I want your thoughts on the Child Obesity problem in the US

acoustic guy

I keep reading how big of a problem this is and I try to beat it by keeping my children as healthy as possible.
Even though I lean toward the far right, and I DONT like big government in our lives I feel something has to be done about this.
Its obvious that most parents are MORONS! And that they either are to stupid to see that what they are doing to the kids is a form of abuse, or that they just simply dont care.
If people wont educate themselves about health and nutrition in this day and age then maybe the Government does need to help.
(NOT TRYING TO BE RACIST) But.....its even worse in minority families from what I have read. (Just writing what I have read). Its worse because many cities like Atlantic City dont even have a Super Market! But the reason for that is a whole nother discussion in itself. I watched a few documentries on the Food in America and its a=scary as fucking hell!!!
All kids eat today are heavy carbs, sugar and salt!!!
Horrible.

polaris_x

it's symptomatic of the culture ...

it's related to issues of education, income disparity, poverty, exploitation and the corporatization of government ...

your beef shouldn't be with the size of government - your beef should be with a corrupt and corporatized gov't ...

acoustic guy

polaris_x wrote:

it's symptomatic of the culture ...

it's related to issues of education, income disparity, poverty, exploitation and the corporatization of government ...

your beef shouldn't be with the size of government - your beef should be with a corrupt and corporatized gov't ...

Good point.
I read about the contracts that many schools have with these huge food companies and how the shit they feed these children is just that....pure garbage.

polaris_x

acoustic guy wrote:

Good point.
I read about the contracts that many schools have with these huge food companies and how the shit they feed these children is just that....pure garbage.

the parents are eating the same shit

marcos

I think alot of it has to do with education but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that veggies are good for you. Not everyone has to over pay for food at whole foods to feel better about their meals, though it is so good and sometimes worth it of course. I think a lot of it has to do with convenience or availability of foods to children. Happy meals and cereals that come with toys should be ashamed themselves. We need fast food veggies with toys.

Jason P

polaris_x wrote:

it's symptomatic of the culture ...

it's related to issues of education, income disparity, poverty, exploitation and the corporatization of government ...

your beef shouldn't be with the size of government - your beef should be with a corrupt and corporatized gov't ...

Those issues do have an affect, but the number one cause of kids getting fat is the parents. If you supply your kids with a steady diet of Fruity Pebbles, Tombstone pizzas, and ho-ho's, you are at fault. If as a parent, you are ignorant of what kind of diet you are providing to you child, you are still at fault.

You wouldn't put unrefined oil into you car because you know that would lead to performance issues and cause the car to breakdown. I would consider a child to be a 1000x more important then a car, so why be so stupid about what you feed to something that you love and care for. With the internet and Google searches, there is not an excuse except laziness ... or you don't care.

Sorry to pointed, but I feel it's the truth. I could stand to lose 10-15 lbs right now. I know how to do it ... I stop drinking beer in the evening and start packing my lunch each day for work. It's that simple (except for giving up beer ). I don't have an excuse because no one is forcing me to eat this or that. I can't use the "I don't have enough time" excuse because it takes less then 10 minutes to pack a lunch the night before.

blackredyellow

marcos wrote:

I think alot of it has to do with education but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that veggies are good for you. Not everyone has to over pay for food at whole foods to feel better about their meals, though it is so good and sometimes worth it of course. I think a lot of it has to do with convenience or availability of foods to children. Happy meals and cereals that come with toys should be ashamed themselves. We need fast food veggies with toys.

Like most families we do get fast food for lunch every once in a while, and a few months while traveling we stopped at Burger King for lunch. We got our son a kids meal, and it was actually more expensive to get apples in it than fries... that just summed it up for me why poorer kids are more likely to have bad nutrition. Seriously burger king, you are going to charge more for fruit?

polaris_x

Jason P wrote:

Those issues do have an affect, but the number one cause of kids getting fat is the parents. If you supply your kids with a steady diet of Fruity Pebbles, Tombstone pizzas, and ho-ho's, you are at fault. If as a parent, you are ignorant of what kind of diet you are providing to you child, you are still at fault.

You wouldn't put unrefined oil into you car because you know that would lead to performance issues and cause the car to breakdown. I would consider a child to be a 1000x more important then a car, so why be so stupid about what you feed to something that you love and care for. With the internet and Google searches, there is not an excuse except laziness ... or you don't care.

Sorry to pointed, but I feel it's the truth. I could stand to lose 10-15 lbs right now. I know how to do it ... I stop drinking beer in the evening and start packing my lunch each day for work. It's that simple (except for giving up beer ). I don't have an excuse because no one is forcing me to eat this or that. I can't use the "I don't have enough time" excuse because it takes less then 10 minutes to pack a lunch the night before.

see my point about education ... how many parents understand nutrition? ... clearly not that many as the obesity rate is skyrocketing ... what is it now? 3 of 4 will be obese by 2020? ... that is staggering ...

it also doesn't help that we are a consumer based society that eats up marketing campaigns like its gold ... and really, what hope does a family of four with low income have? ... they a) send their kids to school where they get crap food b) have little education c) feel like they can only afford to buy crap food at the store and d) have no way of getting out of their situation

the income gap is growing and there are more and more people in this category

mysticweed

obesity is often hereditary
often income and education related
and more often than not - stigmatized

most children should have enough metabolic energy to burn off an order of fries and a milkshake
but most children are less active than we were
more technolgy usually means less motion

and as many have said, obesity begins at home

(BRY-
Wendy's will give you mandarine oranges in place of fries in kid's meals or adults
or at least they did five years ago when i still ate meat)

Indifference

Exercise over video games or other sit down and not move for hours technology.

marcos

blackredyellow wrote:

marcos wrote:

I think alot of it has to do with education but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that veggies are good for you. Not everyone has to over pay for food at whole foods to feel better about their meals, though it is so good and sometimes worth it of course. I think a lot of it has to do with convenience or availability of foods to children. Happy meals and cereals that come with toys should be ashamed themselves. We need fast food veggies with toys.

Like most families we do get fast food for lunch every once in a while, and a few months while traveling we stopped at Burger King for lunch. We got our son a kids meal, and it was actually more expensive to get apples in it than fries... that just summed it up for me why poorer kids are more likely to have bad nutrition. Seriously burger king, you are going to charge more for fruit?

That is crazy that they charged more, but that was exactly my point. I would even go as far to say that fast food commercials should someday be treated with the disdain of tobacco as obesity is killing people as well.

Jeanwah

I think the major issue, outside of what food we're eating, is portion size.

mysticweed

marcos wrote:

blackredyellow wrote:

marcos wrote:

I think alot of it has to do with education but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that veggies are good for you. Not everyone has to over pay for food at whole foods to feel better about their meals, though it is so good and sometimes worth it of course. I think a lot of it has to do with convenience or availability of foods to children. Happy meals and cereals that come with toys should be ashamed themselves. We need fast food veggies with toys.

Like most families we do get fast food for lunch every once in a while, and a few months while traveling we stopped at Burger King for lunch. We got our son a kids meal, and it was actually more expensive to get apples in it than fries... that just summed it up for me why poorer kids are more likely to have bad nutrition. Seriously burger king, you are going to charge more for fruit?

That is crazy that they charged more, but that was exactly my point. I would even go as far to say that fast food commercials should someday be treated with the disdain of tobacco as obesity is killing people as well.

yeah
supersize ads should go the way of joe camel ads!!

nuffingman

polaris_x wrote:

it's symptomatic of the culture ...

it's related to issues of education, income disparity, poverty, exploitation and the corporatization of government ...

your beef shouldn't be with the size of government - your beef should be with a corrupt and corporatized gov't ...

It's symptomatic of the culture in many of the western nations. We have a major problem in the UK. Where once the health spend on smoking related diseases was regarded as appalling the health spend on obesity related illness now makes it look small change.

Modern living doesn't help either. I see the kids sitting around like couch potatoes with all their entertainment at their fingertips. As a kid I remember the local park always full of kids kicking a ball around. Our local park is deserted. It seems to be more fun sitting around a shopping centre.

Unless we teach the young and their parents what damage overeating and eating the wrong food does to them the problem will grow... literally! And we definitely need to make them more active.

As for the older generations with an obesity problem I can't help think they are just a lost cause. More sensible nutrition advice would help instead of promoting celebrity fad diets.

blackredyellow

dickweed wrote:

(BRY-
Wendy's will give you mandarine oranges in place of fries in kid's meals or adults
or at least they did five years ago when i still ate meat)

Yeah... i actually prefer Wendy's to the other burger fast food joints... you can get these pick 2 meals there and get a salad and chili or something like that instead of the usual burger and fries crap.


It's funny, we have a 3 year old, and having him has made my wife and I eat better... when it was just the two of us, we used to eat worse... more takeout... more pizza... more processed foods, etc because we never really planned meals. Now we usually pack lunches, and actually plan our dinners for the week for the most part. And when we plan, it seems like we make much better choices. We still don't eat the best foods all the time and probably eat bigger portions that we should.

It funny, even when we go out to dinner now, he usually picks better things off of the kids menu... We went to Chili's the other day and where a lot of kids would want chicken fingers and fries, he wanted a quesadilla and pineapples.

I think that when kids grow up learning to eat more healthy foods, and are used to more balanced diets, they grow up much healthier and make better choices.

mysticweed

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40657584/ns ... ?Gt1=43001

this is interesting
girls that start school earlier are less likely to become obese

Kel Varnsen

Jason P wrote:

You wouldn't put unrefined oil into you car because you know that would lead to performance issues and cause the car to breakdown. I would consider a child to be a 1000x more important then a car, so why be so stupid about what you feed to something that you love and care for. With the internet and Google searches, there is not an excuse except laziness ... or you don't care.

I would say there was no excuse even before the internet was invented. I mean its not like most cities don't have libraries that will let you borrow books on just about every topic for free.

As far as cost goes, I think that is just a lazy excuse too. I mean yes a happy meal is cheap, but at the same time at most grocery stores I have been to you can buy a 2kg bag of frozen mixed vegtables for under $4. A dozen eggs for about $2.25 and things like chicken, pasta and tuna aren't really that expensive either. And that is in Canada, every time I go to the US food prices in grocery stores are even lower.

mikepegg44

physical activity during school. Make participation in a sport or physical activity mandatory for passing a grade.

knowledge is the key to solving the issue, unfortunately you cannot force people to learn and sacrifice.

I do not buy the too poor to eat well argument. If you are not homeless you can eat foods that are good for you, they may not be the best quality organic fruits and vegetables, but you can still eat well. I was poor as shit for 3 years, the kind of poor where you have to choose what bills you are paying every month, the kind of poor that has no heat in the winter, and in minneapolis that is f'n cold, and I still was able to get good foods to eat. Luckily I grew up knowing what those were so I was able to maximize my dollars with the knowledge I had...
it isn't a rich poor issue, is it easier to eat well if you are rich...absolutely, but it is not exclusive to rich people. And trust me, there are fat kids who are rich, I see them everyday when I coach hockey in a well off area of the twin cities...are there people who are too poor to eat well...yep, but that is a vast minority.

gimmesometruth27

i have some thoughts on this. i work in an orthopedic physician's office and i see obese kids every day. like 8 year olds who are just lumps of fat, weighing over 120 lbs at 8 years old.. i look out in the waiting room and i see kids eating a lunch consisting of funyuns and mountain dew and playing a PSP... before i had this job i worked as the head athletic trainer at the second largest high school in the st. louis metro area and i witnessed a lot of the same thing there. either the kids were athletes on teams, or they were out of shape/poor physical condition, or they were obese. being in healthcare our main focus is to preserve and maintain life, and with this obesity rate surely someone is failing these kids, wheter it is the parents, the education system, the commericals, the sedentary lifestyle with computers and video games, or the medical establishment. one or more is at fault here and doing a disservice to these kids today. i have some ideas on how to fix this problem, as well as a few other ideas that make sense to me but nobody has ever suggested or tried before to my knowledge...

1. nutrition should be covered for more than a week in your basic health class. kids should be hammered with nutrition information and healthy eating habits, including healthy vs unhealthy food recognition and they should be taught portion control. everyone knows that a serving size of chicken or beef is 4-3 oz, but the kids aren't taught how big that looks or why portion control is important.

2. use physical education class for physcial education. EDUCATION. it should be a requirement to take PE class of some sort every year of school. in missouri you only have to have 3 semesters over 4 years of high school. it is one thing to have kids running around playing flag football for 50 minutes a day, but archery has no physical demands and they spend over 2 weeks on that. but when they leave PE they have learned nothing about their body, how it works, or things they can do to live a healthy lifestyle. it should encompass nutrition and self care, hygiene, and basic injury care. they can not learn all of these things from mom and dad because most times mom and dad are clueless about these things. i am amazed how in 2010 a kid will sprain an ankle and soak it in hot water and epsom salts. all that does is encourage swelling and can potentially set them back another week in recovery time. poor hygiene spreads things like ringworm and impetigo and even herpes in sports like wrestling, and the kids do not know that either. physical education should consist of more than just playing a game for 3 hours a week.

3. do what this law is doing. diminish unhealthy food choices in schools and encourage healthy ones. most kids eat breakfast and lunch at school these days, which is more than they eat at home. i feel that if the parents can not tell them what to eat, then the school should have a hand in that because the school is responsible for those kids while they are on school property and in class. it is my opinion that the school has a duty to educate the kids on these things and should work to help them become healthier and not allow them to eat the funyuns and mountain dew lunch..


that is just the start. i have others but i am pressed for time....

dunkman

portion control... went to America last year and was fucking astounded at how much food someone could put on their plate for $7.99...

Jason P

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

i have some thoughts on this. i work in an orthopedic physician's office and i see obese kids every day. like 8 year olds who are just lumps of fat, weighing over 120 lbs at 8 years old.. i look out in the waiting room and i see kids eating a lunch consisting of funyuns and mountain dew and playing a PSP... before i had this job i worked as the head athletic trainer at the second largest high school in the st. louis metro area and i witnessed a lot of the same thing there. either the kids were athletes on teams, or they were out of shape/poor physical condition, or they were obese. being in healthcare our main focus is to preserve and maintain life, and with this obesity rate surely someone is failing these kids, wheter it is the parents, the education system, the commericals, the sedentary lifestyle with computers and video games, or the medical establishment. one or more is at fault here and doing a disservice to these kids today. i have some ideas on how to fix this problem, as well as a few other ideas that make sense to me but nobody has ever suggested or tried before to my knowledge...

1. nutrition should be covered for more than a week in your basic health class. kids should be hammered with nutrition information and healthy eating habits, including healthy vs unhealthy food recognition and they should be taught portion control. everyone knows that a serving size of chicken or beef is 4-3 oz, but the kids aren't taught how big that looks or why portion control is important.

2. use physical education class for physcial education. EDUCATION. it should be a requirement to take PE class of some sort every year of school. in missouri you only have to have 3 semesters over 4 years of high school. it is one thing to have kids running around playing flag football for 50 minutes a day, but archery has no physical demands and they spend over 2 weeks on that. but when they leave PE they have learned nothing about their body, how it works, or things they can do to live a healthy lifestyle. it should encompass nutrition and self care, hygiene, and basic injury care. they can not learn all of these things from mom and dad because most times mom and dad are clueless about these things. i am amazed how in 2010 a kid will sprain an ankle and soak it in hot water and epsom salts. all that does is encourage swelling and can potentially set them back another week in recovery time. poor hygiene spreads things like ringworm and impetigo and even herpes in sports like wrestling, and the kids do not know that either. physical education should consist of more than just playing a game for 3 hours a week.

3. do what this law is doing. diminish unhealthy food choices in schools and encourage healthy ones. most kids eat breakfast and lunch at school these days, which is more than they eat at home. i feel that if the parents can not tell them what to eat, then the school should have a hand in that because the school is responsible for those kids while they are on school property and in class. it is my opinion that the school has a duty to educate the kids on these things and should work to help them become healthier and not allow them to eat the funyuns and mountain dew lunch..


that is just the start. i have others but i am pressed for time....

Those are some good ideas. Also, they let you shoot bow and arrows in PE? They took us golfing one day and I think three kids were injured.

Also, I wonder if they still have the rope in PE classes. I imagine that it has gone the way of the dodo due to liability issues, but was anyone else forced to climb a 50' rope to the top of the gymnasium rafters in school?