Childhood Obesity Balloons

[Fuzzy McGillicuddy]

Bring back mandatory phys-ed I say. And quit shoving Big Macs into your kid's yap.

Kids are porkers (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1091554937365_8/?hub=TopStories)

[calf]

Wow, that's the best topic line I've seen - ever.

Mandatory phys-ed is all fine and dandy, but what's needed is a lifestyle change - like, making healthy foods seem more attractive to kids, getting them to go outside and play for the fun of it, not because they have to.

[jonesy]

i think the kids mostly eat mcnuggets, not the big macs.

[Cowperson]

Time for some drastic and effective action - parents should sue McDonalds because their kids are fat. <_<

Cowperson

[Fuzzy McGillicuddy]

Originally posted by Cowperson@Aug 3 2004, 02:24 PM
Time for some drastic and effective action - parents should sue McDonalds because their kids are fat. <_<

Cowperson
It's not that far fetched. The fast food industry has unveiled so-called healthy options to avoid massive class action lawsuits similar to what big tobacco went through. It's too bad society is collectively blaming "legal" industries for it's health problems.

[jonesy]

Sometimes I wonder if it doesn't have to do with the times. Most of the stuff I did as a kid was free and unsupervised. Most of it would also be shunned by today's parents as unsafe. Now you have to enroll kids in "camps" which are very safe and cost a lot of money. There is a fear of "creeps" that might get your kids if you just let them ride their bikes all over town.
I don't know, just guessing

[Tron_fdc]

Originally posted by fotze@Aug 3 2004, 08:26 PM
I didn't know that bitchtits was a condition that disallowed you from physical activity.
MWAAAHAHHAHAHAHA

I saw a 5 yr old kid this weekend that was in SERIOUS need of a manzier. WTF man, when I was 5 I was usually so hungry I would eat DIRT. I was so hyper and insane I'm sure my parents would have done it on a daily basis if they knew it was going to slow me down.

[Cowperson]

Originally posted by Fuzzy McGillicuddy+Aug 3 2004, 08:28 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Fuzzy McGillicuddy @ Aug 3 2004, 08:28 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Cowperson@Aug 3 2004, 02:24 PM
Time for some drastic and effective action - parents should sue McDonalds because their kids are fat. <_<

Cowperson
It's not that far fetched. The fast food industry has unveiled so-called healthy options to avoid massive class action lawsuits similar to what big tobacco went through. It's too bad society is collectively blaming "legal" industries for it's health problems. [/b][/quote]
Three children in New York city attempted to sue McDonald's on the same basis and had the suit thrown out as ridiculous. So that's a non-starter.

I was kidding when I suggested it.

My feeling is this is a parental problem. It is true there are kids and grown ups with glandular issues beyond their control, but the broad issue in this thread is really about parents and a lack of supervision/lack of values if you ask me.

I guess you can throw in school districts that have contracts that put confection machines littered with pop and chocolate bars into schools. Do you sue the vending companies? Obviously not. The revenue stream is important to school districts but obviously that desperation for money is a factor in the obesity issue.

My thoughts.

Cowperson

[Pagal4321]

I would put alot of it on the parent's not promoting a healthy lifestyle. Parent's being lazy when it comes to feeding their kids, I would also put alot on society. The way we are now, fast and convienant food is thway to go. So more frozen foods are becoming easier and "better tasting" which in turn become more fattening. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's al of the fast food joints are slowly slowly changing because of this rapid trend with fatty children.

[habernac]

I just read that France is creating a law making it illegal to have vending machines in schools because of all the crap that the kids are buying from them. Parents do have to take an active role as well, though.

[Ro]

"It's rather sad, but it's cheaper to buy two litres of pop than it is to buy two litres of milk," she says. "And we all know that milk builds strong, healthy bones and that we need fruits and vegetables for our children to be healthy. But potato chips are cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables. It's difficult for families to make those purchases."

How true is that. The mext time you go Superstore or Safeway, survey the checkout lines and notice what people are buying. For every belt full of whole grains, veggies, and fish, there's 4 or 5 full of chips, pop, ready-made cakes, and fruit roll-ups.

It's like deciding not to shop at Wal-Mart anymore because you oppose the way the company is run (cheap foreign labor, undercutting the competition, poor pay, etc.), and then you become a poor college who needs a light bulb at 10:30 at night. Where the hell else are you gonna go? You could make a conscious decision to wat until the morning, or borrow one from a friend, or whatever, or you could hop your lazy/restless/need-it-now ass in the car and compromise what you believe in by shopping there.

You could eat healthy, but there are cheaper, easier-to-prepare meals out there. So although it's a health issue, it's also a societal one as well. I think it's a matter of educating people about what they are doing to themselves and their children, and teaching children good eating habits from the very, very beginning.

[Ro]

Originally posted by fotze@Aug 3 2004, 01:26 PM
I didn't know that bitchtits was a condition that disallowed you from physical activity.
I'm putting that in my next sig. Hilarious.