nd, 2009
4:34 pm
Only a conservative would start on Barb about her politics in an ugly way when we are talking about food. As an independent I am frankly sick of the conservatives calling people ignorant or other names. Barb is trying to make a point – and a valid one. If you look at Paula’s sons you will see that they did not end up fat after a lifetime of Paula food – moderation? Most of all, I think it would be great to have the time to make a special lunch for my child ! a feast at that !!
Suzanne Warner
September 22nd, 2009
4:34 pm
Enter your comments here She was not only rude to Paula, but just plain ignorant. It made me totally turned off and I will doubt be watching if she is on. Parents are responsible, not Paula for their kids diet and activity level. She probably eats junk herself and just “throws up”.. or takes a pill to wean her from a little fat.. Lost this fan.
Gimme a break
September 22nd, 2009
4:35 pm
In my opinion these comments show that Barbara Walters is more of the problem with obesity than Paula Deen could ever be! Walters is more of the problem because she is blaming the food instead of blaming the TRUE cause! Americans don’t exercize! We are too busy sitting on our butts watching TV like “The View” instead of the kids getting out and playing! People have cooked like Paula Deen for over 100 years but the obesity epidemic is not that old!
Lisa
September 22nd, 2009
4:35 pm
Enter your comments here
The problem is not what the kids are eating and drinking but the fact that they don’t have recess or PE anymore and all they do is sit around and play video games. Get your kid outside playing and they will burn off all those calories. Play sports!
Free advice for fatties!
September 22nd, 2009
4:35 pm
Who cares what Paul Deen eats? Good lord people, start taking responsibility for your lives and your kids’. YOU are the reason why you’re fat. And YOU are the reason why your kid’s a lazy tub of lard. Not freaking Paul Deen and her cookbook collection. It’s time to shape up, chubbies, and stop blaming other people for your stupidness and lazy habits. Stop whining already and join a gym. And don’t eat cheesecake for breakfast.
wishpauladwasmymomma (since mine has passed)
September 22nd, 2009
4:36 pm
Baba Wawa needs to stuff her piehole with some of Mama Paula’s good cookin’.
Meredith
September 22nd, 2009
4:37 pm
Paula Deen’s gross… licking her fingers….
Bama Aaron
September 22nd, 2009
4:37 pm
Barbara Walters is a liberal idiot. Paula Deen isn’t making anyone fat with her cookbooks. It’s up to a parent to control and moderate what their kids eat. And then make them get up and play and exercise instead of falling in front of a tv or PS3 or a computer. Lack of physical activity is what is making most of America fat, not just the kids!
KP
September 22nd, 2009
4:38 pm
I for one love Paula Deen. No we shouldn’t eat the foods she cooks everyday, but what she has done with the food she cooks is her legacy. The way she cooks is the way I was raised eating. Barbara needs to keep her skinny butt in the North and eat those pretty meals she’s used to.
carole
September 22nd, 2009
4:38 pm
Barbara and all those View women are to be ignored. They are without any class.
Gladys
September 22nd, 2009
4:38 pm
I like Barbara Walters, and always will. She is a force of nature. Before Katic Couric and all of the other women had anything to do with newscasting she was there. She faced a whole lot of persecution before being promoted and succeeding in life.
But everyone makes mistakes. It would have been better if she had looked at the book and just not invited Paula Deen to the show. It is her show, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s right to invite someone to your show with the intention of insulting them and their work. I feel bad for Paula Deen. She probably was wide open and very vulnerable and Barbara Walter may have really caught her off guard on national TV.
Wayne
September 22nd, 2009
4:39 pm
Enter your comments here
What has BW done for kids? Where is her quide to the child/adult paper thin body. She has no right to be critical of anyone. I believe her past personal actions speak wonders for her ability to confront anyone. Talking about the pot and the kettle.
TED
September 22nd, 2009
4:40 pm
Yet another reason I do not watch THE VIEW, or listen to BABA WAWA.
Tom
September 22nd, 2009
4:40 pm
Let’s face it, Barbara Walters is a no it all. If the author had been an Jewish mother from the West Side of Manhattan she would have coo’ed at her. If she had been from Los Angeles and had a recipe book to cook Mexican cuisine, it would have been marvelous.
But to have a southern woman come on her show and cook something tasty and fun, it has to be bad.
There are a great many reasons why I left New York. The Barbara Walters of the world are one of them…
Store Brand Fan
September 22nd, 2009
4:41 pm
Good message from Barbara; lousy delivery. Maybe she WAS feeling peckish.
I just hope everyone tuned in today were watching it from their treadmills.
DMK
September 22nd, 2009
4:41 pm
Whether Babs thought the food was good or bad for children, she should have politely allowed Ms. Deen to finish her segment. Harbara can give her comments later. It was rude to have behaved this way with Paula Deen present. What good did her comments do other than to make her look opioniated and intolerant!
Joseph Thomas
September 22nd, 2009
4:41 pm
I would rather someone be a southern lady, gracious, and attractive such as Paula Deen, than an obnoxious, unfriendly, ugly hag named Barbara Walters any day of the week!! Paula, serve Ms. Barbara some of your grits with that big mixing spoon, smack dab in the face. Your fare is much better tasting and better for you than that northern quisine she must love.
jg
September 22nd, 2009
4:41 pm
Wasn’t Barbara an adultress? Didn’t she admit to an affair with a married US Senator? So the liberal adultress is being judgemental to Paula – Babs you could have said no!?? What are you teaching young girls!?
Moderation – there is nothing wrong with a cookie or a piece of cake – especially the way Paula makes it – notice she uses fresh ingredients – better than opening up a pack of store-bought cookies filled with preservatives – THAT is what makes kids obese – preservatives and lack-of-exercise…….blame the video-game industry for making the kids sit down and play indoors…..
Where do you go once your career has gone down toilet? Become a host on the View!
Fire Frank Wren
September 22nd, 2009
4:42 pm
There are a lot of contributing factors to childhood obesity–lack of physical exercise, the elimination of recess from the school day, video games, fast food, larger portions sizes (Supersize–the “large” Coke when I was a kid was 20 oz. and now it’s 64 oz.), and the practical necessity of 2-income families, eliminating the likelihood of home-cooked dinners.
Paula Deen is not the root of child obesity, and I would dare say that were home-cooked goodies are still better for you than the #3 combo mean at McDonalds.
Lee
September 22nd, 2009
4:42 pm
Enter your comments here
By no means is Paula Deen responsible for childhood obesity. Children stay in front of there computers and TV and receive no exercise. And playing at recess or even outside is very rapidly dying if not already dead thing of the pass. Children need to exercise and they don’t. It’s funny how american society has seared into american minds that waif thin women are the picture of health and beauty that’s the farthest thing from the truth. Why don’t we stop blaming everybody else for our children obesity and look back at ourselves.
Susan
September 22nd, 2009
4:43 pm
Barbara was rude. You don’t have an invited guest on your show and then attack them . Paula’s cooking is who she is. Barbara should have found another way to enforce her opinion on an unsuspecting guest on her show. Maybe Barbara should eat a brownie now and then.
Dee
September 22nd, 2009
4:43 pm
I wonder if any of the commenters has read the cookbook? BW may have a point, I don’t know. I don’t think it was right to confront her in a rude way (I didn’t see the show, so don’t know how it was approached), but kids don’t need fattening recipes. And yes, what a child eats contributes to obesity, childhood diabetes and other illnesses, NO MATTER HOW MUCH EXERCISE THEY GET.
A Observation
September 22nd, 2009
4:43 pm
Barbara Walters’ comments might have just revived the war…south versus everyplace else when it comes to downing southern style cooking. I thought Paula handled herself quite appropriately with her comeback against the comments made by Barbara Walters.
I agree with the other bloggers….if parents utilized Paula’s cookbook and prepared healthy meals AT HOME then the kids would not be as over weight as many of them are. The same is applicable to over weight adults who eat at all you can eat buffets, fast food restaurants, etc. on a consistent basis.
Jerry
September 22nd, 2009
4:44 pm
And the South shall rise again…get a life Barbara.
Rick
September 22nd, 2009
4:44 pm
Barbara uses this kind of “Shock Journalism” to boost rating. I really don’t care for Paula Dean (other than her Fried Chicken) but to blame her for kids being “Fat”! Blame the Mom’s and Dad’s who let the kids sit on their tails playing video games and watching the boob tube. As for Barbara, the only life this washed out old hag has is trying to make someone else look stupid on TV. Instead of scoping Paula Dean, she should jump on the ACORN issue.
Hush, Puppy
September 22nd, 2009
4:44 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever heard Paula Deen tout herself as being a dietician, nor her books being diet books. She is all about southern cooking, which is fattening if, like anything else, can be damaging in excess.
JSP
September 22nd, 2009
4:44 pm
Seeing the interview personally, Barbara Walters was being a little excessive and seemed to more or less lash out at Paula Deen. What was the last segment of the show and suppose to be a fun, light-hearted, down to earth Paula Deen conversation about kids and junk food turned into ‘ole Barb putting Paula on the hot burner about an issue that is much larger than Paula Deen. Plus it’s simply not her fault?!
At least Paula Deen isn’t one to sleep with married men, unlike her counter part Barbara Walters! Basically Barbara Walters has no room to talk or judge and act as though she’s an example!
bulldog bubba
September 22nd, 2009
4:44 pm
Look at her sons. They don’t seem to have suffered from eating her cooking.Barbara Walters is another liberal who thinks her mission is to tell everybody how she thinks we should live our life.We don’t need her or any body else telling the American people how to live our life.If I eat and die from it then thats my choice, it would not be a good choice, but still my choice.We have given the liberal media too much say-so in what we do and would be better off living a sensible life. Most of us were taught right from wrong by our parents and we choose to pass it along to our children or not.Do the right thing without Walters or Dr.Phil telling us to do what we have been taught!!!
AHH1116
September 22nd, 2009
4:44 pm
Enter your comments here Does anyone else notice how many men are commenting on this? What’s up with that? Also, I think Paula was very polite in the way she answered – just like a true southern lady.
Al
September 22nd, 2009
4:44 pm
I’m not a big fan of any of the cooking shows to say the least, but Barbara had to know about Paula before she was invited to her show (why else would she be invited?). I thought she was above that style of interviewing. Looks like some of Rosie did rub off on Barbara. But I have 3 kids and work with hundreds more each year, and the problem with 90% of them is not their diet, it’s PlayStation and X-Box!!! They are only exercising their thumbs! And their parents are using these games as a baby-sitting service. Don’t blame Paula.
GA Boy
September 22nd, 2009
4:44 pm
Typical Yankee, they think they are so much better than us “Southern Folk”. If truth be told, I think TV and video games contribute more to our kids obesity than a Paula Dean cookbook. It is the sedate lifestyle, not the food. You can eat pretty much all you want if you get of the sofa and burn it off. Barbara, why don’t you shut your peak and go out and have yourself some fried chicken, black eyed peas, turnip greens, corn bread and a big old glass of sweet tea!? You could stand to put a few pounds on them anorexic bones!
mission man
September 22nd, 2009
4:45 pm
It’s rather ironic, that BW is calling somebody else out on obesity, when it’s all the folks watching her show, then Oprah, then racing to McDonald’s for some Happy Meals, before Springer starts, that’s contributing more to America’s fatness. If you want to stop obesity, turn off the View, turn off your kids video games and take them out for some physical actitivity, then bring the kids home for a home-cooked meal.
BeautifulSoul
September 22nd, 2009
4:45 pm
Barbara was completely out of line. Although the USA does have a problem with obesity, it is not Paula Deen’s fault. We are all responsible for our own actions and when it comes to kids, it is their parents who should be looking out for their well being. How disappointed I am in Barbara Walters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Debbie
September 22nd, 2009
4:45 pm
I started reading the comments and stopped short on ‘Jim Mora Jr.’s’ remarks! He wrote “Barbara- you’re just as guilty of making your viewers ignorant with your liberal takes on everything. Pot, meet kettle.” Why, why, why, does every freakin’ thing have to turn political???? I am sooooo over it!!!!!!! People like Jim Mora Jr. should either keep their reading to political columns so their comments make sense – or try responding to the question at hand!!! GET OVER YOURSELF!!! This was a question about television, overweight children and appropriate or inappropriate comments on the air! NOT POLITICAL!!!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BORING IT GETS READING COMMENTS FROM PEOPLE LIKE YOU????
As far as the real reason for responding . . . I agree with the majority that Barbara Walters was out of line putting Paula Dean on the spot the way she did. Maybe off camera, but not on the air. But to add to that – I have to admit, I don’t buy her cookbooks and I don’t follow any of her recipes because they are so fattening! She’s such a good cook. It would be terrific if she came out with one that had alternatives to all the butter, etc.
David Fraser
September 22nd, 2009
4:46 pm
While Barbara Walters may be qualified to comment on a lot of issues what makes kids fat and what type of cooking is good are not among the issues she needs to stick her nose into.
Cindy Brown
September 22nd, 2009
4:46 pm
Geez, I wish Paula would have had the guts to turn the tables on Barbara and ask her if she felt guilty encouraging people to sit in front of the TV.
Mikey in the SAV
September 22nd, 2009
4:46 pm
Paula, you go girl. Go right ahead and enjoy your life and pay no attention the beeyatches like BW.
We southerners would never treat a guest like that.
love ya!
JenInAtlanta
September 22nd, 2009
4:47 pm
I think Barbara was right the reigning queen of fattening food some touch questions. Paula is an grown woman and she should expect some intellingent and possibly tough questions. If she can’t take the heat then get out of the kitchen.
Shawn H.
September 22nd, 2009
4:47 pm
The show is called “The View” for a reason. Barbara is intitled to hers. But Paula made a good point: we need to teach our kids moderation. We all indulge in things and sometimes too much. You just have to know when is enough.
roan
September 22nd, 2009
4:50 pm
It’s not the food that makes them fat. Today’s kids are so freakin lazy is the biggest issue. I’m a kid from the 70’s era and I ate frozen pizza’s, ice cream, pop cicles, kool aid, candy, etc. My mom fixed fried foods all the time. Remember those big blue cans of crisco? And I was as skinny as a rail growing up. Why? Because I was outside playing with all the other kids in my neighborhood from daylight until dark. I can remember in the summertime my parents having to threaten me to get me in the house at dusky dark. No telling how many calories I would burn back then on a hot summer day. Nowadays kids want to sit in the house surfing the net and playing video games all day. Based on the activity level of some of these kids they would have to be on a strict low calorie diet in order to not become obese. Society has changed so much and these kids just aren’t getting enough excercise. Its almost unrealistic to tell a kid they can’t have Mcdonalds, ice cream, candy, etc. Its the activity level more than the diet if you ask me.
Sue Anne Ramsey
September 22nd, 2009
4:50 pm
Paula Deen brings back what was good about this country…love of family, love of cooking for them and making them feel special. I am a Registered Nurse and agree that we need to watch the intake of fats and sweets in our children’s diets, however, I don’t remember but two out of a hundred kids in our neighborhood who were fat……the rest of us were skinny as rakes and ate like truck drivers…we just had tons of outdoor exercise and worked at our chores …..TV was for news and Gunsmoke…no computers…no ipods, no canceled recesses.
Walters was rude….and I can’t imagine being there and having to deal with an attack like that…Walters was completely ungracious. At least they could have warned Paula Deen that Walters was up to a confrontational interview!!!!!!!!
JoeV
September 22nd, 2009
4:50 pm
All I need to do is compare their weights and relative health and I know that Barbara is right. “Liberal agenda”…man, some of you people toe the line of being psychotic.
RG
September 22nd, 2009
4:51 pm
Barbara Walters is just a joke. She will ask Paula Deen the tough questions. She is a true journalist. I can’t believe people still watch that garbage.
KP
September 22nd, 2009
4:52 pm
JSP – Read Paula’s memoir. I love her, but she did sleep with a married man for about 10 years.
eva
September 22nd, 2009
4:52 pm
Barbara better back up! she needs to quit being such a prude…i mean really…who doesn’t love paula? there is no way that the obesity agenda can be Paula’s fault…there are way too many factors there and besides that every family and every child is different and should not just be lumped together…
and take a look at paula’s sons…do they look obese to you? not to me…
there is nothing wrong with cooking home cooked meals for your children…that is probably way better than half the stuff that they are fed at school anyway!
you go Paula!
hrh
September 22nd, 2009
4:52 pm
I’ve watched The View religiously for years and have watched Barbara Walters totally dismiss other cooks with less than healthy options. Barbara better be fair from this moment with other cooks or keep her mouth shut! It looks like an agenda to me today!
Jim
September 22nd, 2009
4:53 pm
I noticed that Ms. Deen’s kids are really obese!
Duane
September 22nd, 2009
4:53 pm
Dear, Barbara, does sleeping with celebrities to get their interview set a good example for kids?
Gram
September 22nd, 2009
4:53 pm
Here’s a novel idea…instead of griping about her book, just don’t buy it. Simple enough that even all the gripers can understand it. No one is forcing you to buy her book. If you disagree with her, don’t watch or read her. Betcha never thought of THAT, did you?
Tommy
September 22nd, 2009
4:55 pm
I agree w/ James. This is one time I agree with Barbara.
Get Over It
September 22nd, 2009
4:55 pm
If you are watching Paula’s show on t.v., then you have cable, and that means you 100’s of other channels you can switch to. Use the little numbers or the up and down arrows on the remote to pick a different channel. Pretty cool.
Sean
September 22nd, 2009
4:55 pm
Barbara, you just lost a lot of viewers when you went and did the equivalent of attacking somebody’s grandmother. Did you not have a loving grandmother who gave you all of that bad stuff your mom did not? She is not the cause of childhood obesity, parents who don’t watch what their children eat are the cause of that. Paula is not sitting there with a gun telling us what to eat. We have choices. I am overweight, because I CHOSE to eat unhealthy. I made a decision and now I have to live with the consequences. I don’t sit there and blame everyone else, it was ME, MY problem not McDonalds or Ben and Jerry’s. That is what is wrong with America today, everybody blames somebody else for their issues. I bet you still blame your mama for making you into the evil old hag you are…but if you want to know who to really blame, look in the mirror.
Charles
September 22nd, 2009
4:56 pm
I grew up in the South. Biscuits and gravy with eggs and sausage 4-5 times a week for breakfast. Fried bolonga sandwiches for lunch.
Pork, fried potatoes, cream corn, fried Okra and a variety of many other lard-submerged items were common at the dinner table. I probably didn’t break double digit body fat until I was in my 20s.
Why? Because every day after school and all day in the summer was baseball, bicycling, freeze tag, kick the can or whatever was the game of the day OUTSIDE and ACTIVE. If kids would put down the X-box controller and the remote and get some excercise, it would not be an issue.
Nothing you say
September 22nd, 2009
4:56 pm
I wouldn’t agree with liberal-minded Baba if she told me the sun was hot!
B4life
September 22nd, 2009
4:57 pm
Don’t allow someone to hawk their book on your program if you’re going to criticize it, especially in that particular segment. It would’ve been appropriate if Dean were a featured guest and she was being interviewed. However, she filled the fluff section at the end. What’s contributing to the obesity is lazy kids, who don’t play; cheap, unhealthy food; and parents whose idea of dinner is a Mighty Kids Meal from the golden arches.
Highlander
September 22nd, 2009
4:57 pm
Barbara Wa-wa is a craggy, old, leftist beyotch! It’s not the food, moron, it’s the sedentary lifestyle that’s more making kids fat! Just take a look at Paula’s own sons (who grew up on her cooking)!
Gee, wonder why they’re not obese? Try a little common sense, Walters.
Catlanta
September 22nd, 2009
4:57 pm
When you go amongst the manners-challenged, you have to be prepared. Paula was naive, Barbara was rude.
lawson
September 22nd, 2009
4:58 pm
no one is forcing people to eat the foods. what about video games/ computers/etc. when i was growing up we played all types of outdoor sports. a rainey day was a bad day. whats wrong with people too much technology
Mark
September 22nd, 2009
4:59 pm
Way to go Barbara, you and that jackass Kanye should start your own show and call it the jealous jackass show. The difference between your show and hers is that I can make thru an entire episode of hers and not fall asleep. No one cookbook or fastfood joint made anybody eat their food or cook whats in the book. It’s time for everyone to put on their big boy/girl pants and become responsible for their own actions and quit the finger pointing. By the way I think you and Joan Rivers would make a perfect couple because your plastic surgery looks like FIDO”S A$$.
ML
September 22nd, 2009
4:59 pm
All those in favor of Paula Deen and her cooking must be fat and eat like her! Good for you Barbara – I can’t stand Paula, her voice, her cooking and her attitude. Barbara is everything Paula is not……
skinny sister
September 22nd, 2009
5:01 pm
the primary reason for obesity in children is their parents. Parents both work and work too many hours, leaving no time to prepare healthy meals. they pick up something from fast food establishments on way home. the parents also spend too much time on electronic devices rather than on physical activity. this also sets poor example for children. Children are inactive today compared to when I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. we were out riding bikes, climbing trees, playing chase until dark when our parents had to call us for dinner. we ran off everything we ate and more. problem is not so much what they are eating as what they are not doing: eating healthy food that is not loaded with empty calories, and not getting enough exercise.
Paige
September 22nd, 2009
5:02 pm
Baba Wawa is a pompous, insufferable wench.
One tired American
September 22nd, 2009
5:02 pm
I second the emotion others have made. Turn off the VIEW people and get a life. I will take my Southern food and polite culture over the arrogant, slam dunk Northern lifestyle any day. Walters needs to head for Charleston or Savannah and have a decent meal complete with hush puppies. Maybe it would make her feel better. She owes Paula one big apology or maybe Americans could stop watching this innane show till BW comes through with one.
Marcos
September 22nd, 2009
5:04 pm
Excuse me… but this is not a liberal/conservative issue. I am a HUGE liberal (not physically… you know what i mean) but I LOVE Paula Deen and I am just as peeved as conservatives that Walters would attack her like that. FINALLY one thing conservatives and liberals can agree on… WE LOVE PAULA!
Big John
September 22nd, 2009
5:05 pm
Enter your comments here….I remember Babara blindsiding the Shah of Iran the same way many years ago.. She took the poor guy to task for Iran’s treatment of women. The Shah was our ally and seeing him lectured on world TV by a Jewish woman certainly didn’t help his popularity at home….and see what that got us. She needs to go and take Jimmy Carter with her.
jamal
September 22nd, 2009
5:05 pm
Barbara needs to retire, don’t get the sweetest southern lady around to come on your show and try to go in on her on live TV, we love you in the south Paula!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!