Posted on 06/01/2006 4:44:14 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Interesting. I was just on the South Island and saw little of that. The only country i've been in where I observed lots of large people was Scotland. And even then they didn't have as many as us and they lacked the truly giant class.
It seems to be somewhat State related.
I spent a week in California's Silicon Valley area recently and there were very few fatties.
States like Texas and Georgia seem to have their share of tonnage.. ;)
You want the government to buy your drugs for you? Guess what, you better be prepared to have them tell you what you can eat.
The information is there, most folks, even the most poorly educated know the basics. The issue is using the knowledge. It's sad when kids look at you funny when you offer them water as a beverage, refuse all vegetables, can't understand why they are being offered fruit for dessert.
Their parents have passed on their eating habits, knowing full well they are bad......so there they sit with a 12 year old Type II diabetic. And most STILL won't change 'their' eating. There right to eat what THEY want is being infringed on (by their child!)
Yes, it's YOUR right to eat whatever you want....BUT, with a sick kid, you need to modify at least your grocery shopping, if not the whole families eating habits!
And don't get me started on the end of the road, IatewhatIwantednowIminanursinghomeat60 folks. Biggest babies in the world. Look, eat what ya want, but bite the dang bullet when it hits ya. You get no sympathy from me.
I agree totally. You make your own choices, and are responsible for the consequences.
I do feel sorry for the kids who get the wrong training from their parents. But most kids have enough savvy by the age of 12 or so to figure out that they don't have to be fat. It takes more to get healthy if the parents aren't supportive, but all kids grow up eventually, and become responsible for their own lives.
My issue is more with the 'sick' kids....the new Type II's, the new hypertensives, the new cardiac issues we're seeing....plus morbid obesity, like GPB's at 15.
Yeah, a kid of 12 may know how to eat, but he doesn't buy the food, snacks, plan the meals etc. Technically, he's still at the mercy of his parents. That is what I was referring to sadly, the kids who's parents are not willing to make the radical changes to help their kids be healthy, heck survive!
They may know how to eat healthy, but many may not make it to make the changes.
Well, the only reason the gummint gets involved, it seems to me, is that obesity creates additional costs to it and to the rest of us. But that cannot be stated, it would be, why, 'RACIST", and would outrage the DU as well as the FR side of the political spectrum. In the name of political ocrectness we avoid all kinds of unpleasant truths, or in this case connections. It can be stated outside of any context that obesity affects disproportionately members of ethnic minorities and the so-called poor who patronize the junk food restaurants and purchase their food using foo stams. But for the same political correctness reasons we are not allowed to make connections and single out the foo stams and the Mcburger outlets in these revelations. So the gummint points to all restaurants. Absurd! I see plenty of obese 'poor' people (only in America!) with cell phones and iPods, needless to say, but I never ever see obese people in the restaurants I patronize, and they are not expensive, high class joints.
I agree that the kids are the big issue. We haven't done them any favors by eliminating recess and pe from most schools. Physical activity would help a lot of them.
Most kids do have a say in what they eat - unfortunately, most kids prefer fries to celery sticks. And their parents go along with that. School menus haven't been able to change that either.
What do you think the answer is?
Ya just can't beat a big ol' t-bone!
So yeah, I've seen them eat collard greens and cornbread. ;) We put out milk and fruit for snacks, and the junk is pretty limited. And I am REALLY trying to push water, but that isn't working all the time.
Part of it too, is we have no substitutes, unless its health or allergy related. So from the get go, they know if they don't like it, tough. (OK, so that's my theory....don't give them choices, or keep them small in the same category)
Maybe it's because they're away from their parents.
Anyhow, I have niece who at 18 months eats all veges and fruits (allowed for her age)....she drinks water constantly, no juice. Her crackers are whole grain, yadda yadda yadda.
But it's because her parents really, REALLY want her healthy.
Another thread on this topic stated that the FDA wants to do away with doggy bags as well.
Good Grief!
I think all kids really prefer fatty foods like chips and fries or candy. They'll pick those if they have a choice. It's their undeveloped taste buds that do it, I think.
Some years ago, I had occasion to take care of up to 4 kids for regular afternoons. They were 5-10. I'd put out bowls of crisp vegs in ice water - broccoli, celery and carrot sticks, cauliflower, raw beans, mushrooms, apple slices, etc. Along with ice water and sometimes lemonade. They were perfectly happy eating that stuff. They had choices. But if someone gave them candy, they'd pick that first. (I learned not to put the candy where they could get it - I was never up to taking on kids with a sugar rush :-))
Good for you for working with kids in a juvie psych unit. Those are kids who need special care, and people like you are important for doing it.
You can go and ask your Chinese neighbours next door. Pop up at the Pacific Mall in Markham and ask anyone passing by what they think of the shapes of "white people". You will hear the Chinese migrants use exactly the same words you describe your American neighbours back on yourself.
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