Let's put your fat ass kid in State foster care homes

Jeanwah

This is what I wonder about. I know many nurses who are overweight, and feed their kids crap. (my sister being one; she offered my daughter chocolate chips for breakfast once, and makes fun of me for eating health food) Don't you have to take nutrition courses to become a nurse? Do nurses have an edge when it comes to knowledge regarding health? But more and more I find them (and their kids) overweight. I just find this redundant, even though I love nurses to death and am very appreciative of them all.

Sludge Factory

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

ShimmyMommy wrote:

FiveB247x, I agree, this seems like a band-aid solution. Why not make the price of healthy food less than that of fast foods? It probably does cost more to make fast food, as you have to grow it, process it, preservative it, package it, then ship it.

Sadly, unhealthy, processed and "fast" foods is MUCH cheaper.

Back in the late 60s/ early 70s, Richard Nixon was worried that the issue of expensive food and starvation would hurt him. So he had pushed for cheaper food. Food makers turned to two substances that had been around for a while but not in very common use... High Fructose Corn Syrup and Trans Fats.

HFCS is cheap... very, very cheap. It takes very little to make things sweet, it doesn't go bad and can sit on shelves for years. Sugar was replaced in most snack foods and lots of foods were developed that would use it.

Trans Fats are... odd. They're vegetable oil that has been bombarded with hydrogen atoms. It gave food makers the ability to do things they'd never done before... have "creamy" substances with no milk products.They could make things like the "Cream filling" in Oreos or Twinkies that wouldn't go bad, even if they weren't refrigerated and sat on shelves for years.

It made food very cheap. Problem was that human bodies had no idea WTF that was.. had no idea how to break it down. HFCS makes your insulin spike radically. But it also stops the "I've had enough food" feeling that you get when you've had enough sugar. The two direct results of this were people who could eat a LOT more and people who got fat. The end result was many children whose pancreases gave up and had what we call "Adult Onset Diabetes" at ages seldom seen before.

Trans Fats can't really be digested either. So they just settled in people's colons leading to cancers, arteries leading to hear disease and strokes... they also absorb a lot of the nutrients you can find in food... but being indigestible, it actually takes them AWAY from you.

This is why Americans are so fat and unhealthy.

The economics of having a huge country where shipping food is expensive.

I remember reading somewhere that said the process for creating trans fat was actually developed in the soap industry as a preservation technique. Someone eventually realized that foods could be preserved with this technique. Unfortunately, noone thought about the effects this would have on the human body, which is to basically plasticize your veins.

It's amazing how hard it is to find products that don't have these "contaminants" in them these days. Products that I once thought should be comprised of simple ingredients no longer are.

Byrnzie

I wonder if the fact that in many places in America people are forced to drive everywhere has anything to do with this? In many cities there are no sidewalks/pavements and to get anywhere you have to drive a car.

stardust1976

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

I shot a movie in Australia a few years ago and when I got there, my jaw practically hit the floor. Virtually everyone was in great shape. Nobody was obese, the kids all looked bursting with health and energy, the people had great skin, looked wide awake and happy. I think I saw like 2 fat people the whole time I was there.

Being a vegan and health nut, I usually shop at Whole Foods or some other health food store so while down there (I was doing Production assistance), I was in charge of meals for the cast and crew. I did all the shopping and when I looked at the ingredients on food labels, I noticed that NOTHING had High Fructose Corn Syrup, Trans Fats, Hydrogenated anything... it was all sweetened with cane juice, natural flavours, colours... Even the kid's cereals.

EVerything tasted better, everyone felt better after eating. If you ordered a hamburger even at a roadside place.. it would come with lots of vegetables and real cheese.

People in America who park their huge butts down in front of a McDonald's happy meal and wash it down with half a gallon of Coke just make me sick. I can't believe how unhealthy people are in this country.

Ok, not saying I don't agree with some of what you are saying, but I have to point out that Australia has a very high obesity level. I can't remember exactly where we rank per capita, but it's up there. We have a very very high number of overweight, obese, and morbidly obese people.

We do seem to have slightly less of a problem with obese children, but that could be put down to education, and the fact that fast food here, is not as cheap as it is in America. An average meal at McDonald's here costs a family of 4 or 5, somewhere between $30 and $40.

Secondly I'd like to say that if you shop at health food stores, you are 100% less likely to find products with artificial anything in them. Shop at a normal supermarket, where the majority of the population shops, and you will find plenty of examples of foods so high in preservatives it would make your head spin. Having said that, maybe it's just the way I personally shop, but I do seem to agree that a lot of our foods are sweetened naturally.

As for everything tasting better, well, having eaten in America, and having eaten here (obviously), things do taste a little better to me (but that could also be me being completely biased towards the foods I grew up with!) Yes, hamburgers will have lettuce, tomato, pineapple, egg, onions, cheese etc on them at pretty much anywhere you get one, and I have heard this is a little unusual to Americans. But delicious nonetheless!!

I also wanted to point out that we have plenty of people here who "park their huge butts down in front of a McDonald's happy meal and wash it down with half a gallon of Coke", and yes, it's not a pleasant sight, especially when there are children involved who obviously need better nutrition. We have a huge amount of unhealthy people in this country.

I feed my kids McDonald's, sometimes more than I should. But I take full and absolute responsibility for their health and nutrition, as should every parent. I do my best to make sure they don't ALWAYS sit watching tv or video games, tell them to go outside and play or walk the dogs, and I make them eat fruit pretty close to every day. I put vegetables in most meals I make, and I make them drink water every day. They rarely have soft drinks like Coke, and they are allowed cordial at dinnertime, but I'm the first to admit that I could do better. Most parents could. But there is a massive problem with parents who take it to the extreme, and have children who don't see vegetables or fruit, or water on even a semi-regular basis. In my opinion, the responsibility for this problem lies with parents. You have a child, you take on their life, health, happiness 100%. That's what you do.

I think education of the parents AND the children together is the first step, and I don't know that I'd say it's child abuse, but I would definitely say it's neglect at the least.

Blockhead

Where do you draw the line and how are genetics taken into account.
I think many of you are overlooking the importance of exercise/Playing sports/outdoor activities.
I have a couple of ex-teammates/friends in the NFL, they look great and they have shitty diets.
I think the obesity problem has more to do with lazy parenting and not so much food choices.
Parents are letting the TV/playstation be the babysitter instead of having their kids playing outside riding bikes or engaging in sports.
How many "bad" meals am I allowed to give my child per week before the state takes them? I give my daughters Ice Cream on Friday nights, is that acceptable?
What is considered an unhealthy food. What are we using the term unhealthy food in?
A bowl of ice cream could be very beneficial to a child so could pizza...
How are we defining obese? At my heaviest I was 228 at 5'11", now that would be considered obese by todays definition. But at that weight I was playing college football and measured 9%bodyfat.

mookieb10

FiveB247x wrote:

At what point in our society and sick culture do we stop searching for problems while failing to address the real ones?

We may have some deficiencies as a culture, but the fact that we can talk freely about this and other socio/political topics is what is beautiful about our culture and country. Somewhere along the line, people decided to eat fast food even though they were raised on much more nutricious meals, thats their choice and free choice makes our culture wonderful. What is the real problem here?

JonnyPistachio

FiveB247x wrote:

It's ok to ban smoking ads in movies as you state, but not ok to limit the quantity of unhealthy items a child or adult can have or have access too. Which boils down to the notion that we're free to kill ourselves, but we can designate the legitimate or acceptable ways to do so. Drugs are bad, but eating fast food or drinking which could be just as harmful is ok.

Actually, in my state I was glad to see a few years ago the schools overhauled their menus, removed certain soda machines, and improved the general nutrition of most of the foods they were offering. I was glad to see this because when I was in school we had a choice between a cheeseburger and pizza, and I had a coke for lunch everyday. I think the times are changing, maybe too slowly though.

81

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

AND there is no $1 menu for vodka at McDonald's.

there should be. :x

81

JonnyPistachio wrote:

FiveB247x wrote:

It's ok to ban smoking ads in movies as you state, but not ok to limit the quantity of unhealthy items a child or adult can have or have access too. Which boils down to the notion that we're free to kill ourselves, but we can designate the legitimate or acceptable ways to do so. Drugs are bad, but eating fast food or drinking which could be just as harmful is ok.

Actually, in my state I was glad to see a few years ago the schools overhauled their menus, removed certain soda machines, and improved the general nutrition of most of the foods they were offering. I was glad to see this because when I was in school we had a choice between a cheeseburger and pizza, and I had a coke for lunch everyday. I think the times are changing, maybe too slowly though.

crazy...

my school had a decent lunch program. pizza was a treat that came up once or twice a month. we had no soda machines in the school. we got a pint of milk, sometimes chocolate.

i wonder what it's like there now. hmm

FiveB247x

The right to have an open society (free speech, thought, right to organize, etc) is what is great... but that does not really account for process in which we indoctrinate people into our culture and decide what is good or bad. We let business's run wild via advertising and have very little regulation in terms of overall guidance for these types of social matters. As another poster mentioned, times are changing but we can't really keep up, and I don't think we ever will. Unless dictated via policy, you leave the door open for irresponsibility by the population and that's all we see.. and the more our culture is embedded with media and consumerism (which rule the roost), coupled with growing bad parenting and lack of accountability, the results exponentially get worse.

mookieb10 wrote:

FiveB247x wrote:

At what point in our society and sick culture do we stop searching for problems while failing to address the real ones?

We may have some deficiencies as a culture, but the fact that we can talk freely about this and other socio/political topics is what is beautiful about our culture and country. Somewhere along the line, people decided to eat fast food even though they were raised on much more nutricious meals, thats their choice and free choice makes our culture wonderful. What is the real problem here?

Prince Of Dorkness

Blockhead wrote:

Where do you draw the line and how are genetics taken into account.

That, as far as I can tell, is just an excuse used by lazy people with bad diets. They moan and moan about how "I just can't lose weight and I eat so healthy... I guess it's just my genetics."

But when you take a look at their diet, they start their day with a "whole wheat toaster strudel" and a coffee with a cup and a half of cream and two table spoons of sugar.

Their lunch is a "healthy salad" which is mostly marinated meats, candied berries and candied nuts with half a cup of a dressing that's full of high fructose corn syrup, trans fats and salt.

Their dinner is a "Lean Pocket" (with "reduced sodium and fat") and a bowl of diet Ice Cream.

They also fill their day with snacks like soda, chips, cookies and birthday cake.

I think many of you are overlooking the importance of exercise/Playing sports/outdoor activities.
I have a couple of ex-teammates/friends in the NFL, they look great and they have shitty diets.
I think the obesity problem has more to do with lazy parenting and not so much food choices.

I mean.... I work with 18 year-old porn stars daily... they eat HORRIBLE diets but are very active and have amazing bodies. Until they're 24. Then that same diet has turned them into Jello molds.

Parents are letting the TV/playstation be the babysitter instead of having their kids playing outside riding bikes or engaging in sports.

Agreed. I was allowed to watch VERY little TV and for that reason I think I'm a lot more active. Mind you, I wasn't allowed to watch "dirty minded" shows like "Love Boat" or "Newly Wed Game" because my mother was afraid it was going to turn me into a pervert. Considering my line of work... that kinda backfired.

How many "bad" meals am I allowed to give my child per week before the state takes them? I give my daughters Ice Cream on Friday nights, is that acceptable?

Nobody is looking at individual meals or the Christmas Season. What they're looking at are children with kidney failure, adult onset diabetes, 45% body fat and heart disease.

Like this kid...


Or...

A bowl of ice cream could be very beneficial to a child so could pizza...

If you think that, fine... I won't argue the benefits of snacking. But bodies like those kids above aren't the result of "a bowl of ice cream" or a piece of pizza.

How are we defining obese?

Obese is over 25% My guess is that McDonald's kid above is about 45% body fat. That's clearly a kid who need to be taken away from the parents who are doing serious damage to him by allowing him to get like that.

That isn't just a "fat kid."

Byrnzie

I watched one of those t.v series Jamie Oliver did in the U.S and in one episode he stood in front of a class of 12 - 13 year olds and held up a tomato, a potato, e.t.c, and none of the kids knew what these things were. That's just fucked-up.

Jason P

Byrnzie wrote:

I watched one of those t.v series Jamie Oliver did in the U.S and in one episode he stood in front of a class of 12 - 13 year olds and held up a tomato, a potato, e.t.c, and none of the kids knew what these things were. That's just fucked-up.

That's unpossible.



Seriously, though, it had to be set up.

ShimmyMommy

Jason P wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

I watched one of those t.v series Jamie Oliver did in the U.S and in one episode he stood in front of a class of 12 - 13 year olds and held up a tomato, a potato, e.t.c, and none of the kids knew what these things were. That's just fucked-up.

That's unpossible.



Seriously, though, it had to be set up.

I seen that one too..he actually made chicken nuggets out of the chickens bones and bits that considered inedible...they watch him through the whole process of making it...and when he presented the finished breaded nugget and asked, "Now that you know what this made of, would you still eat it?" They all replied, "Yes." :shock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9B7im8aQjo

Prince Of Dorkness

Jason P wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

I watched one of those t.v series Jamie Oliver did in the U.S and in one episode he stood in front of a class of 12 - 13 year olds and held up a tomato, a potato, e.t.c, and none of the kids knew what these things were. That's just fucked-up.

That's unpossible.



Seriously, though, it had to be set up.

It wasn't. It was shocking.

He held up an eggplant and the kits all looked at it and some didn't even know it was a vegetable. He had to give them the first word "egg" and one kid yelled out "EGG SALAD!!"

When I tell people I'm a vegan, I get some very odd responses sometimes. Ranging from "I've been thinking of that" to "Oh.... I couldn't do that... I hate salads."

OnWis97

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

Blockhead wrote:

Where do you draw the line and how are genetics taken into account.

That, as far as I can tell, is just an excuse used by lazy people with bad diets. They moan and moan about how "I just can't lose weight and I eat so healthy... I guess it's just my genetics."

That is usually true. There are people that have some sort of gland condition, but they are absolutely the exception.

Most people that are overweight are to blame themselves...and I don't have a sense that most do.

The kids (like those in the pictures), are at fault in that they don't live healthy lifestyles, and that's how they'll be viewed during their (short) adulthood. It's unfortunate because the parents really never gave them a chance. You can't let your kid get like this without being downright neglectful or just plain stupid. I see chubby kids all the time, but that's not what we're talking about...we're talking about kids that are flat out obese and are going down a path that will damage not only their quantity of life, but their quality of life as well.

But I totally admit, taking kids away for this is a fairly dangerous slippery slope. How fat is too fat? What's the burden of proof for negligence/abuse? (cuz there are some glandular issues). It's tricky, because I do feel bad for the kid in the McDonalds picture...he never had a chance. His quality of life would have been better if he'd been in a foster home from day one (assuming it was not an abusive one), but certainly it's tough to pull kids out because they are not totally eating right.

caifan82

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

Awesome, looks like the Michelin man finally had a child!

Jason P

Prince Of Dorkness wrote:

It wasn't. It was shocking.

He held up an eggplant and the kits all looked at it and some didn't even know it was a vegetable. He had to give them the first word "egg" and one kid yelled out "EGG SALAD!!"

When I tell people I'm a vegan, I get some very odd responses sometimes. Ranging from "I've been thinking of that" to "Oh.... I couldn't do that... I hate salads."

Eggplant is possible. I might have trouble picking out an eggplant. In fact, if it wasn't for the video game Kid Icarus, which had a bad guy that was an eggplant, I would have no idea what one looked like. But eggplant is a niche fruit in the U.S. so I can see a bunch of 6th and 7th graders being baffled.



But tomatoes and potatoes??? Unpossible. Even if it was a class full of blind special need students, there is no way in hell that that at least one kid couldn't identify a tomato or potato.

My guess ... editing for sensationalism.

Prince Of Dorkness

Jason P wrote:

But tomatoes and potatoes??? Unpossible. Even if it was a class full of blind special need students, there is no way in hell that that at least one kid couldn't identify a tomato or potato.

My guess ... editing for sensationalism.

Not sure... they eventually got that but you'd be amazed at how young kids don't know what the food looks like in raw form.

I've had guys show up to shoot scenes and I'll walk over to the Grapefruit tree in the back yard and I've had comments like "those grow on trees?" and "what is that... you can really eat those things?"

pandora

Some parents think food equals love ... it is how they were raised and pass it along
now to their kids.

A loving home with a loving mother who cooked lovely meals for her family.
It was one of the ways she showed love and she is fondly remembered for it.

Kids weren't fat cause they played all the time... spent entire days outside running, pretending,
roller skating, biking, swimming etc. add that to outside and inside chores...
they were busy burning calories.

The food was healthy and made from scratch... no antibiotics and funky stuff in the meat etc.
no easy snacks, no sugar drinks, you waited for dinner.

Then Moms entered the workforce, fast food made at home or on the run took over.
Lets Supersize it too.
Food became entertainment ... sit and snack
play video games sit all day.

These terribly heavy children need professional help but it is a family problem that can and should be addressed inside the home unless there is other abuse.
Keep the children with their families.
They will feel it is their fault if removed.

Being fat for a child can be a vicious circle of feeling bad and trying to make it feel better with food and feeling bad again for that. This the emotional turmoil that goes unaddressed.

Being fat is also a wall put up to keep people away, either because you don't trust them or you
don't feel you deserve them or you are afraid of being hurt.

And of course heredity plays a really big part as does being heavy as a child.. harder to maintain a normal weight through life.

But mostly it is a combination of all of the above.

Educate the parents, help the family learn healthy habits,
address emotional problems with all members of the family.
Make them all understand the danger this health problem presents.

and help them to say no to all fast food, it is garbage and addicting garbage at that,
most especially for kids.