Sam

Are our generation of children too overweight? my sister and I both have kids the same ages and her 8 year old weighs close to 130 pounds, and he is a little over 4 feet, but the doctor says this is normal, how can this be?

TracyW

In my opinion ~ yes. I grew up in the late 70's and 80's (I'm 38) and we didn't have video games and satelitte tv ~ we had bicycles and played "hide 'n seek" and games outside for fun. Kids these days aren't getting enough exercise and there are toooo many fast food places that "supersize everything". I have a niece that is 9 and weighs about 120 lbs. and her doctor says the same thing ~ she is not overweight but yet, she needs to change her eating habits. She takes after the family genes of larger boned, and just down right "thick" around the ankles kind of folk. (hope that makes sense) ~ which means she isn't considered fat ~ just a kid with a larger frame. The doctor did encourage my brother and SIL to "set examples" of how she should be eating and what she should be eating and of course the big "E" word ~ EXERCISE.

mamab

I agree, we were more active as kids than most kids today. I don't remember just sitting and vegging in front of the tv for hours after dinner. We played in our rooms, played outside, rode bikes, roller skated (with the old metal wheels on concrete), etc. We rarely watched tv, and then when we did, it was just one or two programs (which were generally 1/2 hour) and then we went back to what we were doing.

I bought a bike for my kids, but they don't ride them the way I used to ride mine. Heck, my mom had to tell me to get off the bike to eat dinner. My kids just don't want to ride their bikes when they're at home. But if they're at Nana's house, they do. Go figure?!

destiny

I think kids are pretty much more overweight than they used to be, yes. I blame the
lack of exercise, as others have said here, but I also think it has a lot to do with all the
processed foods and availabilty of snacks and sugary foods.

Chris

Parents need to just go back to the basics. Fruit and veggies for snacks, and lots of playing outdoors. They are starting to invent some cool games for kids, my daughter has a play station dance mat, Dance Revolution, and she gets a good workout by playing this game. So hopefully in the future they will create more of these type of video games for kids.

penguinmama

The new Wii seems to be headed that way - the commercials show a lot of people-moving-to-play-the-game stuff, and that can only be good!

Sam

Its nice to see so many views and that we can all agree, and it sad and also scary. What is our kids future going to be like, and what can we do about it?

SageMother

When I was young, I am 51 now, there were more open spaces and more people were having children. Kids played in vacant lots, rode bikes in streets, played games everywhere and it was tolerated quite well. These days, people have to be concerned about a child's being injured on their property and then being sued by the parents, an aging population of drivers cannot react quickly enough to avoid a child on a bike, an fewer people are having children so they are not willing to tolerate the noise associated with a rousing game of stick ball. The limitations of where a child can actually play are greater now, so they are left with fewer options to burn off the energy it takes to remain fit and trim.

Add to that the problems that arise when you have to take a child to the hospital with a broken arm and trying to explain away concerns about possible physical abuse, and there is little incentive for parents to let their children out of the front door! I know that I didn't allow my sons to climb anything whre they might fall and I would find myself with a nurse asking me to describe events 50 times as she looks for holes in my explanation. It was prudent self defense! I am sure more than a few parents would rather deal with their children being inside and safe, than deal with possible injuries.

parent1596

I would not be comfortable with that.......not obese but a little too heavy

mamab

Something else I used to remember as a kid, was spending at LEAST 1/2 hour on the playground or in gym class EVERY DAY. I don't know how much time kids get at school to do that now, but it seems like it wasn't that much when my son was in kindergarten.