Child obesity

[Big money]

Noticing more and more an increase in Child Obseity in the states.Many a great foundation working addressing this issue.What would can we do helping this major issue?

[silver & black]

Take away the video games and cell phones.... and tell them to go outside and play. I was out of the house by 7:30 in the morning and not back home until dinner time in the Summer. Then, back out until 9:00 (almost dark) play ball, fishing, riding my bike, etc.... I don't remember any of us being obese (fat) as children.

 

Okay.... old guy rant over.

[Charli]

start calling them fat.... Electronics is the main reason. Kids would rather play video games then have a baseball catch. Which makes zero sense to me. I loved playing video games as a kid but it was at night when homework was finished and wasn't allowed back out.

[Gg Owen]

This is a major problem.I think issue is over protective parents.They listen what the child wants for food daily. Versus, feeding them a healthy diet. Parents now a days need retraining. No discipline and children taking advantage of it

[Big money]

I was introduced into weight lifting and physical fitness at an early age of 12.It will always be a huge part of my life and others I influence.There's no substitute having a well built physically attractive body.Once you got it you want more of it

 

Active sports for youth like soccer ..baseball .. baseball .. track are vital.Didnt mention golf as I notice many youths and older avid players lack a physical look that other athletic endeavors offer.Physically stimulated activities are a must with youths.Take that away and issues arise

[gaussman1]

I don't know man. I'm almost 50 and my brother and I played video games nonstop when we were kids (Intellivision ftw!). But we also played outside all year long, played all the sports, mowed the lawn, shoveled snow, walked the dogs, and went places via foot power or bicycle. So did everyone else we knew. We didn't eat out much. No one did. And we didn't have miniature handheld computers in our faces 24-7. I think all of that little stuff combines into big differences

[Kor.A.Door]

Some of it is the food itself. Not the types of food ( in some cases yes), but all the chemicals and hormones and crap they put into food nowadays that we didn't have when I was growing up, when we made chicken breasts for dinner, they weren't the size of a large turkey breast, they were smaller and looked as though it was a chicken. Also the activity levels have diminished a lot. I think it's a combination of things. When I was a kid during the summer, we left the house in the morning, and returned at dinner time, or dark. That was the curfew. We played outside almost the entire day.

[Rickp]

Take away the video games and cell phones.... and tell them to go outside and play. I was out of the house by 7:30 in the morning and not back home until dinner time in the Summer. Then, back out until 9:00 (almost dark) play ball, fishing, riding my bike, etc.... I don't remember any of us being obese (fat) as children.

 

Okay.... old guy rant over.

Maybe “old guy” rant but your pretty close to right on. Only difference is the 1950's we could go out and play, today's day and age I would make sure there is supervision. World has changed.

Also your close, not many “overweight” kids in 50's.

 

 

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[tommc23]

I never had video games and was outside a lot yet I'm a bigger kid. I think my problem was I never knew when to stop eating and no one else cut me off. Little self control lead me to being bigger. I got into lifting in high school but the kind of lifting where being bigger helped me move more weight so it wasn't something to get me to slim down too much.

 

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[GB13]

Take away the video games and cell phones.... and tell them to go outside and play. I was out of the house by 7:30 in the morning and not back home until dinner time in the Summer. Then, back out until 9:00 (almost dark) play ball, fishing, riding my bike, etc.... I don't remember any of us being obese (fat) as children.

 

Okay.... old guy rant over.

Not an old guy rant at all. I am only 15(I describe myself as a 70 year old in a 15 year old's body) yet I completely agree with you. Video games, cell phone, and general inactivity are leading to an out of shape and lazy generation. Also is it just me or does food seem unhealthier with all the added sugar and chemicals now?

[GolfJunkie302]

Not an old guy rant at all. I am only 15(I describe myself as a 70 year old in a 15 year old's body) yet I completely agree with you. Video games, cell phone, and general inactivity are leading to an out of shape and lazy generation. Also is it just me or does food seem unhealthier with all the added sugar and chemicals now?

Exactly. Sugars and chemicals in food are slowly killing us all. Not only do they contribute to things like obesity, but they are also increasing the number of cancer cases.

 

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[revkev]

This is a very real and complex problem - I'm wondering how things are in the rest of the world. In this country obesity is rampant. I think that food has more to do with it than anything else.

 

 

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[Rickp]

This is a very real and complex problem - I'm wondering how things are in the rest of the world. In this country obesity is rampant. I think that food has more to do with it than anything else.

 

 

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Rev your right but I believe lack of exercise is right up there with poor nutrition.

 

 

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[Shankster]

Our kids get mad at us. They get 30 minutes to a hour of screen time a day, but it has to be educational.

 

First is chores. Which apparently we are the only family that makes your kids have responsibilities, and it shows.

 

They all have library cards, bikes, every sport with a ball, a acre and a half to roam around on, and take adventures down the road.

 

We have family Nintendo switch night once or twice a month depending on the weather. No violent games, just MARIO or MARIO cart.

 

I see it becoming worse and worse. My 8 year old daughters friend just got an iPad Pro for her 9th birthday, but the stipulation was she has to read two books (real books) by the end of summer.

 

My kids read two books a week.

 

We also eat no junk food, clean healthy stuff.

 

Not trying to be a jerk, but my kids are some of the only ones that aren't overweight in the school.

 

It's sad really, and I think Michigan has a big problem with it.

 

I too played games as a kid, but I was also outside from dawn till dusk...

[silver & black]

Maybe “old guy” rant but your pretty close to right on. Only difference is the 1950's we could go out and play, today's day and age I would make sure there is supervision. World has changed.

Also your close, not many “overweight” kids in 50's.

 

 

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That's true, I spent my childhood in the mid 60's - early 70's. My brother and I roamed the neighborhood at will. I would never let my daughters do that when they were growing up. The world has definitely changed, and in a lot of ways, not for the better.

[silver & black]

Our kids get mad at us. They get 30 minutes to a hour of screen time a day, but it has to be educational.

 

First is chores. Which apparently we are the only family that makes your kids have responsibilities, and it shows.

 

They all have library cards, bikes, every sport with a ball, a acre and a half to roam around on, and take adventures down the road.

 

We have family Nintendo switch night once or twice a month depending on the weather. No violent games, just MARIO or MARIO cart.

 

I see it becoming worse and worse. My 8 year old daughters friend just got an iPad Pro for her 9th birthday, but the stipulation was she has to read two books (real books) by the end of summer.

 

My kids read two books a week.

 

We also eat no junk food, clean healthy stuff.

 

Not trying to be a jerk, but my kids are some of the only ones that aren't overweight in the school.

 

It's sad really, and I think Michigan has a big problem with it.

 

I too played games as a kid, but I was also outside from dawn till dusk...

I call that responsible parenting. They will thank you for it as they get older.

[Headhammer]

When I got home from school my mother threw me outside and said don't come back till dinner. My friends and I used to ride out bikes for hours, play sports, etc. Now kids come home from school and go to the couch and play video games, text each other endlessly or sit in front of a computer blogging in forums. Maybe disregard that last one, but inactivity, portion size and junk food are the main culprits. The cost of healthy food is also a major detriment when a family can eat at McDonalds for less than a piece of fish!

[tony@CIC]

As Rev stated in an earlier post this is a pretty complex issue. However, a good portion of how our kids develop rests on our shoulders in terms of modeling behavior - kids watch what we do vs. what we say.

 

 

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[bens197]

I am a new father. My wife and I agree that the example starts with us. If we're too busy to make time for face to face dialogue then it'll default to screen time.

 

Sedentary lifestyles and not making the time to eat better is a choice. We're doing our best to choose what's best for us.

 

 

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[Gg Owen]

It's always been a problem.Just now people are addressing it and helping with the situation. I believe times are better now and issues are getting addressed. In the past things were hidden and never discussed. We are living in good times indeed

[silver & black]

It's always been a problem.Just now people are addressing it and helping with the situation. I believe times are better now and issues are getting addressed. In the past things were hidden and never discussed. We are living in good times indeed

I think it's a bigger problem than it ever has been. Yea, it's always been there, but not to the degree I see today. Just get on one of the on line dating sites, you'll see what I mean.

 

As far as good times.......... that's about as subjective as it could be, depending on who you ask.

[MaxEntropy]

The other potential issue I have not seen addressed is that fact that there are now more latch-key kids (due to both parents working, single parent households, whatever the reason) with no supervision about what or how much snacking is done when they get home from school. My childhood was very similar to most everyone else and I can only remember 1 kid that was always going home to an empty house. It seems to happen a lot more often now.

[silver & black]

The other potential issue I have not seen addressed is that fact that there are now more latch-key kids (due to both parents working, single parent households, whatever the reason) with no supervision about what or how much snacking is done when they get home from school. My childhood was very similar to most everyone else and I can only remember 1 kid that was always going home to an empty house. It seems to happen a lot more often now.

That's an excellent point.

[Gg Owen]

I think it's a bigger problem than it ever has been. Yea, it's always been there, but not to the degree I see today. Just get on one of the on line dating sites, you'll see what I mean.

 

As far as good times.......... that's about as subjective as it could be, depending on who you ask.

I'm very proud being an American with this current administration.We are in good hands.And it will only be getting better

[silver & black]

I'm very proud being an American with this current administration.We are in good hands.And it will only be getting better

That makes two of us, but what does that have to do with anything?

[fixyurdivot]

Take away the video games and cell phones.... and tell them to go outside and play. I was out of the house by 7:30 in the morning and not back home until dinner time in the Summer. Then, back out until 9:00 (almost dark) play ball, fishing, riding my bike, etc.... I don't remember any of us being obese (fat) as children.

 

Okay.... old guy rant over.

 

This.  And, back then, even the fat kids were in shape. 

[MattF]

This.  And, back then, even the fat kids were in shape. 

 

I am a fat kid and round is a shape!!

[Mr. 82]

A lot of solid answers, so I simply add some thoughts to the thread that I don't think have been addressed.  And my apologies in advance if what I type here bleeds into some religion or worldview thoughts, but I don't see any other way of addressing this.  (Sigh)  We'll see where this goes.

 

I grew up in the 70's and 80's.  Dad worked full time for an airline and Marriott, and was always traveling.  Mom stayed at home and kept an eye on us.  They've been married for nearly 60 years now.  How many of you reading this have parents that have stayed married your entire life?  The telling sign for me was back in 2013 when we went to the local high school for my son's back to school night and one of his teachers casually mentioned that they had 3 copies of a text book for each student - one for Mom's house, one for Dad's house, and one that stayed in the classroom.  When your teachers have resigned themselves to assuming that every child comes from a broken home, with divorce, and God knows how many step-parents, or single parent households, don't we think that's a problem?  Having gone through divorce myself when my daughter was 2, I see the tragedy that is a family split, with blended families and multiple marriages/divorces.  We're so busy being selfish about what makes us happy that at the first sign of unhappiness we check out and look for a way out.  We don't care about what is best for our kids, and chances are if the spouse isn't making us happy we are looking for happiness somewhere else.  So we get the quick and easy divorce so we can screw the next "wife" or girlfriend (or vice versa for the girls).  Meanwhile we find ourselves 2 or 3 marriages down the road, and we've got a trail of tears as our kids are shuffled between 2 houses, depending on how the court order was signed.  Divorced parents play off each other by buying their kids crap, so the correlation becomes that the more I buy my kids and spoil them, the better parent I am.

 

What motivation does a child today have to play outside when their divorced parents are buying them whatever they want (at age 9 no less) and if Dad says no, they just go ask Mom, who gives them whatever they want.  It's essentially a welfare system for children.  They get whatever they want, and never have to lift a finger.  What chores when Mom uses child support to pay for a maid?  

 

All I see around me are $40,000+ "tanks" being driven around.  What a house used to cost is now a family vehicle.  We have less kids, but yet the cars have increased in size and value threefold.  I see a 5 foot nothing soccer Mom driving a Tahoe, and she only has 1 kid.  When I was growing up we had 1 car, and I was one of four children in the house.  We didn't have seatbelts in the used Chevy Impala that Dad paid cash for (there were no car loans back then btw).  But you know what, we all survived and even thrived under those circumstances.

 

We're talking about childhood obesity, and I am quite sure that all of these issues are wrapped up in one package.  The child is lazy now, because they are spoiled (we call them snowflakes now, right?).  They never leave the bedroom or the couch, engrossed in video games that we have bought for them, and they spend 23 hours a day staring a screen of some sort.  We bought them the iPad, the Xbox, the Playstation, and the $1,000 iPhone that they "needed" because one of their friends has it and it's the only way to text/communicate with them.

 

Because the parents are divorced, no one has time to cook anymore, because both parents are working crazy long hours just to afford life.  Why is it that we were able to survive as a family of 6 on one income, with one car, back in the 70's and 80's, but now we have 1 child in a marriage that lasts less than 5 years (on average), and 2 cars between 2 houses isn't enough to keep everyone happy.  And because the parents are divorced they don't talk to each other, except to relay terms of drop off and pick up of said child that they produced.  Because the parents don't talk, the child is on an island by themselves, because they get maybe an hour or two each day interacting with whichever parent happens to have them that day.

 

We have all of these "needs" that we think we have to have, like the bigger house, and the bigger car, and the better school, when all along, we are drowning in debt and no one talks to each other anymore.  We're a family in name only, and even when we are together we all have our own "screens" that we entertain ourselves with.

 

Speaking of which, we had 1 TV with 4 channels growing up, and somehow, we found a way to come together to watch the Carol Burnett show together and laugh together, and split a bowl of ice cream together while we watched it.  Because we watched it together we can still visit with the folks and talk about how funny Tim Conway was, and how that show just cracked us up.  

 

Now?  Do you even know what your kids watch on their little screens?  I'd try and watch something I thought the entire family would want to watch together, and my son and daughter would check out, into their rooms, where they would have their phones, and their own entertainment of shows they wanted to watch.

 

My point being that the nuclear family is gone, at least how I was raised to know it.  We went to church together, played together, sat around the dinner table laughing at Dad's jokes together (Mom just rolled her eyes, but was happy inside because we were all together), and did things together and actually talked to each other about things.

 

Now food is so fast and convenient that we fill up on crap, and exercise doesn't exist.  The kids are lazy and spoiled, and then we wonder why we can't find help on the job from a generation of twenty-somethings that have been raised with participation trophies and have been brainwashed to believe that the world revolves around them, and that they are God's gift to humanity and that they can do no wrong.  Is it any wonder that they get a job and lose it within a few weeks because they couldn't believe that someone actually expected them to actually work?  Why should they when they've never lifted a finger all of their lives up until that point, because Mom wanted to keep them safe from a dangerous world and did everything for them.

 

Bottom line, obesity is a major side effect of a culture that has embraced laziness and consumerism and divorce.  The fathers have been neutered from disciplining their child, because of divorce.  When I screwed up as a kid, my Dad made me pay physically.  Was it child abuse to whack me on the rear end when I was a disobedient little brat?  Hell no, it made me think twice about doing the same stupid thing ever again.  But God forbid we spank our children now.  We'll be locked up and the children will be in protective custody with the state.  We've feminized society too.  Heck, I don't even know if it's safe to even classify anything by gender anymore.  For what one person was once a he, is now a she, or a ???  They are what they feel like they should be for the next 5 minutes?  What sort of insanity of a culture are we living in now with no rules, no boundaries, and no moral compass?

 

Obesity?  Lol, if you want real problems, let's talk about the opiod epidemic currently allowing millions of Americans to committ assisted suicide on a slow basis.  Overeating is the least of our worries honestly.

[tony@CIC]

I'm very proud being an American with this current administration.We are in good hands.And it will only be getting better

Can we keep politics off of this site please. One of the reasons I come to this forum is to escape the constant political barrage.

 

 

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[MaxEntropy]

Can we keep politics off of this site please. One of the reasons I come to this forum is to escape the constant political barrage.

 

 

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Agreed...

 

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