Tackling Obesity

[MREED]

Dear forum,

I am a student that is in the process of a team exercise to come up with ideas for tackling the issue of childhood obesity. As part of this project, we are to obtain public opinion regarding causes and solutions to this issue. If anyone has time to answer some of the following questions, any input would be greatly appreciated.

What do you feel is the primary driver of childhood obesity?

What do you think prevents children from participating in healthy activities?

What emotions do you think are prevalent in a child that becomes overweight? (subjective, but your opinion counts)

As a parent, would you support multimedia products (TV show/series, video games, activities) that promote a healthier lifestyle?

As a child/teen/young adult, what would you want to see in a multimedia product (TV show series, video game or other activity) that would make you want to join in?

As a parent, would you be prepared to pay a modest fee (equivalent to the price of alternative play-time activities) to allow your child to participate in activities that promote weight loss?

As I mentioned, any input that you can provide in answering any of the above questions would be of great help. Apologies for making a post as a non-parent. Thanks in advance.

[BenDavis503]

Obesity comes from a few things.

Not working out.
Not eating right.
Fast food.
Bad parenting (i.e. not cooking their kids good food or teaching good eating habits.)

You need to excersize.
You need to not eat like crap.
You need to stay away from fast food.
You need to educate your children on the importance of proper nutrition.

My two pennies.

[Choppy]

Originally Posted by MREED

What do you feel is the primary driver of childhood obesity?

In a word: lifestyle.

How many living rooms don't have the television is the focal point? When I look at new housing developments they have tiny yards that you couldn't fit a barbeque in - much less play a soccer game. Remember when you did your Christmas shopping in a mall? Or when you had to walk all over downtown? Today we go to outlet stores where there aren't even sidewalks to walk from one store to another. Walk into a Walmart and the place is designed so that you can't get out without walking past a McDonalds.

What do you think prevents children from participating in healthy activities?

In no particular order:
- parents who do not lead an active lifestyle
- restrictions on physical activity at school (less gym class, less extra-curricular sports)
- misplaced fear that keeps kids from playing outdoors in their own neighbourhoods
- cost of organized sports

What emotions do you think are prevalent in a child that becomes overweight? (subjective, but your opinion counts)

Likely there is a lot of negative self-esteem, frustration, depression - especially when that child is singled out from a peer group. Although, just because a child is overweight, doesn't mean he or she has to feel any particular way. Being overweight doesn't mean you can't be happy.

As a parent, would you support multimedia products (TV show/series, video games, activities) that promote a healthier lifestyle?

My wife and I plan to deal with these kinds of things on a case by case basis. For example, a television show that encourages physical activity is fine, but I'd rather my child actually be doing something active. And often "healthier" lifestyle is very subjective - some people for example would call veganism healthier, but others would strongly disagree.

As a child/teen/young adult, what would you want to see in a multimedia product (TV show series, video game or other activity) that would make you want to join in?

As a parent, would you be prepared to pay a modest fee (equivalent to the price of alternative play-time activities) to allow your child to participate in activities that promote weight loss?

I would draw a distinction between weight loss and an active, healthy lifestyle. Shelling out money for your children to participate in sports is pretty much a reality these days. In that respect I'm willing to pay as long as what my child gets out of it is reasonable.

I really don't like the idea of commerically promoting weight loss in children though.

[PaterFamilias]

Wow...so few responses...but chock full of insightful comments! Well said, Ben & Choppy.

Ben mentioned: Not eating right, fast food, bad parenting (i.e. not cooking their kids good food or teaching good eating habits). I agree wholeheartedly with this list, but I'd also like to mention that fast food is not the only type of garbage we're eating prevalently in this day and age. Today's food is riddled with artificial preservatives. These types of foreign artificial substances can't be good for the body...I have no doubt that in the short run, obesity, and in the long run, cancer, are inextricably linked to them. Cooking food fresh everyday is how my grandmother fed me, and I was always a thin, healthy child. From that, I learned good eating habits, and even now I'm thin and in good shape...and believe me...my metabolism has slowed significantly since my youth, and I gain weight just looking at certain foods...but because I learned good eating habits, I was never overweight as a kid and remained healthy into adulthood. I really think that's a big part of it.

Also, eating balanced meals is important. Proteins from meats or other sources, vitamins from green vegetables, and starches to make you feel full are the cornerstones of a balanced diet, and should be integrated as much as possible into each meal. We live in a faster society today, where there's a lot of on-the-go, and the meals we eat are being tailored to that lifestyle...they're losing their balance.

Also, years ago, eating a meal was a sacred event. A family sat around the table and ate a home-cooked meal together. Now, it's all eating-takeout-over-the-sink-and-rushing-out-the-door-to-this-task-or-that, and that's simply not healthy.

Also, Ben mentioned exercize. While I was a bit of a homebody as a kid, watched a lot of television and played more than my fair share of Atari, I did go out into the neighborhood and play with the other kids...something that happens with alarmingly less frequency in this computer age.

Choppy placed a lot of the blame on television. I dunno...my living room had the television as the focal point, but I did do more activities than, I think, kids do today, which I think was Choppy's real point.

What I did find alarming about Choppy's answer was the mention of "restrictions on physical activity at school (less gym class, less extra-curricular sports)." Is that true? My kids aren't school age yet, so I'm not up on this...is there less emphasis on physical activity at schools these days than when we were kids?

I also agree that there's a lot of fear -- misplaced or otherwise -- that keeps kids from playing outdoors in their own neighborhoods. I read somewhere, though (pardon me for not having a source), that there's actually less crime now in the United States than there was in the 1970s. (Don't know how that translates to other countries.) And, yes, I don't doubt that the Great Recession has affected the cost of organized sports and the ability of parents to afford them.

Choppy also aptly mentioned negative self-esteem, frustration, depression ... but I want to emphasize viewing those things from another angle...a lot of practices (drug use, for example) are now being linked to depression. Drug use in one's youth is tied to depression in one's later years, and depression is often found to be inherited (by whatever means) from a parent. Hence, a parent who used drugs as a teenager can have children who are depressed. Depression can lead to overeating and, hence, obesity.

[futuremom1]

kids that develop bad habits driven by there parents at an early age have a hard time breaking them later. Just little things like I was always allowed to drink many cokes in my younger years I think have led to my extra lbs even now at the age of 29. I think you gotta keep the kids on a strict diet so they dont get worse at a later age.

[confused]

diet.....not eating so much bread and pasta and limiting the amount of milk plus being active.

[flores16]

not eating healthy and lack of exercise would be my opinion.

[Xero]

Another old thread being bumped due to the 5 post rule. Jeez.

No posting in threads with a last post date 30 days or older PLEASE people.