Just followed a school bus through town... (Page 3)

Fine - it's not a "must".  Basic food, water and shelter is a MUST.  Point taken.

But add the cost of a home, retirement, cars/transportation, insurance, taxes, fuel, education, professional looking clothing, cosmetics, cleaning products - some basic items for entertainment.  Then the price goes up.  Is college a MUST?  No, there are many who don't go.  That's not an option for me IMO.  I could rent - but in the long run, that's even a more unsensible financialy than owning a home - so that's not an option for me either.

In general, there IS a level of entitlement that's a little overboard.  However, 30 years ago, a income of 1 could pay for most of the "life's sweet extras" that I just mentioned.

BTW - I said it was "almost" a must.  So then it's easier to assume that the kids are obese as a result of parents being "lazy" instead of being busy with two jobs. 

So let me see if this the way it's being argued.  Parents with two incomes, both working 40 hours plus, managing a home and caring for kids are lazy....  hmmmmmm.

Fine - two incomes are not almost a "must".  But parents ARE bussier than 30 years ago IMO.  That has an impact on how we raise our kids.

MUL98 - 2008-06-04 9:13 AM

bradword - 2008-06-04 10:40 AM

Aikidoman - 2008-06-04 9:30 AM

rayd - 2008-06-04 8:22 AM

Ryanmite, I agree that there are too many "lazy" parents!

 

I will have to disagree. Two incomes is not a must. We as a people just feel intitled to nice things. We think we NEED so much. We live above our means and need to keep up with the Jones'. I live in a very wealthy community, with VERY high home costs and manage on one income. This does mean, I have to rent, have inexpensive cars and can't have everything I want, but my boys have a Mother at home and that is a sacrifice I was willing to make. I know this isn't always the case for everyone, but I think a lot of people cop out of 1 income because it's "normal"

I have to disagree with your disagreeing. If you have an income like many of us on this board do, there may not be a need for a second income. Most of America does NOT fall in to that category. The majority of families need two incomes just to survive. That's not an excuse for not providing a healthy diet to your children though.

THAT'S the point.  It's a matter of priorities - both with time and money - simple as that....

So taxes, two incomes, social activites, all the other things really don't matter - we should be doing right by our kids (and ourselves with reguards to eating healthy).

This goes to the two income and healty eating points.

My mom raised us as latch key kids on a very small income.  Think minimum wage.  She was never home for evening meals but guess what she did.  She did this thing called COOK and she made food the night before so that we could have it the next day.  Granted I was on free lunch, so I never took my lunch to school.  But I also was smart about my food choices.

It is possible to cook for you children and work (equivalent to 2 income married folks).  Granted, I also don't think you need two incomes to make ends meet.  You need 2 incomes to make the ends you want to meet.

I agree parents are busier than when we grew up (70's).  My husband and I have been talking about this recently regarding what our 4 year old has been eating.  We both eat very healthy, low fat meals, little snacking.  We found ourselves feeding our son mac n cheese and chicken nuggets because it was easier.........now we have a problem feeding him good, homecooked meals.  He wants the processed food.  We've changed our habits and made time to make meals every night (and we both work full time) - my son's not happy about this to say the least, but I want to establish good eating habits now instead of trying to change it when he's older.

 And I have the opposite problem with him - he's a skinny kid, so I'm constantly worried he's not eating enough...hence giving in to the "easy" food.  I'm glad to say we're working on that 

While Parents of this generation may be more busier than their parents I think that is a bit of a cop out. There are just more distractions now a days with Internet , Computer games and a couple of hundred cable channels.

How many adults watch TV, internet etc more than 2 hours a day? I would say the vast majority. It is all about priorities some people rank watching TV and sitting on their A more than cooking decent meals for their kids and kicking a ball around after work or on the weekend. 

ANy way just my 2 cents!

I like that quote.....

But in the case for physics/science:

Occam's razor:  The principle is lex parsimoniae: "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem", often paraphrased as "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best."

Keep in mind too that for some children the meal(s) they get at school are the only meals they get. It's a sad truth, but a reality that many of my friends who work at schools see...

I do agree with wurkit that schools have to have some sort of responsibility.

The problem is NOT the lunches.

The problem is the vending machines sitting outside the cafeteria.  The problem is the alternatives to the lunches served by the school.  The problem is overall behavior.

It's very simple to boil these complex problems down into something to blame.  School lunches make kids fat.  Lazy parents make kids fat.  Busy parents make kids fat.

All of this is true, and none of it.

What makes children obese?  Partly the foods they eat.  Partly the activities they engage in.  Partly, the lessons they learn from their parents.

One could look at our public policy when it comes to school lunch subsidies.  There are very strict guidelines that MUST be followed to get the monies, including portion size and content.  Most school lunches are not horrible, and usually feature something from all the food groups.  In fact, I'd venture to say that for many kids, school-provided lunch is probably the most nutritious meal they get in a day.

I wonder how many of them consider eating at home a strange occurrence?  How many consider some form of take-out to be the standard, and a home-cooked meal to be for "special" occasions?  There would be the real culprit.  The choices we all make, both as individuals, families, and a society.

So, how do we change this situation?  Not easily.  There are several points of leverage that could be brought to bear in these situations.  But it ultimately comes down to the point none of us can control, and that's the individual.  Like it or not, no matter what rules are put in place, we will need to change people's individual behaviors before we see the situation turn around.

Exactly - all the more reason to ensure the kids are getting something somewhat nutritious.

 I remember when I was a kid, after-school activities for the kids I knew (and myself) included wandering outside, riding a bike, jumping on the pogo ball or maybe just getting into mischief...

Now there are soooo many video game options, a million and one ways to entertain for hours without moving anything but your thumb. At least there are some active games now,  I really hope these will help some. Hooking a bike into a video game, etc., maybe this is the way to go?

Good post.  I have looked back at my childhood and compaired it to those now.  Maybe all of us "old" folk do that....

I was outside all the time.  Got mad when mom called me in for dinner or dark.  In general, there is MUCH more diversions indoors now - computer and game consoles.  We had TV, but mom told me to turn it off.

We ate at home every night at about the same time - prepared by mom or dad (in his case it was either sloppy joes or pancakes and eggs!), or me when I got older.  We also had to pack our lunch for school.  Today I see much more prepackaged items that are quick and easy.

I'm not condemming any of this stuff.  I LOVE my game system, the internet and the TV.  I also like some prepackaged meals.  Just like anything else in life, it in moderation.

Comes down to the parents again being around enough or paying attention enought to show kids moderation.  You can't leave it up them them to stop watching TV or limit the amount of candy or ice cream they eat while you are busy at the office or training or on the home computer or watching TV yourself.

I feel sad that parents are not with their kids as much (as it seems to me).  I would want to hang out with them a lot I'm guessing...  (don't have any yet, so I'm not 100% sure I wouldn't fall into the same trap)

With a slight amount of planning, anyone (yes ANYONE) has time to avoid takeout. Every weekday I spend about 15 hours on work+commute+training, which doesn't leave time for much else, yet I hardly ever eat fast food or takeout of any kind.

Every morning I spend approximately 5 minutes preparing my breakfast and lunch to take to work, which usually includes a clif bar or something similar, yogurt, a few pieces of fruit, salad (spinach + carrots + snap peas + grape tomatoes + lunch meat + whatever tossed in a tupperware) + maybe another snack for the afternoon. At least once a week my husband spends about 20 minutes grilling a bunch of frozen chicken breasts, which we then use for 3 days worth of salads, tacos, or whatever. Usually on Sunday night I'll cook dinner and have a bunch of leftovers, which I then put in individual serving containers and have for lunch or dinner at some point later in the week. Not counting the weekly grocery store trip, I think I devote about an hour and a half per week to food preparation. It's really not that complicated.  I imagine at some point when we have kids it will become more complicated, but I really can't imagine giving up my habits of healthy eating because I can't spend an extra hour or two per week cooking and making lunches.

Wow some of you are amazingly judgmentel.  How did you all become the purveyors of what is right and and who should be praised and punished.  If you don't like the way a parent raises their kids then don't look.  Next thing you know a group of people will impose their agenda for what they believe is right on you for the things you do that they don't agree with.  I don't drink, I think it is foolish, unhealthy and leads to way too many compromising situation including drunk driving.  A group of people who believed the way I do passed a law in 1920 outlawing alcohol maybe we should do it again?  Oh yeah that's right it didn't work because way to many people in this country are married to their beer on Fri/Sat/Sun...  If you want to drink it is not up to me to tell you what to do and how to live your life or how to raise your kids.  I am sure you intend to raise your children to view alcohol the same way you do.  There are way too many people out there who are willing to tell you how to behave and call you a bad parent if you do not parent the way they believe you should.  Just wait until you are on the receiving end.

Many of you have said I saw this or I saw that.  You take snap shots of peoples lives and then make snap judgments about them.  Some of those people may have justifications for the way they act that you know nothing about.  You want people to respect you for who you are and leave you alone to live your life but you are unwilling to let them do the same.  I look at my sons friends and most of them are not as skinny as he is (he won the genetic lottery on that score, I did not) but they are by no means fat.  Most of the kids I see around the neighborhood are also by no means fat.  Are we as a society getting heavier yes but we are also changing the definition of what is fat.  In todays world of size 00 models and actresses Marilyn Monroe would be considered positively obese at a size 16.  Because athleticism is a major focus of your life does not mean that anyone who does not follow your guidelines for living is wrong or bad.

I do agree to a certain extent about what you are saying about snap judgments based on appearances.  One certainly can't know the whole story just by looking at someone.

About certain habits such as drinking being unhealthy - the issue here is excess.  Having an occasional beer or two is not excessive.  Having several every day is excessive.  Same with having an occasional burger & fries & milkshake or cheesecake or whatever - no problem.  The problem is when overeating becomes a frequent habit.  It doesn't endanger others (as opposed to say, drinking and driving) but extreme obesity can stress individuals and families in other ways.  

Anyway, the point seems to be that kids are more overweight now than in the past, and a large part of this is because many parents are setting an example by making bad food choices, being inactive, and allowing inactivity.  This is not healthy.  Neither is setting the example of downing a 6 pack every night or coming home belligerently drunk on Friday night.

I did see bunches of kids playing outside in my neighborhood tonight.  Most of them were skinny.  One rather tall and spindly girl asked me how long I'd been running, and when I told her, she said "WOW".  Kind of OT for this discussion but I thought it was funny. 

My daughter is almost 2, I can tell you it is for the parents. I had been thinking about this recently, when I look back at old pictures from when I was growing up I can not recall anyone being heavy in grade school, it was not until middle school that people became heavy. A few kids may have been chunky, but no one was truly fat.

My father was very active, my mother ALWAYS cooked dinner, and typically made us sack lunches for school. We could get hot lunches from school if we wanted but normally did not. My siblings and I have never been fat, I did go through a lazy period early in high school were I puffed up some, but did not get fat.

We used to go on bike rides where my father would run, or if he was on his bike he would take off for a block at a time and ride back.

Looking back at who got heavy and who did not, I believe it had more to do with eating home cooked foods vs eating out. My mother's tuna casserole, her cookies and half the food for dinner was never super healthy but we always had balanced meals and everything was in moderation. My friends that have stayed thin, seem to be the ones who ate the most home cooked meals as well.

One of my friends growing up, loved coming over because my mom let us eat salami, he was not able to eat that 'unhealthy' when he was younger. We were only allowed so many snacks/week. 

/rambling off

Okay, now that everyone has gotten in their share of b1tching - what are you going to do about it?  Here are my recommendations, FWIW:

If you are a parent:

• Limit or remove video games
• Limit or remove tv
• More importantly - ENCOURAGE play time outside
• Take them to the pool regularly (ours have been 4 times this week)
• Enjoy active family activities.  Our favorites:
• Frisbee golf
• Hiking
• Tennis
• Horse riding
• Geocaching
• Amusement parks
• And most importantly - invite your kids' friends, especially those less healthy.

If you're not a parent:

• Volunteer!!
• Go give a Tri presentation to a grade school class
• Coach, whether it be soccer, football, tennis, etc
• Big Brother/Sister
• Start email campaigns to encourage folks to sign up on BT

But in all seriousness - stop complaining and start DOing.

All this coming from yeah, a guy still overweight (but coming down) - who is determined not to let his kids fall into the same traps that he did when he was younger.

Come on, BT'ers aren't the types to sit on the sidelines and throw stones, are they?