of COURSE Barbara is right, even if you don't eat like that every day, its important to teach kids about healthy, balanced choices. I love Paula Deen, but because I'm a grown up, and can decide for myself what is worth the fat/calories and how often. if parents think "well this is a kid-oriented cookbook" and just make a bunch of recipes, that is a (pun intended) recipe for disaster. and yes, parents should be educated and making proper choices for their kids, but they're not, child obesity is an epidemic.

Barbara needs to lighten the hell up. Kids aren't getting fat by eating homemade muffins for breakfast; they're getting fat because parents shove PopTarts in their mouths for breakfast and give them Cheetos for snacks. Sure, her cookbook isn't exactly health food, but it does teach kids to cook and when they get to an age where they may actually want to watch what they eat, they'll have a good foundation. When I was a kid, I LOVED to cook and I'd make cakes and cookies and homemade pizza and stuff all the time. I wasn't a hugely fat kid, but it was when I went to college and STOPPED cooking that I gained a lot of weight.

I'm guessing that Ms Walters eats sand and bitter apples for her daily dietary needs because she sure is a bag of fun and bitter about damn near every thing in life.

If you believe or even remotely think Paula and Southern cooking have caused obesity then you should believe that people like Barbara are responsible for all of the world's ills.

Humans swithc from hunter/gathers to agriculture is what is leading to modern day and future obesity. Food or any sort (healthy and junk) is easy to come by in "civilized" countries. With plentiful food comes laziness (what is is people choosing to exercise business - you used to work your as off to survive) , with sloth comes fat with fat comes greater brain power to think of stupid excuses as to why people have gotten fatter.

People are fatter becuase life is too easy in civilized countries.

People don't get fat from eating mama's home cooking. I have lived in the deep south for over a year now, I have not gained any weight. Oh, but guess what did make me gain weight? McDonald's every single day in college. Yeah, there is a huge difference between a piece of home made fried chicken, and that sh*t burger at McDonald's...or even a friggen chicken wing at KFC. Kids get fat when their parents don't take time to tell them that fast food is no good, that running around is good for you, and in general not sitting in front of the TV shoveling unhealthy snacks into your mouth is not conducive to being healthy.

Don't blame southern cooking, or some foods that may not be the most low-cal things in the world on obesity. Obesity is caused by an excess of food and too little movement going on in the day. It's certainly not caused by one meal, a muffin, or something like that.

When Paula tells Barbara that she reminds her of her mother, you could see the countdown to b*tch begin!

Actually, I think both Barbara and Paula make a good point. Barbara is mindful of the obesity situation in kids, and Paula is advocating moderation.

Personally, I think moderation is key when it comes to fattening foods. As long as kids have a healthy, active lifestyle, eating those type of foods in moderation will not hurt them, or make them overweight. JMHO.

Everyone of those women on the View is a nasty, bitter shrew. Barbara is a pruney, washed up has-been, who hasn't been relevant in years and tries to pretend the View is something to be taken seriously rather than a shrill harpy-fest.

Obviously Paula Deen doesn't intend for kids to eat the recipes in her book every day, and obviously they're indulgences. I actually think she should be praised for making an effort to actually teach kids how to cook, when so many think cooking consists of popping a box of pizza rolls in the microwave.

Hmm, I agree with Barbara. But then I am European. I am always so surprised how the term "comfort food" in America (I have been living here for a year now) always means greasy and either chuck full of sugar or chuck full of salt. This is all about how you are brought up! In Germany comfort food is a potato salad, in Holland comfort food is pea soup, for me the ultimate comfort food is a bowl of oatmeal with a bit of homemade jam in it. Comfort food doesn't have to be bad for you! And that's what this kind of cooking for kids teaches our children and that's why I think that's not a good cookbook for children.

My husbands aunt used to be a cook in high class restaurants. When her kids who are 10 and 12 go to a restaurant they order the soft shell crab and the sweetbread and brussels sprouts because that's what they grew up with (I wouldn't even order that). They don't care for burgers and fries - and it's not because they are not allowed to have it! Her mother just brought them up on gourmet foods and that's what they are used to now.

I think it's a great idea to include your kids when you are cooking and it's alright to make cookies every once in a while but as a treat. Not for breakfast and lunch.

I think Barbara should have directed this question to a fast food exec, not Paula. I don't think Paula was expecting this question on The View. On the other hand, I'm surprised she hasn't been asked this question before.

I think Barbara went off a bit too much. She's not on 20/20 anymore. This is supposed to be a fun morning talk show. And if you ever watch Paula Deen's show, she always encourages moderation with her recipes. Kids, for the most part, are very picky eaters and I'm sure the recipes she complied are ones that would be fun and easy to make and kids would actually eat. And as other posters have said it's not the cookbooks or the authors who are to blame for obesity. It is the parents who would let their kids eat crap at every meal and then plant them in front of the tv who are to blame for their kids' weight problems. Everything in moderation is perfectly acceptable.

Barbara comes off as cold and unfriendly to Paula's warm, loving glow. I think Barbara had a point but it could have been expressed in a friendlier manner. Paula Dena has always been known for her Southern cooking that's not for calorie-conscious. Her new book is about getting kids excited about food, and to enjoy it. My mother always said to eat cake for breakfast as well, that way you have all day to burn off the calories.

It is Barbara's job to ask that question instead of sitting and stuffing her face like the rest of the hosts...I'm surprised Paula has not been asked this before. I love Paula and watch her often. Her cooking always leaves me wondering "What the heck is your cholesterol Paula?" Mothers today do not cook for their kids, consequently they eat virtually nothing except crap. Hopefully Paula's cook book will get kids out of their horrible habits and into eating real home cooked food! Enough said!

Paula is Paula and although her food looks amazing no one in their right mind would eat it or allow their kids to eat it everyday. Everything in moderation. Getting kids to cook, even if it is by inticing them with delicious food can be a good thing. Along with Paula's recipes throw in healthy recipes.

My favorite part of the show when tiny, prim E.D. Hill ate, and then ate so much more. She couldn't get enough, she ate one piece of cake and she was on another when they came back to say goodbye. Unhealthy yes, but it must taste good based on how they all (except stuffy Barbara) were pigging out.

It’s not Paula’s fault our kids are fat. Paula has not been on the air the last 50 years filling our bellies. You don’t have to eat Paula’s food. It is the parents responsibility how the kids eat. After all it’s the parents buying the food. Coke, Hersey, Kelloggs, Mars and every other company hasn’t done anything to make our kids fat. Barbara Walters apparently going senile.

I love Paula,leave her alone. Kids are fat because parents buy them MC Donalds for dinner instead of cooking,and that's usually because mo is working as many hours as dad- and for many it's all to have that house and car to keep up with the jonesses. Get the soda machines out of schools,too.

Plain and simple, portion control. It's so hard to teach kids (most adults cannot do it) about portion control, but it is truly what keeps people from gaining weight. Too much of anything is bad... whether its baby carrots or cheetos,,,If kids and adults learned that indulging is okay--if in limited quantities--there would probably be far less overweight individuals.

I think it was perfectly fine for Barbara to point that out. They do talk about serious issues like that, and Paula must have known she was on a show where she wouldn't just get praise and advertising.

Read Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". The fat to worry about is trans fats...if the foods feature butter, not margarine, it's not such a concern. The problem is too-big proportions, and eating empty calories and trans fats. Most of the breakfast cereals today have big labels proclaiming that they're healthy because they have whole grains: if you read the labels you discover that, in fact, they're filled with sugar and the only nutrients turn up once you pour on milk.

barbara wawa is a hasbeen,if you want to pick a fight go to afganistan

I think the question was perfectly acceptable. What was even more egregious than Deen's own stammering reply was the way Sherri "I don't think anything predated Christians" Shepherd ran interference by asking about Paula's hair.

That said, I think the awkwardness of Barbara's question was highlighted further by her own too-straight-laced bearing just before. So let's not attack Ms. Walters over the manner in which the question was asked, and evaluate the question itself. It was a good question, and I'd like Ms. Deen to answer it fully.

Not all cooks are Jamie Oliver, trying to teach people how to cook AND how to cook 'healthy' food. This is a cookbook, not a report on dietetics.
And I completely agree that kids who are taught how to cook will have a different, much healthier view of food than kids who are used to picking up sh*t from the supermarket.

I dont see anybody putting a gun to anyones head and telling them to buy the cook book...Lighten up

You know - if ANY one of the other women BUT Barbara asked the question, I would have listened, but by the very fact that it was a woman who is known to hang out with women who take two bites of food and then shove the plate away, there's no way in hell. I'll bet she does the same. Barbara Walters doesn't give a damn about children being obese. It's just good TV - but she would have another thing coming if she thinks people would turn on Paula - people would step on Barbara's head to have Paula cook for them. I'd prefer to have Paula over for dinner than Barbara.

O who cares, lighten up Barbara....everyone needs some soul food once in a while. Like Paula said they dont eat like that way every day. Simple as that, if you dont want soul food then dont buy her book.

Paula Deen and Ina Garten are two examples of how not to eat. Geeze! They are whales in loose pants.

Barbara needs to lighten up...good grief! Sitting around playing video games adds to weight gain, no recess in school also adds to weight gain. Eating good things in moderation is a good thing. Barbara needs to use her head, Paula was not advocating eating this way all of the time.There is too much busybodyitus going around these days!

Barbara is absolutely right and it was clear that Deen hadn't given the wholesomeness of the food she was suggesting for or by children a moment's notice up to that point.

Look, the woman is charming. Absolutely adorable on a stick but if you just look at the size of her or her husband it's perfectly clear that they are the LAST people you'd want advising kids!

She may rationalize with "this is for once in a while" but any kid who looks at glossy pages with cake and dripping chocolate is NOT going to choose salad or veggies first.

Fer crissakes, give the woman a talk show and get her away from the butter and sugar for her own and her husband's sake as well as for the sake of the health of the children of the country.

Sounds like Ms. Deen only wanted to really show off he husband! Look how big he is!!!

Barbara needs to visit an American super-market and get a clue! Kids are fat because they're eating pre-packaged, pre-cooked foods which are pumped with chemicals, hormones, preservatives and just about everything artificial under the American sun. If American parents would start cooking real food and feeding their children proper meals, maybe we could all allow ourselves a treat every now and then. Richness has it's place too but we've clearly lost all sense of moderation.

blah blah blah. kids are fat cause their parents don't cook and buy them fast food all the time. Parents should be encouraged to make home cooked meals. Everything in moderation jeez. Have a brain. Paula is so cute and warm and fun

eh i don't care. barbara has a point. and i have yet to see a paula deen recipe that doesn't include like a gallon of heavy cream.

Well, Barbara eats babies for breakfast, so I don't know why she's criticizing.

Paula Deen raised two sons on that cooking and they aren't obese, Barbara is blaming obesity on home cooking and thats BS. The obesity crisis in America today is a result of lack of exercise, processed/fast foods, and overindulgence. Moms mashed potatoes and fried chicken won't kill you, but McDonald's Big Macs, fries, and McFlurry's sure might.

If children were eating in a healthy manner on a regular basis and getting exercise instead of playing video games, they would have no problem making some of these recipes once in a while. Paula Deen did not cause the problem and even if she made a cookbook that was EXTREMELY healthy, it wouldn't change the obesity problem one bit. Kids don't cook everyday from the book. Exercise doesn't change. Schools have cut out gym programs, and intramural sports, lunch programs at school are still not healthy and...I could go on and on and Barbara picks on Paula. I like Paula and I know she is not out to hurt anyone's child. She presents good food and it is your choice to use moderation.

Does anyone really watch The View? BaBa WaWa is not the food police and needs to make those comments/questions so people have something to watch on YouTube.

Interestingly, my son's Christian school's newsletter this month reminded parents to pack lunches that kids will eat! Send a kid to school with a lunch pail of health food and he will trade it for his neighbor's left over chips without a second thought. That does not mean to give him all junk food all the time, but pick your battles and incorporate the kid's own cooking with your better choices.

I have more problems with the commercials saying "frosted flakes are part of this nutritious breakfast" where there is a spread presumably for 1 kid that will probably feed a family of 3.

Barbara's question was a good question, but she looked awkward and out of place. Paula could have answered the question better, but she bounced back well. Overall, I give that round to Paula.

My daughter (9) checked out the book the first week it was in her school's library, which was about 3 weeks ago. Since then we've made her "favorite" recipe from the book, which is a simple fruit kabob. We add a yogurt dip and she's in heaven.

Yeah, the book has some recipes you wouldn't want to make every day, but have you seen MOST kiddie cookbooks? The vast majority of them are filled with crap we don't let our kids eat in abundance. They'll have 2/3 of the book devoted to cookies, cupcakes, and cakes, the rest to simple foods that are easy and kid friendly.

Fortunately my kids enjoy cooking from *real* cookbooks, particularly Asian and Middle Eastern themed recipes.

I was born and raised in the deep south, and grew up on the exact same cooking Paula Deen cooks on her shows. Trust me, it's not the southern cooking that's causing obesity, and anyone who would try to blame it on southern cooking is judging without knowing what they're talking about. I have raised my two boys (who are now 16 and 18) on southern cooking, and they are very thin. Every year when they get their physical, their blood pressure is amazing, their cholesterol levels are actually low, and all of the rest of their levels are exactly as they should be. This not only goes for my boys, it goes for my husband, my mother, my father, my grandmother, my grandfather, my two sisters, their husbands, their children, myself, etc.. My mother is 60, is 5' tall and wears a size 10. My grandmother is 79, 5' 5" and wears a size 12. I am 39, 5' 2" and wear a size 2. My doctor told me I'm so healthy that I will probably live to see 110!!! Please don't tell me it is southern cooking. That irritates me beyond words. We are healthy because my entire family works very hard, we all raise gardens and work in our flower beds and keep our own yards. It's the lack of hard work and exercise and junk food that causes obesity, NOT SOUTHERN COOKING.

Quit falsely blaming southern cooking or anyone who promotes southern cooking and start placing the blame where it should really lie . . . with irresponsible parents and fast food places. I would put my southern cooking up to that anytime . . . butter and all!

9 out of the 10 fattest states are in the south. just fyi.

yes, i realize that paula deen and southern cooking are not single-handedly causing the obesity problem, there are a million contributing factors.

i took a peek at the cookbook today, and like somebody else said, the recipes aren't any worse than what's in other children's cookbooks. i know i said earlier that barbara was right, but after seeing the book, i really think she didn't bother to look at it before her interview. i do think paula deen's "normal" recipes are disgustingly fatty, but she did do a good job with this book. maybe barbara should have done her research. (just like i should have before posting my previous comment)

I agree with DrBrain that it was Barbara who was awkward, not Paula Deen. And I don't think Paula "bumbled" at all.

Also, as well as not "bumbling" I don't think Paula was "stunned" by the question either. I read the blurb before watching the video and expected to see a dear-in-headlights look from Paula after reading how "stunned" she was -- she didn't even look surprised at the question. I think she held her own well. You'd have thought she was going to fall all over herself and almost start crying by reading the description of it here.

I think it might be a good idea to point out that Paula has two, handsome and fit sons for her own. If her cooking was as bad as Barbara tried to make it seem Bobby and Jamie would likely have grown up fat from eating it every day of their lives.

it's not the i dont think barbara is right, i just dont think she went about it correctly. she needs to pull the stick outta her *** cause the ladies on the view are getting worse and worse as the years go by.

Think Ms. Walters is a bit rude to jump that on her guest. That said, look at Paula. Not exactly the picture of health, right? If you've ever checked out her show, which I'm assuming Babs' peeps did, then you know her cooking style involves hunks of butter and gilding the gilded lily. But oh it looks so good!! Also, PARENTS are ultimately responsible for their children, and no one else. R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y thy name is parent.

Barbara needs to lighten up! Sure, the question is valid, but I don't think it was the setting to be talking about obesity. You don't HAVE to buy the book!

Give me a stinkin break...Barbara Walters is suppose to be a classy lady...she is on the real side....in my opinion..a total B*tch..It doesn't cost anything to be nice..they are two different people..but I can tell you this...I rather spend my free time with Paula Deen..chit chattin' and doing girl stuff..she is real...something a robot couldn't understand...Barbara acts like she thinks she is better than...but in reality...she knows people respond better to Paula on a human level..and she is just plain old jealous.

The show should be cancelled, Barbra walters sucks and they all give me a headache!

Walters just lost some of her audience with that little act of B****tchiness.
Too bad she came off like that, bet she's biting some of her choice of .. attack now.

Give me a break, I heard Paula say once I am not your dr..that is so true!! She is a southern cook, reminds my of my Grandmom and nothing wrong with that!

If you don't like it don't buy the book and don't cook her food. Pretty easy you don't have to hate everything you don't agree with.

I was excited to see this clip - but I was disappointed. I feel that they didn't question her enough. They just sat there gorging while she spouted out little folksy slogans and blabbered on about special occasion eating. Barbara should have kept pursuing the issue instead of indulging in cake.