Obesity in Children

[Slipknot]

that might be a little harsh Bishop, but I get your point.

I try not to judge people without knowing their situation or generalize myself.

you might be one of those people with a high metabolism, your lucky.

I try to avoid mcdonalds and those places
the food in this country is geared towards obesity but you can find good choices.

I'm gonna eat a big bowl of ice cream now in your honor

[Raider Ronnie]

I was a kid in the 60s - 70s,
and in my opinion things are MUCH different from now.
Back then,
- No tv watching
- No video games
- No Mcdonalds
- No computers
- No women working a job, other than in the kitchen !!!
I rode my big wheel till the tires wore off, then the same with my bike.
We would play street hockey , kick ball and base ball day and night!
I had a paper route when I was 10 and delivered papers with the paper bad on the handle bars about 3-4 miles a day till I was 13 or 14.

[Joe]

Going outside ain't what it used to be....
They can't ride their bikes in the neighboorhood because a road rage d-bag doing 50 in a 25 will run them down - or a freak will grab them up....
They can't walk down the street because a freak might grab them up.
They can't play in the front yard unattended - see reasons 1 & 2...

[fishpoopoo]

Originally Posted by Joe

Going outside ain't what it used to be....
They can't ride their bikes in the neighboorhood because a road rage d-bag doing 50 in a 25 will run them down - or a freak will grab them up....
They can't walk down the street because a freak might grab them up.
They can't play in the front yard unattended - see reasons 1 & 2...

exercise with your kids!

if there's a school nearby, walk laps around the football/soccer field or track.

goof around with a ball. make it fun!

how 'bout a visit to the pool with kids at the local ymca? nothing tuckers out a kid more than an hour spent floundering in the pool.

you know, you can even fish and get some exercise.

some of my favorite workouts have been with folks like ChrisL, Krispy, and JohnR - walking and casting Naps in the middle of the night!

don't have to cost an arm and a leg or take up a ton of time.

[Joe]

My point is that you just can't open the door and let them go off by themselves all day, on foot, like you could thirty years ago. That's why our generation was so skinny....that and the fact that we were too damn poor to have a UHF antenna.

I can't remember my father ever exercising with me - his Lucky Strikes would have burned down too fast in the breeze, I do remember him saying he had to run down to the packy though - does that count?

Personally, my kid is not fat...but I can see why it is a problem.

[Backbeach Jake]

Originally Posted by Joe

My point is that you just can't open the door and let them go off by themselves all day, on foot, like you could thirty years ago. That's why our generation was so skinny....that and the fact that we were too damn poor to have a UHF antenna.

I can't remember my father ever exercising with me - his Lucky Strikes would have burned down too fast in the breeze, I do remember him saying he had to run down to the packy though - does that count?

Personally, my kid is not fat...but I can see why it is a problem.

I'm 55 yo. I consider my generation to be the last "free" one. We could play outside way after dark. We , in our teens could hit the woods with a .22 and spend most of a weekend and our parents didn't worry . Hell you could go for a walk at night and no one called the police. Speaking of police, the small town in Kentucky where I was raised , Pop. 1800, had a police chief who was a patient individual, he knew who was trouble and who was just "high spirited but bacically good kids" . ANd he dealt with us accordingly. If he was alive today, I'd like to shake Chief Bradly's hand and thank him for his understanding. But I digress... We were more active because our world was safer..simple as that ..we , and our children are prisonser in our own homes these days, outside is a very mean place.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by Bassturbed

exercise with your kids!

if there's a school nearby, walk laps around the football/soccer field or track.

goof around with a ball. make it fun!

how 'bout a visit to the pool with kids at the local ymca? nothing tuckers out a kid more than an hour spent floundering in the pool.

you know, you can even fish and get some exercise.

some of my favorite workouts have been with folks like ChrisL, Krispy, and JohnR - walking and casting Naps in the middle of the night!

don't have to cost an arm and a leg or take up a ton of time.

Ben is dead on.

Get em the hell out of the house. #1 thing.

Also there's programs growing out there including one run by my far more intelligent half. Their tagline (Ben, she's been interviewed on NY1 twice now, you've probably seen it.):

a non-profit prevention program that encourages preteen girls to develop self-respect and a healthy lifestyle through running. Our curricula address all aspects of girls' development: their physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual well-being.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

I'm gonna eat a big bowl of ice cream now in your honor

what Flavor.....?

yeah Raider Ron me two! DITTO on the activities but i also walked alot to go fish "down the river"...

[Backbeach Jake]

When Jenn and I decided to have kids, it was also decided that she would stay home. She sews and does anything with material ( her degree at RISD). There is a marked difference in our children (mid 20's now) and their cohorts from school. Our daughter is a slim ,trim fashion maven/ inside sales manager at a major Boston firm. Our son is a slim,trim superathelete bicycle racer/shipper receiver at Providence Bicycle in RI. Their friends on the other hand...welll aren't. I/ we claim no special skills, just that our system seems to be a tad healthier. The kids need someone home when they get there, it's a sacrifice, I know, boy do I know, but the satisfaction alone is worth it all.

[fishsmith]

Well said Backbeach, I'm living what you did (I hope to have the same results, congrats man!!) , my wife is a Bentley or is it Bently grad(as you can see I"m not) and now a stay at home mom. It is a huge $acrifice, but I can't put a price tag on my kids safety.

If you don't have kids, you have a lot of balls telling others how to raise them.

[Bishop169]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

that might be a little harsh Bishop, but I get your point.

I'm gonna eat a big bowl of ice cream now in your honor

I wouldn't say "Harsh" at all yes we all have to admit we live in a gluten’s society and its every parents choice to what they buy when they shop..

Stick with Bryers all natural that has to be the best ice-cream

Someone stated that it could have something to do with there genes. My sisters is a nurse and my father a doc only about 10% truly have a genetic condition for the other its normally parental conditioning... generally people with bad eating habits pass it down to the kids we learn from watching chubby mom + chubby dad= chubby kid.

Before I get yelled at I know not always. It just breaks my heart to hear a little 5 yr old panting after climbing a flight of stairs.

So back to point maybe punishing the parents isn’t right but they do need a wake up call.. It just makes me made to hear “oh it’s genetic” when there are scores of medicine that can fix that. People need to wake up and stop looking for scapegoats food dependency is just as bad and sometimes worse then alcohol and drugs for a persons health.



:edit: forgot to mention I'm a full time single dad... taking my kids fishing with me is the only chioce I have

[chris L]

dont judge a person till you have walked in their shoes ! a doctors kid from ct that explains it . have at it !

[FishermanTim]

One of my mottos has always been "Everything in moderation!"
Another is "A body at rest tends to stay at rest, while a body in motion tends to want to stay in motion".

I can't prove this, but I believe that by letting kids stay inactive and possibly overweight through their "growing/developmental" years is bad. This allows their bodies to develop a "foundation" based on carrying extra pounds. When they get older, it becomes next to if not impossible to lose and keep off any weight since their bodies developed around a frame build on extra girth.

I was always active as a kid. Walking miles a day was nothing, heck we walked EVERYWHERE. I can recall walking into the city from Jamaica Plain, or walking home from Downtown Boston. Sure, I was tired, but I didn't mind.
As an adult reaching middle age, I don't walk that far, but I try to walk a mile each day (while working out with 5lb weights).
I feel great, my clothes fit better, and what surprises most of my friends and coworkers is that I weigh MORE than I look.
At 5'11", at 46 yrs I top out at around 275lbs. But look like I would weigh less than 240 easily. (I attribute this to the "walking workouts", and that muscle weighs more than fat.)
I try to watch what I eat, and will "explain" why I buy/eat what I do so that my family might get the hint and try taking better care of themselves.

The bottom line is that if the kids don't build a good body "foundation" now, they'll be in for more "repairs" as they get older, and you'll hear "I wish I had taken better care when I was younger".

[PaulS]

I work at company that doesn't have enough parking spaces so people can park on the private roads. Early morning when there is still lots of spots, you can watch the fat people parking on the road to get closer to the door. Then they come in and walk by the stairs and take the elevator up to the 2nd floor. What comes first the chicken or the egg - did they get fat from being lazy or they got fat and refuse to exert any energy.

Also how many times have you seen someone waiting for someone else to load things into a car so that they can park close to a mall. You pass them and there's a spot 10 cars back. You park and walk by the fatso still waiting.

What do you think their kids learn?