OBESITY IN CHILDREN

i had to do a project on childhood obesity actually... quite sad in the way that it affects every single aspect of their life...

The best thing for this country right now is to convert all the corn to ethanol. This will affect an immediate reversal of the obesity trend.

We can start by not chauffering the little bastards to the end of the driveway for the school bus!!!

Technology is killing our kids!

I live on the near north side of Chicago near a school. It's amazing watching the parents jostle for positions at the school front door when classes end, mostly in SUV's to get their kids.

It's like the kids can't walk a block or two, they have to be picked up as close as possible. I don't know about you, but wasn't walking home from school something you looked forward to? How much do you think these royal children exercise when they get home?

marijuologist wrote:

The best thing for this country right now is to convert all the corn to ethanol. This will affect an immediate reversal of the obesity trend.

I really don't get what your trying to say here.

High Fructose corn syrup.

AAMMZ wrote:

I live on the near north side of Chicago near a school. It's amazing watching the parents jostle for positions at the school front door when classes end, mostly in SUV's to get their kids.

It's like the kids can't walk a block or two, they have to be picked up as close as possible. I don't know about you, but wasn't walking home from school something you looked forward to? How much do you think these royal children exercise when they get home?

This is a great post. I picked up my nephew a few weeks ago at school and parked about 1/4 mile away from the school. I was probably the last person that got to my car, but the first person to get out of the area. The problem is that the parents don't want to walk either! Very similar to the person who will drive around the parking lot for 30 minutes looking for a close up spot. Its amazing what people will do to avoid physical exertion.

I teach middle school PE. I'm pretty lucky in that most of our kids are good kids who like PE. Plus we have them everyday, believe me this helps the students immensely. We spend the first 10-20 minutes of each class on fitness related activities. It's amazing though what lengths some kids will go to get out of PE (hiding in bathrooms, fake illnesses, etc.)

With that being said we can blame the obesity rates on one thing-technology. If a kids not playing a video game he's on the computer, if not that, it's TV or texting or talking on the cell phone. My sons friends hate coming to our house because I won't let them play video games all day. I make them go outside when it's nice. I asked my best class of 8th graders the average number of hours they spend on technology related activities each night and they said 2-3 hours. In my opinion it's not just the kids fault but parents who use technology as a babysitter.

I also teach middle school PE. Do you find that kids (generally) don't care so much about fitness and running, but will work hard if the game is fun?

Wow I am 113 pounds, 5'6-5'7 and 15 yrs old. I admit, I do spend time on the computer (mostly computer, don't watch TV that much, play video games, etc), though partly because a lot of the school work we have/assignments are posted on the computer. On weekdays, I maybe spend 1-2 hours on the computer, and more on weekends. However, I'm pretty sure I get more exercise than the average kid in our nation, with cross country/track on season and training (base) in the off season.

It pains me to see a overweight/obese person at school. I hate to say it but I feel disgusted that they don't have the self control/will power to exercise/eat smarter. I also remember in PE class (in 9th grade it was mandatory for us all to take it) I would see the people walking on the mile run; couldn't they at least keep running? Even if it was 11 minute pace couldn't they at least just keep running? Instead of sprinting when they get lapped and then giving up and walking..

I am a little older than most of you. I grew up in the 80's. Wrestling was mandatory through elementary and middle school (we called it Jr. High). We all walked home, and that was because the bus took too long, and we had to wait 1/2 hour for it to arrive from a previous run. The walks home created fights, fun, times that we went to the drugstore, stole candy, got in trouble, and even raced (yes running) home through backyards, over fences and under bridges.

My friend is a teacher. His favorite saying is: "it's not the kids, it's the parents.." He is referring to almost everything. Students have no fear of getting in trouble because a parent will defend them. They don't feel a need to exercise, because mommy will comfort them, and let them know it's ok to sit in front of the computer all day , on and on, and on the stories go.

The fact tht we have kids around us that have a potential shorter life expectancy than their parents is very scary!

When my daughter was in kindergarten I was in grad school. I used to walk her to school (about 1.2 miles). On the way we would pass a house where the fat father drove his fat daughter to the same school (about .75 miles away).

My daughter is now a 17 yr old 5'1, 100 lb distance runner and his is an obese 17 year old who does nothing.

Interesting. You are correct about kids working hard if the activity is fun. We are constantly looking for activities that keep kids moving but also that they will enjoy. I also find that although we are not supposed to keep score or allow competition in class(which I don't agree with) that kids enjoy being competitive and work harder when in competitive situations. It's about keeping competition in context, teaching how to win, how to lose etc.

My son is now playing youth sports and it's amazing what effect the parents have on the kids. At games parents yell at the kids, refs and parents from the other team. The kids get upset at the refs, parents and each other. In class when we play (with no parents around) we have some great hard-fought games and nobody gets upset. If they do they're done with it in a few minutes and leave at the end of class friends. Take a group of kids give them a ball, a yard and they will be fine. Add a few parents in and you've got a recipe for disaster.

i'm fine with it. maybe by the time my kid is a senior, there will be so many fat kids that he is guaranteed a full scholarship somewhere. save my some serious coin. keep eating fast food, watching tv, playing video games, getting rides everywhere, you lazy american children!

actually, it's sad, but as a coach, try telling that to your average suburban mom or dad. they are delusional.

The limits of Obesity are quite generous too. You can have like 20% body fat. Based on the people I see everyday I'd say about 50-60% of the US is fat. Never is this more evident then when you start thinking about dating seriously. All of a sudden there are big people everywhere.

I think technically obese is considered having a BMI over 30. For instance if you are 5'8 you have to weigh over 197lbs. to be considered obese.

I think there's a good difference between what people think of as "fat" and what these studies report in data.

20% body fat is not fat....it is within acceptable ranges.

My son attended middle school in California and he had daily PE. It was great! They had so much fun, and it was so good for that age group of kids to be tearing it up outside and getting rid of excess energy so they could sit still in the classroom. They did really fun things, badminton, four square, huge basketball tournaments, all sorts of fun stuff. I coached track at the school and all they talked about was PE class. There would be 150 kids in a class at a time, with three teachers, and most of the time it was well under control. I wish more states had mandatory daily PE...there were not that many obese kids in his school.

We are living in a society ruled by fear...so parents do not let their kids play outside, they cart them to sports practices instead. If mom or dad would just go outside with the kids, then they could play. And too many kids are trapped at daycare. And too many have televisions and computers in their rooms.

It is a real shame, by the time you get to high school,you see the same 150 kids in every sport...the other 1500 or so do nothing.

I have an after-school club for young children called the Happy Feet, Healthy Food Kids' Club. I designed the club using my 3 healthily-ever-after books because I love to run and wanted to share my love of running and healthy eating with my schoolchildren. I didn't design it as an obesity prevention program.

However the CDC and other organizations have chosen it as a worthy club to visit (they'll be coming out this spring) for obesity prevention! They will be assessing my club and giving me suggestions as well as interviewing me and some of the participants and their parents.

I share my lesson plans on the kidsrunning.com site and on my new author/illustrator site carolgoodrow.com

One of the things my club does is also involve and educate the parents. This is key. But what families really need is a complete lifestyle change and they have to be self-motivated to make that happen.

The parents (and I'm one) are in the way. When I was a kid in the 70's, we got a group together and played whatever sport we wanted to play. We were the umps, refs, rulemakers, etc. We fought, we won and lost and went home friends and our parents had no clue what went on.

We were prepared to deal with making the team/getting cut, winning and losing and all was fine.

The real damage will be when these loser kids attempt to be grown-ups. They will not handle it. Are their parents going to yell at their boss when they screw up at work?

I became a teacher in my late 30's and realized right away that it's parents who need workshops and Superintendants Conference Days, not the teachers.