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42 Comments
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Parents are the weakest link for *everything* when it comes to children, from movies to games to food. I say this as a parent: it isn't society's job to protect your children and raise them, it's yours. If you don't think your parents did a good job, you're going to do it the same way unless you really work against that every day.
- Wiggles2, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15Good rule of thumb:
Shop around the edges/walls of the grocery store. You know, the fresh produce, fish, meat, cheese, fresh dairy, etc. That's the real food. Avoid the aisles of garbage in the middle.
And don't eat out ever- whether it's Mcdonald's or Outback. Those are not simple whole foods- they are designed for taste, not health. - deter1ii, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Well no *****, they're also the weakest link in the "education" problem, and the "take responsibility for your own actions" problem.
- hobophobe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Guess we need to buy our kids light beer.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Most fat kids have an imbalance between Playstation and excercise time. When they should be getting chased around the neighborhood and pelted with Smarties, they're actually at home watching Teen Titans or Naruto.
So, because you go on all these bike rides like some 17th century Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, you're getting enough excercise to counterbalance any bad foods or lazy time you have. - Ezekeal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This is soooo obvious that it must be wrong. I say violent video games are to blame!
- Ricapar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5McDonalds's? Designed for taste?
Funny man you are. - Agret, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5From the song "Lazyboy - Underwear Goes Inside The Pants"
Americans, let's face it: We've been a spoiled country for a long time. Do you know what the number one health risk in America is? Obesity. They say we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic. An epidemic like it is polio. Like we'll be telling our grand kids about it one day. The Great Obesity Epidemic of 2004. "How'd you get through it grandpa?" "Oh, it was horrible Johnny, there was cheesecake and pork chops everywhere."
Nobody knows why were getting fatter? Look at our lifestyle. I'll sit at a drive thru. I'll sit there behind fifteen other cars instead of getting up to make the eight foot walk to the totally empty counter. Everything is mega meal, super sized. Want biggie fries, super sized, want to go large. You want to have thirty burgers for a nickel you fat mother *****. There's room in the back. Take it! Want a 55 gallon drum of Coke with that? It's only three more cents. - dalesangelsinc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I don't remember my parents ever playing with me, as long as I didn't break anything and stayed out or their hair I was safe. I do remember my father forcing me to eat all of my eggs before church, even though I clearly despised them. I held them in my mouth until I got down the road and spit them out. My mother was an asst manager at McDonald's until the week before she died, and I remember she would allow me to eat a Big Mac, Fish Fillet and Fries and wash it all with a Sprite and if there were chicken McNuggets left I could eat those too. My family felt as long as they fed me their job was done, not withstanding I weighed 150 lbs by the time I was 12. I have continued to struggle with my weight and will probably continue to, they did all they could to make sure I survived but I wish I had learned better eating habits. Feli
- tetsuwan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Heh
In Jamie Oliver's UK, the labout govenrment has tried to improve the school meals. I just read that in some places, parents are trying to counteract this reform by delivering junk food to their kids in school. "I will not let my kids get picky with food" some of them was qupted saying. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I've read a number of articles where obese kids sent to "fat camp" return the following year with their weight gained back. The culprit: living with their families who have not cleaned up their own bad habits.
Kids learn by example and can spot a hypocrite 10 miles away.
Instead of thinking of "how to fix the kid", parents need to first clean up their own acts. - DeadDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Parents are responsible for their children? Holy Crap!!!!
If you buy bad food for your kid they'll get fat, if you don't make them play they'll get fat. - YumYumKittyLoaf, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5I remeber how my dad, my brother, and I would go on bicycle trips that would last the whole day. We'd ride to a bike trail that went through a couple of towns, lots of bike riding. I hope to do this with my kids and I hope more parents would do this. We didn't play many sports, but bike riding was a big thing, and probably helped me not become obesse.
Eating healthy is a different matter though. My favorite fastfood meal was a double quater pounder with cheese extra value-meal supersized with a coke... horrid really. Was around 10-14 when I would order those on the rare occasion. 150lbs at 5'8 and people say I don't need to lose weight. Other than that I did have a pretty balanced diet, but just normal things like spegetti, broccoli cassorol, hamburger helper, etc.
Lastly, I watched TV and played video games almost religiously, so I don't personally agree with that whole limiting TV and game playing time. All you have to do to have a kid want to exercise is to do something special (like the bike riding trip).
Aaaah I hope I become a good father someday XD - mc7winkie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3All this artivle is doing is repeating the obvious. We all know that a parent is the biggest influence on a child's development and that if a parent does not make an effort to lead a healthy life style then why should the child?
- brbubba, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Agreed. It has nothing to do with occasionally eating fast food or eating out, you can still eat heathly if you go out to eat. Get rid of the High Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated Oils, which are both in everything. Parents love to spoil their kids so they buy them sweets, candy, coke, etc, instead of natural fruits and juices. Even my own mom still insists on buying sweets whenever I visit and this is after I tell her not to each and every single time. And to add insult to injury many of these parents feed their kids this way because they have been feeding themselves this way for years.
- MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I agree with this. However, aren't many parents who are a little more "well-off" too busy working to do some parenting anyway?
- dalewj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3nice thought, but no good advice or info. as a parent, i try hard not to fast food my children but i know others dont. i havent been to McDonalds for anything but breakfast in a good 10 years
- rmtatum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2We can thank many of the problems due to the public school system (and parents lack of involvement in their children's education, which is why I advocate abolishing public schools and replacing them with private/home schools with private foundations for scholarships).
- richiestang78, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Dont deny your kids fast food, make it a treat every once and a while. Thats how I grew up, always had a home cooked meal Steak, Hamburgers, Veges and so on and every once and a while Pizza or McDonalds. Parents these days are the weekest link in alot of things blaming everything but themselves for there kids problems.
- happycat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow, someone got paid tons of money to state the obvious!
A guy I work with is in his upper 30's and does not exercise, eats fast food 3x/day, eats a pound of sugar candy each day, plays WOW or other games each and every night. He bought his two kids, ages about 6 & 8, their own computer mainly so they can sit in a chair and play games with daddy all evening long and be quiet and not bother him and interfere with his gaming.
The stupidity of this situation both kids have physical and emotional development problems and he is ignorant that he is the cause and we at work have to listen to him lament about their issues every day. Both kids are obese because they have the same eating and exercise habits as the parents, both kids have problems interacting with other kids because they never go out and play, both require psychiatric care because of emotional problems, and they tend to be either hyperactive or lethargic at any given time and they are taking medication to stabilize their states. Give them a proper diet and a little exercise each day and these problems would disappear I guarantee it. - Agret, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I blame GTA, the only places you can eat in San Andreas are fast food joints!
- yukevster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Food alone, and eating too much of the wrong sort is only HALF the issue. Regularly exercising - whether it be going to the gym or walking the stairs - and burning the calories you consume is half the battle. Americans are generally very lazy people - overabundance and a focus on comfort has caused this.
- gr8one, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I really worry what's going to happen to our health care system when 25 year old people start dying from heart disease, heart attacks, cancer etc... because they've been obese since they were 5. It's called an epidemic for a reason....
- Obvioustroll, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Partly; exercise is only half the equation. Most parents let their kids eat more calories per day than a grown construction worker needs.
The human body is designed to store extra calories today because you may not eat tomorrow. The human body is designed to crave the highest calorie foods, for the same reason. This is not a recipe for nutritional success in the modern western world. - JED9, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2wow. i think this is a breakthrough in health. who wouldve thought if parents feed their kids garbage and let them not exercise, they will get fat....
- Obvioustroll, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No, only half the problem. Like the guy who said "all you need is exercise" you only have half the answer.
- Ladymaggic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The problem is that many of today's parents have bad food patterns themselves...Fast food, instant food, take away...so its ifficult for them to see what they are handing on to their kids.
The home garden is not as popular as it once was...and frozen everything seems the way to go..Thaw and use...and supplement with a handful of pills...
I watch tuckshop purchases with dismay....
So where should it all start?.....who needs educating???
Its back to the parents who pass responsibility to schools and teachers, and expect everything to happen from there. - chrism1128, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's it in a nutshell. If parents would learn one simple word, "Society's" problems would go down by like 90%.
What is that word you ask:
NO!
Just tell your kids NO. No you can't eat that crap, No you can't run around in a restaurant, No you can't take your seat belt off, No you can't have a toy or treat every time we go to a store, No I won't stop smacking you if you act up in a store.
Take some damn ownership!
Guess what they actually will still like you if you give them the structure and boundaries that they are craving. Just don't wait until they're 15 to start it. - Sukino, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.jamieoliver.com/schooldinners/
- Obvioustroll, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2given the current statistics about children's weight, the obvious needs repeating.
And, yes, that's why I use this name - because people seem to try hard to avoid noticing the obvious. - Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"When I was growing up, any parent who saw me do something wrong felt free to yell at me, knowing that my own parents would back them up."
These days you can get sued for doing something like that. And while I agree with you in principle, it isn't some stranger's responsibility to reprimand your kids for running around in a restaurant: it's yours. And once they're old enough to be out and about without you, it's up to you to raise them properly in the first place so that they know how to behave when that time comes. - RobotCitizen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Shocking New Discovery: Dietary Habits Are Learned Behaviors!!!"
Um, no *****? How did we come to have such a staggering lack of insight? - Agret, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Parents are the weakest link for *everything* when it comes to children, from movies to games to food."
I agree with food but what the? Movies & Games have problems? My mum & dad don't care what games I play or what movies I watch. I'm a homicidal maniac because i've watched a horror movie oh noes!!! - Obvioustroll, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Chompy, but that also goes to another point - when I was growing up, the fact that *other* parents were free to discipline me meant that my parents accorded me a great deal more freedom than parents do today.
Simple example: I had a paper route. I woke up @ 4AM every day and roamed over 5-6 square miles, in and out of people's yards. Have you noticed that paper boys no longer exist? If I tried to get my son to do that, the social workers would take him away from me for "neglect". - Almadiel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You mean that parents actually have some influence in the development of their children? Stop the presses...
- yukevster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You have to MAKE kids play? What's happening to America where you have to make kids get off their fat asses and play.
- richiestang78, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1lol I know its a shocker, Jack Thompson is the golden child for proving parents take no responsibility since alot of those parents groups back his "thinking".
- chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2MySpace is to blame... now it's Video games... now socks...
how about blaming yourslef for once. - JessePittsley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I thought this was a pretty weak link. Not much here except for a couple more links. It appears to have been a great conversation starter though.
There are so many things that go into weight and sadly Americans are falling on the negative side of many of those categories. I just wish everybody good luck! - rmtatum, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5The article contains links with information for practical advice. The single most important change a person can make in their diet is to reduce the consumption of grains and high carbohydrate foods. For more information on insulin see http://www.mercola.com/article/carbohydrates/lower_your_grains.htm and http://www.mercola.com/2001/jul/14/insulin.htm
- Obvioustroll, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Eh. Yes, primary responsibility is with the parent. But there is some justification in saying that society, as a whole, has a responsibility to children as well.
When I was growing up, any parent who saw me do something wrong felt free to yell at me, knowing that my own parents would back them up.
How often does that happen now? - badapplestudio, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0It's not all fast food. Read: THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA. Pretty much all the food in supermarkets, even some of the stuff labeled ORGANIC, is changing human DNA for the worse. Big Business and Government are killing the world slowly while keeping them addicted.
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